You notice what you are looking for. Think about it. You buy a new car and then see the same car in the same color everywhere you look. You hadn’t noticed it before, but now that you are aware, you can see it. It’s the same as what you notice when you observe children. If you are looking for what students can do, you’ll see it. If you are looking for what they can’t do, you’ll see that, too. This is why it is so important that we take time to consider children from multiple viewpoints.

The parable about the Blind Man and the Elephant is an old story that addresses a similar point. It’s the story of a group of blind men who happen upon an elephant, and each man can feel only one part of the elephant. They talk about the elephant based on their limited vantage point. As you can imagine, their viewpoints are vastly different. The story’s moral is that we see only what we know to be true or understand. The parable encourages us to look beyond our initial understanding to learn what else we can discover to form a more complete picture.

Throughout this blog, we will highlight seven components to ponder as you consider a range of important aspects of the whole child. Be sure to read part one, where we delved into Summative Assessment, Formative Assessment, and Differentiated Instruction.

This list is by no means complete or comprehensive. Are we challenging ourselves to learn more about each child? How might that support our understanding of each child and how we plan learning opportunities? As we share the points about the child, we invite you to think about the parable and contemplate how each part of the elephant is necessary to make the elephant complete or whole.

Inclusivity

“Teachers can change what they do in their classrooms. One way to respect this awesome power is to be a reflective practitioner.  This means continuously examining your beliefs to see how they align with your school’s culture, and how they influence the resources and instruction in your classroom” (Briceno, A., & Rodriguez-Mojica, C., 2022, p. 8).

Does the school culture meet the needs of a diverse student population?  Are classroom environments, materials, and instruction aligning to meet the needs of all students, particularly children of color, multilingual students, and of varying socio-economic backgrounds?  As you reflect on these questions, examine your beliefs and how you can become an agent of change as a Reading Recovery teacher in your school or district; think of your other roles across the day as well.

Examining the books you select for individual Reading Recovery students is a good place to begin. Are you picking books you like or what the students are interested in? Can students see themselves in these books?  Can they relate to the storyline or content? Do these books spur conversation, which leads to writing? What books do students enjoy reading over and over again?  What did you discover about your students when you provided books that were culturally relevant to them? How can you help classroom teachers expand and diversify their classroom book collections? Books are a powerful instrument in the landscape of literacy learning, especially when they are personal and celebrate students’ identities. 

I am reminded of one of my students from the past, who was new to the country.  He was from Vietnam and did not speak any English.  At that time, my book collection in my classroom was not very diverse.  One day, his backpack seemed heavy.  After inquiring, I noticed he was carrying books from Vietnam to show me.  The books were written in Vietnamese.  Although I could not read or understand the language, he could read them to me. It was a beautiful moment that brought us together with a newfound appreciation for each other.  He felt included and valued, and I found a way to connect with him. That student brought those same books to school every day until the end of the school year.  And I made it a daily priority to listen to him read his favorite books in his primary language. This experience reinforced “that the child’s ultimate resource for learning to read and write is spoken language: all his new learning becomes linked in his brain with what he has already learned about the language he speaks” (Clay, 2016, p. 24).

Imagine creating a school setting where students learn about cultural differences, which becomes the norm and is embedded in the curriculum, school activities, and community events. Cultivating inclusion and community takes intentional planning. As adults, we all want to be heard, seen, respected, and included, as do our students.  Our privilege and responsibility is to accept, love, nurture, grow, and include ALL children in experiencing an equitable and accessible education.

Social and Emotional Learning

Just as adults go through a range of emotions on any given day, the same is true for students.  The difference is adults know how to self-regulate and manage their emotions. However, children need to learn to recognize and constructively express their feelings. As educators, we nurture, support, and model different social and emotional learning aspects.

The environment children learn in each, and every day is a critical piece to fostering social and emotional learning. The teacher has a lot to do with creating conditions for learning, including how the classroom is arranged, how the learning community is shaped, and how relationships are fostered.  According to the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning, “When students have supportive relationships and opportunities to develop and practice social, emotional, and cognitive skills across many different contexts, academic learning accelerates.” In other words, academic achievement will be hindered without including and developing social and emotional learning, and students will not reach their full learning potential.

Human behavior is complex, and students need a guide, their teacher, to help them navigate the choppy and smooth waters they will encounter as they grow and move through the education system and life outside of school.  Rita F. Pierson reminds us, “Every child deserves a champion- an adult who will never give up on them, who understands the power of connection and insists that they become the best that they can possibly be.”

Outside Interests

The concept of school is made up of four walls and a playground.  Students’ interests inside and outside school are important to note and consider.  Often, daily instruction does not match up with students’ outside interests or hobbies, which affects engagement and motivation. As practitioners, we are responsible for getting to know our students and their families.  If our sole focus is academics, we miss getting to know the whole child.  When we take the time to get to know each student, we build rapport, trust, and connection.

Establishing relationships with students takes time, but it is worth the investment.  Marie Clay knew this well, as she brilliantly designed the Roaming Around the Known sessions and the importance of getting to know the child.  You will discover things about your students that astonish and surprise you.  For instance, I once had a student who knew all about dressmaking.  She had assisted her mom in their family-owned dress shop since she was little.  She knew about different types of fabric, measurements, and fashion.  I just discovered this tidbit of information as we designed puppets for a school play.  The student became the expert in the room when it came to costume design.  Her skill set and experience were appreciated and celebrated in the classroom.  This student felt valued and connected to her peers.  As the teacher, I stumbled upon a hidden talent, which enhanced our relationship and provided me with information for future teaching and learning.

Getting to know your students as individuals does not take a lot of time and effort. Schedule frequent times to talk with each student in your class.  Find out what they like to do in their free time, what piques their interest, and what hobbies they enjoy. Another way to get to know your students is through what they write about and what books they select to read.  Share your interests and hobbies as well to build connections with your students.  There are countless ways to get to know your students and their families. Jeff Lair sums it up well: “Children are not things to be molded but are people to be unfolded.”

Teacher’s Theory and Practice

Stephen Covey said, “We see the world, not as it is, but as we are – or as we are conditioned to see it. When we open our mouths to describe what we see, we in effect describe ourselves, our perceptions, our paradigms.” The teacher’s theory of learning and their hypothesis about a learner impacts what is observed. If a teacher feels like a student is accelerating, the teaching and prompting often look different than when they feel a child is struggling. Yes, there are different needs, but the interactions and tone are often markedly different. That explains why, when going on coaching visits and demonstrating something during the lesson, the teacher would say, “I didn’t know they could do that.” As an outsider, the response was, “I didn’t know they couldn’t.” Providing an opportunity for students to demonstrate what they know allows the teacher to observe new learning and still move along the scale of help if needed. Responsive teachers adjust when and where they enter a teaching interaction. Your actions and words telegraph to the child what you believe is possible. As thoughtful practitioners, we need to reflect on whether our theory and practice align and if they support student learning and agency.

Conclusion

Consider the seven components described above in relation to the parable of The Blind Man and the Elephant. The men described the parts of the elephant from only one vantage point, which was an incomplete view of the whole beast.  We used the parable to challenge your thinking about which data is important to gather to form a more complete understanding of the child. If individual aspects of students are valued over others, perceptions are limited which may blind us to other strengths and funds of knowledge they bring to their learning. In turn, this places parameters around our teaching and stifles learning possibilities and growth.  Let us all commit to learning more about our students and considering the many components that make up each student we interact with daily. 

References:

Briceno, A. & Rodriguez-Mojica, C. (2022). Conscious classrooms using diverse texts for inclusions, equity, and justice. Benchmark Education Company

Clay, M. M. (2019). An observation survey of early literacy achievement. Heinemann.

Clay, M. M. (2016).  Literacy lessons designed for individuals. Heinemann

Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning. Fundamentals of SEL. https://casel.org/fundamentals-of-sel/

Johnson, A. P. (2022). The human dimension in education: Essential learning theories and their impact on teaching and learning. Rowman & Littlefield.