1.3 Facilitating holistic development, Lecture notes of Childhood Development

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1.3 Facilitating holistic development

Dr.K.N.Bhise Assistant Professor School of Education, SPPU, Pune

Definition of holistic development

 Holistic development refers to human development that is meant to involve all the parts of a person. This is development designed to accommodate physical development,mental growth development and social development.

We can understand this interrelationship with the help of following examples: (i) A physically unhealthy person is unable to perform one’s duties to oneself, family and community. (ii) A child under emotional strain is likely to be physically unhealthy, socially inefficient and cognitively deteriorated. (iii) A child with less social interaction, may feel lonely which further may lead to emotional disturbance along with cognitive and language difficulties. (iv) The undue emphasis on cognitive development may ignore emotional and physical side of an individual’s personality. We may conclude that an individual has to be considered as one ‘whole’. Therefore, while taking measures for all round development of a child, it must be remembered that all the dimensions of child development are inter-related and inter-dependent. To know, what a teacher’s role can be, in facilitating development, let us study the next section of this unit.

Holistic Development of Children:

 Holistic Development of Children (Physical, Mind, Spiritual, Emotional & Social) Childhood is a sensitive phase of one’s life. The resources, and nurturing one receives during their childhood has a profound impact on their blossoming into adulthood. Each child has its own personality, strengths, and intrinsic talents. As a result, each child has its own nurturing needs. For these young minds to blossom into the best adults they can be, parents and schools will have to understand them thoroughly and meet their specialized needs so that holistic development of their physical, mind, and emotional aspects is possible.

Why is Holistic Development important?

1. Gone are the days when parents dreamt of their children becoming either an engineer or a doctor, and nothing else. Parents off late are more open listening to the preferences of their children, whether she wants to be a sportsperson or a photographer. This has led to demand for alternative education system since the conventional education system has little to offer to modern career aspirants.
2. With the modern lifestyle that our society is accustoming to, parents have limited time for their children and are often unable to affiliate with their children as closely as their earlier generations. This is limiting their scope to influence the child's behavior. As a result, the child's mind and psychological development is affected.
3. What children today need from a school is not only academic lessons, but also those life skills too that help them handle challenges in life. An education system that would help the child know self, teach them how to build healthy relationships, help develop resilience and teach them how to work in a team. Such an education system would boost the morale of a child to achieve greater heights in their careers and grow up to be good citizens of the society.
4. Finally, children must learn that seeing beauty, experiencing transcendence and being existent to the activities in the society and its culture are a natural part of life.

 http://gene2genius.com/holistic- development/