Whole - by Rex Miller & Bill Latham & Kevin Baird & Michelle Kinder (Hardcover)

About the Book

"Whole examines the ways our schools' current framework mishandles mental health for both teachers and students. Through the use of research, community examples and expert opinions, this book asks readers to consider a new era of disruptive change. Whole introduces new concepts on how to approach mental health in schools such as: Treating schools as "field hospitals" to combine learning as healing, Redesigning the architecture of schools to reflect an open, inviting atmosphere, Considering teachers as high-performance athletes who deserve time for recovery and preparation for their workday, Connecting school leaders with their community and offering more transparency with the citizens who have a real stake in their school's success While in the past few decades technology has allowed for improvement to occur at a logarithmic pace, most businesses are still stuck improving linearly. Unfortunately, the system in which we view and work with mental health in schools is stuck in that same linear process that leaves new research and unique solutions to the wayside. The prevailing literature on education and mental health concludes student and teacher disengagement is the main issue when it comes to mental health problems in schools. However, new research discovered that this diagnosis was wrong from the beginning, so we now have a massive education reform industry spending immense resources to solve a problem that does not exist"--

Book Synopsis

A shocking statistic in education reveals that 70% of K-12 teachers work under chronic stress. This revolutionary new book explains how removing stress from the classroom holds the key to improving education. The book also explains what administrators, teachers, parents, and communities can do to help accomplish a stress-free classroom.

For years, the expert voices said "disengagement" was the crucial issue behind poor educational environments and results. Naturally, only massive reform could fix it. But what if the enormous restructuring and expenditures attacked the wrong problem?

MindShift, an organization that reframes tired and clogged conversations, pushed the old conclusions off the table and started fresh. They gathered diverse leaders in education, leadership, neuroscience, architecture, and wellness in working forums around the nation. These pivotal meetings produced WHOLE, a game-changing approach to education. This book captures the story and details of how the system can be remade for real and lasting benefits to everyone.

With the authors' expertise, the book exposes the exhausted and antiquated thinking that led to the present crisis. But, WHOLE also proposes a new era of disruptive change that can produce happier, healthier, and more successful education for the 21^st century. The book introduces the outliers, tells the stories, and presents the roadmaps to:

• Why teachers should be seen as high-performance athletes, requiring time for recovery and preparation
• How schools can become "field hospitals," combining learning with healing
• Why space matters, how redesigning and refurnishing schools can eliminate stress and produce learning environments that are more open and inviting
• Ways to properly integrate schools within communities, building honest relationships, increasing social capital, and achieving transparency that increases success

Packed with real-life examples, new research, and solutions that you can introduce to your own schools, students, and communities, WHOLE shows us how to move schools from the age of stress and insecurity to an age of true educational flourishing.

From the Back Cover

PRAISE FOR WHOLE

"Many people talk about teacher burnout, but few have taken the time to really understand the problem and propose solutions. Rex and his team have. Highly recommended."
--Tony Wagner, bestselling author of The Global Achievement Gap and Creating Innovators

"Growing up poor in Hell's Kitchen, New York, with a single mother who immigrated to the US at a young age, education was both critical and challenging. I knew it would be the most important factor in my ability to succeed in life. As the Chief Education Evangelist at Google, or any of the other organizations I am involved with, my mission is to give the millions of students who are growing up under similar conditions the opportunity to succeed. WHOLE is a bold book that successfully takes on the challenge students are facing today. It provides a roadmap for administrators and teachers to bolster teacher well-being and help students thrive."
--Jaime Casap, Chief Education Evangelist, Google

"Too often technology becomes one more thing teachers must learn, which adds more work and stress. If applied properly, technology should instead reduce the load and free a teacher to engage more with each of their students in higher-quality interactions. I recommend reading WHOLE to think through ways to reduce teacher stress and improve their health and well-being. Less stressed teachers are key to unlocking learning."
--Michael B. Horn, coauthor of Choosing College and Blended and cofounder of the Clayton Christensen Institute

"In order to learn optimally, children need to feel safe and cared for. Teachers want to provide environments that give students what they need to thrive, but often find themselves so overworked and highly stressed, that they're unable to be the kinds of teachers they set out to be. WHOLE looks at the current challenges and obstacles our teachers and schools are facing, how they are impacting health, mental health, and the vitality for learning, and offers practical suggestions for bringing wholeness into our schools."
--Tina Payne Bryson, PhD, LCSW, Co-author of The Whole-Brain Child, No-Drama Discipline, The Yes Brain, and The Power of Showing Up

"Finally a book on conscious schools! Schools have become places that demand our children to conform and perform. WHOLE does a wonderful job of exposing how this pressure is shutting down students and raising the stress on teachers. Neither can perform under these conditions. The stories and research WHOLE shares of schools that have broken out of this cycle provide hope and a path forward for your school and your classroom."
--Dr. Shefali Tsabary, acclaimed speaker, clinical psychologist and author of The Awakened Family

About the Author

REX MILLER is the principal for MindShift, a leading futures consultancy, human performance, coaching, and organizational strategy company. Additionally, Rex is a three-time international award-winning leader and five-time Wiley author.

BILL LATHAM is the CEO of MeTEOR Education, an organization that works with communities to create holistic, High-Impact Learning Experiences that fully engage today's students and teachers. He is a leader in the movement to solve the education crisis and reform an outdated and often soulless system.

KEVIN BAIRD is chairman at the Global Center for College & Career Readiness and a co-author of the Pathway for College & Career Readiness Standards. For more than twenty years, he has served our nation's schools as an expert in the use of technology to achieve Accelerated Engaged Learning.

MICHELLE KINDER is the former Executive Director of Momentous Institute, has worked in children's mental health for over 25 years and is a nationally recognized speaker, writer and expert on social emotional health. She works with leaders invested in social change and is the Director of Social Change Leadership Programs at Stagen Leadership Academy.