The 5 tenets of our school are: Co-operative Learning, Capacity Building, Brain Development and Function, Constructivism and Whole Child. Below is a highlight from the paper written by Adele Diamond, who is our resource on the topic of Whole Child.
Adele Diamond is one of the founders of the field of Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience. She holds the Canada Research Chair Tier 1 Professorship in Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of British Columbia (UBC), Vancouver. She is a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.
She is one of the world’s leading researchers on the development of the cognitive functions (called “executive functions,” “self-regulation,” or “cognitive control”) that depend on prefrontal cortex. Since 1980, she has studied these functions from their earliest beginnings in infancy, throughout the lifespan in clinical and “normal” populations. These abilities include inhibition (effortful or self-control), cognitive flexibility, working memory, directed attention, and reasoning. Her lab examines fundamental questions about the development, neuroanatomical and neurochemical bases, and genetic and environmental modulation of those abilities.
“If we want the best academic outcomes, the most efficient and cost-effective route to achieve that is, counter intuitively, not to narrowly focus on academics, but to also address children’s social, emotional, and physical development. Similarly, the best and most efficient route to physical health is through also addressing emotional, social, and cognitive wellness. Emotional wellness, similarly, depends critically on social, cognitive, and physical wellness.”
Watch Adele’s Q&A at the Garrison Institute, here