There’s a lot of evidence that education is a wholistic endeavor; meaning that the full environment for learners needs to be addressed. This includes the physical locations, such as the school building, the neighborhood that students inhabit, and the student’s residence.
Community Schools are defined partly as addressing a student’s optimal learning circumstances using and enabling community resources, which are embedded in the above locations. We need to know how those environments affect the health of students, and how student’s health affects learning capacities and achievement.
Lead and Asbestos removal from student’s environments are a consensus priority for states, cities, school districts et al because of established science indicating detrimental affects on health and thus learning. Lead has been especially targeted as a known cognitive disrupter. Many studies exist showing that changes in lead levels notably cause changes in cognitive and learning capabilities.
We might not think to examine other aspects of the environment, such as what’s in the water students are drinking; recent experience in Flint Michigan emphasizes a need for vigilance in the quality of water resources.
Here’s an article below suggesting that more of that “environmental” work needs to be done, and that at least one aspect, quality of the air students breathe at school, could be improved by affordable means.
Other studies have been undertaken about the affect of “noise pollution” on humans. We know there are other kinds of environmental stressors that might be addressable by providing coping skills such as meditation or other “best mental hygiene” practices.
Not to overlook the importance of physical education, which has been addressed almost since students no longer arrived in the classroom fit from daily farm work chores. (see early German Educational emphasis on the physical part of “being”).
There are a lot of moving parts in an environment, some of which we are dealing with appropriately, and some of which require more research to reveal the cause and effects ongoing.
Kudos to Gary for the link.
[gview file=”https://publicservicesalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Air-filters-create-huge-educational-gains-Vox.pdf”]
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