The whole person

In Catholic schools I often hear the phrase educating "the whole person".

Church documents seem to use the word "integral" or "integrated" to refer to much the same thing. I thought this week, with Mahi Toi just around the corner, I would try to start and unpack the idea - especially for our new parents.

As soon as I started I knew it would be a challenge!

What makes up a "whole person"? And why would a school even consider the issue? Surely schools are about the intellectual development of each student - why would we look further?

Catholic schools have always looked further. At the core of Catholic education is a belief that we exist to train the mind first; but that it is also our role to address the development of all the other things that make us fully human - other gifts from our Creator.

So, what are the key attributes of a fully formed and mature human being? Right up there we need an mind capable of focused attention; an intellect with strategies to solve problems, to work things out, to predict accurately based on perceived data, and to learn from mistakes. That is what schools do - so we need to do it well.

We need to be healthy and fit. Most schools make a good attempt at this, often having to fight society's example of poor exercise and eating, and the unhappiness our complex world often causes.

Most people can see mind and body as fitting into schools. But we try to go further. One of the most important aspects of being a happy, mature human being is the ability to love; the ability to form stable, faithful long-term relationships with other individuals, and with communities. We all need to respect each other and treat each other well. This is a key part of education in any Catholic school.

One of the most important (and often overlooked or minimised) aspects of mature humanity is the ability to appreciate and create beauty.

If we want to enhance our lives, our satisfaction with our lives, to deepen our humanity, we all look for beauty. In our society where ownership is so important, that can mean to own a seaside section, a classic car or a painting. But ownership is not the key – God throws beauty at us everywhere: when we go for a walk, when we pick up a baby, when a friend smiles. Beauty is lavishly bestowed – but too often we take it for granted and do not really see it. That is why appreciation of beauty is part of holistic education.

Next week we have Mahi Toi. We will see beauty in movement and art. We will hear beauty, we will even taste and smell beauty!  And we will have the opportunity to take part in one of the things that  proves we are created in our Creator’s image: creativity. We will never be perfect creators like our God – but creativity is another of the higher gifts we have been given. Next week we will practice and appreciate that. Students and adults alike will say “Wow!” and be in awe of the gifts we see. And the creativity won’t be limited – there will be many opportunities in all sorts of areas because beauty and creativity should not be limited to certain categories, or placed in pigeon-holes. We will see both in surprising places.

Each experience will be part of our goal of educating the whole of each person God created.

(And, of course, a mature and whole person is not limited to mind and body, relationships, beauty and creativity. That is all I have space for today – but our Creator has a far larger canvas and many, many more colours!)