Holistic Education & Building of Future Leaders

Every parent must admit that they would like their children to be academically capable.

But what exactly is academic achievement? Achievement is only related to an outcome, and in the case of student success, it is measured ultimately by whether an education helps a person to become successful in life as adults. What is a successful adult? Is she someone who is able to complete a simple task well, or someone who can work to find new solutions to problems? Is a successful adult someone who works within the limitations of a system, or someone who seeks to expand it?

At Little Mountain we make a big claim– we foster future leaders.

Leaders are people who are competent to know, care, and act.  Leaders can also work together to problem solve, to critique and investigate beyond the surface of facts and figures. A Little Mountain success is a graduate who is competent, compassionate, and comprehending. Education for life is not just about collecting and reciting facts, and compartmentalizing knowledge, but creating individuals who can go beyond rote knowledge with its two dimensional focus and into a world of learning which is holistic, where experiencing and contemplating are of equal value to calculating, remembering, and strategizing.

Little Mountain utilizes Holistic Education.

Because of Little Mountain’s position as an academy, we are able to match and supplement the work done in day school in a way which effectively builds onto students’ capacities and identities as curious and competent learners.  The atmosphere is nurturing and challenging, and the small class sizes and teachers personalize and provide opportunities for critical thinking and expansion activities. Holistic education is the vehicle which takes students across this wonderful terrain.  We take them from their day school experiences and chaperone them into the colourful bright walls of Little Mountain Learning Academy. In this environment students can expand their identities as learners to include moments where they see themselves as creative problem-solvers, inventors, collaborators, and critics. Trying on these learning hats invests not only in the education but in the learner’s identities.  Little Mountain believes that when you invest in your students’ identities as innovative and active learners, that you provide them with confidence and drive to tackle any academic issue they will have in their futures.  It is strengthening them from within, to become future leaders.

In Holistic Education, abstracted objects, events and concepts come to life, as they are not limited to pages in books or on screens. A discussion or debate might follow a reading, or a writing topic might expand into project work, which is then used to make a real change in the world. Education becomes a room filled with opportunities to look at something from different sides, where the participants help to shape the learning experience. In fact, education is taken outside the classroom so that learners can connect all of their world experiences to concepts and topics studied in class. As a result, learners feel engaged, motivated, and invested in the results of their own educational journeys.