A whole learner is a learner who learns through whole learning, i.e. who is taught through the whole method, such as is integral and essential to the philosophical and methodological approach to learning known as whole language learning.
The International Dictionary of Education (Page & Thomas, 1977, p. 365) defines whole learning as the "Analytical method of teaching from the total topic to its constituent elements." The Dictionary of Instructional Technology (Ellington & Harris, 1986, p. 181) defines whole learning as "An analytical method of teaching a topic that involves starting by looking at the topic as a whole and then looking at its constituent elements." Other dictionaries give nearly identical definitions, inasmuch as the denotation and connotation of the term has been well established for at least over fifty years.
The Handbook of Psychological Terms (Harriman, 1977, p. 219) defines whole method as "The procedure in which materials to be learned, either by rote or for reproduction of meaning, are not broken into small units but are studied in toto."
The Facts on File Dictionary of Education (Shafritz, Koeppe, & Soper, 1988, p. 496) defines whole language as "A generic term for a number of approaches to teaching language--primarily reading and writing--that frame the instruction in a social, communicative context." Heymsfeld (1989, p. 65) notes that "Whole Language is an approach that teaches reading as a holistic activity... the theory does not confine itself to reading instruction. The underlying concept is that all the language arts are related and should not be taught as if they were separate subjects." Thus whole language approaches teaching from a holistic point of view, and as such is the currently preeminent methodological approach to holistic teaching/learning. In whole language, teaching/learning goes from an apprehension of the whole to the parts--rather the opposite to what "traditional" education has of...