WHOLE LANGUAGE AND THE WHOLE-LEARNER The whole

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 do

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on that of traditional Europe, an elitist system characterized by methodological rigidity, complexity, structured curricula fragmentized into discrete artificial didactic units, rote learning, phonics, disciplinarian classroom management, philosophical and religious chauvinism, and paper-and-pencil testing--in other words: school-centered instruction. Doubtlessly, American education has made valiant efforts at shrugging the European yoke off. Bereft, however, of a mature philosophy, it has gravitated towards the other extreme to European rigidity, viz. laxity: open classrooms, little or no discipline, no real demands on students lest they impede their "natural" development, laissez faire. As a result, Americans cannot read, write, or calculate, or find their own country on a world map. As to the Japanese, they are just beginning to experiment with alternative forms of education. Thus far they have continued to live in a medieval isolationist past now layered with a superficial and artificial technology. As a result, Japanese can read, write, and calculate, but they cannot think beyond the confines of their robotic and fossilized world. As a panic response to clamoring users of brain power, the educational establishments in bo
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Approximate Pages = 17 (250 words per page)