EDUCATING THE WHOLE CHILD: EXPLORING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE WHOLE CHILD MODEL AND ITS EFFECTS ON STUDENTS’ SENSE OF SAFETY, CONNECTION & SELF-REGULATION

In March 2020, the COVID-19 global pandemic caused schools to close for an extended period, disrupting learning for about 55 million students (Center for Effective School Practices, 2022). Upon their return to school, educators committed to accelerating student learning to make up for missed learning. However, to support students’ academic learning, schools must focus on supporting students’ social-emotional learning by creating trauma-sensitive schools. This dissertation highlights the implementation of a trauma-informed, schoolwide, SEL approach entitled the Whole Child Model. To make schools equitable for all they must be trauma-sensitive for students who have experienced trauma because these schools will be beneficial for all students, and “trauma-sensitive schools recognize that educators need support to prioritize developing positive, caring relationships in order to create a learning environment where students and their families feel welcomed and safe” (Trauma Sensitive Schools, 2021, YouTube). Through a mixed–methods sequential approach, using surveys, classroom observations, interviews, and collection of artifacts, this case study highlights how the implementation of the Whole Child Model can have positive impacts on school culture and a student’s perception of safety, connection, self-regulation, and their ability to learn at school. The classroom observations and interviews illustrated teacher’s thoughts on how the implementation of the Whole Child Model increases students’ safety, connection, and self-regulation. However, the student surveys did not show much variance from the pre-survey to the post-survey, but the open-ended responses from students during the surveys showed students felt a strong sense of safety, connection, and self-regulation. The district in which this study was conducted has a goal of “Having 100% of students feel loved, challenged, and prepared”. To meet this goal, the district must endeavor to learn more about SEL, school climate, school satisfaction, and engagement at each school (Mansour, 2020). Analyzing and leveraging student voice and tools to measure effective implementation, this study highlights how measuring the implementation of trauma-sensitive SEL programs can aid stakeholders in understanding their effects and finding ways to enhance these programs (Grant et al., 2023).