Whole Person Education Academy makes a comeback in 2023!

On 28 August 2023, 3-person teams from 12 higher education institutions in India, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Taiwan presented their initial ideas on a Whole Person Education definition and framework for their institution and received feedback from their co-participants. This was one of the activities of the ongoing Whole Person Education Academy 2023, offered by the United Board of Christian Higher Education of Asia (The United Board) and the Ateneo Teacher Center (ATC) of the Gokongwei Brothers School of Education and Learning Design (GBSEALD).

The United Board’s Whole Person Education Academy (WPEA) was jointly offered by The Ateneo and the United Board in 2017 and 2018 but was put on hold from 2019 to 2022 due to the pandemic. This year, the WPEA is back! WPEA 2023 now consists of a 5-week online course, running from August 14 to September 17, 2023, to be followed by a week-long Training the Trainers course to be held from October 16-20, 2023 at the Ateneo de Manila University. 

The online course, entitled “Humanizing Higher Education through Whole Person Learning,” aims to provide participants with opportunities to explore the conceptual frameworks and educational principles behind Whole Person Education and to have them work together as school teams to look into their own institutional contexts through the lens of these frameworks. This will ensure that they are better prepared for their responsibilities as prospective trainers and champions of Whole Person Education in their colleges or universities.

In speaking of Whole Person or Integrative Education, the Chang Jung Christian University team expressed excitement about the emphasis on defining students’ identities, and the Sanata Dharma University team was excited about the university’s role in helping students seek meaning and purpose in their lives. St Christopher’s College of Education saw the need for higher education institutions to review their curriculum in light of Integrative Education and Christ College would like to further explore its implications on the assessments for students. 

The higher education institutions participating in WPEA 2023 are Christ University, Scottish Church College, and St Christopher’s College of Education in India; Satya Wacana Christian University, Soegijapranata Catholic University, Duta Wacana Christian University, and Sanata Dharma University in Indonesia;  Chang Jung Christian University and Tunghai University in Taiwan; and University of Saint Louis, University of the Immaculate Conception, and Union Christian College in the Philippines.