Educating the Whole

Students bring along their cultural funds, life histories, and unique persons and aspirations. Their schools function within communities, which are embedded within socioeconomic and political systems and realities. Understanding and working with learners at the intersection of these multiple and complex spaces is crucial to provide a platform for realizing equity and excellence for all learners. This holistic approach to education is characteristically Carolina. / As a family therapist, Steve Knotek worked with emotionally troubled children and inner-city adolescents. Now, he brings that experience to his collaborations with professionals and parents who share the same goal of helping students of color achieve success. This informs his current project, “Self Care,” which works with campus residence halls to create developmentally positive environments for underserved, first-generation students of color./ Dana Thompson Dorsey has embraced this approach while studying law, policy and race theory in education. Her research examines the impact on educational equity, access and opportunity for students of color and other marginalized groups, with a focus on school segregation, affirmative action, and racial and rural identity issues. Her aim: ensure that every student can reach their goals without limitations.

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