A key chapter of Whole: What Teachers Need to Help Students Thrive is available to download at no cost as a resource for educators and parents during this turbulent time.
Dallas, TX (April 15, 2020) — The MindShift Collaborative, a group of classroom teachers, principals, and researchers, has partnered with the non-profit Center for College and Career Readiness and MeTEOR Education to release a new book based on three years of field research. Whole: What Teachers Need to Help Students Thrive offers practical insight into the stresses of teaching and learning and recommends approaches that help students, parents, and educators cope and grow.
Recognizing the urgency of this subject for educators and families, the MindShift Collaborative is making chapter three—titled “Fear is the Off Switch”—available free of charge to educators. The full book is published by Jossey-Bass (a Wiley imprint) and will be available through major online booksellers worldwide.
Whole opens with a defining statement: “Education is a habitat for heroes.” The book examines how stress and fear move through learning environments, and why some schools in challenging neighborhoods thrive without heavy security measures while others struggle. Using case examples and frontline testimony from teachers and principals, the authors explore the conditions that allow schools to be safe, welcoming, and effective learning communities.
A recent national poll has highlighted teaching as one of the most stressful professions. Whole argues that schools need a new script—one that places relationships and social-emotional connection at the center of learning. Especially during the pandemic, when instruction moved online and many parents have taken on teaching roles at home, these relational practices are essential. The free chapter outlines strategies to reduce fear and stress so teachers and students can engage in meaningful learning.
Rex Miller, co-author of Whole, is a futurist and the creator of the MindShift process. He led fellow authors Kevin Baird, Bill Latham, and Michelle Kinder in the MindShift Collaborative. Over three years the group explored core questions about modern schooling and the supports teachers need to help students thrive:
- How can teachers be effective when their stress levels can rival those in other high-intensity professions?
- How does the connection between home and classroom shape the modern learning environment?
- With rising concerns about mental health and teacher retention, how can we better care for educators so they can better serve children?
The team that produced Whole includes classroom teachers, school leaders, university faculty, mental health professionals, parents, and learning environment specialists. They began by asking broad questions—“What is school?” and “Where is school failing?”—and used those conversations to surface practical solutions grounded in real classroom experience. The result is a book that combines research, practitioner wisdom, and actionable recommendations for educators and school leaders.
As remote learning became a central part of the national conversation, the perspectives gathered in Whole have proved timely. The book amplifies the voices of educators working in diverse settings and offers concrete guidance on creating environments that reduce fear and stress, strengthen social-emotional learning, and support both students and the adults who teach them.
“Today’s parents are experiencing at home many of the same forces that overwhelm teachers,” said Kevin Baird, co-author of Whole and chairman at the Center for College & Career Readiness. “From special needs supports to continuous distractions and rapidly shifting attention spans, the needs arriving at school often feel like triage. When we listen to teachers, they point to realistic, scalable solutions.”
Whole: What Teachers Need to Help Students Thrive is available through Hope.School, Habitats4Heroes, and booksellers around the world. Educators can download the free chapter “Fear is the Off Switch” or purchase the full book from major retailers.
For educators, school leaders, and parents seeking guidance on how to support learning during stressful times, Whole offers an evidence-informed, human-centered approach that prioritizes relationships, mental health, and practical classroom strategies.
About the MindShift Collaborative
Rex Miller’s MindShift process brings together experts from multiple disciplines to tackle complex, “wicked” problems in education. Miller’s work with large organizations has shown that breakthrough solutions often emerge from non-linear, creative collaboration. Building on earlier work, the MindShift Collaborative assembled educators and specialists to ask tough questions about why some schools succeed and others fail. The collaboration produced Whole: What Teachers Need to Help Students Thrive. Learn more about the MindShift Collaborative at Hope.School.
Media Contact
Jacob Hanson
PR with Panache!
[email protected]