The text “One Child” exposes Torey Hyden’s stance on educational goals. In the text, Torey visualizes education as a transformative tool for many people. The book’s portrayal of Sheila’s journey epitomizes Torey’s belief in essential skills: help Sheila overcome various challenges (Hayden, 2016). As such, While Torey believed in teaching academic skills, her main focus was more on the essential skills. Focusing on essential life skills with empathy exemplifies Torey’s quest to make education holistic and never only a custodian of academic learning. The paper thus, through detailed illustrations, reveals various assertions from the text that justify Torey’s belief in the essential skills.
First, Torey believes in addressing emotional trauma as a prerequisite step for stimulating a learning environment. When Torey’s student, Sheila, is faced with life challenges, such as neglect and abuse, she goes beyond the academic concerns to offer Sheila a shoulder to lean on. As Hayden (2016), it took her time to listen and advise Sheila accordingly, which was a vital tool for dealing with emotional difficulties. Through empathy and consistency, Torey created a nurturing and conducive environment that helped Sheila build resilience and cope with her emotional problems, too. As such, Torey’s interest in the emotional well-being of Sheila conforms with her belief in essential life skills that are key to the holistic development of a child.
Also, Torey’s belief in essential skills is shown through her ardent ambition to infuse practical skills in her teachings. The practical lessons with practical applications help boost critical thinking, problem-solving, and effective communication, which have far-reaching implications for the holistic well-being of a person (Kageyama, Zamudio, & Barton, 2022). For instance, Torey making children perform some garden work and take part in culinary made it possible for her to infuse teamwork and more importantly, prepare the learners to be responsible in their future endeavors. Therefore, the practical approaches Torey uses to justify the truth of her belief in the essential skills. The contemporary society requires more than just academic skills. Practical skills are thus essential in dealing with real-life challenges.
Alongside academic knowledge, Torey’s belief in the development of essential skills is evident in her recognition of the learning needs of every student. Through social interactions and proper communication with most students like Sheila, Torey demonstrated his understanding of the unique needs that every learner requires. As Kageyama et al. (2022) argue, offering individualized attention to students with distinct needs facilitates the effective address of their basic needs and, thus, effective learning. For example, having realized the distressful state of Sheila, Torey tries to offer alternative teaching methods that accommodate her needs. She adopts the use of the puppet “Peanut” as an individualized method of understanding Sheila’s condition (Hayden, 2016). Such an individualized approach justifies a non-traditional and empathetic approach, enhancing Torey’s concern for various essential skills like communication, emotional well-being, and building trust. Therefore, the argument seems true as it was impossible to easily understand Sheila, a student with severe emotional challenges and selective autism, without considering alternative teaching philosophies like the one adopted by Torey.
Finally, Torey expresses her strong belief in essential skills by inculcating the self-esteem concept in her learners. In the attempt to communicate with Sheila and help her build trust in him, Torey acknowledges and appreciates even the slightest achievement Sheila makes. Through effective communication and social interaction with the learners, Torey attempted to reinforce positive behaviors, which translated to positive implications as the learners became more confident in their actions. Moreover, as Kageyama et al. (2022) assert, self-confidence is an essential life skill for holistic development. In that regard, the book’s portrayal of Sheila overcoming her challenges and finally having the courage to express herself confidently justifies Torey’s ardent ambition, incorporating essential skills and academic concepts for a successful life.
In conclusion, the various examples from the text “One Child” epitomizes Torey’s belief in essential skills. The incorporation of practical, social, and emotional skills in the teaching-learning process helps supplement academic knowledge (Kageyama et al., 2022). In that regard, educators should prioritize the “essential skills” as a way of enhancing the holistic development of learners.
References
Hayden, T. L. (2016). One child: The true story of a tormented six-year-old and the brilliant teacher who reached out. William Morrow.
Kageyama, Y., Zamudio, S. Z., & Barton, M. (2022). Incorporation of simulation features to improve higher-order thinking skills. The International Journal of Management Education, 20(2), 100628.
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