Whole Person Learning
by Bryce Taylor

Whole Person Learning: what a wonderful-sounding phrase it is. How easily it resonates in a world where intuitively we know that something is amiss in terms of the mainstream approaches to education.
We sense that somehow the problem is much deeper and more profound than something which can be fixed through the societal equivalent of adjusting the headlights on the car in order to see the road ahead more clearly. Just take the world of business. How many people do any of us know who have left corporate life to forge their own future and then returned to the corporation because they find being an employee of a large enterprise a more wholesome and fulfilling existence?

It is easy to confuse the person with their individuality as tied together with the narrow concerns of their ego consciousness. And it is this confusion of the person with their personality that helps give rise to and reinforce the economic conditions that are a threat to both the planet itself and to our sustainable survival. It includes a narrowing of focus that brings everything down to the bottom line of desire. Attention is focussed upon the relentless pursuit of narrowly interpreted self interest - so often at odds with the deeper interests and wholeness of the person.

What others are saying about this book

Whole Person Learning by Bryce Taylor is a powerful work that attempts to bring forward fields of learning involved with both transformative and holistic education. It presents a closely argued and paradigmatically sophisticated understanding of learning models that makes the case for integral scholarship and practice across a whole range of subjects.   A work of considerable merit and acumen, it offers the reader a largesse in perspective that has both visionary and practical significance.

Edmund O'Sullivan, Transformative Learning Centre, University of Toronto.

Whole Person Learning is completely new to me but I love the values it encapsulates and believe we need to honour these values if we are to find a way through the crises humanity now faces.

Rt. Hon. Clare Short MP, House of Commons, UK.

In his latest book, Bryce Taylor addresses in a radical and uncompromising manner, grounded in long-standing and committed practice, a major issue at the leading edge of educational transformation - the integration of autonomy in learning and holism in learning. An important resource for educators with courage and vision.

John Heron, Co-director, South Pacific Centre for Human Inquiry, New Zealand.

Building on the earlier seminal work of Knowles, Heron, Senge and others, Bryce Taylor provides a new landmark on the edge of a new chapter for the human potentiality of learning. This book offers a comprehensive framework and set of skills for all teachers, tutors, facilitators and leaders who are preparing others for a world of complexity in which both the transpersonal dimension and our essential interconnectedness are embraced. We live in times of transition and change. This is a brave next step towards the emergence of co-creative solutions.

Janice Dolley, Executive Director, Wrekin Trust, formerly OU Lecturer.

For too long, we humans have pursued narrow goals of gain, oblivious to any environmental or social fall-out. The resulting social and environmental costs have risen to such enormous proportions that they can no longer be ignored. To deal with these consequences effectively, we need to acquire sight where we have been blind for so long. WPL offers a necessary means of tuning into oneself and the world, of raising an individuals sensitivity and receptivity so that we acquire the breadth and depth of vision we will need to deal with the challenges that our world now faces.

Anthony Sampson, CSR Specialist and Advisor, Chair UN Global Compact, UK.

This book is a must-read for any instructor who wonders if they are really preparing their students for the complex and nuanced challenges of todays world. But it is not for the faint of heart. For most instructors trained in traditional educational institutions, it will turn your world on its head. Its like looking down a well-known but washed-out mountain path. The village you are trying to reach is within sight, but the route is no longer viable. A new road must be built. The focus is on learning versus teaching, and on letting go versus being in charge. Learning begins with introspection and a realization of interdependence. Only when the instructor takes the Whole Person Learning journey themselves, can they guide others to the same path.

Peggy Cunningham, Marie Shantz Teaching Associate Professor, Queens School of Business, Queens University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada.

There are good books that demonstrate practice-related knowledge. Then there are interesting books that begin to make connections between one area and other areas of practice. And then there are really interesting books that make all those connections but which also make you look afresh at the subject area and how it is lived. Bryce Taylors book falls into that category. It is about Whole Person Learning in the context and experience of practice; as such, it is about empowering the learner in and through the learning relationship. Not only does this develop practice and related skills, it also develops qualities, the capacity to take responsibility for learning, and the capacity to develop significant meaning in and through professional practice. This is a ground- breaking book that offers a creative and mature response to the challenges to corporate and professional responsibility in the twenty-first century.

Simon Robinson, Professor of Applied and Professional Ethics, Leeds Metropolitan University, UK.

I think this book creates a compelling case for WPL as a radically (in todays training-oriented world) new approach. I would certainly commend WPL and this book in particular to anybody open-minded enough to be looking for new approaches to/a new experience in learning, which will make a difference in the future life of organisations.

Mike Hardy MD, Longhurst Housing Association, UK.

Whole Person Learning has a clear message: we, as human beings, each and everyone, have a personal operating system, largely composed by our individual beliefs acquired by previous experiences. If we learn to see   and also find ways to share and explore   those as we go, we may not only become fuller and richer to ourselves and therefore to others, we will also, I believe, be able to unlock much of the potential in todays work-place often built around professional teams. Whole Person Learning introduces us to the theories and practices that enable us to start to navigate in this fascinating landscape.  

Bjrn Larsson, CEO, The ForeSight Group, Sweden.

This book is the best and most sophisticated account I have read of the challenges facing those who seek to facilitate and support the learning of others, learning that has as its goal personal development, not simply the acquisition of knowledge and skills. The approach to Whole Person Learning that it sets out has an important part to play in the development of leaders able to act with authenticity in an increasingly chaotic world.   The book will be a valuable resource for those wishing and willing to think in new ways about the design of learning approaches for the leaders of the future.

Peter Stott, Executive Director of Strategy, Home Group, UK.

The chapters on the group dimension of Whole Person Learning make clear both the challenge of a commitment to this mode of learning and its rewards. To paraphrase St Augustine, we travel to wonder at the height of mountains, at the huge waves of the sea, (...) and pass by ourselves without wondering. This introduction to Whole Person Learning shows what is possible when we take time to wonder at ourselves.

Gill Tishler, CEO, YWCA England and Wales.

Learning for Tomorrow brings a depth of understanding and application to the holistic development of the person. It is an essential contribution which helps us come to grips with some of the challenging leadership questions facing contemporary society in preparing people for a world of complexity, uncertainty, new forms of innovation   and responsibility. We need this book and now it is here. Lets read, reflect, learn and take it further.

Anders Aspling, Gener