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THE SCHOOL WELLNESS WHEEL
be transparent to teachers, administrators, school staff, parents and guardians, and most importantly, students. Educators should articulate such goals as proficiency scales and address traditional academic content as well as cognitive and metacognitive skills. 3. A culture of learning: The way students think about themselves as learners and how they choose to process the content they are learning are both within their purview of influence if they are willing to develop mindfulness skills. A culture of learning makes students conscious of the fact that effective learning is an active process over which they have some control. To aid in this process, schools should develop ways of assessing students that let them know their precise level of competence at any given moment on any given topic and what they might do to increase their competence. 4. A culture of connection: Not surprisingly, this involves developing empathy and building community. It also involves addressing a very interesting construct the authors refer to as co-regulation. 5. A culture of empowerment: This culture involves offering voice and choice to students. However, this should be done using a gradual release model, where students obtain more control and autonomy as they develop the requisite skills in these areas. Empowerment also involves fostering high expectations for all students. Ultimately, these activities serve to promote student agency. 6. A culture of humanity: Strategies in this area are designed to draw students’ attention to the common issues that affect all humankind through the use of trauma-responsive consequences. The basic purpose of this cultural focus is to heighten students’ awareness of the human condition, including the frailties and travails all humans must face and address. One of the more powerful aspects of the book is that the authors provide readers with a proficiency scale for each cultural focus. The scales allow schools to determine their current level of implementation with the constructs for each area of cultural emphasis and determine what they must do next to increase their level of implementation. Finally, the authors offer readers a variety of options for implementing the school wellness wheel. This book is sure to offer educators perspectives and strategies they have never encountered before—perspectives and strategies that can foster a true paradigm shift in K–12 education. Robert J. Marzano is the chief academic officer and cofounder of Marzano Resources.
