Holistic teaching is grounded on the philosophy that a person's education is not distinct from her work, play, and personal lives. The person is always a whole--hence the term "holistic." It is with this in mind that holistic teaching seeks to reach out to every aspect of human life. Only by approaching the diverse ways in which a person lives can the teacher effectively foster the person's development. Consequently, the holistic teacher is trained not merely in academic subjects, but a broad range of interpersonal skills, including empathetic development, relationships between pedagogy and compassion, and extracurricular integration.
Teachers who apply the holistic method must be deeply aware of the psychological effects of everything they do. Psychological compartmentalization of subjects and environments, such as the home and the classroom, is discouraged. Holistic teaching perceives that learning a subject, mathematics for instance, does not simply effect a student's mathematical ability, but his whole life. Likewise, a student's maturity, friendships, and relationships with teachers, parents, and siblings are all intrinsically linked with his ability to learn. Those trained for holistic teaching, regardless of whether or not they have a particular focus, are almost universally required to study various aspects of psychology related to their target student groups.
Interdisciplinary integration is a key component of the holistic approach to teaching. Language arts, history, mathematics, social studies and sciences, the core components of primary and secondary education in the Western world, are seamlessly blended together. Holistic teachers are trained to see and represent to students the integration of diverse topics; as such, they themselves are trained to understand the basics of subjects outside their specialties. In most schools or environments where holistic education is applied, arts integration plays a key role in curricula. For instance, history courses frequently cover the history of arts such as dance or sculpture, and mathematics are frequently applied to musical composition and performance.
A vital part of the holistic approach to teaching is the fostering of good personal relationships. The teacher-student interaction goes beyond that of a mere educator-learner dialog. Rather, the teacher is taught to take an interest in the personal well-being of the student, including her family life, friendships, and relationships with others in the school. This enables the teacher to better understand the influences that exert themselves on the student's abilities to learn, focus, and the motives they have to succeed.
Conventional educational approaches in the West focus on teachers emphasizing high scores; naturally, this develops into competitive behavior, where those with the highest scores are rewarded in various ways. In stark contrast to this, holistic teachers are taught to emphasize the benefits of cooperative behavior in the classroom; through interdisciplinary and personal integrations, each student learns to value the talents and contributions of others. The educational process becomes about creative productivity, rather than aiming for the highest possible score.