The Concept We Map: ACLR + Whole Child Strategy for Pre-Service Teacher Education Training

The demands of the 21st century necessitate a new approach to education. Therefore, a whole child approach to education is strategically intended to prepare students for the challenges and opportunities of today, tomorrow and beyond — college, career and citizenship. The ACRL framework is aptly suited to demonstratively help pre-service teachers seamlessly incorporate the overarching concept of inclusive excellence into lesson planning whilst using the whole child teaching strategy. As part of the collaboration, the teacher education faculty provides examples from actual concept map assessments used in an Educational Psychology course that when incorporated with the information literacy praxis demonstrates pre-service teacher content knowledge. On the basis of inclusive excellence from ideation to action, this central theme can be used to actively engage students in better understanding of a complex topic whilst addressing the comprehensive needs for long-term success of every child, regardless of ethnicity, racial identity, religious or cultural background, national origin, sex, age or creed. Intentionally big picture themes using concept maps for inclusive pedagogy can address the connective ACRL frames whilst fostering real-time collaboration, visual insight for practical application beyond the traditional classroom or zoom room.