Holistic Learning Program

Our mission is to create space to:

• Help students understand their learning profiles, strengths, and challenges.
• Encourage students to feel empowered to learn by exploring technical and adaptive skills they need to align their abilities and their strategies for meeting their goals.
• Support students to shift from avoidant behaviors to advancing behaviors by unlearning bad habits and negative self-concepts, and replacing them with empowered strategies and trust in their community.
• Foster a sense of self-advocacy in students and foster a community of learners who value different types of abilities and normalizes the struggle we all experience.
• Embolden all Hampshire community members with the ability to navigate the world and all its communities with an ever-growing sense of self and intention.

Learn more about our philosophy and pedagogy.

We provide support around:

• Academic Tools and Strategies

  • Time Management: Building and organizing a schedule, daily routines, problem-solving procrastination, and productivity.
  • Learning Skills: Capturing information in the classroom (note-taking), processing that information (study skills), and manipulating ideas and information to meet the objectives of your courses (your academic process).

• Adaptive Skills

  • Learning Preferences: Assessment and strategies for playing to your strengths.
  • Habits: Understanding how they form and how to change them.
  • Goal Setting: How to set a goal, identify action items to work towards it, and problem-solve barriers.

Connect with the Holistic Learning Program

The Office of Accessibility Resources and Services (OARS) developed the Holistic Learning Program (HLP) with the goal of making coaching, resources, and programming available for all students, regardless of ability.

Share our program info by posting this in your residence hall or office door:

Download our flier

Schedule a meeting:

Can't make a drop-in? Call 413.559.6277 or email us oars@hampshire.edu

Email:

Send your questions to oars@hampshire.edu

What does coaching involve?

• Coaching involves working one-on-one with a staff member or peer mentor. It is non-clinical, is not therapy, and is not a replacement for those services.
• An initial meeting allows students to discuss their academic backgrounds and learn about HLP staff’s relevant knowledge and experience. We discuss what brings you into HLP and what the program offers.
  • Together we can establish a baseline understanding of which tools you are currently using, what you do well, and what your learning style and preferences are, or we can just dive into a specific question or issue you want to tackle.
  • From there, we determine what skills you are looking to develop and what methods you might use to explore your goals.
• HLP is designed to facilitate an iterative process. Different people need different amounts of time to try out tools and strategies, or process the last coaching session before coming back to workshop more skills. As a result, our program can be engaged with regularly or as needed.*
  • Staff can suggest small, incremental tweaks that add up to a substantial change over the semester, or students may benefit from meeting once regarding a particular tool, strategy, or problem.

*HLP is a small program in development with budding peer mentorship opportunities. At this time, coaching is available on a first-come-first served basis at drop-ins and scheduled appointments. Our peer mentors are trained Hampshire students looking to get more experience working with their peers. If there is not currently space to schedule a coaching session, we encourage you to come to drop-ins and view our resources online.

We look forward to expanding our services in the future with the development of a peer mentorship program. Please contact us if you are interested in becoming trained as a student mentor in the 2023 Fall academic semester.