Understanding Holistic Development and Wellness: Experiences and Perspectives of Filipino Student Leaders

This study focuses on how student leaders coming from different Philippine higher education institutions (HEIs) understand Holistic Development and Wellness based on their experiences and perspectives. Literature underscores the clear role of HEIs in ensuring the holistic development and wellness of the students, whose responsibility includes creating programs and policies that promote the development of students in different aspects. This responsibility is being shared with the members of the community like the administrators, teachers, and even with the students. Student leaders, especially the active student ones, are believed to play an active role in leading the implementation of programs and activities promoting holistic development and wellness. Given this, it is very crucial for them to understand the value of the two concepts as well as their role in ensuring that these permeate student life. This qualitative study thus utilizes narrative inquiry as a method and approach in documenting and analyzing the student leaders’ understanding of holistic development and wellness. Student leaders’ stories are captured after engaging in an interactive youth forum. Their narratives showed clear understanding of the concepts and regarded holistic development as being integrated with wellness that allows individuals reach their full potentials. Their experiences and perspectives as student leaders, data reveal, allowed them to propose to HEIs possible contributions and set action plans to ensure holistic development and wellness of students in their respective institutions. This understanding also allows them to reflect on the support that they will be needing from the members of the school community