Perspectives on holistic education, which encompasses a comprehensive view of the student and concern with the totality of factors that affect the student's education and life, are considered. Based on the view that there is an intimate link between cognitive and affective development, the holistic approach advocates that educational institutions should be intellectually and emotionally nourishing. It is suggested that an integrated, holistic approach to basic skills instruction (i.e., all courses teach reading and thinking and listening) may: provide more opportunities for systematically developing skills, facilitate internalization of these skills within the student's psychological framework, and enable utilization of these skills in a broader range of contexts. Developing intellectual skills through content courses is a defining characteristic of holistic education. Whether through multidisciplinary courses or separate content courses, cognitive skills should be taught across the curriculum. In addition, through a multidisciplinary focus, students may obtain a clearer understanding of the different contributions of the various disciplines as well as obtain a greater appreciation of the complexity of the material they are studying. It is suggested that presenting material across modalities (e.g., visual, auditory) and in a variety of ways within modalities (e.g., visual, pictoral, written) can be beneficial. The educational context includes the immediate environment in which education occurs, the home, the workplace, and the broader community, society and world. The holistic approach should start by preschool and continue throughout graduate school. (SW)