This book brings together, under the term "whole learning," ideas from the language-arts-based whole language movement and work in middle schools with multidisciplinary, problem-centered, integrative approaches. The book contains 15 chapters, most written by teachers about their experiences with implementing whole learning curricula. The introductory section contains two chapters: (1) "Origin and Development of the Book" and (2) "Whole Learning and a Holistic Vision of the Middle School: Principles That Guide Practice" (Pace). Chapters in part 1 reflect in some way on teaching as a learning process: (1) On the Joys and Strains of Becoming" (Gillespie); (2) "Making It Your Own: Whole Language in the Middle School" (Burke-Hengen); and (3) "'Tracks in the Snow': Learning from Response Logs in Reading and Writing Workshops" (Christian). Chapters in part 2 demonstrate how teachers can create whole learning environments in different organizational structures and stresses the importance of administrative support: (1) "Hooked on History: A Cooperative Approach to Integrating History and Language Arts at the Middle School Level" (Jellum); (2) "Middle School English Classes: Workshop Revisited" (Russell); (3) "Integrating Curriculum in a Self-Contained Middle School Classroom: Teacher Innovation and the Impact of Administrative Support" (Wells); and (4) "Pushing the Boundaries in a Traditional Middle School Environment: A School-within-a-School" (Moss). Chapters in part 3, coauthored by middle school teachers and college or university teacher educators, demonstrate the importance of collaboration to innovative teaching: (1) "A Learning Journey: Exploring Teaching and Learning in the Middle School Language Arts Classroom" (Cousin and Aragon); (2) "Looking Back, Looking Forward: A Science Teacher Incorporates Whole Language" (Mauney and others); (3) "Above the Tree Line: Collaborative Curriculum Construction" (Bergstrom and others); (4) "Reforming Middle School Mathematics Constructively" (Ault and McEnerny-Ogle); and (5) "Embarking on Adventure: An Invitation to Middle School Science" (Ault and Maine). The concluding chapter explores the motivations of teachers who choose the whole learning approach: "Taking the Leap: An Analysis of the Joys and Strains" (Bergstrom and Pace). (EV)