The current ecological crisis is the consequence of entrenched attitudes, discourses and behaviours in human societies worldwide, fostered and reinforced through modern educational traditions, processes and institutions. This book envisions a radical transformation of education to focus on the mutual flourishing of human societies with the rest of life on Earth. In part, the authors suggest approaching this as a problem of systemic design, incorporating principles that challenge and undermine key premises of the Capitalocene—the socio-economic-political landscape sustaining the current educational regime. Tracing the implications of this transition, they review core assumptions of modern Western culture that need to shift, and identify a wide range of relevant capacities and practices grouped under four complementary educator “stances” for eco-social-cultural change.
The eco-catastrophes that we are witnessing today starkly demonstrate how the interests of the Earth's currently dominant species are in lockstep with those of nature's wider whole. Simply stated, humans and the more-than-human world have a shared fate. Just as humanity's unrestrained overreach in the ecosphere is driving a mass extinction event and causing the devastation of lifeforms and places, so it is also jeopardizing the prospect of a human future worth living. There is no "humans versus nature" tradeoff: the wellbeing of both is inseparably entwined. Solutions to the shared predicament of all Earth's beings will thus necessarily be those that strive for harmony between human presence and the rest of nature. This applies to the philosophy we adopt for agriculture, the ways in which human economies operate, our patterns of consumption, and numerous other intertwined threads of our existence. This anthology argues that harmony between humanity and our home planet must be built on the pillars of restraint, respect, and reverence.
This book focuses on ecosocial work within the context of community practice. It aims to provide insights on understanding key issues, concepts and debates surrounding the mainstreaming of ecosocial work for sustainable community development. Divided into three parts, the first part of the book focuses on ecosocial work and ecosocial change around water, the ecology of coastal communities experiencing climate change, and environmental degradation. The second part includes chapters on ecosocial change and community practice in other kinds of bioregions. Finally, the third part primarily focuses on pedagogical approaches for teaching ecosocial work. This book was originally published as a special issue of the Journal of Community Practice.
In the face of our planet's escalating environmental crisis and climate change, humanity stands at a crossroads, urgently requiring a transformative response. The task of averting environmental destruction necessitates not only a shift in our economy and technology but, more fundamentally, a profound cultural transformation. This imperative transformation involves a collective move from the self-centered "Ego" to an ecologically conscious "Eco." To unravel the complexities of this metamorphosis, scholars are turning to the potent tool of environmental education, recognized for its capacity to foster personal and social growth while promoting environmental conservation. Enter Fostering an Ecological Shift Through Effective Environmental Education, a groundbreaking exploration into the transformative power of education in the pursuit of sustainable change. As readers embark on this scholarly journey, the book reveals the profound psychological connection to nature achievable through environmental education. It scrutinizes the connection between heightened nature awareness and the adoption of sustainable practices, providing valuable insights for educators at various levels. The chapters traverse diverse topics, from the historical roots of environmental education to the role of indigenous knowledge, yoga, and eco-spirituality within nature education. The book's comprehensive approach extends to eco-therapy, forest school programs, and the influence of parents in environmental education. By scrutinizing case studies and global movements, this work illuminates the achievements and challenges of environmental education on both national and global scales.
Ecologizing Education explores how we can reenvision education to meet the demands of an unjust and rapidly changing world. Going beyond "green" schooling programs that aim only to shape behavior, Sean Blenkinsop and Estella Kuchta advance a pedagogical approach that seeks to instills eco-conscious and socially just change at the cultural level. Ecologizing education, as this approach is called, involves identifying and working to overcome anti-ecological features of contemporary education. This approach, called ecologizing education, aims to develop a classroom culture in sync with the more-than-human world where diversity and interdependency are intrinsic. Blenkinsop and Kuchta illustrate this educational paradigm shift through the real-world stories of two public elementary schools located in British Columbia. They show that this approach to learning starts with recognizing the environmental and social injustices that pervade our industrialized societies. By documenting how ecologizing education helps children create new relationships with the natural world and move toward mutual healing, Blenkinsop and Kuchta offer a roadmap for what may be the most potent chance we have at meaningful change in the face of myriad climate crises. Timely, practical, and ultimately inspirational, Ecologizing Education is vital reading for any parent, caregiver, environmentalist, or educator looking for wholistic education that places nature and the environment front and center.
Generic institutionalism offers a new perspective on institutional economic change within an evolutionary framework. The institutional landscape shapes the social fabric and economic organization in manifold ways. The book elaborates on the ubiquity of such institutional forms with regards to their emergence, durability and exit in social agency-structure relations. Thereby institutions are considered as social learning environments changing the knowledge base of the economy along generic rule-sets in non-nomological ways from within. Specific attention is given to a theoretical structuring of the topic in ontology, heuristics and methodology. Part I introduces a generic naturalistic ontology by comparing prevalent ontological claims in evolutionary economics and preparing them for a broader pluralist and interdisciplinary discourse. Part II reconsiders these ontological claims and confronts it with prevalent heuristics, conceptualizations and projections of institutional change. In this respect the book revisits the institutional economic thought of Thorstein Veblen, Friedrich August von Hayek, Joseph Alois Schumpeter and Pierre Bourdieu. A synthesis is suggested in an application of the generic rule-based approach. Part III discusses the implementation of rule-based bottom-up models of institutional change and provides a basic prototype agent-based computational simulation. The evolution of power relations plays an important role in the programming of real-life communication networks. This notion characterizes the discussed policy realms (Part IV) of ecological and financial sustainability as tremendously complex areas of institutional change in political economy, leading to the concluding topic of democracy in practice. The novelty of this approach is given by its modular theoretical structure. It turns out that institutional change is carried substantially by affective social orders in contrast to rational orders as communicated in orthodox economic realms. The characteristics of affective orders are derived theoretically from intersections between ontology and heuristics, where interdependencies between instinct, cognition, rationality, reason, social practice, habit, routine or disposition are essential for the embodiment of knowledge. This kind of research indicates new generic directions to study social learning in particular and institutional evolution in general.
This Handbook examines the impetus for the development, growth, and relevance of social work as a profession in different political, social, and cultural contexts. Contributions align with overarching contemporary themes such as changing governance structures around the world; digitalization and globalization; and decolonization. The book is also in line with the advancement of global agendas for social work and social development led by the IASSW, ICSW & IFSW. This contemporary text engages comprehensively with diverse political systems across the world and explores the interactions with, and implications for social work policy, practice, and education in these countries and globally.
This comprehensive book provides a theoretical understanding of how imagination contributes to effective leadership, as well as practical tools all educational leaders can employ to cultivate their imaginations and the imaginations of others in their communities. To support these goals, book chapters offer multiple perspectives on what imagination is, why it is essential for educational leaders, and how it can be developed. Contributions by leadership scholars and school-based leaders are organized around three themes: exploring possibilities, poetics of memory, and imagination’s role in social justice and equity. Each section opens with a leadership story that shows how a school leader developed and used imagination to create solutions to real problems. Contributors to this volume were invited to read each otherÕs work and share their questions and thoughts. This work can now be used by individuals or within formal or informal learning communities to expand, deepen and, apply concepts. Expanding on Kieran EganÕs theory of Imaginative Education, this book will help current and future leaders employ imagination to make sense of and address the day-to-day challenges they encounter. Book Features: Brings together empirical and conceptual research on imagination’s varied roles in educational leadership.Provides practical strategies and implementable techniques for cultivating leadership imagination. Demonstrates what cognitive tools all leaders can use to deepen their understanding of issues, to emotionally and imaginatively engage their school communities, and to support equity, diversity, and inclusion.Offers easy-to-use activities and guidelines for applying imagination to key leadership processes and practices. Includes “Cultivating Curiosity, Conversation, and Imagination” sections at the end of chapters to stimulate individual reflection and collaborative discussion. Contributors: Laurie Anderson, Sean Blenkinsop, Lori Driussi, Lynn Fels, Mark Fettes, James W. Koschoreck, Dan Laitsch, Craig Mah, Jessica Masterson, Moraimo Machado, Sarah Pazur, Rose Pillay, Tara Preston, Courtney Robertson, Jonathan Sclater, Karen Steffensen, Katie Strom, Zachary D. Thomas, and Kara Mitchell Viesca.
