The social and moral ecology of education for flourishing

Abstract

ABSTRACT Educational institutions exist in reciprocal relations with broader social and moral ecologies. These ecologies involve interactions of networks of individuals and groups with wider aspects of culture, and are therefore broadly social, and they contain explicit or implicit content with regard to right and wrong, and are therefore moral. There is growing recognition that educational institutions could do more to promote full flourishing for students, teachers, staff, society, and planet, but there has been relatively little attention to the role played by such social and moral ecologies in fostering this desired change. This paper argues that ecosystem stewards can inspire and lead educational institutions in this direction by loving more fully into being a cultural climate that promotes morally good forms of ecosystem-wide flourishing. This includes an exploration of a systems perspective in order to encourage a more intentional and skillful integration of healthy social and moral influences.