Educating for Comprehensive Well-being

Purpose: Educational approaches that advocate “well-being,” the “whole child,” “social and emotional learning,” “character,” and the like emphasize human development beyond the acquisition of knowledge and skills. These approaches vary widely in their views of human nature, their visions of a good life, and their prescriptions for educational practice. This article maps out heterogeneous contemporary approaches to “well-being” and related constructs, thereby allowing researchers, educators, and policymakers to understand the divergent assumptions made by the proliferating approaches to education that go beyond academics. Design/Approach/Methods: This article presents results from a 2-year project, which included interviews with advocates of different approaches and review of key literature about eleven educational approaches to “well-being,” the “whole child,” “social and emotional learning,” “character,” and similar noncognitive ends. Findings: The article argues that any educational approach to “well-being” and related constructs must respond to four questions: whether humans are bundles of discrete competencies or integrated wholes, what the appropriate relation is between individuals and society, the relative importance of instrumental and intrinsic goals, and the importance of an overarching purpose for one’s life. The analysis reviews how eleven contemporary approaches address these four questions. Originality/Value: Despite the global proliferation of divergent approaches to “well-being,” the “whole child,” “social and emotional learning,” “character,” and related constructs in education, there are no comprehensive frameworks for understanding the alternatives and their key assumptions. This article organizes the globally proliferating educational movements that promote “well-being,” making sense of a confusing set of alternatives. We also argue that any comprehensive approach to education that goes beyond academics must consider the four questions that we identify.

Ecophilosophical Principles for an Ecocentric Environmental Education

As environmental slogans have been permeating the social imaginary and permeating the conceptual and axiological dimensions of the different educational currents, Environmental Education has been prompted to define its own specific nature in contrast to the supposedly more integrative educational movements. In contrast to the historical or meta-theoretical strategies of specification and foundation of environmental education, we propose the establishment of some principles derived from genuinely ecological and ecocentric environmental philosophies; the ecophilosophies. This work reviews—in a conciliatory framework and with a pedagogical interest in mind—the most significant contributions of land ethics, deep ecology, social ecology, ecofeminism and the change of paradigm ecologies. The result is a set of facets, key categories and features that offer an integrated and synoptic view of how Ecocentric Environmental Education (EEE) could be based on ecophilosophical principles. In addition, the contrasting features that define those non-ecocentric perspectives of Environmental Education are proposed, and a deconstructive transition of these in alliance with another reconstructive ecophilosophical feature is suggested as the central intention of the Environmental Education methodology. Finally, the value of the theoretical proposal is defended as a foundation and framework for future pedagogical specifications and methodological developments.

Continuity of university education as a resource of regional university transitivity

The article is devoted to revealing the resources of transitive changes of a regional university as a “node” of inter-territorial and inter-level educational movements. The factors of continuity of transition between the Bachelor’s and Master’s education levels as a resource for educational transit of students are discussed. This student transit resource should be used for transitive changes in a regional university in response to global trends in the demand for “lifelong education” and the need to reduce the intensity of interregional educational migration. The article defines the functions of lifelong education as a resource for the transitivity of a regional university, proposes management and organizational measures for maintaining and improving the educational programs of master’s programs at regional universities, and substantiates their socio-economic efficiency.

Education Movements and William Wordsworth

The seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries experienced major educational movements, including orthodox religious formalism and rationalistic formalism of the Enlightenment. Toward the end of the latter century, however, naturalist and individualist views of education began to counter formalism, inspired by poets and philosophers like William Wordsworth and Jean Jacques Rousseau. This article focuses on Wordsworth's poetry to show how his philosophy of moral and spiritual development of the individual helped to establish faith in Nature as a basis of moral guidance of education. Wordsworth believed that education is a process of natural growth of the student, and the teacher, like a gardener, should be a watchful guide on the side, not a sage on the stage. The child, engaged in real life situations and exposed to good role models, comes to understand the need for sharing, kindness, honesty, diligence, loyalty, courage, and other virtues. The article concludes by showing the value of the above philosophy for our time. In the 21st century, the business world of global capitalism threatens to reduce humanity to mere products or commodities and knowledge has become a mere market entity. Under these circumstances, William naturalistic philosophy of education can strengthen education against the capitalist threat.

Thinking About Learning – Inferences from How We Support Curriculum Design

Over the past 40 years there has been the development of well-structured workshops and educational movements to aid faculty members’ teaching development. The present study is a reflective analysis of a set of five well-established teaching development initiatives with the hope of inferring how engineering educators collectively think about students’ learning.The content of the initiatives is organized into two broad groups: teaching strategies and characteristics and attributes of student learning. Analysis shows that all of these initiatives emphasize teaching strategies and put much less emphasis on developing understanding of student learning beyond emphasizing two broad general principles on student learning: teaching should be student-learning centred, and learning for mastery requires purposeful active intellectual effort. However, beyond this there is little attention given to aligning teaching strategies with the cognitive mechanics occurring during learning. These initiatives seem to imply that faculty members should teach with a primary focus on student learning but that the details of the learning mechanics are of lesser concern in planning and delivering our courses.This analysis leads to the open question: “Would a better understanding of the cognitive mechanisms involved in learning allow educators to better align teaching strategies with the needs of student learning and to adapt to evolving student characteristics?

Semillas y caminos para la educación latinoamericana en tiempos de incertidumbre

En América Latina vivimos un quiebre en las tendencias de los procesos políticos y sociales de cambio que venían desenvolviéndose en la primera década y media del presente siglo. En este contexto de incertidumbre, las sociedades se encuentran en la encrucijada ante las vías posibles que se abren a la educación: ¿igualdad, inclusión o competitividad para el mercado? Este artículo pasa revista por algunas importantes resignifi caciones planteadas a la educación en las últimas décadas por diversos movimientos sociales y educativos en América Latina, en el escenario de transformaciones sociales y políticas en que algunos Estados contribuyeron a la revitalización de la educación pública como un derecho humano. Nuevas generaciones exigen la educación como derecho y no quieren más educación como lucro. Pueblos indígenas proponen otros sentidos de la educación dentro del paradigma del Buen Vivir (Sumak Kawsay) o Vivir Bien (Suma Qamaña), buscan posicionar un nuevo signifi cado de la vida, en el horizonte de una nueva espiritualidad y convivencia. Estas alternativas ofrecen señales de posibles caminos frente al oscurecimiento humano que presenciamos actualmente.Palabras clave: Sentidos de la educación. Alternativas al desarrollo. Pertinencia cultural. Sementes e estradas para a educação latino-americana em tempos de incertezaRESUMONa América Latina vivemos uma ruptura nas tendências dos processos políticos e sociais de mudança que se desdobraram na primeira década e meia deste século. Nesse contexto de incerteza, as sociedades estão na encruzilhada diante de possíveis caminhos abertos à educação: igualdade, inclusão ou competitividade para o mercado? Este artigo analisa algumas ressignificações importantes da educação nas últimas décadas por diversos movimentos sociais e educacionais da América Latina, no cenário de transformações sociais e políticas em que alguns Estados contribuíram para a revitalização da educação pública como direito humano. As novas gerações exigem educação como um direito e não querem mais educação como lucro. Os povos indígenas propõem outras formas de educação dentro do paradigma do bem viver (Sumak Kawsay) ou segundo Living Well (Suma Qamaña) buscar um novo sentido da vida, no horizonte de uma nova espiritualidade e convívio. Essas alternativas oferecem sinais de possíveis caminhos contrários ao obscurecimento humano que estamos testemunhando atualmente.Palavras-chave: Sentidos da educação. Alternativas ao desenvolvimento. Relevância cultural. Seeds and roads for Latin American education in times of uncertaintyABSTRACTIn Latin America we have lived a break in the trends of the political and social processes of change that had been unfolding in the fi rst decade and a half of this century. In this context of uncertainty, societies are at the crossroads before the possible paths open to education: equality, inclusion or competitiveness for the market? This article reviews some important resignifi cations of education in recent decades by various social and educational movements in Latin America, in the scenario of social and political transformations where some States contributed to the revitalization of public education as a human right. New generations demand education as a right, they do not want more education as a profi t. Indigenous peoples propose other meanings of education within the paradigm of Good Living (Sumak Kawsay) or Living Well (Suma Qamaña), seeking to position a new meaning of life, on the horizon of a new spirituality and coexistence. These alternatives off er signs of possible paths against the human obscuration that we are witnessing today.Keywords: Senses of education. Alternatives to development. Cultural relevance.