The Living School: The Emergence of a Transformative Sustainability Education Paradigm

Education, as it was initially organized in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, was designed to meet very different challenges than those we face today. There have been many efforts to shift education to address new contexts that result from societal transformation. There have also been international initiatives in response to interconnected global issues that impact ecological systems, the viability of economies and communities and the health and well-being of people. This article offers a perspective that aligns with Hopkins’ (2013) view that the repurposing of education must reflect a vision that contributes to well-being for all—individually, collectively and for the ‘other than human’ life on our planet. As part of an emerging transformative sustainability education paradigm, this article offers a philosophical framework and points to certain theoretical and practical dimensions for what the authors are framing as the Living School concept.