Humanity is in a tight race between planetary catastrophe and enlightenment. It is not clear which will prevail. The old paradigm, that of materialism, individualism, and fierce competition, is failing at all levels--economic, social, political, and environmental--and bringing life as we know it to the edge of a precipice. At the same time, a…

The main goal of this article is to explain the transdisciplinary training model developed at the National University of Education (UNAE) in Ecuador, based on the ancestral worldviews of "Buen Vivir" (Good Living). "Good Living" is a philosophical and political concept of the Kichwa indigenous peoples in the Andean Region,…

It has been charged that transformative learning theory is stagnating; however, theoretical insights from relational ontologies offer significant possibilities for revitalizing the field. Quantum physics has led to a deep revision in our understanding of the universe moving away from the materialism and mechanism of classical physics. Some…

Scholars disagree about the implications of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's Calls to Action for history educators and curriculum developers. Some scholars contend that responding to these Calls to Action requires rejecting the discipline of history and historical thinking approaches currently being implemented in history and social…

As a discipline, international education focuses on developing an international consciousness. There are moral and ethical, as well as pragmatic, consequences of the development of an international consciousness: In terms of ethics and morality, international education inculcates positive attitudes towards international understanding and global…

This paper proposes a discourse-based approach to the language documentation of local ecological knowledge (LEK). The knowledge, skills, beliefs, cultural worldviews, and ideologies that shape the way a community interacts with its environment can be examined through the discourse in which LEK emerges. 'Discourse-based' refers to two components:…

This paper explores how to practice posthumanism in everyday life. This idea has increasingly come under scrutiny by posthumanist theorists, who are addressing fundamental ontological and epistemological questions in regard to defining an essential "human," as well as the elastic boundary work between the human and nonhuman subject.…

In order for teacher education programs to act as significant scaffolds in supporting new teachers to become informed, creative and innovative members of a highly complex and valuable profession, we need to re-imagine ways in which teacher education programs operate. We need to re-imagine how courses are conceptualized and connected, how learning…

How can educational research have more impact? What processes of knowledge exchange are most effective for increasing the uses of research results? How can research-produced knowledge be better "mobilized" among users such as practicing educators, policy makers, and the public communities? These sorts of questions are commanding urgent…

This article focuses on the need for universities as teaching and research organisations, to recognise and act upon a more culturally inclusive interpretation of "sustainable development" and "sustainability". It argues for the valuing of indigenous worldviews as a means of achieving a more holistic and interdisciplinary way of thinking about the…

Although rich in theoretical constructs, American Indian Studies is not considered a discipline because it lacks a core assumption or paradigm. The concept of peoplehood could be that core assumption because its elements--language, sacred history, religion, and land--make up a complete system that accounts for particular behaviors of people…

Every component of traditional indigenous life is influenced by the natural world, but indigenous studies programs exclude the natural sciences. To wrest indigenous studies programs from the Eurocentric worldview of the typical American university, the natural sciences should be incorporated into what must necessarily be an integrated,…

Indigenous peoples throughout the world have sustained their unique world views and associated knowledge systems for millennia. Many core values, beliefs, and practices associated with those world views have an adaptive integrity that is as valid today as in the past. However, traditional educational processes to transmit indigenous beliefs and…

An Australian national survey of 10,019 primary and secondary teachers suggested that preparation in Indigenous Australian studies held the lowest ranking of national priority items. In addition, a national qualitative study identified inadequacies in teacher preparation for teaching Indigenous Australian studies, especially in secondary schools.…