Educating for Human, Community, and Ecological Flourishing

Carolin Kreber is a Professor of Education at Cape Breton University. She previously held academic appointments at the University of Alberta and the University of Edinburgh. After serving a five‑year term as Dean at CBU, she joined the Faculty of Education and now teaches primarily in the MEd Sustainability, Creativity and Innovation program. Earlier publications include Authenticity in and through Teaching, Educating for Civic Mindedness, The University and its Disciplines (all with Routledge), Advances and Innovations in University Assessment and Feedback (Edinburgh UP), several New Directions (Wiley/Jossey-Bass) volumes and numerous journal articles.

Given the reality of the global justice crises, social and ecological, I am convinced that part of the response will involve opening the space for humans, particularly the modern western version, to be differently. And I am sure that will require putting education at the centre of the transformation. With this book Carolin Kreber gathers Bildung – with its historical starting point of educating in order to be human differently – and lifts it elegantly into today’s world. This is a well-theorized radical book anchored with real world practices. Add in the important and accessible ‘nine vital capabilities’ and there is an inspiring sense of possibility as well. As Kreber makes clear in these rich and timely examples, we have options in and for higher education, so … how about we exercise them?Sean Blenkinsop, professor, Simon Fraser University

• Part One: Reframing Bildung and Capability Chapter One: Key issues and concepts: A ‘good’ higher education for our age? Carolin KreberChapter Two: Capabilities and education Carolin KreberChapter Three: Capabilities and the non-human worldCarolin KreberChapter Four: A (posthuman) ‘Bildung’ that affords ‘capability of all’Carolin KreberInterlude I Why we need to talk about (posthuman) Bildung: Deepening and politicizing the discourse on higher education pedagogyCarolin KreberPart Two: Connecting Bildung and Capability with InquiryChapter Five: Enabling ‘Bildung-Capabilities’ through transformative inquiry Carolin KreberChapter Six: Supporting human flourishingCarolin KreberChapter Seven: Encouraging community flourishing Carolin KreberChapter Eight: Contributing to ecological flourishing Carolin KreberChapter Nine: Navigating inquiry, integrity and Gen AI Carolin KreberInterlude II From theory to practice: Contextualizing the case studiesCarolin KreberPart Three: Pedagogies of Inquiry--Enabling posthuman ‘Bildung-capabilities’ Chapter Ten: Layers of relational inquiry into ‘Nature and Outdoor Learning’ Carrie KarsgaardChapter Eleven: Pedagogies of inquiry in global citizenship Terry GibbsChapter Twelve: “Two-Eyed Seeing” and Learning: Indigenous Arts from Unama’ki to Aotearoa Leim Joe, Marcia Ostashewski, Laurianne Sylvester and Brian DiettrichChapter Thirteen: Philosophy meets urban planning: A topic for cultivating non-technocratic discourse and hope James GerrieChapter Fourteen: Understanding social and ecological (in)justice by examining our relationship with other animalsTracey HarrisChapter Fifteen: Pedagogies of inquiry in Community Studies: Connecting practices of experiential learning and social justice Jan HancockChapter Sixteen: (Re)evaluating Priorities, Promoting Inquiry: Reading Gareth Edwards’ Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016) Tom UeChapter Seventeen: Listening as Inquiry: Sounding Place, Shaping Purpose Tracey MacNeilChapter Eighteen: The MBA in Community Economic Development: A Site of Transformative Inquiry Kate Linden and Mary-Beth DoucetteChapter Nineteen: Teaching Geosciences in an entangled world Edward Matheson and Jason LoxtonChapter Twenty: Building towards ‘Bildung’: Developing capabilities in a first-year English course Sheila ChristieChapter Twenty-One: Conclusion: A new trajectory towards alternative futures through education Carolin KreberReferences