During the first half of the 17th century, communities of merchants of Portuguese origin were the cause of acute anxieties and conspiracy theories that led to a series of targeted crackdowns conducted by the inquisitorial tribunals in Mexico, Peru, and New Granada (present-day Colombia). The merchants and their families were the descendants of Jews who had been compelled to convert to Christianity in the late 15th century, and they were suspected (rightly or wrongly) of continuing to secretly practice Judaism (or Judaize) even though they were baptized Christians. This fear of the spread of Crypto-Judaism by those known as New Christians or Conversos was supplemented by the anxiety that these merchant communities were secretly collaborating with enemies of the Habsburg monarchy to undermine the security of the Spanish Empire.

The aspiration for inclusive school environments is an international priority aligned with multiple Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). ILE with salutogenic design (a focus on physical and psychological health and well-being), can enable unique opportunities to foster inclusive educational practices that address the diverse needs of all learners. Critiques underscore how power relations, pedagogical choices, and material design intersect to shape whether ILE support inclusive teaching and learning or unintentionally exclude learners who do not fit dominant norms. Flexible, collaborative spaces, when poorly designed, can inadvertently marginalize certain students and reinforce exclusory practices.

ILE are central to contemporary education reform, particularly in compulsory schooling. Characterized by open layouts, integrated digital tools, and team-based pedagogies, ILE are often viewed as catalysts for collaboration and equitable learning (Page et al., 2021). Movable furniture, breakout zones, and digital platforms are intended to foster student agency. Yet, these same features can reflect normative assumptions about learners. As Willis et al. (2024) explain, “schools communicate messages to students through their physical spaces, including ideals about who was imagined as a student who would feel welcome and at home” (p. 1). When environments presume that all learners thrive in highly stimulating, visually open spaces, students who require quieter, structured, or low-sensory settings may be marginalized. It is therefore important to design a range of spaces for students who may need opportunities to reset away from others.

Learner agency involves the capacity of students to initiate, direct, and transform their own educational experiences. In ILE, agency emerges through multiple, intertwined dimensions that shape how teachers and learners engage in flexible, technology-rich schooling contexts. Student agency can be understood as the capacity to engage with, shape, and be shaped by socio-material engagements in educational settings. Tensions exist around devolving power to students and the demands of standardized curricula. However, when effectively acknowledged and cultivated in ILE, student agency can transform relationships, support inclusive pedagogies, enable engagement with learning, and reconfigure traditional power relationships.

ILE have been linked with the demands of an unknown future and the need for “21st century learners” to be flexible and use their initiative when faced with uncertainty (Charteris et al., 2022). ILE can be used to foster diverse modes of learning, often through high degrees of flexibility with reconfigurable spaces, moveable furniture, and integrated digital tools. Depending on how the concept of ILE is interpreted, there can be a focus on maximized student engagement, collaboration, and initiative. Student agency has gained prominence as teachers look for ways to involve students actively in decisions about what, how, and where learning happens.

This article examines how an ecological approach to education can enable student-led practices that strengthen school connectedness. This qualitative case study illustrates how school connectedness and student agency can be realised when educational practice is ecologically embedded within community systems. School connectedness is rooted in shared responsibility, empathy, and real-world engagement. Data from five semi-structured interviews were analysed, revealing how students in one Canadian school took the initiative to prevent the closure of a local aged care home. By orchestrating fundraising events, forging relationships with community businesses, and offering direct support to vulnerable residents, students demonstrated the transformative impact of their engagement on community well-being. These findings highlight how school connectedness flourishes when anchored in an ecological framework that transcends traditional school boundaries. The case develops ‘eco-community connectedness’ as a conceptual proposition for understanding connectedness as a dynamic, participatory and multi-level practice. The article concludes with a practical tool, an ‘Eco-Community Connectedness Framework’ that supports educators to consider how teaching practices, relationships and institutional conditions can enable student agency and connectedness across school-community ecologies.