Can We Transform the Spirit of Our Workers Through Holistic Education?

Abstract

This work is based on the notion that a paradigm needs to be created which facilitates the creation of sustainable communities; sustainable communities will in turn create a sustainable society and a sustainable world. In this work I am assuming sustainability is [an approach that] 'satisfies the needs of [a community] without diminishing the prospects for future generations' (Brown, 1981). Creating a sustainable community from fragmented, dysfunctional amalgam's we currently find requires a 'transformation of the software of our lives: our vision, our values, our principles, our habits of thought and behaviour, our human relations, and our preferred strategies for moving towards wellness and prosperity' (Bopp & Bopp, 2001, p.4). In order for this transformation to occur there needs to be a 'dissolution' and reorganisation of the constituent elements of any [dominant] system around a new organising principle, a new pattern of life' (Bopp & Bopp, 2001, p.37). This paper and the accompanying session will explore the role of education in creating sustainable communities for a sustainable future.