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1 – 10 of over 20000The paper's aim is to explore the connection between individual worldviews, called ecological selves, and organizational change, which allows people to create the conditions to…
Abstract
Purpose
The paper's aim is to explore the connection between individual worldviews, called ecological selves, and organizational change, which allows people to create the conditions to confront the global environmental challenges they face as a species.
Design/methodology/approach
The essay is a conceptual one, with reference to a small qualitative interview study conducted to explore the idea of ecological selves with organizational leaders.
Findings
The findings reveal the existence of several different ecological selves in organizational life; they also suggest fruitful avenues for further research and ongoing practice. The eight ecological selves are the Eco‐Guardian, the Eco‐Warrior, the Eco‐Manager, the Eco‐Strategist, the Eco‐Radical, the Eco‐Holist, the Eco‐Integralist, and the Eco‐Sage. This framework, which is derived from developmental stage theory, is a useful tool for understanding how individual actions are shaped by people's identities and values.
Research limitations/implications
The preliminary research referenced in this study is of limited scope, consisting of a small sample of organizational leaders in a semi‐structured qualitative interview setting. The implications, however, are more interesting for additional research on ecological selves as a tool for individual self‐reflection, organizational culture, and teamwork learning.
Practical implications
This essay argues that creating an ecological selves inventory is useful in understanding how leaders create the conditions for sustainability in their organizations.
Social implications
Implications for understanding organizational culture are considered: the ecological selves framework is one tool to build self‐awareness among organizational leaders, leading to stronger, more efficacious learning across a spectrum of skills necessary for leadership.
Originality/value
Although the ecological selves framework has been proposed as a theoretical concept in the literature of integral ecology, this paper refers to the first research done with organizational leaders.
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In the 1950s, Einstein predicted that if humankind is to survive, we will need a substantially new manner of thinking. He believed that our task in life must be to widen our…
Abstract
In the 1950s, Einstein predicted that if humankind is to survive, we will need a substantially new manner of thinking. He believed that our task in life must be to widen our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its infinite beauty. The combined disciplines of mindfulness, ecopsychology, and sustainability education offer humanity a chance to develop this new way of thinking and being in the world. In this chapter, I describe my experience of teaching and designing curriculum that integrates contemplative practices with sustainability education in the space of higher education. The course I will be discussing, where nature-based mindfulness activities are offered, is called “MindBody Wellness.” As a part of the course, it is hoped that students will cultivate an expanded vision of the self—one known as the “ecological self”—a term coined in the 1980s. The ecological self is perceived to be a wide, expansive, or field-like sense of self, which ultimately includes all life forms, ecosystems, and the Earth. Preliminary research in the field indicates that cultivating loving-kindness and practicing mindfulness leads to a greater level of nature connectedness and need to care for and protect the natural world. However, my colleagues and I did not find this to be the case and needed to explicitly give students instructions to care for the environment.
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Joris Vlieghe and Piotr Zamojski
In this chapter, we flesh out a new ecological account of the self of the teacher. We contrast this view with more traditional approaches that either stress the subjectivity of…
Abstract
In this chapter, we flesh out a new ecological account of the self of the teacher. We contrast this view with more traditional approaches that either stress the subjectivity of the teacher at the expense of the world or emphasize the other more than the self and hence leave no room for subjectivity. On the contrary, to an ecological approach, the self of the teacher is constituted through relating to her own subject matter. This involves a thing-centered approach according to which the teacher is defined in terms of drawing attention to something in the world out of love for this world.
Kalyani Krishnan, Chieh Li, Louis Kruger, Edward Kimble, Gina Aki and Rachel Ruah
This study aims to explore whether English-language learners (ELLs) who have struggled to pass a high school exit exam (HSEE) self-report that they are able to self-regulate their…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to explore whether English-language learners (ELLs) who have struggled to pass a high school exit exam (HSEE) self-report that they are able to self-regulate their learning. It is of interest to find out whether, in addition to limited English proficiency, these students are struggling to exert control over their learning.
Design/methodology/approach
Using semi-structured interviews, the study sought the perspectives of eight ELLs who had repeatedly failed their state-mandated HSEE. Interviews were transcribed using a modified grounded theory approach, and thought units were coded with a focus on the following elements of SRL: self-understanding, goal directedness, flexibility and strategy use.
Findings
Results indicated that all interviewees demonstrated a greater, more specific awareness of their academic weaknesses than their strengths. Half the interviewees demonstrated an awareness of how they learned. Similarly, half of them verbalized that they approached learning flexibly. None of the interviewees reported using evidence-based strategies. However, all interviewees were goal-oriented.
Research limitations/implications
This research approach may limit the external validity of the results. The richness of the data may also be limited because interviews were conducted in English.
Practical implications
The findings from this study have implications for educating ELLs in an era of standards-based education and helping them pass HSEEs.
Social implications
These results also have implications for advancing social justice through informed educational policy.
Originality/value
This paper fills a gap in the literature by extending the theory of SRL, which is associated with academic success in diverse students, to ELLs, a rapidly growing demographic in US public schools that is struggling to achieve academic success.
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In this chapter, I will draw upon East-Asian wisdom traditions, quantum, transpersonal, and integral theory to posit consciousness as fundamental. In doing so, the relationship…
Abstract
In this chapter, I will draw upon East-Asian wisdom traditions, quantum, transpersonal, and integral theory to posit consciousness as fundamental. In doing so, the relationship between Self and reality will be articulated as nondual. I will argue that knowledge about the nature of Self is both an educational entitlement and learning process. Such understanding is generally thwarted by the impact of scientific materialism and behaviorism on educational orthodoxy, which instead promulgate a separate sense of self with destructive individual and collective consequences. Moving from philosophical theorization to application to teacher education, I will argue that a massive program of deconditioning and unlearning is necessary within education and show how a module I teach, “Responding Mindfully to Challenging Behavior,” attempts to do some of this work via a focus on “discipline.” The focus of the module invites us to question the nature of Self when difficulties arise. As explored, this is often a conditioned self with automatic reactions that can shift toward a “witnessing consciousness” when experiential learning and contemplative practices are integrated with theories of human flourishing.
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Myriam Ertz, Fabien Durif and Manon Arcand
Marketing scholars have devoted little attention to the study of practices which grant multiple lives to goods. However, these practices can considerably extend products…
Abstract
Purpose
Marketing scholars have devoted little attention to the study of practices which grant multiple lives to goods. However, these practices can considerably extend products lifecycles with far-reaching implications for traditional retailers and the economy. Accordingly, this paper aims to provide scales for perceived impact and motivations of goods multiple lives practices and to investigate the influence of impacts on motivations.
Design/methodology/approach
A qualitative phase (three discussion groups and 15 in-depth interviews) identified consumers’ motivations and perceived impacts of goods multiple lives practices. Two online surveys were then conducted on online panels, involving more than 2,200 consumers, to develop the measurement scales and test the structural model.
Findings
Results show that impacts measured only marginally influence economic motives but account significantly for a broad range of other motivations (ecological, protester and social contact motives).
Research limitations/implications
The study design is cross-sectional, therefore lacking causality. Replication studies could cross-validate the findings by means of experimental research.
Practical implications
The findings may prove of specific interest to marketers and organizations in the goods multiple lives sector seeking to harness consumer interest in these types of practices for reasons above and beyond lone economic incentives.
Originality/value
This study is innovative in two regards: it explores a relatively under-theorized field in marketing, namely, goods multiple lives practices; and it proposes a challenging theoretical perspective which supposes that consumers’ perceived impact of their practices plays a significant role in motivating them to engage in practices of the like.
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Most marketing executives are aware by now that some consumers believe that “small is beautiful” and “less is more.” Such executives may be surprised to find out that this type of…
Abstract
Most marketing executives are aware by now that some consumers believe that “small is beautiful” and “less is more.” Such executives may be surprised to find out that this type of voluntary simplicity consumer (VSC) is the fastest‐growing market segment in the U.S. Who the voluntary simplicity consumers are, how they came about, and how to cater to them profitably are the subjects of this article. The VSC is the outcome of a lifestyle trend toward voluntary simplicity (VS), but unlike any other market segment, the VSC prefers a lifestyle of low consumption, ecological responsibility, and self‐sufficiency. As a result, marketers are often puzzled as to how to market to the VSC.