Ecological approaches to education and educational research: relationality, reciprocity, and resilience

Abstract

In the face of unprecedented social and environmental crises, there have been calls for approaches to education which are fundamentally relational, emphasising our interconnectedness with each other and with the world (Blenkinsop & Kuchta, 2024). However, western education systems have been critiqued for prioritising individual success and values associated with marketisation, moves which run counter to fostering reciprocity and a sense of community that are crucial for sustainability (Biesta, 2020). Educational research has developed along similar lines, with projects focusing on how to maximise performance and increase test scores, and researchers placed at a remove from the field rather than in relation with participants and data (Hultman & Lenz-Taguchi, 2010).

In this thesis, I argue that ecological approaches to conceptualising educational spaces and educational research can reorient learning and teaching towards values rooted in our connection as human beings and our relationships with the world. I critically engage with the theory of learning ecologies, which stems from the concept of ecosystems in the biological sciences (Barnett & Jackson, 2020), and brings focus to relationships between learners, their environment, and the different elements that impact upon and are impacted by their learning (Jackson, 2013). Understanding different educational spaces as an ecology can put our relationships into the spotlight, asking questions of the quality of interactions for students, teachers, and the wider environment. However, ecological models have also been described as overly complex, with a need for further empirical evidence and clearer frameworks to understand the concept in practice (Sangrà et al., 2019). These debates, dilemmas, and opportunities call for further investigation of learning ecologies across varied educational contexts: specifically indoor, outdoor, and online spaces.

I engage directly with these tensions by presenting a model for ecological approaches to education and educational research to critically review seven of my research project publications. The studies focus on a variety of educational contexts, actors, and environments, addressing key UK and Scottish policy drivers (Scottish Attainment Challenge; Learning for Sustainability; Scottish Government 1+2 Language Strategy; National Curriculum Guidance for EAL (English as an Additional Language)) and their interpretation in practice. The studies are also outward-looking, as they address global issues of migration and environmental and educational sustainability.

In the Introduction to this thesis (Chapter 1), I outline my conceptual model for ecological approaches to education and educational research. Employing this theoretical lens, I undertake a critical review of my three lead author publications (Chapter 2) and four co-author publications (Chapter 3), highlight my contribution to the research and writing, and consider impact and limitations. In the critical review I apply reflexive qualitative thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2019) using my conceptual model, focusing on spatial and temporal dimensions, and concepts of agency, identity, and uncertainty. My aim has been to draw light on the nature of learning ecologies, how they can be defined and developed in a range of educational contexts, and how they can be further researched and realised.

A critical review of my publications reveals that, despite their perceived complexity, ecological approaches and considerations of space in learning and teaching can surface the relational and reciprocal in education (Sepie, 2017), and capacities for building resilience. An ecological framing situates educational research as an ongoing dialogue and in a state of emergence and becoming, encouraging engagement with uncertainty and the quality of relationships as they are unfolding. Across my publications and the different educational spaces (indoors, outdoors, online), an ecological lens reveals a plurality of ways of being and doing, reimagining education as it could be.

I conclude by discussing the impact of my publications in relation to research on educational spaces, learning for sustainability, and the influence on policy and practice in education. By emphasising values of relationality, reciprocity, and resilience, I argue that developing educational spaces as healthy ecologies can bring hope and possibility in the face of uncertain times.