ECOLOGY OF MIND AND EDUCATION

The contemporary historical context is marked by multiple, interconnected crises of an environmental, social, cultural, cognitive, and educational nature. The transformation of ecosystems, technological acceleration, the fragmentation of knowledge, the weakening of community bonds, and the growing difficulty of understanding complex phenomena increasingly reveal the inadequacy of linear, reductionist, and compartmentalised interpretative models. These challenges give rise to a specific educational need: to foster a systemic understanding of reality and to develop critical awareness of the processes through which individuals and communities construct meaning, organise experience, and establish relationships with others and with the environment. From this perspective, the ecology of mind provides a particularly fruitful theoretical framework, as it makes it possible to overcome the separation between mind and nature, individual and context, knowledge and relationship, and to situate knowledge within communicative circuits, systems of differences, and social and environmental relations.

The overall aim of the course is to foster a form of ecological and systemic intelligence that enables students to interpret educational processes as complex, situated, and relational phenomena. Education will therefore be examined as a transformation of ways of thinking, perceiving, and acting, as well as the capacity to recognise the implicit premises that shape one’s relationship with oneself, with others, and with the world. In pursuit of this aim, the distinctive feature of the educational approach adopted in the course will consist in treating the ecology of mind not merely as an object of knowledge, but as an epistemological, ethical, and methodological principle of education. The course will focus primarily on the thought of Gregory Bateson and its dialogue with systems theory, cybernetics, complex thought, deep ecology, and contemporary relational perspectives. Particular attention will be devoted to the concepts of relationship, context, difference, feedback, interdependence, flexibility, and ecological responsibility. B

By the end of the course, students will be able to understand the principal theoretical foundations of the ecology of mind and situate them within contemporary pedagogical debate; critically analyse linear and reductionist models of knowledge and education; recognise the systemic, relational, and contextual nature of educational processes; understand the relationship between learning, changes in premises, and the transformation of modes of thought; apply the concepts of feedback, interdependence, complexity, and responsibility to the analysis of educational situations; develop reflective capacities concerning their own interpretative frameworks and the consequences of their actions; and design educational interventions oriented towards sustainability, the care of relationships, and the cultivation of ecological and planetary citizenship.

Knowledge of the general frameworks of contemporary history and of the social problems that characterize it, acquired through the basic teachings of the three-year period.

The distinctive feature of the educational approach adopted in the course will lie in treating the ecology of mind not merely as an object of knowledge, but as an epistemological, ethical, and methodological principle of education. The course will place Gregory Bateson’s thought at its core, in dialogue with systems theory, cybernetics, complex thought, deep ecology, and contemporary relational perspectives. Particular attention will be devoted to the concepts of relationship, context, difference, feedback, interdependence, planetary citizenship, flexibility, dialogue, and ecological responsibility.

Selection of Texts on Ecology of mind (available on moodle).

The verification of the learning results will take place through an oral test, which will aim to ascertain the mastery of the topics covered, the presentation ability and the critical approach. In particular, the discussion will be divided into two moments, one dedicated to the verification of the reference texts and one to that of the creative path drawn up by the student and previously agreed with the teacher. Both will be evaluated out of fifteen: the final mark will be determined by the sum of the two partial marks. Class participation will also be assessed.

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The lecturer has a duty to ensure that the rules regarding the authenticity and originality of exam tests and papers are respected. Therefore, if there is suspicion of irregular conduct, an additional assessment may be conducted, which could differ from the original exam description.

Concerning grading (how the marks will be awarded):
Scores in the 18-22 range will be awarded in the presence of:
- sufficient knowledge and ability to apply understanding concerning the examination materials;
- sufficient originality and accuracy of the project;
- sufficient communication skills, especially in relation to the use of language specific to education.

Scores in band 23-26 will be awarded in the presence of:
- fair knowledge and ability to apply understanding concerning the examination materials;
- discrete originality and accuracy of the project;
- fair communication skills, especially in relation to the use of language specific to education
Scores in the 27-30 range will be awarded in the presence of:
- good or excellent knowledge and ability to apply understanding concerning examination materials
- good or excellent originality and accuracy of the project
- fully appropriate communication skills, especially concerning the use of language specific to education.
Honours will be awarded for knowledge and ability to apply understanding concerning the syllabus, judgement and communication skills programme, judgement and communication skills, excellent.

The course is frontal and uses the approach known as "Partially Flipped Learning", which allows you to recover, enhance and integrate student-centered pedagogical models and laboratory and collaborative teaching methodologies, all equally aimed at optimizing the time resource and promote the personalization and self-regulation of learning with a view to achieving the student's full autonomy. It will be delivered in web-enhanced mode with the support of the University Moodle platform, on which in-depth materials (articles, videos, interviews) and self-assessment materials will be made available.

Accessibility, Disability and Inclusion

Ca' Foscari abides by Italian Law (Law 17/1999; Law 170/2010) regarding support services and accommodation available to students with disabilities. This includes students with mobility, visual, hearing and other disabilities (Law 17/1999), and specific learning impairments (Law 170/2010). If you have a disability or impairment that requires accommodations (i.e., alternate testing, readers, note takers or interpreters) please contact the Disability and Accessibility Offices in Student Services: disabilita@unive.it.

This subject deals with topics related to the macro-area "Human capital, health, education" and contributes to the achievement of one or more goals of U. N. Agenda for Sustainable Development