Postformal Reasoning

In this article I aim to broaden and deepen the evolution of consciousness discourse by integrating the integral theoretic narratives of Rudolf Steiner, Jean Gebser, and Ken Wilber, who each point to the emergence of new ways of thinking that could address the complex, critical challenges of our planetary moment. I undertake a wide scan of the evolution discourse, noting it is dominantly limited to biology-based notions of human origins that are grounded in scientific materialism. I then broaden the discourse by introducing integral evolutionary theories using a transdisciplinary epistemology to work between, across and beyond diverse disciplines. I note the conceptual breadth of Wilber's integral evolutionary narrative in transcending both scientism and epistemological isolationism. I also draw attention to some limitations of Wilber's integral project, notably his undervaluing of Gebser's actual text, and the substantial omission of the pioneering contribution of Stein...

Abstract

We are living in times of great transition and uncertainty. We hear the present times being referred to as chaotic, turbulent, even “postnormal.” Futurist, Zia Sardar (2010) refers to postnormal times as being characterized by “complexity, chaos and contradiction”. In this paper I ask the question: “What can we expect for the futures of thinking?” I throw light on this question by exploring the relationships between cultural history, and adult developmental psychology, through an evolution of consciousness narrative.

Firstly, I will introduce the growing body of research by cultural historians, sociologists, philosophers and others on the evolution of culture and consciousness. Secondly, I will discuss the research by adult developmental psychologists on the types of reasoning that exist beyond Piaget’s “formal operations.” When these two bodies of research are integrated, they provide overwhelming evidence that suggests a new stage or structure of consciousness is currently emerging. From this perspective the chaos and turbulence that is regarded as postnormal, can be viewed from a different light. Furthermore, the types of cognitive, emotional and behavioural responses that we humans are required to develop to thrive in this new milieu are remarkably synergistic with the qualities indicative of postformal reasoning.

I draw out a number of qualities associated with postformal reasoning that are important in leading human evolution further, through conscious evolution. I propose that these postformal qualities are both adaptive, and thus increasingly “normal” for the present times, and also exactly what is required to think ourselves out of our current crises. Indeed, in terms of evolution, postformal thinking is indicative of what we can expect for the “futures of thinking.”

Keywords: conscious evolution, evolution of consciousness, futures of thinking, futures studies, postformal, postnormal

Abstract

This paper focuses on emergent signs of evolutionary change in human thinking that run parallel with many of the exponential changes manifesting in the external world. Weak signals are identified from the early twentieth century indicating the emergence of new knowledge patterns. These signals have strengthened in the last forty years. The paper first identifies new ways of thinking within several disciplines such as science, philosophy, religion and education. New knowledge patterns are then identified in discourses that traverse disciplinary boundaries through transdisciplinary approaches such as futures studies and planetary/global studies. The paper then discusses evolution of consciousness, identifying research that theorises new ways of thinking as being related to individual psychological development and/or socio-cultural evolution. Finally, evolutionary concepts are discussed that attempt to meta-cohere the new knowledge patterns via the terms postformal, integral and planetary. Notably, academic research on “futures of thinking”, “evolution of consciousness” and/or “global mindset change” has been, until now, largely ignored by mainstream academic discourse on evolution, consciousness and futures studies.

Keywords: evolution of consciousness, futures, global, integral, planetary, postformal, transdisciplinary

**This paper is the most cited paper in the journal.**
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Rudolf Steiner and Ken Wilber claim that human consciousness is evolving beyond the ‘formal’, abstract, intellectual mode towards a ‘postformal’, integral mode. Wilber calls this ‘vision-logic’ and Steiner calls it ‘consciousness/spiritual soul’. Both point to the emergence of more complex, dialectical, imaginative, self-reflective and spiritual ways of thinking, living and loving. Very little ‘evolution of consciousness’ literature appears in educational discourses. This article distils hermeneutic fragments of psychological, cultural-historical and philosophical texts and begins to examine education in this light. This evolutionary perspective may illuminate the emergence of contemporary understandings of spirituality as alternatives both to ‘formal’ secular and ‘formal’ religious education. A novel educational perspective is introduced based on a contemporised Australian interpretation of Steiner education seen through the lens of Wilber’s integral framework. This creative, ‘transmodern’ educational vision offers one way forward to consciously facilitate the emergence in children of more life-promoting, integral, spiritually aware forms of consciousness.

The pre-print version of this article is available for downloading from:
http://researchbank.rmit.edu.au/list/author_id/1311658/

In the current models of cognitive development some phenomena cannot be categorized: self-actualizing people (Maslow), Buddhism and Taoism. Using Piaget´s genetic epistemology we can argue that the human cognitive system is not flexible enough to cope with the fundamental changes in structure of the need-satisfying actions (infant/adult) without adaption delays. In this article the process of cognitive new-adaptation with all related effects is described as the initiation process. Four thought-forms are introduced and derived from the hypothesis, with which it is possible to categorize the phenomena mentioned above. The initiation process is an independent side effect of ontogenesis and therefore requires a new definition for intelligence.

Human consciousness and behaviour have been changing rapidly since the last ice age, never more so than since the industrial revolution. Moreover, there is an acceleration of change. The last century, for instance, has seen an explosive
increase in human population, industrial agriculture, and the use of fossil fuels. Unfortunately, the attempt to produce the worthy Renaissance ideal of “heaven on earth” is simultaneously producing a radical amalgam of negative consequences – one which, one might say, refers more to hell than heaven. What fiery consequences might there be if the Earth returned to the climate of the Cretaceous Period – the period when the fossil fuels that we are now rapidly using up were laid down? The planet’s climate was approximately ten degrees hotter than it is now. What consequences might be caused by sea-level changes
arising from the melting of Antarctica? What consequences caused by multiple global ecosystems not able to adapt quickly enough? What new diseases? Climate change sits within a larger context of ecological crisis: even without global heating, humanity is causing the mass extinction of species on a planetary scale. Moreover, alongside the ecological situation sit such social malaises as severe global income inequalities, militarism, and a host of challenging psychological
conditions. There are, no doubt, many lenses we could use to aptly respond to such pressing issues. The perspective this book takes is that humanity needs to change its dominant worldview. It contends that ‘messing around’ at the surface level – i.e. within the current worldview and its associated structures and activities – is equivalent to rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic. We need to go deeper; we need to conduct a kind of psychoanalysis – and corresponding ‘healing treatment’ – at the
socio-cultural level. Humanity needs to somehow regenerate itself – radically, intelligently, urgently, compassionately, naturally. We need to show ourselves that we are worthy of the name "homo sapiens" by stepping firmly into our wisdom. A key context for this book thus comprises leadership regarding the transformation of the contemporary (late modern) worldview to one more suitable to meet these unique, panoramic challenges of the 21st Century. In particular, the book addresses the world of postformal integrative thinking as one of the leading-edges of this transformation. Such a focus is not only relevant for generic theory and philosophy but also for real world applications including the fields of economics and education.

This conceptual dissertation is both a study of, and an enactment of, the evolution of consciousness for the purpose of evolving education. The research draws attention to and situates itself within four complex, interlinked challenges: the current planetary crisis; the epistemological crisis underpinning it; the global youth problematique; and the inadequacy of the modernist, formal education model to meet these challenges. The research aims to identify and elucidate a new movement of consciousness through integrating and cohering literature on postformal, integral and planetary consciousness in conversation with literature from a variety of postformal pedagogies. It does so through what I refer to as postformal research, which I distinguish from formal research in numerous ways. The most obvious ways in which this dissertation differs from a standard social sciences dissertation is that it interweaves three different types of text throughout the dissertation: the five main chapters; the Prologue, Metalogue and Epilogue; and the reflective narratives—Prelude, Interludes and Coda. These three types of text are each visibly distinguished by a colour-coded facing sheet. [JG: colour not available in the digital form].

The five main chapters are academic publications, developed and published as part of the research process. The key research focii of the dissertation are addressed in each of these five chapters. Chapter One identifies features of the youth problematique and the broad cultural pedagogical context surrounding it, through a layered analysis of causal factors. Chapter Two provides a macrohistorical context for understanding the relationships among education, evolution of consciousness and culture. Chapter Three undertakes a broadening and deepening of the evolution of consciousness discourse through incorporating integral theoretic approaches including heterodox evolutionary narratives that offer alternative interpretations to classical Darwinism. In this chapter, I engage in an integral hermeneutic analysis of the evolutionary writings of Rudolf Steiner and Ken Wilber in the light of Jean Gebser’s structures of consciousness. I weave an epic but pluralist narrative tapestry created from an interweaving of these three alternative views of evolution. Chapter Four draws out significant features of the new consciousness and distils new understandings of evolution in a form suitable for engaging the current education discourse. Chapter Five contributes significant new perspectives to educational philosophy. This final chapter offers an aesthetic-philosophic alternative to scientism for present and future cultural pedagogical practice by identifying four core values that are seeds for evolving education in line with emerging shifts in consciousness.

In addition to the five chapters, the Prologue introduces the research, provides an overview of the dissertation and a preliminary discussion of my substantive content, the evolution of consciousness, and my pragmatic interest in cultural pedagogical practice. The Metalogue discusses my integral evolutionary philosophy, my transdisciplinary epistemology, my complex methodology of theoretic bricolage and my role as researcher. Finally the Epilogue summarises the significance and limitations of my research, evaluates it, and offers some suggestions for further research and closing reflections. It is proposed that a more conscious evolution of cultural pedagogical practice informed by postformal-integral-planetary consciousness may be more responsive to addressing the crises and complexities of the future.

In this article I re-evaluate the potential contribution of postmodernism to integral theory via integrally-derived perspectives. I identify a premature foreclosure: the underappreciation of postformal modes of thinking (cognitive development beyond Piaget’s formal operations). I then enact certain forms of postformal reasoning in relation to integral theory. This includes an engagement with such perspectives as complexity theory, conceptual ecology, vision-logic, dialectics, genealogy, critical theory, and construct-awareness. A major theme concerns the dialectical relationship between reconstruction and deconstruction—partly explored through a developmental assessment of contra-indicative discourse by both Wilber and Derrida. Although the territory is complex, the relationship between current Wilberian theory and postmodernism is clearly problematised. I posit that a deeper engagement with postmodernism can lead to an autopoietic deepening of integral theory.

This paper takes as its starting point the notion that human consciousness is evolving beyond the boundaries of formal, reductionist modes of thinking and beginning to open to postformal, integral and planetary consciousness. It explores the theoretical relationships between several themes arising from the evolution of consciousness discourse and a diversity of postformal educational discourses. Four core pedagogical values emerge from the intersection between these two clusters: love, life, wisdom and voice. These core values are elucidated theoretically in relation to philosophies of education, and practically through examples from the art of education. They are offered as pedagogical seeds for evolving consciousness through education in the 21st century.

The pre-print version of this article is available for downloading from:
http://researchbank.rmit.edu.au/list/author_id/1311658/

"This paper proposes that all aspects of educational futures are affected by the new thinking patterns and ways of knowing that have been emerging over the last hundred years as part of the parallel processes of evolution of human consciousness and major global societal change. Throughout the 20th century, significant developments can be mapped in most, if not all, of the
major academic disciplines. Secondly, the move to transcend disciplinary specialisation, via inter-, multi-, and trans-disciplinary approaches is strengthening. Thirdly, at a higher order theoretical level, these developments are explicitly theorized in the discourses associated with postformal reasoning, integral theory and planetary consciousness. In spite of all these
developments in other disciplines and knowledge fields, the institution of mass public education, with its underpinning industrial worldview, has been pretty static since its inception two hundred years ago. Finally, the paper identifies three minor, but significant, waves of evolutionary emergence in education over the last hundred years that if articulated and nurtured could strengthen the development of evolutionary pedagogies for the 21st century."

Uncertainty is a pervasive feature of our times. In this paper I argue that an age of uncertainty is not a reason for despair, but rather an opportunity to develop and mobilize our capacities for creativity, complexity, and collaboration. Creativity because the future is not determined and has to be created. Complex thought because in an uncertain, networked world our thinking cannot be reductive and disjunctive, but must be able to address interconnectedness and uncertainty. Collaboration, because the crises facing humanity today require an awareness of our shared destiny and in a pluralistic society we need the ability to navigate creativity and complexity together.

Das Konzept des postformalen Denkens beschreibt Denkstrukturen, welche sich nicht mit der von Piaget postulierten letzten Entwicklungsstufe, die des formal-operationalen Denkens, erklären lassen. Seit seinem Aufkommen sind verschiedene wissenschaftliche Kontroversen damit verbunden. Zum einen ist es durch seine Referenz auf Piagets kognitive Stufentheorie, welche nicht mehr dem aktuellen kognitiven Forschungsparadigma entspricht, vermehrter Kritik ausgesetzt. Zum anderen stößt die mannigfaltige Beschreibung seiner Merkmale und empirischen Operationalisierungen auf vielfältige Schwierigkeiten, welche in einer Ablehnung des Terms „postformales Denken“ mündet. Erstens scheint theoretisch und empirisch unklar, ob sich postformale von formal-operationalen Strukturen unterscheiden. Zweitens ist der Term „postformales Denken“ häufig irreführend, da nicht ein weiterentwickeltes Denken, sondern ein andersartiges Denken untersucht wird. Drittens konnte kein Konzept gefunden werden, wodurch postformales Denken in Tradition von Piagets Stufentheorie empirisch untersuchbar wird. Zukünftige Forschung sollte sich um die Vereinheitlichung des besser als erwachsenes Denken oder integratives Denken bezeichneten Forschungsfeldes bemühen und die Beziehung zwischen formalen und ehemals postformalen Strukturen näher untersuchen.

In its inadvertent creation of multiple ecological crises including climate change, humanity as a whole appears caught in a lemmings loop, racing toward a probable future identified as The Long Emergency. One might think that even the possibility of this future scenario should be sufficient to effect a revolution in education. Yet overall there appears to be insufficient depth of respons-ability in this regard, of taking heed of ecological educational discourse. The paper advocates a deeply ecological education through identifying the significance of ecoliteracy as involving a critical contrast between two worldviews (modernism and a prospective ecological worldview). The paper advances futures of ecological thinking through a deep interpretation of ecology and related terms including ecosystem and ecologics. The complex integrative character of conceptual ecology is foregrounded and extended through associating it with transdisciplinarity, integralism and critical realism under the overarching orientation of Boyer’s scholarship of integration.

This paper focuses on emergent signs of evolutionary change in human thinking that run parallel with many of the exponential changes manifesting in the external world. Weak signals are identified from the early 20th century indicating the emergence of new knowledge patterns. These signals have strengthened in the last 40 years. The paper first identifies new ways of thinking within several disciplines such as science, philosophy, religion and education. New knowledge patterns are then identified in discourses that traverse disciplinary boundaries through transdisciplinary approaches such as futures studies and planetary/global studies. The paper then discusses evolution of consciousness, identifying research that theorises new ways of thinking as being related to individual psychological development and/or socio-cultural evolution. Finally, evolutionary concepts are discussed that attempt to meta-cohere the new knowledge patterns via the terms postformal, integral and planetary. Notably, academic research on “futures of thinking,” “evolution of consciousness” and/or “global mindset change” has been, until now, largely ignored by mainstream academic discourse on evolution, consciousness and futures studies.

It is becoming increasingly apparent that creativity and imagination are key to envisioning alternatives to the problems of postnormal times. At the same time, educational institutions all over the globe are still mired in assumptions from the machine/industrial age, preparing students for reproduction and conformity rather than creativity. This article outlines the philosophical foundations of an educational approach in which creativity is central to scholarship, where learners move from being consumers to creators and from bystanders to participants in the postnormal dance of knowledge.

This article concentrates on the latest international trends in the research on psychological development of adults, and especially on the development of cognition. The field of research has been very fragmented, and researchers have kept creating new models one after another to describe their own lines of thought and also seeking for empirical evidence for their models. This has created a rather equivocal picture of the phenomenon itself. The present article attempts to identify the historical roots of the field, and introduces descriptive factors that could conceptually determine the gist of the phenomenon. In this context we will discuss, mainly, research going back to Piaget and Perry, epistemic development, integration of emotion and cognition, plus diverse research in the fields of wisdom and spirituality. The main claim is that these models follow similar a tendency towards holism and progress towards integrative thinking on various domains and fields of human psyche.

Uncertainty is a pervasive feature of our times. In this paper I argue that an age of uncertainty is not a reason for despair, but rather an opportunity to develop and mobilize our capacities for creativity, complexity, and collaboration. Creativity because the future is not determined and has to be created. Complex thought because in an uncertain, networked world our thinking cannot be reductive and disjunctive, but must be able to address interconnectedness and uncertainty. Collaboration, because the crises facing humanity today require an awareness of our shared destiny and in a pluralistic society we need the ability to navigate creativity and complexity together.

(English version available here: https://www.academia.edu/8944221/A_Clash_of_Mentalities_Uncertainty_Creativity_and_Complexity_in_Times_of_Upheaval)

L. Wittgenstein is mostly known and treated as a thinker of two periods with two different accents: one determined strictly logically and second more liberal concerning logic. Increasingly more precise notion comes on, which interprets his work as determined primary ethically. The author offers besides another point of view concerning contemporary theories of cognitive development. After contributive and well known Piaget's theory of cognitive development and Kohlberg's theory of moral development there are produced new theories which deal with further reaches of adult development, especially with postformal stages of cognitive development. Some Wittgenstein's texts and life situations can be seen and interpret from the perspective of these theories as an existential struggle for new cognitive stage, which doesn't give up the formal stage unconcernedly. This effort makes him equally close to scientists as to mystics.

"This essay is a postformal rejoinder to Ziauddin Sardar’s Welcome to Postnormal Times. I have no quarrel with Sardar’s conclusion that these times are postnormal, nor do I disagree with many of his observations, but our standpoints regarding implications are somewhat contradictory. Paradoxically, rather than jump into an old paradigm form of debate with Sardar’s interpretations of postnormalcy, this rejoinder is a playful postformal response. I celebrate our complementary views as expressions of the complex truths of multiperspectivality. First I question the meaning of normal and postnormal in the context of such notions as “the pathology of normalcy.” Secondly I begin to explore the postnormal circumstances from a postformal perspective. This involves discussion of notions of progress, development, evolution and co-evolution from different points of view as an opener to coming to terms with complexity. I then explore how concepts such as complexity and paradox can be understood as paths to wisdom; how active imagination can be engaged in the service of life; and how engaged imagination can unfold new normative narratives of alternative futures. Such imaginaries of hope are vital for the wellbeing of young people. The essay closes with a call to embrace the richness of complexity and play with—rather than fear—the paradox of planetary pluralism.

The pre-print version of this article is available for downloading from:
http://researchbank.rmit.edu.au/list/author_id/1311658/ "

We are living in times of great transition, uncertainty and exponential change. In the 1990s the US Defense Department coined a new term to describe this period: VUCA, that stands for "Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous." VUCA is even more relevant today than it was when coined over twenty years ago. It characterizes not only society and economics but also politics. More recently VUCA has slipped beyond the Pentagon and entered the common vernacular-especially in the context of global leadership as well as in business and organizational studies. In this chapter I investigate the psychological and cultural factors operating in a VUCA world through an evolution of consciousness narrative. Firstly, I introduce the growing body of research by cultural historians, sociologists, philosophers and others on the evolution of culture and consciousness. Secondly, I discuss the research by adult developmental psychologists on the types of reasoning that exist beyond Piaget's "formal operations." When these two bodies of research are synthesised, the evidence indicates that a new stage of consciousness is currently emerging. From this perspective the chaos and turbulence arising in the political arena can be viewed from a different light. Furthermore, the types of cognitive, emotional and behavioural responses that we humans need to develop in order to thrive in this new milieu are remarkably synergistic with the qualities indicative of postformal reasoning. I draw out a number of qualities associated with postformal reasoning that are important for political leaders to embrace if they are to lead human evolution further, through conscious evolution, to prevent us spinning backwards. I identify and discuss several postformal qualities that are adaptive and thus 'normal' for the present times. Finally, I show that these qualities are exactly what is required of political leaders to move us beyond our current crises and into a future in which postformal reasoning will become the new 'normal' for dealing with volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous futures.

This study empowers a dialogue between the East Asian Taijitu—related to yin-yang theory—and Western dialectics; in so doing, it also enriches the notion of dialogue itself. Applications or resonances, such as found in quantum physics, are additionally identified; a particular focus is given to exploring brain hemispheric function (notably through the scholarship of McGilchrist)—an inquiry which has far-reaching consequences for social theory and for global academia in general. The Taijitu can be interpreted in a reductive fashion (inferring cyclical stasis) or in a rich way (involving complex evolution); the study adopts the latter interpretation, indicating its aptness. The topic sits in service to the betterment of humanity and planet through identifying the critical underuse of such semiotic patterns as the Taijitu in academia and—at least in a formal way—in Western society at large. A general import for social theory comprises the empowerment of adequately complex articulations of understanding in contrast to more reductive theorisations involving flat ontologies in conjunction with strong bias toward one half of apparent dichotomies such as that of “agency versus structure.” The study indicates the usefulness of both Bhaksar’s philosophy of dialectical critical realism in “underlabouring” such apt social science, and that of the notion of “the scholarship of complex integration” (after Boyer). An additional contextualising triangulation via postformal reasoning further enhances the significance of the work. Finally, the study offers a key conceptual formulation in helping understand the underlying logic of the Taijitu and postformal dialectics as comprising that of Gödel’s incompleteness theorem(s).

" Altogether the ambition of this volume is enormous. " Helen E. Lees " In postformal education as phrase we have a rather new domain for the everyday educationist: one replete with views, perspectives, ideas that are not everyday … any alternative educationist will find in this volume rich resources with which to think anew. It is a vitally important topic … well researched, scholarly, interesting and stimulating. We find Gidley stating that " the term postformal is the most widely used psychological term to denote higher developmental stages beyond Piaget's formal operations " (emphasis in the original). Thus we can see then the scope, magnificence and import of this book's intent. It is tremendously exciting to connect with education in this " zone " and indeed moments of deep fascination and stimulating speculations have accompanied my reading of this book. The offer is to allow education to dwell in great ideas that bring inroads to new approaches, alternative visions… There is meat here of an intellectual kind on which to chew… It is an important book for the rarity of its subject matter and ought to be paid attention.. "

In this chapter I offer a big picture overview of cultural history as a context for understanding our present situation in relation to education. Ever since human beings first appeared as Homo sapiens around 200,000 years ago, human life on earth has been in a state of continual change and gradual development. The way that human cultures and societies have evolved over macro time periods is intimately connected with individual psychological development, including degrees of consciousness and ways of knowing about the world. Furthermore, the evolution of human consciousness is deeply interwoven with the development of speech, language and art. The aesthetic sensibility of early humans, once expressed in bodily ornamentation, cave paintings, carvings and pictograms, gradually evolved over several millennia into more abstract forms of writing and, more recently, digital technology (see Chapter 4). In a similar manner, the enculturation of children was for millennia purely about cultural transmission-that is, passing on the values and traditions of the tribe or community to the next generation. I refer to this broad enculturation of children into the myths, mores and laws of their societies as pre-formal education. It is only in the last two to three hundred years that pre-formal enculturation of children by their families and tribes has been replaced by formal school education for the majority. But before we go into formal education in Chapter 4, I want to trace this fascinating story of cultural evolution for its relevance to understanding the background from which school education emerged. After introducing the concept of evolution of consciousness and discussing the research challenges, I take a transdisciplinary approach to evolution, to overcome some of the limitations of Darwinian biological evolution. Three theorists of cultural evolution are chosen

Development of Adult Thinking is a timely synthesis and evaluation of the current knowledge and emerging issues relating to adult cognitive development and learning.
Focusing on psychological and educational cutting-edge research as well as giving an overview of the key theorists such as Piaget and Kohlberg, Kallio and the team of expert contributors offer a holistic view on the development of adult thinking, representing perspectives from developmental, moral, and social psychology, as well as education and philosophy. These topics are divided into three sections: Adult cognitive and moral development, Perspectives of adult learning, and Open questions and new approaches, offering introduction, analysis, and directions for future research.

This book explains why the current education model, which was developed in the 19th century to meet the needs of industrial expansion, is obsolete. It points to the need for a new approach to education designed to prepare young people for global uncertainty, accelerating change and unprecedented complexity. The book offers a new educational philosophy to awaken the creative, big-picture and long-term thinking that will help equip students to face tomorrow's challenges. Inside, readers will find a dialogue between adult developmental psychology research on higher stages of reasoning and today's most evolved education research and practice. This dialogue reveals surprising links between play and wisdom, imagination and ecology, holism and love. The overwhelming issues of global climate crisis, growing economic disparity and the youth mental health epidemic reveal how dramatically the current education model has failed students and educators.

This book raises a planet-wide call to deeply question how we actually think and how we must educate. It articulates a postformal education philosophy as a foundation for educational futures. The book will appeal to educators, educational philosophers, preservice teacher educators, educational and developmental psychologists and educational researchers, including postgraduates with an interest in transformational educational theories designed for the complexity of the 21st century.

A perspective is given regarding global mindset change: two key interrelated features underlying late modernity – economism and modern atomism – are critically contrasted with three key interrelated features underlying prospective ‘‘eco-logical’’ futures, namely, ecosophy, postformal thinking, and poetics. From a transdisciplinary or complex integrative perspective, both economism and modern atomism are identified as suffering ‘‘economies of truth’’ whilst postformal poetic ecosophy is identified as involving ‘‘complexities of truth’’ – a better fit for an eco-logical future. The desirability of the following hierarchies is indicated: that the archetype of economy be aptly embraced by ecosophy, formal by postformal, and prosaics by poetics.

""Abstract

This paper focuses on emergent signs of evolutionary change in human thinking that run parallel with many of the exponential changes manifesting in the external world. Weak signals are identified from the early twentieth century indicating the emergence of new knowledge patterns. These signals have strengthened in the last forty years. The paper first identifies new ways of thinking within several disciplines such as science, philosophy, religion and education. New knowledge patterns are then identified in discourses that traverse disciplinary boundaries through transdisciplinary approaches such as futures studies and planetary/global studies. The paper then discusses evolution of consciousness, identifying research that theorises new ways of thinking as being related to individual psychological development and/or socio-cultural evolution. Finally, evolutionary concepts are discussed that attempt to meta-cohere the new knowledge patterns via the terms postformal, integral and planetary. Notably, academic research on “futures of thinking”, “evolution of consciousness” and/or “global mindset change” has been, until now, largely ignored by mainstream academic discourse on evolution, consciousness and futures studies.

Keywords: evolution of consciousness, futures, global, integral, planetary, postformal, transdisciplinary""

Mirja Hämäinen & Eeva K. Kallio
With globalisation, workers today face challenges that language educators in higher education cannot ignore. As English is the globally shared language in working life, educators need to pay attention to the fact that interaction skills are one of the most called-for skills in any present-day job. Conventionally, English for working-life courses aim at providing students with such skills as  telephoning,  emailing,  and  participating  in  meetings  and  negotiations.  The  topic  of  social-ising  often  only  means  learning  native-like  expressions  for  small  talk.  This,  however,  is  not enough.  Any  consultant  knows  that  problems  at  work  are  beyond  such  communication  func-tions. In her analysis of Bohmian dialogue, Finnish philosopher Marja-Liisa Kakkuri-Knuuttila (2015) shows that David Bohm’s approach to dialogue has a strong ethical emphasis. Ethics will be in more and more demand as humankind as a whole and working life in particular deal with such  issues  as  artificial  intelligence.  Ethical  dialogue  should  help  in  workplace  conflicts  too. People with academic degrees should already have the opportunity to become aware of ethical questions when using English as their lingua franca at work during their studies, and students learning English as a foreign language in higher education are easy to reach. This paper focuses on  teaching  English  as  a  foreign  language,  though  concentrating  on  English  as  a  lingua  franca does not exclude the native English speaker.In  this  paper,  we  will  describe  a  university  language  centre  course  based  on  Bohmian dialogue through English as a lingua franca and we suggest ways that the course can develop ethical  thinking  and  wisdom.  Wisdom  in  organisations  is  an  ever-growing  area  of  interest in  organisation  research  and  it  is  a  big  challenge  to  human  beings  in  general.  Can  a  course on  ethical  dialogue  through  English  as  a  lingua  franca  develop  wisdom?

Pirjo Ståhle, Laura Mononen, Eeva K. Kallio, Päivi Tynjälä This chapter explores the links between scientific systems approaches and adult cognitive development. First, it describes the premises and basic concepts of systems thinking. It then continues to give an overview of the history of systems approach and the development of the main models and theories from its roots, which lie in the natural sciences. This is followed by an examination of the three systems paradigms, namely, Closed Systems, Open Systems and Dynamic Systems and their implications to research and operational interests, in addition to their explanatory power in today’s world. Second part of the chapter focuses on describing the intersections between the Dynamic Systems paradigm theories and Jan Sinnott's theory of postformal thought. This is carried out by describing the key theories behind the paradigm, that is, self-organizing and self-referential systems and their applications to social systems. Furthermore, it examines Sinnott's theory's overlap with the third paradigm approach. The chapter concludes that there are some linkages between the fields. It suggests that both research fields could benefit from each other by gaining new understanding and insight, and a genuine merger could lead to new discoveries. The chapter is providing inspiration for future research by raising new questions, settings and methodologies.

This critical literature review traces the roots of how adult cognitive development and learning are conceptualised. It addresses some implicitly included historical and philosophical concepts, analysing especially the concept of change, and ontological assumptions included in the Piagetian and neo-Piagetian “postformal thinking” traditions. Two major theories that have had an important impact on modern scientific discussion regarding adult cognitive development are discussed: Piaget’s and Perry’s theories of logical thinking and assumptions of knowledge. They have served as basic sources for several new innovative models with their respective, mutual similarities and differences. The chapter offers conceptual criticism for some widely used terms, such as postformal or relativistic-dialectical thinking, and proposes that these be replaced with the term ‘contextual integrative thinking’ or just ‘integrative thinking’. The chapter also addresses the hermeneutic ontological preunderstandings underlying different theoretical approaches. Particularly, this chapter highlights the position of multiperspective and contextual integrative thinking as alternative concepts and also as subcomponents of wisdom. Wisdom is defined as the ideal goal of human behaviour, based on cultural values. Adult developmental and wisdom research are closely connected by the notion of integration. This chapter reflects the overarching idea of the whole book: to offer a multidimensional and holistic view on adult cognitive development, adult learning, and related research.

Radom je želja osvijestiti da je integralno mišljenje imanentno postmoderno, odnosno da je upravo takav pristup, tj. integralni aperspektivizam, preduvjet konstruktivnog postmodernizma. Ukratko su iznesene temeljne značajke postmodernizma: konstruktivizam, kontekstualizam, multi(pluri)perspektivizam i aperspektivizam, koje su i ključne sastavnice svakog integralnog pristupa zbiljnosti. Posebna je pažnja usmjerena na aperspektivizam, tako da je u tom kontekstu, nasuprot krajnjeg pluralizma i relativizma nihilističkog i destruktivnog
postmodernizma, kao bitna značajka integralna pristupa (integralna aperspektivizma), odnosno konstruktivnog postmodernizma, istaknuto kritičko vrednovanje, rangiranje i sl., čime se integrira mnoštvo perspektiva unutar njihove funkcionalne valjanosti. U konačnici, navedeno je da upravo u postmoderni izniču antropološki preduvjeti takvom neisključivom i kontekstu prilagodljivom, integralnom, pristupu zbiljnosti, dok je pažnja, ovom prilikom, usmjerena na kognitivnu razvojnu liniju, odnosno na postformalnu razinu kognicije.