Geopoetics: Expanding the Philosophy of Teacher Education

Abstract

Amidst accelerating ecological crisis, this essay argues for a fundamental reimagining of teacher education through Kenneth White's theory of geopoetics. Drawing on complexity science and Whitehead's process philosophy, I trace a paradigm shift from mechanistic models of education - characterized by fixed knowledge transmission and neoliberal performativity - toward a relational, more-than-human orientation grounded in emergence and becoming. Geopoetics offers a transdisciplinary framework that dissolves boundaries between science, poetry, philosophy, and spirituality, positioning education not as content delivery but as participation in the creative unfolding of life. Through an exploration of Nan Shepherd's The Living Mountain as geopoetic spiritual practice, I demonstrate how embodied, place-based engagement cultivates ecological awareness and relational consciousness. The essay concludes by proposing a framework for transitioning teacher education toward a geopoetic stance, one that cultivates planetary consciousness, ethical-ecological responsibility, and teachers as facilitators of poetic, embodied, and transformative learning. This reframing responds to UNESCO's call for a new social contract for education while addressing the philosophical and practical dimensions of preparing educators for our planetary emergency.