FESE HandBook v03c 15112023 MEV- COMPLETO - Flipbook - Página 211
RODRIGO QUEIROZ E MELO / THE IMPORTANCE OF THE ETHICAL-MORAL AND SPIRITUAL DIMENSION OF THE PERSON
The idea that the interior dimension of the person is central to
education is not new. What we present is a (hopefully) compelling
argument that its absence may cause societal damage.
1. INTRODUCTION
This is a concept paper that follows the development of the project
8Changing Educational Systems through a WCD Leadership Programme91
and some ideas that stubbornly come to my mind when looking at the
world through a WCD lens. When we began the program, back in 2018,
the digital world was already ubiquitous, but artiocial intelligence was
still out of the public domain. Polarization was a social fact, but its political implications were still regarded as a US phenomenon. Pandemics were
all over the planet but, for most people in Europe, it was something that
happened elsewhere. War still raged the world, but Europe was in peace.
Today, ChatGPT2, polarized elections all over Europe, the Coronavirus
pandemic and the war in Ukraine have profoundly affected the world we
live in and the way we see our future. In this context, we will argue that
a whole child development (WCD) approach to education, though not a
new idea, is especially relevant if we hope to create a peaceful, sustainable,
humane world for all. Furthermore, we will argue that the WCD framework of this project has a particular strength that has maybe been a little
overlooked during the implementation phase of the leadership training
course: the Ethical-moral & spiritual dimension of the person. A fundamental dimension for education that is, more often than not, disregarded
by formal school education.
Therefore, this paper begins by setting the stage for our argument —a
presentation of the drivers of change relevant for our theme – educational
pessimism, a digital world, the pandemic and learning losses, the war in
Europe—. Secondly, we present the most popularized international frameworks for the development of education and the concept of Whole Child
Development as deoned in the mentioned project. Finally, we conclude
arguing the importance of integration of the Ethical-moral/spiritual di-
1. Research project developed by EFSE and CEPCEP and supported by Porticus. More information at
https://www.wcdleadership.com/
2. One part of this paper, around 500 words, is authored by ChatGPT. The human author just couldn`t resist
the temptation. If you can tell which part it is, please mail rqmelo aeep.pt and share how you found out.
211
