This book offers a new perspective on learning that is integrated and connected to lived experience. It presents a model for salient characteristics of both biological and pedagogical ecosystems, involving diversity, interaction, emergence, construction, and interpretation.

Examples from around the world show how learning can be made more whole and relevant. The book should be valuable to educators, parents, policy makers, and anyone interested in democratic education.

Foreword by John Pecore, University of West Florida

Available from Rowman & Littlefield (as well as Amazon, etc.), April 1, 2020

ISBN-13: 978-1475851199

Reviews (see additional reviews on the R&L site)

• John L. Pecore and Franklin S. Allaire, Schools: Studies in Education, Spring 2021 “brings to life the idea of learning ecosystems to serve as a metaphor for viewing teaching and learning. Much like biological ecosystems describe the interactions between the different biotic and abiotic elements of an environment, learning ecosystems broadly conceive of learning through interactions of all experiences of democratic life.”
• Choice: “offers an accessible analysis of the possibilities for effective teaching and learning in the modern era. The text argues for the necessity of rethinking contemporary teaching and learning strategies by identifying evidence-driven inequities in current educational outcomes, referring to the resulting impoverishments and marginalizations as disasters…. Especially provocative is Bruce’s use of the evolutionary concept of ecological niche to reconceptualize learning. The chapter devoted to redefining terms such as teaching and learning alone establishes the value of the book. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower- and upper-division undergraduates. Graduate students. Faculty. General readers.