School leadership in the Anthropocene: four pillars of an intelligent, humane response

This article explores the Anthropocene epoch as a framework for new thinking about educational leadership. It integrates ethical and leadership theory with practical examples to outline a multi-disciplinary approach to guide leaders at school and policy levels. First, we highlight weaknesses in the capacity of traditional ethical theories to underpin responses to current crises, and turn to the philosophical pragmatism of Dewey to develop new principles for ethical action. This frames leadership as an issue of agency in an epoch when paralysis would be catastrophic for planetary life. Next, we turn to the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals and adopt Kate Raworth’s ‘doughnut’ as a conceptual framework that situates the education system in economic theory conducive to healthy long-term prospects for the human race. This model describes our essential needs to flourish, while keeping within the planet’s biophysical limits. Finally, we combine pragmatist thinking with the doughnut framework to propose four pillars for action. These are designed to be inclusive of a broad range of stakeholders in the system and with international reach, establishing principles for an intelligent humane response in education to escalating crises.