The Role Of Love And Other Emotions In Transformative Change

Transformative change for planetary health is a growing area of interest in policy, research, and education systems worldwide. As ecological and social systems are rapidly shifting due to climate change and biodiversity loss —linked with the long-lasting effects of colonialism and extractive capitalism — there is much desire for change. How transformation occurs and toward what vision remains a question which love, in part, might contribute. Love has the potential to be a positive, life-affirming transformative force in environmental and sustainability movements. However, love — like other positive emotions — has often been ignored or trivialized in research and education systems. Additionally, studies often fail to define love, so it is difficult to understand its role in transformation. This dissertation seeks to explore love and other positive emotions and their role in transformative change and action. The first study utilizes a two-pronged approach to examine and draw on diverse academic literature to create a definition of love that is relevant to sustainability movements and goals of social-ecological health and justice. The second study employs focus groups to explore the experience of love by teams in a farm-to-school professional learning program. This constructivist grounded theory uplifts participants’ experiences to highlight the role of positive emotions in expanding thought-action repertoires and social and intellectual resources necessary for resilience. The final study, an exploratory case study, elucidates teachers’ emotional experiences in an intensive year-long professional learning program on climate change. Findings reveal the importance of social exchange within a transformative learning framework and how climate change is a social-cultural “disorienting dilemma” that often drives teachers to climate education as action. A thread of love is pulled through studies one and two, weaving a story of love’s potential in transformative change —an incomplete tapestry with yet much to explore. Study three broadens to include other emotions helping practitioners understand the importance of engaging this domain in transformative professional learning. These studies together help us understand the role of emotions in the specific contexts in which they were studied and invite further investigation.