Affiliations: [a] The International Institute for Advanced Studies in Systems Research and Cybernetics (IIAS), Canada | [b] Tokyo International University (TIU), Japan
Abstract: The present article takes up a normative/theoretical framework for a life-long Integral Education that is expected to promote personal, societal and global amenities for a viable and bright human future. Such an Integral Education may conduce over time to a steady shift to a “decent and sustainable” paradigm from the prevailing “explosive and unsustainable” paradigm. This article begins with a brief and critical discussion of the prevailing global conditions, by delving into the characteristics of the modern mind, civilization and democracy. In this regards, the rapid “modernization” by means of modern education in Japan, along with the biased Japanese interpretations of modern concepts, is briefly dealt with as a typical example antithetical to the Integral Education. This brief discussion is to set the stage for the theoretical presentation of dynamic social value system, personal-and-societal development, life-long education and long-lasting happiness. All these presentations based on the respective diagrammatic frameworks reveal the importance of constantly enriched holistic culture (“Culture”), social value system and educational innovations for the Integral Education. This article also suggests the required collaborative endeavors of social constituents at large for the Integral Education that conduces to a long-lasting happiness and Sustainable Development.
Keywords: Integral education, long-lasting happiness, paradigm shift, sustainable development, general human amenities, educational innovations
