Abstract:

Higher education institutions (HEIs) have an ethical duty to care for the communities in which they are embedded. Universities are catalysts for the development of the economic, social, cultural, and living systems in a relationship of interdependence and reciprocity. In this presentation, a case study is presented exploring how a small Canadian post secondary institution, Cape Breton University, is situated in a story that continues to emerge with a renewed sense of societal change and reconciliation connected to deep-rooted historical currents and Indigenous knowledge. The study uses a post-qualitative approach to critically inquire into challenges inherent in perspectives that align with a life code of value as the institution responds to the call to care for the sustainable well-being of Cape Breton Island communities. The chapter concludes by exploring how transgressive education may align with a multi-level perspectives (MLP) analysis of HEI approaches for the post-sustainability era.

Keywords:

Higher education leadership, ethic of care, sustainable development, life-code of values, transgressive education, Indigenous knowledge, multi-level perspectives.