This chapter examines how the character strength love of learning, as defined by Peterson and Seligman, transforms when embedded in Anthropocene learning contexts. Using interpretative phenomenological analysis of 14 interviews with adult German language course participants in Germany, the study explores the interface between individual character development and collective planetary responsibility. The research uses Nussbaum's Capability Approach as a conceptual bridge and shows how language courses function as conversion factors that expand participants’ capabilities in various dimensions of human flourishing. The findings reveal that traditional conceptions of love of learning are evolving into what can be called ‘planetary love of learning’, which integrates systematic knowledge acquisition with ecological awareness and more-than-human responsibility. Participants developed not only language skills, but also environmental awareness, intercultural sensitivity, and collective responsibility. The study challenges individualistic frameworks of character strengths and shows how learning becomes a relational practice embedded in complex networks of planetary relationships. The results suggest that educational interventions can simultaneously promote personal agency and ecological responsibility and point to new directions for character development in times of environmental crisis. The research contributes to the emerging science of transformative learning in the Anthropocene and offers practical insights for adult education programmes that seek to cultivate both individual flourishing and planetary well-being.

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Love of Learning in the Anthropocene

  • Elisabeth Vanderheiden

摘要

This chapter examines how the character strength love of learning, as defined by Peterson and Seligman, transforms when embedded in Anthropocene learning contexts. Using interpretative phenomenological analysis of 14 interviews with adult German language course participants in Germany, the study explores the interface between individual character development and collective planetary responsibility. The research uses Nussbaum's Capability Approach as a conceptual bridge and shows how language courses function as conversion factors that expand participants’ capabilities in various dimensions of human flourishing. The findings reveal that traditional conceptions of love of learning are evolving into what can be called ‘planetary love of learning’, which integrates systematic knowledge acquisition with ecological awareness and more-than-human responsibility. Participants developed not only language skills, but also environmental awareness, intercultural sensitivity, and collective responsibility. The study challenges individualistic frameworks of character strengths and shows how learning becomes a relational practice embedded in complex networks of planetary relationships. The results suggest that educational interventions can simultaneously promote personal agency and ecological responsibility and point to new directions for character development in times of environmental crisis. The research contributes to the emerging science of transformative learning in the Anthropocene and offers practical insights for adult education programmes that seek to cultivate both individual flourishing and planetary well-being.