Education, spirituality, and social cohesion: sustainable governance models in crisis-affected settings

• In Event: Educational Approaches to Social Cohesion: Pedagogy, Governance, and Resilience

Proposal

In a world increasingly marked by protracted crises and forced displacement, education in emergencies (EiE) has become a critical domain for rebuilding institutional systems, social cohesion, and sustainable peace. With over 120 million people currently displaced—around 60 percent of them children—the urgency of rethinking educational governance has never been greater. The recent USAID cuts to global education highlight the fragility of aid dependence and the urgency of rethinking sustainable EiE governance. Existing governance frameworks often prioritize institutional efficiency and humanitarian coordination but struggle to address the moral, cultural, and spiritual dimensions that shape recovery and belonging. This paper re-examines governance in EiE through the dual lenses of spirituality and sustainability, investigating how frameworks can support holistic, contextually grounded responses in fragile settings.

Drawing from comparative analysis and theory-building, the study presents a conceptual model that foregrounds the nexus of spiritual values and sustainable peacebuilding in educational policy and practice. Despite the critical role that spirituality plays in community resilience and meaning-making, it remains underexplored in the dominant discourse on humanitarian education. This omission is problematic, as displaced populations frequently come from communities where spiritual and cultural values are central to identity and healing. When integrated thoughtfully, spirituality can offer moral guidance, intercultural dialogue, and shared responsibility, fostering inclusive governance. Conversely, its exclusion or instrumentalization can deepen mistrust and exacerbate divisions.

To analyze this tension, the paper develops two Weberian ideal types of governance. The first, instrumental governance, is characterized by centralized decision-making, technocratic control, and bureaucratic logic. It privileges scalability, efficiency, and neutrality but often sidelines cultural context and local agency. The second, participatory governance, is rooted in values of care, dignity, and ethical responsibility. It emphasizes relational approaches, community participation, and holistic forms of education that attend to trauma, identity, and belonging. While idealized, these models provide a lens to evaluate real-world practices and the trade-offs they entail.

The theoretical framework integrates the World Order Models Project (WOMP) with Holmes’ Problem Approach. WOMP enables the articulation of “relevant utopias” grounded in justice, pluralism, and sustainability, making explicit the values that guide governance visions. Holmes’ Problem Approach highlights crises as not merely technical challenges but moral and political dilemmas, requiring situated and value-conscious responses. Together, these frameworks support a critical reimagining of EiE governance as ethically oriented, culturally grounded, and responsive to systemic complexity.

To illustrate these ideas, the paper introduces EduHaven, a conceptual composite case representing a spiritually grounded refugee education community in Uganda. While hypothetical, EduHaven draws on empirical practices from multi-faith initiatives and community-led learning spaces in East Africa. It demonstrates how spiritual values—such as relational care, inclusive participation, and cultural affirmation—can be operationalized in educational design and governance structures. The case illustrates how education that integrates spiritual and cultural dimensions can build both academic capacity and moral resilience, supporting peacebuilding and long-term sustainability.

The argument is further tested through three comparative vignettes. In Colombia, the integration of Venezuelan migrants into national schools involves collaboration between faith-based organizations and public institutions. This hybrid governance reflects elements of participatory engagement, though tensions remain around balancing neutrality with spiritual relevance. In Bangladesh, the education of Rohingya refugees remains confined to tightly controlled camp settings. Here, centralized governance and standardized curricula limit the recognition of cultural and spiritual identity, leading to low trust and engagement. In Turkey, early initiatives to include Syrian refugees emphasized shared belonging, but resource pressures and political polarization gradually shifted governance back toward bureaucratic control, weakening cohesion and undermining community trust. These contrasting examples highlight how governance choices can either nurture pathways of inclusion and resilience or reinforce marginalization.

The study also engages with UNHCR’s Global Framework for Refugee Education (2019) and Building Inclusive Education Systems for Refugees (2023), which emphasize belonging, holistic well-being, and community-based solutions. Although framed in secular humanitarian terms, the frameworks align with the participatory model advanced here. By interpreting spirituality broadly—as ethical responsibility, relational meaning, and the pursuit of just and sustainable futures—the paper proposes a governance vision resonant across secular, religious, and pluralist contexts.

The findings suggest that humanitarian education cannot rely solely on technical fixes or institutional design. Governance rooted only in scalability and neutrality neglects the deeper dimensions of resilience and belonging that sustain displaced learners and communities. By contrast, governance informed by spiritual values and sustainability fosters dignity, trust, and local ownership. This orientation does not impose doctrine but opens space for reflection on the ethical and cultural foundations of education.

The implications are both theoretical and practical. The ideal types developed here offer policymakers, educators, and humanitarian actors tools to critically evaluate and redesign governance frameworks in EiE. They call for a shift away from externally driven, paternalistic models toward approaches that empower local actors and honor the moral and spiritual fabric of affected communities. More broadly, the study argues that spirituality and sustainability are not peripheral but foundational dimensions of rebuilding education systems in divided and crisis-affected societies.

In conclusion, this paper demonstrates that educational governance in emergencies must move beyond a narrow focus on technical coordination and institutional expansion. By foregrounding relational ethics, cultural grounding, and visionary governance, it points toward policy approaches that can foster not only inclusion and peace but also long-term resilience and justice. Such a reorientation challenges prevailing humanitarian logics while offering pathways for governance that better reflect the lived realities, aspirations, and values of displaced learners and their communities.

Author

• Youngbeen Ahn, OISE, University of Toronto