> An ideal ecology for a learning community would have some basic structures about it.

Dave – do ecologies have the properties you outline here?

When I think of an ‘ecology’ I think of a network of interconnected life, such as in a jungle or in a swamp. These are characterized by the fact that there is no purpose, there is no value – it’s just a bunch of life-forms doing their own thing, interacting with each other.

Fo me, the ecology metaphor came to life in 2004 when I read this: “If we can revise our attitudes towards the land under our feet, if we can accept a role of steward, and depart from the role of conqueror, if we can accept the view than man and nature are inseparable parts of the unified whole – then Tasmania can be a shining beacon in a dull, uniform, and largely artificial world.” Olegas Truchanas, 1971.
http://www.downes.ca/post/20

I think we typically want to impose some order onto an ecology – but in so doing we wreck the ecology. Our values, principles, laws – these are for ourselves as individuals, and neither characterize nor describe an ecology.