A world view is emerging in areas like peace education, environmental education, justice education and development education which cannot be understood simply by applying old assumptions to these areas. This world view involves a different ethical framework, a different epistemology and a different way of functioning in order to achieve goals. I call this new world view social ecology, a philosophy which has emerged as a result of the threats to our planet and which takes as its starting point such principles as ecological sustainability, non-violence, grass-roots democracy and social equality.