Abstract
This article questions the epistemological, pedagogical, and institutional conditions for challenging contemporary educational and global problems through integrative knowledge. Anchored in the complexity paradigm, it traces how movements from multi- to inter- to transdisciplinarity can yield epistemologies that are educationally consequential and transformative. Drawing on a conceptual–analytical review of foundational complexity scholarship, the study identifies enduring barriers, disciplinary academic cultures, reductionist assessment regimes, and conventional instructional models that constrain integrative inquiry. It argues that progress along this continuum, when guided by an ethics of complexity, strengthens epistemic rigor, enhances pedagogical relevance, and improves research responsiveness to wicked problems. The analysis advances a reimagining of knowledge ecologies through epistemic pluralism, dialogical co-production, and collaborative pedagogies capable of navigating uncertainty and cultivating interdependence. The article concludes that integrative, complexity-aligned frameworks provide a viable pathway to educational innovation, social justice, planetary sustainability, and systemic transformation.