Institutional solutions to basic questions regarding education cannot be effective, as institutional solutions to problems apply to classes of people, not to individuals. The stories of selves cannot be nurtured by institutions whose purposes are to use people to achieve "greater" ends such as international economic competitiveness. Educational issues regarding the nurture of persons or selves can be addressed only in a culture of nurture. To understand what the role of institutions could be in the nurture of selves, a theory of nurture is required. The outline of a theory of nurture is sketched, principally from work in cross-cultural psychology and moral theory. Three suborganizations of the psyche are discussed: the familial, relational self; the individualized self; and the spiritual or transformational self. The nurture of selves suggests a far richer range of considerations and policy contexts than has historically been captured in talk of education. Public policy that will robustly encourage life in family and community is urgently needed. (Contains 16 references.) (JDD)