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1 – 10 of 111Elizabeth Rushton, Nicola Walshe, Alison Kitson and Sarah Sharp
In England, climate change and sustainability education (CCSE) is predominantly taught with a focus on knowledge in school geography and science. However, whole-school approaches…
Abstract
Purpose
In England, climate change and sustainability education (CCSE) is predominantly taught with a focus on knowledge in school geography and science. However, whole-school approaches to CCSE exist which encompasses curriculum, campus, community and culture. Drawing on conceptualisations of the ecological approach to teacher agency we explored the ways in which the leadership of a whole-school approach to CCSE was implemented across four case study schools.
Design/methodology/approach
Four case study schools were identified as having implemented CCSE across the areas of classroom, culture, campus and community, with opportunities to share good practice. During visits to each school, we completed a series of 15 interviews with teachers who had roles leading geography (n = 4) and science (n = 4) curricular; school leaders (n = 4) and sustainability coordinators (n = 3). We engaged with a range of school curricula and policy materials and toured each site.
Findings
At the heart of an effective approach to whole-school CCSE are leaders who create the conditions for teachers to achieve agency and enact curriculum making as a social practice. School leaders themselves are critical in ensuring the culture, professional norms and expectations are established and nurtured. Over time, teachers are able to identify and create spaces of agency in relation to CCSE which reach beyond their immediate communities.
Originality/value
This research brings together teacher agency, curriculum making and leadership practices to better understand why some schools achieve agentic cultures as part of whole-school CCSE.
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Maria Teresa Beamond, Marina Schmitz, Miguel Cordova, Maria Vasileva Ilieva, Shasha Zhao and Daria Panina
This paper aims to clarify how business education has and should incorporate more resources, policies and stakeholder engagement towards the incorporation of sustainability, by…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to clarify how business education has and should incorporate more resources, policies and stakeholder engagement towards the incorporation of sustainability, by conducting a literature review on sustainability in business and international business education and proposing future opportunities for researchers and practitioners.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors take a systematic, qualitative analysis approach to evaluate multidisciplinary literatures on sustainability in business education. The authors identify 192 qualifying papers published in 68 journals between 2015 and 2023.
Findings
The authors propose five categories of education solutions. Four of them are integrated, in two macro–micro levels: university (stakeholders and shared-mindset change) and student (pedagogical methods and curriculum); and one at meso level: international business (holistic integration) serving to unify the university and student levels.
Research limitations/implications
The review highlights the value of applying a holistic approach and interdisciplinary pedagogical methods in future research on sustainability education in business school to effectively prepare future business leaders to contribute to a more sustainable future.
Practical implications
Insights from this review can usefully guide scholars and programme directors in their future research and administrative efforts towards business curriculum design, stakeholder management and policy-making.
Social implications
The findings highlight how by embracing holistic perspectives, proper policies and self-awareness, business education shapes the mindsets and skill sets of the next generation of socially conscious practitioners.
Originality/value
The review stands out as one of the few that offers a forward-looking trajectory for the adaptation of international business education in response to sustainability challenges, through a holistic perspective.
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Erin Jade Twyford, Sedzani Musundwa, Farzana Aman Tanima and Sendirella George
The purpose of this paper is to argue for a transformative shift towards an inclusive and socially responsible framework in accounting education. Integrating the United Nations…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to argue for a transformative shift towards an inclusive and socially responsible framework in accounting education. Integrating the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into accounting curricula can help accountants contribute positively towards the goals’ aim. This represents not merely an educational reform but a call to action to forge a path that empowers accounting students to be technically proficient and socially conscious graduates who act as change agents working towards the public interest.
Design/methodology/approach
This study challenges the technical focus of accounting, conceptualising it as a multidimensional technical, social and moral practice, transcending traditional boundaries to address complex societal issues. This paper is primarily discursive, using autoethnography through presenting vignettes written by four female accounting educators across three geographical regions. These first-person narratives foster a sense of interconnectedness and shared responsibility within the accounting community, reflecting a collective commitment to integrating SDGs into accounting education. By sharing personal experiences, the authors invite readers to engage in reflective pedagogy and contribute to shaping a better world through accounting education.
Findings
The transformative potential of purposefully incorporating SDGs into accounting education is not just a theoretical concept. The vignettes in this study provide concrete evidence of how this integration can shape future accountants into socially conscious professionals driven by ethics, equity and environmental responsibility. Our collective reflection underscores the importance of collaboration and continuous learning in aligning accounting education with the SDGs, offering a hopeful vision for the future of this field.
Originality/value
This study builds on existing literature to encourage communication, curriculum development, collaborative teaching approaches, experiential learning opportunities, ongoing evaluation and community dialogue on reshaping accounting education by giving a rare insight into what and how people teach and from what broader motivations. It offers a practical roadmap for educators to integrate SDGs into their teaching.
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Chris Beingessner and Chris Raymaakers
Students have a unique perspective on how learning space design impacts their school experience (Cook-Sather, 2006). As a result, schools need to be intentional about capturing…
Abstract
Students have a unique perspective on how learning space design impacts their school experience (Cook-Sather, 2006). As a result, schools need to be intentional about capturing student voice and feedback throughout the design process. For learning environments to be responsive to the needs of students, schools must enact an inclusive, inquiry-based approach to design.
In this chapter, the authors describe the role that student voice played in an inquiry-driven, iterative process of designing and implementing innovative learning environments in the Middle School at Singapore American School. Through sharing three concrete examples of different data collection methodologies and the changes that emerged as a result of the feedback, the authors outline the power of intentionally centering student voice and experience in designing learning environments. School leaders will learn practical tools to use and a roadmap to follow to create a more inclusive, responsive process of learning environment design, whether engaging in small-scale renovations or planning a whole school. While this chapter focuses on applying this inquiry cycle to learning environments, the process described can equally be used to center student voice in other school change initiatives.
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Lynn McAlpine, Andrew Gibson and Søren Smedegaard Bengtsen
Increasingly governmental policy around PhD education has resulted in greater university oversight of programs and student experience – often through creating central PhD Schools…
Abstract
Purpose
Increasingly governmental policy around PhD education has resulted in greater university oversight of programs and student experience – often through creating central PhD Schools. While student experience is well researched, the experiences of Heads of these units, who are responsible for creating student experience, have been invisible. This exploratory Danish case study begins such a conversation: its purpose to examine the perceptions of five Heads of PhD Humanities Schools, each responsible for steering institutional decisions within Danish PhD policy landscapes.
Design/methodology/approach
A qualitative approach integrated three distinct analyses: a review of Danish PhD education policies and university procedures, each university’s job specifications for the Heads of the Schools and the Heads’ views on their responsibilities.
Findings
The Heads differentiated between their own and today’s PhD student experience. They had held prior leadership roles and fully supported institutional regulations. They cared deeply for the students under their charge and were working to achieve personal goals to enhance PhD experience. Their leadership perspective was relational: enhancing individual student learning through engaging with multiple PhD actors (e.g. program leaders) – when possible at a personal level – to improve PhD practices.
Originality/value
This study contributes an expanded perspective on how PhD School Heads constitute their roles by empirically linking: macro-national policies and institutional regulations and individuals’ biographies to their support of the PhD regimes – with implications for academic leadership generally. The authors argue research into PhD School leadership is essential, as it is such individuals who create the organisational settings that students experience.
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Previous research has evidenced that communication design students wish to engage further with sustainable practices but struggle to understand how (Newton and Ellis, HER…
Abstract
Purpose
Previous research has evidenced that communication design students wish to engage further with sustainable practices but struggle to understand how (Newton and Ellis, HER conference 2023). Whereas other design disciplines (fashion, product, furniture) can often focus on a “physical” output, communication design embraces multiple outcomes, distributed throughout a range of platforms, representing an area of industry and study which can prove difficult to define. This study aims to add further clarity as to how students consider sustainability aligned to their practice.
Design/methodology/approach
Previous focus group research sought to uncover how communication design students implicitly consider “sustainability”, uncovering that their knowledge is limited. Suggestions from participants emphasised that it was the role of the institution, not the student, to fully integrate sustainability into practice and to define methods they can deploy. This paper notes a subsequent workshop conducted with 33 Level 5 undergraduate students asking them to reflect on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 12/13 in relation to meaningful practice and institutional responsibility.
Findings
Workshops demonstrated the need to engage with sustainable thinking throughout every stage of development. It is clear that students demand more from academic staff at programme level, and from the institution at large, to provide further solutions to sustainability concerns which are relevant to their specific practice.
Originality/value
Discussion surrounding pedagogical practice across communication design lacks interrogation, yet the discipline represents a significant aspect of both design and contemporary society. It is paramount that methods for reinforcing implicit engagement with sustainable best practice within students, their development and their future beyond university are therefore developed.
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Hang Thanh Pham and Minh Ngoc Do
University students often encounter academic challenges and setbacks, which can impact their beliefs about their capabilities, leading to a phenomenon known as learned…
Abstract
Purpose
University students often encounter academic challenges and setbacks, which can impact their beliefs about their capabilities, leading to a phenomenon known as learned helplessness. This study explores the antecedents of learned helplessness through the interaction between teacher support, self-efficacy, and cultural dimensions such as power distance, uncertainty avoidance, and masculinity.
Design/methodology/approach
Drawing from constructivism, the authors empirically examined a conceptual model utilizing structural equation modeling (SEM). A total of 268 university students completed a self-survey on learned helplessness via a Google Form.
Findings
The study shows that LH is influenced by personal attributes, perceived support, and cultural context. Higher self-efficacy is linked to lower LH scores, while teacher support indirectly affects LH through self-efficacy. Power distance and uncertainty avoidance also directly impact LH. Additionally, cultural influences indirectly affect LH through perceived support and self-efficacy. However, the hypothesized connections between masculinity and LH were not supported.
Originality/value
The study advances LH literature by exploring it among university students using a multidimensional, constructivist approach, providing valuable insights for educational authorities. We illuminate how individual, social, and cultural factors influence LH, underscoring the serial mediation between self-efficacy and perceived teacher support. Existing literature frequently overlooks the intricate interplay among cultural dimensions and other factors, limiting the formulation of comprehensive solutions. Our research breaks new ground in quantitative LH examination within education, delving into Hofstede’s cultural dimensions and suggesting strategies to mitigate uncertainty and power distance for student well-being and success.
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Sarah L. Rodriguez, Rosemary Perez, Angie Kim and Rudisang Motshubi
The purpose of this study was to examine how two socio-historical contexts within the United States, the Movement for Black Lives and the COVID-19 pandemic, informed approaches to…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study was to examine how two socio-historical contexts within the United States, the Movement for Black Lives and the COVID-19 pandemic, informed approaches to improving racial climate in science, technology, mathematics and engineering (STEM) graduate education.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors used a general qualitative inquiry research study design to conduct focus groups (n = 121) with graduate students, postdoctoral fellows and faculty members from across STEM disciplines as well as administrators whose work involves STEM graduate students. Participants were from two US institutions involved in a National Science Foundation networked improvement community seeking to create inclusive environments for STEM graduate students.
Findings
This study demonstrates how these socio-historical contexts illuminated and amplified on-going efforts to address racial climate for graduate students in US-based graduate education. In response to these events, STEM faculty devoted time that otherwise might have gone to purely technical or scientific endeavors to addressing racial climate. However, some faculty members remain hesitant to address racial climate and efforts appear to have further waned over time. While diversity, inclusion and equity efforts came to the forefront of the collective consciousness during this time, participants worry that these efforts are not sustainable, particularly without support from faculty and administrators.
Practical implications
The findings from this study will inform efforts to improve racial climate in STEM graduate programs.
Originality/value
This study fills an identified need to capture how socio-historical contexts, like the US Movement for Black Lives and the COVID-19 pandemic, have influenced approaches to improving racial climate in STEM graduate programs.
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Carmen Álvarez-Nieto, Laura Parra-Anguita, Cristina Álvarez-García, Eva Maria Montoro Ramirez, María Dolores López-Franco, Sebastián Sanz-Martos and Isabel María López Medina
In light of the world’s accelerating march towards a sustainable future, the education for sustainable healthcare must be sufficiently acknowledged in health professions…
Abstract
Purpose
In light of the world’s accelerating march towards a sustainable future, the education for sustainable healthcare must be sufficiently acknowledged in health professions curricula. Early integration of these competences into nursing degree programme emphasizes its importance and applicability. This paper aims to investigate the effectiveness of an educational sustainability intervention in higher education to change nursing students’ attitudes towards sustainability and climate change, and environmental awareness.
Design/methodology/approach
A quasi-experimental study was performed with repeated measures between September 2019 and May 2023. Undergraduate students were introduced to sustainability and climate change in the context of healthcare using scenario-based learning and augmented reality over the courses in nursing degree. Participants' attitudes and awareness were collected by online questionnaires.
Findings
The educational intervention showed effectiveness in significantly improving attitudes towards climate change and sustainability, and the environmental awareness for changing their clinical practice (p < 0.01). However, students struggled to apply sustainability and address unsustainable practices in healthcare settings.
Originality/value
This study shows an effective model of curricular sustainability that can be implemented in other universities and health disciplines. The findings highlighting the importance of sustainability education in nursing and its potential to drive positive change in healthcare practice and society at large. Embedding key topics aligned with sustainable development goals in the curriculum prepares nursing or health workforce to address planetary health and implement sustainable practices that provide climate-smart care.
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Maria Manta Conroy, Becky Mansfield, Elena Irwin, Gina Jaquet, Gregory Hitzhusen and Jeremy Brooks
Integrating sustainability into university curricula brings diverse challenges and conflicts as separate units vie for ownership of courses and topics. This case study presents a…
Abstract
Purpose
Integrating sustainability into university curricula brings diverse challenges and conflicts as separate units vie for ownership of courses and topics. This case study presents a six dimensions sustainability framework developed at The Ohio State University to organize curricula under an inclusive strategy.
Design/methodology/approach
An interdisciplinary group of faculty focused on sustainability education engaged in a three-phased process including review of sustainability definitions from diverse disciplines; analysis of key aspects of the definitions in conjunction with course descriptions and learning outcomes; and identification of commonalities across the key aspects. This yielded six foundational dimensions of sustainability which serve as a means to assess curricular contributions across University units and topics. The six dimensions framework has been used in practice in multiple contexts.
Findings
The six dimensions framework provides a way to identify and foster diverse sustainability curricula efforts. It has enabled academic units to describe their disciplinary and interdisciplinary perspectives on diverse sustainability topics and the University to advance a broad sustainability vision.
Originality/value
The six dimensions framework provides a novel “big tent” approach to integration of sustainability into higher education curricula. The framework provides guidance about what counts as sustainability while maintaining the breadth that widens participation.
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