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Article
Publication date: 2 March 2015

Lynne Wyness and Stephen Sterling

This paper aims to present an overview of the design and implementation of a curriculum review undertaken at Plymouth University, UK, to gauge the incidence and status of…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to present an overview of the design and implementation of a curriculum review undertaken at Plymouth University, UK, to gauge the incidence and status of sustainability in degree programmes across the curriculum. The paper outlines the methodological approach taken, reviews findings and summarises the effects and limitations of the exercise.

Design/methodology/approach

Rather than creating a criteria-based auditing tool, which might have been interpreted by academics as top-down evaluation of practice, emphasis was placed on self-evaluation of how the degree programmes were implementing sustainability in a number of broad areas, such as curriculum content, pedagogical approaches and student engagement. A review tool was created and distributed to all undergraduate and postgraduate degree programmes in the four campus-based faculties in the university. In particular, the review was designed to contribute the institutional annual submissions to the Learning in Future Environments index.

Findings

The paper discusses findings in some key areas relating to curriculum content, pedagogical approaches, partnerships and student engagement. Some of the obstacles and limitations identified by programme leaders in implementing education for sustainable development are discussed and areas of future consideration are included.

Originality/value

The review contributes to the limited national and international examples available of institution-wide curriculum reviews in the arena of education for sustainable development. The discussion of the problems, benefits and implications will be of value to other higher education institutions considering undertaking their own curriculum review.

Details

International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, vol. 16 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1467-6370

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 9 November 2015

Lynne Wyness, Paul Jones and Rita Klapper

The purpose of this paper is to consider the understanding and presence of sustainability within entrepreneurship education. The extant literature on sustainability within the…

2385

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to consider the understanding and presence of sustainability within entrepreneurship education. The extant literature on sustainability within the entrepreneurship discipline remains extremely limited. Previously, sustainability within an entrepreneurship context has related to economic viability as opposed to sustainability in its broadest sense. This study explores, through a survey of entrepreneurship educators, three key research questions, namely, how entrepreneurship educators believe that entrepreneurs can contribute to solving sustainability problems. Second, to what extent education about sustainability is integrated within existing entrepreneurship curricula. Finally, what considerations are being made to include sustainability within future programmes.

Design/methodology/approach

This study represented part of a larger university project exploring the associations between the sustainability and entrepreneurship disciplines. This part of the study involved a web-based survey from entrepreneurship academics drawn from Australia, New Zealand, UK, and the USA which provided 54 completed questionnaires.

Findings

The study uncovered much good practice led by “champions” within the entrepreneurship discipline. However, embedded sustainability practice was typically limited and it was more typically regarded as an “add-on” to traditional entrepreneurial teaching.

Practical implications

The study proposes three ways in which sustainability might be more meaningfully integrated into entrepreneurship programmes. First, the QAA (2012) guidelines for enterprise and entrepreneurship need to be reconsidered to encapsulate the sustainability agenda. Second, for entrepreneurship educators to reconsider their pedagogical approaches to encapsulate systems thinking as more holistic educational perspective. Finally, the authors call for entrepreneurship educators to revise their programmes to embed the core facets of social, environmental, economic, and more recently ethical sustainability.

Originality/value

The study offers a novel insight into entrepreneurship educators attitudes to sustainability and their approach to it within their curricula. This study provides an initial benchmark regarding the levels of sustainability provision within entrepreneurship curricula which will be of interest to the entrepreneurship academic community, the sustainability community, and policy makers.

Details

Education + Training, vol. 57 no. 8/9
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0040-0912

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 July 2020

Denise Adriana Johann, Andrieli de Fátima Paz Nunes, Geovane Barbosa dos Santos, Deoclécio Junior Cardoso da Silva, Sirlene Aparecida Takeda Bresciani and Luis Felipe Dias Lopes

Design thinking (DT) is still a relatively new methodology in the context of entrepreneurial education, which presents itself as an important tool for the development of…

Abstract

Purpose

Design thinking (DT) is still a relatively new methodology in the context of entrepreneurial education, which presents itself as an important tool for the development of entrepreneurial skills when inserted into the educational system. This research aimed to analyze studies about DT related to the entrepreneurial mindset in international journals over a period of ten years (2009–2019). Entrepreneurial education has been a constant in academic debates as well as practices and methodologies to apply this education, and such context has moved educational institutions to adopt practices and initiatives focused on the theme.

Design/methodology/approach

The tool used in the present study was the bibliometric database of the Web of Science through the words “Design Thinking” (DT) and “Entrepreneurial Education”. The research is characterized as descriptive and quantitative, and 146 publications were investigated in the period from 2009 to 2019, in the respective database.

Findings

The study also highlighted the new generation of young students forcing a change in education with an approach centered on the individual. Speech does not prevail in the teachers but in the students, and the teacher educator starts to collaborate for this new educational demand with didactics relevant to the world in this way preparing these young people and delivering society to critical, proactive and participatory individuals.

Originality/value

In the course of the study, we observed practices and examples of schools and universities that have adapted ways to allow new interactions in the school environment by promoting and encouraging innovative education.

Details

World Journal of Entrepreneurship, Management and Sustainable Development, vol. 16 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2042-5961

Keywords

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