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The purpose of this paper is to explore an interactive teaching approach using an autoethnographic lens to enhance key competencies in sustainability. These competencies are integrated sets of knowledge, skills, and attitudes that facilitate effective task performance and problem-solving related to real-world sustainabiloity issues (Wiek, Withycombe, and Redman, 2011). Focusing on interpersonal competencies in higher education for sustainable development (HESD), this paper emphasiizes the possibilities of student-led discussions and self-reflection to inspire, support, and guide collaborative and participatory learning and problem-solving (Brundiers et al., 2020). Shifting from traditional lectures to student-led discussions transforms instructors into facilitators, showcasing the potential of this method.

Using an autoethnographic lens, this paper explores the student-led discussion approach to support the development of interpersonal competencies in the realm of the key competencies in HESD. Drawing from a blend of relevant literature and the author’s personal experiences spanning multiple years with this approach, this paper offers insights into its benefits and effective implementation. The student-led discussion approach involves the following:

• Assignment of relevant texts: University students are tasked with reading an engaging and pertinent piece of literature as homework;

• Written reading reflection: Students produce written reflections on the assigned reading in anticipation of a subsequent in-class discussion;

• In-class discussion: Each student arrives prepared to potentially lead the conversation. At the onset of the session, three student facilitator names are randomly selected. These chosen individuals bear the responsibility of steering the conversation, ensuring robust participation from their peers;

• Empowerment Tools: To bolster their facilitation, the instructor provides these students with tools and recommended strategies beforehand;

• Instructor's Role: Initially, the instructor adopts a passive stance, abstaining from any direct participation for the first 15-30 minutes of the discussion, allowing students to steer the discourse; and

• Post-Discussion Self-Assessment: After the discussion concludes, students engage in reflective self-assessment, evaluating their degree of participation. This paper unpacks how the process of student-led discussions, framed through an autoethnographic perspective, not only fosters interpersonal competence but also amplifies the pedagogical understanding of student-driven learning experiences.

Assignment of relevant texts: University students are tasked with reading an engaging and pertinent piece of literature as homework;

Written reading reflection: Students produce written reflections on the assigned reading in anticipation of a subsequent in-class discussion;

In-class discussion: Each student arrives prepared to potentially lead the conversation. At the onset of the session, three student facilitator names are randomly selected. These chosen individuals bear the responsibility of steering the conversation, ensuring robust participation from their peers;

Empowerment Tools: To bolster their facilitation, the instructor provides these students with tools and recommended strategies beforehand;

Instructor's Role: Initially, the instructor adopts a passive stance, abstaining from any direct participation for the first 15-30 minutes of the discussion, allowing students to steer the discourse; and

Post-Discussion Self-Assessment: After the discussion concludes, students engage in reflective self-assessment, evaluating their degree of participation. This paper unpacks how the process of student-led discussions, framed through an autoethnographic perspective, not only fosters interpersonal competence but also amplifies the pedagogical understanding of student-driven learning experiences.

Through the autoethnographic lens used in this research, it becomes evident that student-led discussions not only foster a deeper engagement with assigned content but also pave the way for transformative learning experiences. These discussions serve as a forum, challenging students to grapple with cognitive dissonance and gives them the space to witness and participate in diverse communication strategies. Moreover, in allowing students to shape the narratives they perceive as most pertinent, instructors catalyze the development of profound problem-solving capabilities and a sense of agency over their learning trajectories. Key insights gleaned include the following:

• Collaborative learning: The discussions nurture an environment where students reflect, analyze and learn collectively, deepening their grasp of the material;

• Empowerment through communication: Engaging in these sessions equips learners with the prowess to reconcile disparate viewpoints, thereby fortifying their collaborative and communicative proficiencies; and

• Critical thinking and sustainability: By delving into intricate sustainability challenges, students hone their critical thinking capabilities, preparing them to be future custodians of a more sustainable world. In essence, when viewed through an autoethnographic lens, the student-led discussion approach not only enriches learning outcomes but also accentuates the acquisition of pivotal interpersonal competencies within the framework of HESD.

Collaborative learning: The discussions nurture an environment where students reflect, analyze and learn collectively, deepening their grasp of the material;

Empowerment through communication: Engaging in these sessions equips learners with the prowess to reconcile disparate viewpoints, thereby fortifying their collaborative and communicative proficiencies; and

Critical thinking and sustainability: By delving into intricate sustainability challenges, students hone their critical thinking capabilities, preparing them to be future custodians of a more sustainable world. In essence, when viewed through an autoethnographic lens, the student-led discussion approach not only enriches learning outcomes but also accentuates the acquisition of pivotal interpersonal competencies within the framework of HESD.

From an autoethnographic perspective, this research stands distinctively within the literature on higher education for sustainable development. While the pedagogical strategy of student-led discussions is not entirely novel, the unique application and deep introspection of this method within the realm of HESD indeed carve out new terrain. By interweaving lived experiences and educational theory, this paper offers fresh insights into how student-led discussions can be an effective way to cultivate key sustainability competencies in higher education. As such, it provides educators, scholars and practitioners a valuable reference point for fostering interpersonal skills and nuanced understandings crucial for sustainable development.

This study aims to analyze the university environment’s role in the intention–action gap (IAG)of highly successful startup founders in an emerging market.

Using multiple regression analysis, this study analyzed data collected from 314 founders representing 99 successful startups (289 valid observations), renowned for their high funding and value operating in an emerging market, Brazil.

The results demonstrate that extracurricular activities and exchange programs lead to a reduced IAG while living in a significant economic center extends it. Computer science and industrial engineering students show reduced IAGs. Studying together with future co-founders also leads to reduced gaps.

The study contributes to the microfoundations theory by presenting new interactions between students and the university environment that influence entrepreneurial action. Limitations are related to the sample, limited to Brazilian founders and selected only through venture capital firms’ filters.

This study also provides practical insights to the universities’ leaders on how they can create programs that improve the rate of startup creation, potentially leading to successful companies.

This study investigates the association between the university role and the entrepreneur’s IAG in emerging markets. The entrepreneur’s IAG is still a relatively new phenomenon explored in entrepreneurship. Even less understanding and limited empirical data exist on successful startups from emerging markets. This study drew on the microfoundations literature to answer how universities in emerging markets could address specific resources and entrepreneurship programs to reduce the IAG among students and alumni.

This paper aims to examine a co-produced initiative implemented at the University of the West of England, UWE (UWE) between September 2022 and April 2023. The student-led project (Climate, Conversations and Cake: The 3C’s) addressed environmental and climate crisis awareness through monthly gatherings where, in partnership, students, academic staff and professional personnel gathered to share food, engage in conversations and partake in joint activities.

This paper draws upon a mix of student and staff feedback, gathered through surveys and written/verbal reflections, to explore the value and impact of this project.

The project received two UWE student Union awards for teaching sustainability and for student welfare, and was a finalist in the UK and Ireland Green Gown Awards. The 3C’s provided a platform for emotional expression by fostering a safe and supportive environment and encouraged students to reflect, share, apply and deepen their learning experiences in an informal setting characterised by compassion and empathy. This paper highlights the importance of developing supportive and compassionate pedagogical practices which recognise and normalise climate concern.

The findings contribute to the growing body of literature on co-produced projects within higher education institutions, showcasing the potential of such initiatives to encourage meaningful engagement and empower students in addressing the pressing challenges of climate crisis. In addition to providing an evidence base for the value of such initiatives, through outlining the specifics of this student-led project, a framework that can be used by other institutions to develop their own initiatives is offered.

The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of former teachers who transitioned into self-directed education (SDE), a K-12 educational paradigm where learning is authentically student-led.

Drawing on Ivan Illich’s Deschooling Society and qualitative thematic analysis of interviews with educators who have left conventional teaching, the research delves into understanding the modern concept of deschooling, critique of conventional schooling’s limitations and the implications of both for the future of educational practice.

The study highlights the themes that emerged from a cross-analysis of text and lived experience, emphasizing the need for childhood autonomy and agency in approaches to education. This study reveals a reimagined relationship and new profession for educators as they reemerge on the other side of the deschooling process. This study offers insights into the transformative potential of deschooling and SDE’s alignment with Illich’s vision for a lifelong learning society that transcends institutional constraints, thereby contributing to the discourse on educational reform and the empowerment of authentic learner-directed education.

Research on SDE as a field is quite limited, with no known prior empirical studies on SDE mentors or their process of deschooling. This work also provides theoretical novelty in using Deschooling Society as a lens for understanding the phenomenon of deschooling through lived experience as a critique of modern society and creating a real, re-envisioned future.

Tracing the development of a parallel-engaged pedagogy of care that extended and adapted the critical and transformative pedagogies of Freire, De Sousa Santos and hooks to the South African context. The development of this transformative pedagogy addresses the local conditions of an architectural design studio at a postcolonial, post-Apartheid and post “Fees must Fall” protests South African university. This pedagogy used practice-based design research to build a more conscious, critical and careful design practice in both students and educators.

The pedagogy was developed through participatory action research, over five years, from 2019 to 2023 including two years of the COVID-19 pandemic. Parallel and active engagement of students and educators within a nurturing and caring environment evolved from year to year, through a conscious and critical reflection on the process. Student surveys, reflective essays and focus groups unearth the impact of the parallel-engaged pedagogy of care.

The parallel-engaged pedagogy of care was shown to support and scaffold students becoming more conscious, critical and careful in their design practices validating diverse lived experiences as generative for design and important for social justice and transformative equity.

The parallel-engaged pedagogy of care is part of a global shift to more transformative pedagogies that address student diversity and decoloniality.

Through dismantling traditional hierarchical teaching modes, the pedagogy is more student-led, agile and adaptable. Through centring and demonstrating care in the pedagogy, students are encouraged to develop both self-care and care in their design practice. This is especially critical in the South African context where the cultural capital of the institution, with its roots in colonial and Apartheid education differs from that of the majority of students of colour.

This study aims to systematically examine 69 secondary studies to understand trends and implications in sustainability in higher education (SHE), addressing gaps in secondary studies, which often lack comprehensive thematic overviews that hinder future directions.

This tertiary study uses meticulous thematic coding to unveil overarching themes and future research directions across seven SHE areas: institutional frameworks, campus operations, education, research, outreach and collaborations, campus experiences and assessment and reporting.

The analysis reveals challenges higher education institutions (HEIs) face in integrating sustainability, highlighting the need for a holistic approach. Barriers such as awareness deficits and resistance to change emphasize the importance of interdisciplinary research. Emphasizing holistic integration and innovation is vital for seamlessly embedding sustainability within HEIs.

Key future research themes include holistic approaches to sustainability integration, leadership for sustainable change and innovative pedagogical approaches. Additionally, it is important to explore transdisciplinary approaches in sustainability research and the role of research centers and funding in addressing sustainability challenges.

This study provides a comprehensive overview of SHE, offering insights for researchers and practitioners, and serves as a resource for advancing sustainable educational practices.

This paper aims to examine how doctoral students in education and applied linguistics fields successfully navigated graduate writing demands by participating in a support community that catalyzed writing productivity, peer mentoring and feedback. Guiding graduate students’ writing processes based on scholarly interests and providing peer support are vital to scholarly productivity and transition into academia.

Following a collaborative analytic autoethnographic case study design (Adams et al., 2022; Chang et al., 2013), the authors narrated major events that impacted their writing and publication experiences. The authors visualized their entire doctoral writing experience based on the frequency of writing events that contributed to writing productivity. In data triangulation discussions, the authors reflected on writing experiences.

Findings show that the support community alleviated individual struggles associated with writing a dissertation and high-quality papers. Key factors contributing to scholarly growth included nonevaluative peer support, feedback and shared academic resources. Writing within the periphery of faculty research and predominantly focusing on doctoral milestones led to individual scholarly interests being overshadowed. Without structured guidance, doctoral writers may develop initiatives to alleviate individual struggles and meet academic writing demands in the disciplines.

The authors recommend including structured guidance on developing writing productivity and a personal research agenda in the early stages of the doctorate.

This study offers unique examples of how a student group supported writing productivity and socialization into the academic community. It illustrates the multifaceted nature of academic writing influenced by faculty–student relationships, peers and individual initiatives. This paper provides doctoral writers and graduate programs with examples of accomplishing academic publishing goals.

Recognising that there is increasing urgency to equip graduates to become future leaders in delivering the sustainable development goals (SDGs), this study presents a critical analysis of a whole-institution approach to embedding education for sustainable development (ESD) in curricula. This study aims to explore the wider reach of adopting a similar approach within varied professional practices and institutional settings.

The approach is mixed-methods action research framed within a revised institutional strategy. The authors place this in the wider context of ESD in higher education.

Embedding ESD in curricula and recognition of its relevance across all disciplines were important to stakeholders. These outcomes translated into strategic commitments. Within the first year of the strategy, Carbon Literacy was embedded in almost 20% of courses and in progress in a further 25%; ESD was embedded in 42% of courses and in progress in a further 7%; and over 80% of students agreed with the statement “My course provides me with the opportunities to gain knowledge and skills relating to sustainable development”.

This work demonstrates effective measures that can be amplified across the sector, framed by two overarching principles that are effective regardless of context: demonstration that sustainability adds value to academic activities and consultation and co-creation to build a shared vision and support for change.

Our goals were to explore the pedagogies applied by instructors that supported Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) student learning in a leadership course and the leadership behaviors BIPOC students identified as being applicable after the course.

Through survey research and qualitative data analysis, three prominent themes emerged.

High-quality, purposeful pedagogy created opportunities for students to learn. Second, a supportive, interactive community engaged students with the instructor, each other and the course material to support participation in learning. As a result, students reported experiencing big shifts, new growth and increased confidence during their leadership courses.

We discuss our findings and offer specific recommendations for leadership educators to better support BIPOC students in their leadership courses and classrooms and for further research with BIPOC students.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of sustainability-focused, cocurricular, interdisciplinary programming for graduate students at creating future leaders in sustainability, i.e. did interdisciplinary sustainability programming further prepared graduate students in sustainability leadership beyond the scope of the individual student academic programs from the perspective of the student participants.

The objective of the study was met by evaluating the University of Michigan Dow Sustainability Fellows Program. With a decade of graduate-student participation, surveys and interviews of Fellows alumni from 2013 to 2020 were used to assess the program impact on creating sustainability leaders. Opportunities for program reflections were included through prompted open-ended questions.

A majority (88%) of the Fellows who responded to the survey agreed with the statement that their career path was positively affected by their participation in the program and that the cocurricular program provided opportunities to explore sustainability-related topics from perspectives they would not have experienced otherwise. The interdisciplinary aspect of the program and the focus on practical community sustainability projects were the most valued attributes of the cocurricular programming.

Supporting cocurricular interdisciplinary programs requires significant resources and intentionality to engage diverse disciplines and diverse partner organizations.

Programs that provide experiential opportunities to build interdisciplinary team skills successfully enable graduate students to become leaders in sustainability fields in the workplace and in outreach and service.

Cocurricular graduate student programming focused on community sustainability projects can successfully create valued learning experiences while simultaneously supporting communities with practical solutions to sustainability challenges.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this work is the first longitudinal assessment of the effectiveness of the interdisciplinary cocurricular programming on graduate student sustainability leadership outcomes. The results include feedback received from eight years of cocurricular programming.