Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 14-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

Dissonance in students' perceptions of sustainable development and sustainability Implications for curriculum change

Dissonance in students' perceptions of sustainable development and sustainability Implications... Purpose – An online questionnaire survey was conducted to explore University of Plymouth students' perceptions and understandings of, and attitudes towards, sustainable development and related concepts and issues. In general, student perceptions of sustainable development have been under‐researched. This research sought to go some way towards filling the gap by providing insights for those working in the field of education for sustainable development (ESD) in higher education. Design/methodology/approach – The survey was administrated in autumn 2005 by the Centre for Sustainable Futures at the University of Plymouth. The closed‐category statements were analyzed in terms of frequencies and percentages. A comprehensive set of cross tabulations and χ 2 tests were also conducted using SPSS. Responses to open‐ended questions were coded and categorized according to emerging themes. Findings – Key findings include, first, that a majority of student respondents think sustainability is “a good thing” their positive response not particularly correlating with their degree of familiarity with either of the concepts of sustainable development or sustainability. Second, students strongly associate the concepts of sustainable development and sustainability with their environmental as against economic and social aspects. Third, in terms of personal change for a sustainable lifestyle, “light green” actions addressing responsibility as consumers such as changing purchasing habits, recycling, and saving energy and/or water were most frequently articulated. Fourth, respondents harbour mixed feelings regarding the future of society in the face of sustainability‐oriented challenges. Originality/value – The paper highlights the importance of ESD curriculum development that more explicitly addresses the interconnectedness of different aspects of sustainable development and which also employs pedagogies that help students to take action towards realizing their preferred futures. It also suggests future study directed towards identifying various means of facilitating students' pro‐sustainability behaviours. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education Emerald Publishing

Dissonance in students' perceptions of sustainable development and sustainability Implications for curriculum change

Download PDF
22 pages

Loading next page...
 
/lp/emerald-publishing/dissonance-in-students-perceptions-of-sustainable-development-and-s0bKbOsI0L
Publisher
Emerald Publishing
Copyright
Copyright © 2007 Emerald Group Publishing Limited. All rights reserved.
ISSN
1467-6370
DOI
10.1108/14676370710817174
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Purpose – An online questionnaire survey was conducted to explore University of Plymouth students' perceptions and understandings of, and attitudes towards, sustainable development and related concepts and issues. In general, student perceptions of sustainable development have been under‐researched. This research sought to go some way towards filling the gap by providing insights for those working in the field of education for sustainable development (ESD) in higher education. Design/methodology/approach – The survey was administrated in autumn 2005 by the Centre for Sustainable Futures at the University of Plymouth. The closed‐category statements were analyzed in terms of frequencies and percentages. A comprehensive set of cross tabulations and χ 2 tests were also conducted using SPSS. Responses to open‐ended questions were coded and categorized according to emerging themes. Findings – Key findings include, first, that a majority of student respondents think sustainability is “a good thing” their positive response not particularly correlating with their degree of familiarity with either of the concepts of sustainable development or sustainability. Second, students strongly associate the concepts of sustainable development and sustainability with their environmental as against economic and social aspects. Third, in terms of personal change for a sustainable lifestyle, “light green” actions addressing responsibility as consumers such as changing purchasing habits, recycling, and saving energy and/or water were most frequently articulated. Fourth, respondents harbour mixed feelings regarding the future of society in the face of sustainability‐oriented challenges. Originality/value – The paper highlights the importance of ESD curriculum development that more explicitly addresses the interconnectedness of different aspects of sustainable development and which also employs pedagogies that help students to take action towards realizing their preferred futures. It also suggests future study directed towards identifying various means of facilitating students' pro‐sustainability behaviours.

Journal

International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education – Emerald Publishing

Published: Jul 17, 2007

Keywords: Education; Sustainable development; Students; Perception; Learning; Change management

References

  • How much do engineering students know about sustainable development? The findings of an international survey and possible implications for the engineering curriculum
    Azapagic, A.; Perdan, S.; Shallcross, D.
  • Characterizing undergraduate engineering students' understanding of sustainability
    Carew, A.; Mitchell, C.
  • The impact of sustainable development on public behaviour: report 1 of desk research commissioned by COI on behalf of DEFRA
    Darnton, A.
  • Kingston University: sustainability in the curriculum
    Dawe, G.; Grand, R.; Taylor, R.
  • Centre for Excellence in Teaching & Learning: Education for Sustainable Development Stage One
    Dyer, A.; Selby, D.
  • Centre for Excellence in Teaching & Learning: Education for Sustainable Development Stage Two
    Dyer, A.; Selby, D.
  • A centre for excellence in education for sustainable development
    Dyer, A.; Selby, D.; Chalkley, B.
  • Environmental Education: Follow‐up to Learning the Sustainability Lesson
    Environmental Audit Committee
  • The global challenge of sustainability
    Fien, J.; Tilbury, D.
  • Social‐ecological resilience and behavioural responses
    Folke, C.
  • Greening the university curriculum: appraising an international movement
    Haigh, M.
  • Sustainable Development in Higher Education Current Practice and Future Development: Progress Report for Senior Managers in Higher Education
    HEA
  • Sustainable development in higher education: consultation on a support strategy and action plan
    HEFCE
  • Lessons for the Future: The Missing Dimension in Education
    Hicks, D.
  • Securing the future: delivering UK sustainable development strategy
    HM Government
  • Education for sustainable development: an international perspective
    Hopkins, C.; Mckeown, R.
  • Locating environmental education between modern capitalism and postmodern socialism: a reply to Lucue Sauve
    Huckle, J.
  • Emergency education: a critical review of the field
    Kagawa, F.
  • Mind the gap: why do people act environmentally and what are the barriers to pro‐environmental behaviour?
    Kollmuss, A.; Agyeman, J.
  • Education for sustainable development toolkit: version 2
    McKeown, R.
  • Despair and Personal Power in the Nuclear Age
    Macy, J.
  • Global Teacher Global Learner
    Pike, G.; Selby, D.
  • The Coming of the Greens
    Porritt, J.; Winner, D.
  • The Sane Alternative
    Robertson, J.
  • Environmental education and sustainable development: a future appraisal
    Sauvé, L.
  • A darker shade of green: the importance of ecological thinking in global education and school reform
    Selby, D.
  • Global education as transformative education
    Selby, D.
  • Curriculum, campus and community: transformative change towards sustainability in a university and its region
    Selby, D.
  • The firm and shaky ground of education for sustainable development
    Selby, D.
  • Specialist review and evaluation of the higher education partnership for sustainability (HEPS) programme: final report to the UK higher education funding bodies (HEFCE, SFC,HEFCW and DEL) from SQW Ltd
    SQW Ltd
  • Whole system thinking as a basis for paradigm change in education: exploration in the context of sustainability
    Sterling, S.
  • Restructuring teacher education for sustainability: student involvement through a strength model
    Stir, J.
  • Student teachers' conceptions of sustainable development: the starting‐points of geographers and scientists
    Summers, M.; Corney, G.; Ghilds, A.
  • United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development 2005‐2014: Draft International Implementation Scheme
    UNESCO
  • Introduction
    Wals, A.
  • Learning on the edge: exploring the change potential of conflict in social learning for sustainable living
    Wals, A.; Heymann, F.
  • Our Common Future
    WCED