Understanding economic and management sciences teachers’ conceptions of sustainable development
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Date
2014
Authors
America, Carina
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Faculty of Education, University of the Free State
Abstract
Sustainable development has become a key part of the global educational
discourse. Education for sustainable development (ESD) specifically is pronounced
as an imperative for different curricula and regarded as being critical for teacher
education. This article is based on research that was conducted on economic and
management sciences (EMS) teachers within a South African school context and
their conceptualisation of sustainable development. A case study design was applied
within an interpretivist paradigm. The purpose of the study was not to generalise
the findings, but rather to acquire in-depth understanding and insight. The findings
revealed that the EMS teachers’ dominant conception is likened to notions of
unrivalled economic growth with limited reference to the interrelatedness of the
economy, society and the biophysical world or to the incorporation of “green” issues.
This article concludes that it is crucial to incorporate ESD into business curricula at
school level since sustainable development has become progressively important to
nation states, the business sector, the higher education sector and diverse discourses
and curricula. The need for a more integrated approach to ESD in the EMS discourse
is recommended.
Description
Keywords
Economic and management sciences education, Business education, Sustainable development, Education for sustainable development, Environmental education
Citation
America, C. (2014). Understanding economic and management sciences teachers' conceptions of sustainable development. Perspectives in Education, 32(3), 159-171.