Auditing the University: Promoting Business Education …
305
The paper adds to pedagogic discourse of EfS and offers experience based guidance to the other educators in the sustainability community seeking innovative active
learning approaches to EfS. The experiences and learning presented add knowledge
of practical LTA tools and techniques that can develop students’ knowledge and skills
whilst producing graduates with both sustainability and generic employment skills
demanded by employers.
2 Sustainability in Business Education
In the last two decades sustainability has been gaining prominence in HE (Figuero
and Raufflet 2015) with the potential for universities to address sustainability issues
through research, learning and teaching well recognised (HEFCE 2013; Higher Education Academy 2015). Not only are Business Schools obliged to prepare students
to make responsible and ethical management decisions that meet the needs of future
business leaders (Stough et al. 2018) and deliver society’s demands for responsible
businesses (Adomssent et al. 2014), they must also recognise their sustainability
performance is a key factor in many students’ choice of where to study (Nuwer
2014). However, against this focus on HE’s role within sustainability, Sadler (2016)
highlights the current international concern that a large proportion of graduates lack
higher order cognitive skills such as proficiency in thinking, reasoning, synthesising,
conceptualising, evaluating and communicating; key skills for the development of
sustainable futures.
To address these skills gaps and demands for sustainable universities, business
school educators are increasingly challenged to establish new learning cultures.
These new learning cultures should initiate new ways of learning in a participative
and reflexive process (Rieckmann 2011; Molthan-Hill 2014), which can empower
students to transform the way they think and act (UNESCO 2017) whilst developing employment ready graduates with the specific and generic employment skills
demanded by businesses (Docherty 2014). Students’ success in this 21st Century
learning environment requires innovative teaching approaches and support systems
to engage them with appropriate knowledge and skills, and real world connections
to make the learning relevant and engaging (Partnership for 21st Century Skills
2007). The audit-based learning explored here may deliver this innovative teaching
approach and support system by promoting identification, integration and evaluation
of the university’s sustainability practices to construct a personal, evidence-based
view of sustainability performance whilst delivering specific, general and transformative employment skills.
305
The paper adds to pedagogic discourse of EfS and offers experience based guidance to the other educators in the sustainability community seeking innovative active
learning approaches to EfS. The experiences and learning presented add knowledge
of practical LTA tools and techniques that can develop students’ knowledge and skills
whilst producing graduates with both sustainability and generic employment skills
demanded by employers.
2 Sustainability in Business Education
In the last two decades sustainability has been gaining prominence in HE (Figuero
and Raufflet 2015) with the potential for universities to address sustainability issues
through research, learning and teaching well recognised (HEFCE 2013; Higher Education Academy 2015). Not only are Business Schools obliged to prepare students
to make responsible and ethical management decisions that meet the needs of future
business leaders (Stough et al. 2018) and deliver society’s demands for responsible
businesses (Adomssent et al. 2014), they must also recognise their sustainability
performance is a key factor in many students’ choice of where to study (Nuwer
2014). However, against this focus on HE’s role within sustainability, Sadler (2016)
highlights the current international concern that a large proportion of graduates lack
higher order cognitive skills such as proficiency in thinking, reasoning, synthesising,
conceptualising, evaluating and communicating; key skills for the development of
sustainable futures.
To address these skills gaps and demands for sustainable universities, business
school educators are increasingly challenged to establish new learning cultures.
These new learning cultures should initiate new ways of learning in a participative
and reflexive process (Rieckmann 2011; Molthan-Hill 2014), which can empower
students to transform the way they think and act (UNESCO 2017) whilst developing employment ready graduates with the specific and generic employment skills
demanded by businesses (Docherty 2014). Students’ success in this 21st Century
learning environment requires innovative teaching approaches and support systems
to engage them with appropriate knowledge and skills, and real world connections
to make the learning relevant and engaging (Partnership for 21st Century Skills
2007). The audit-based learning explored here may deliver this innovative teaching
approach and support system by promoting identification, integration and evaluation
of the university’s sustainability practices to construct a personal, evidence-based
view of sustainability performance whilst delivering specific, general and transformative employment skills.