Previous studies of business economics education have highlighted differences regarding the role of businesses towards sustainability, as articulated by teachers, students and in textbooks. The roles differ from externally motivated (following law and customers) to internally driven (creating new routes) to address sustainability in the business context. Changes by students in their perspectives on the role of a business in relation to sustainability can be seen as examples of a transformative learning experience in the context of business economics education. This paper presents a measurement instrument of 12 items on a five-point Likert scale to measure the views of students regarding the role of a responsible businessperson. A mixed-methods approach was used to develop, test and validate the instrument. Data were gathered by business economics students at Hasselt University. The added value of the instrument is that it can be used in educational practice and in further research to indicate whether transformative learning is happening in the context of business education and to gain insight into students' views on the role of a responsible businessperson. The instrument goes beyond existing attitude, knowledge and competence scales and contributes to assessing transformative learning for sustainable development.

Rapporten från Stiftelsen Rättsfonden om gymnasieelevers kunskaper om demokrati har både metodologiska och teoretiska brister. Eftersom rapporten saknar stöd för flera av de rekommendationer som lämnas är risken att föreslagna förändringar inte gör någon skillnad eller i värsta fall leder i fel riktning, skriver Johan Sandahl med flera, alla forskare i samhällsvetenskapernas didaktik.

The ‘wicked’ character of sustainability issues points to the need for education to prepare students to make decisions (also) in the absence of clear guidelines and regulation. This chapter contributes to this need by presenting teaching approaches that offer students embodied experiences of decision-making in face of sustainability problems characterised by uncertainty and complexity. Short practical examples illuminating situations in business education at upper secondary level are provided to illuminate: (a) when different worldviews regarding how sustainability problems should or could be addressed come to the fore, and (b) emancipatory educational qualities in terms of subjectification. The different worldviews that comes to fore in the practical examples relates to whether or not trade automatically leads to socially and environmentally optimal outcomes, and whether a business (person) should be guided by an a-moral/a-political or moral/political business ideal. The practical examples illuminate what could be described as dislocatory moments. Drawing on the concept of ‘dislocatory moments’ the chapter presents a didactic model that could be used to identify room for subjectification processes together with a change of views regarding sustainability issues.  The ambition is to facilitate teachers’ development of teaching that could contribute to change for sustainability without compromising emancipatory education ideals. 

Sustainability issue are often characterised by complexity and uncertainty which implies severe challenges when relying on science as a source for reliable knowledge when making decisions (either as a member of parliament, government official, judge, business owner or executive manager in a business). One example of such an issue concern the use of pesticides, the state of bees, biodiversity and food security. This ‘wicked’ character of sustainability issues points to the need for capability to make decisions also in the absence of previously established principles. Accordingly, education needs to make students prepared to make decisions also in the absence of formal regulations and legislation. For instance, students who in the future could be working in corporations making decisions about what products to sell or not to sell. This paper presents two teaching approaches drawing on educational drama that could offer students the opportunity to practice making decisions when encountering so called wicked sustainability problems. A didactic model drawing on the concept of ‘dislocatory moments’ and short empirical examples from business education in upper secondary education are provided to specifically illuminate (a) when different worldviews or perspectives on sustainable development comes to the fore in educational practice and, (b) emancipatory educational qualities in terms of subjectification. The (pluralist) teaching approaches are also further discussed in relation to implications connected to teaching in a ‘post-truth era’.

It has long been suggested that the ‘homo economicus’ assumption underpinning neo-classical theory is not limited to its theoretical function, but also has a ‘productive’ function by ‘creating’ individuals acting in accordance with the assumption. Nelson (2006) and Zaman (2013) offer some clues as to how this process can be understood. They describe that and how we have come to embrace the metaphorical understanding of economy as a machine, running on self-interest, as something real rather than a figure of speech. Along the way, the tools with which sustainability issues could be addressed have become limited to those that fit ‘homo economicus’. In the wake of the financial crisis of 2008 and increased concerns about climate change, this critique of economics education has been re-actualised to the extent that economics students have organised themselves worldwide, calling for a curricular reform. In line with this critique, academic economists have also argued that to equip students for the challenges of the 21^st century, economics education needs to embrace a more complex and dynamic picture of human nature. In view of this, it could be argued that researchers and teachers need tools to identify situations in educational practices where ‘homo economicus’ is reproduced or challenged. The purpose of this paper is to address this need by suggesting a methodological approach drawing on poststructuralist discourse theory and a methodological approach for analysis of meaning-making in classroom practice.

Denna rapport presenterar analysmetoder och forskning som fokuserat lärandeprocesser i undervisningspraktiker. Mer specifikt utgör denna rapport en sammanställning av det pragmatiska teoretiska ramverket som utvecklats och tillämpats inom forskargruppen SMED (Studies of Meaning-making in Educational Discourses) i Uppsala och Örebro 2006–2018.

Rapporten inkluderar en introduktion till det pragmatiska teoretiska ramverket och en kort beskrivning av analysmetoderna Praktisk Epistemologisk Analys och Riktningsgivaranalys.  Ambitionen är att rapporten ska vara användbar som en orientering för studenter, lärare, doktorander och forskare med intresse för detaljerade analyser av lärandeprocesser i undervisningspraktiker eller andra praktiker där lärande sker. Med lärandeprocesser avses här meningsskapandeprocesser inkluderande utbildningens kvalificerande, socialiserande såväl som subjektifierande/personformerande funktioner samt det som påverkar denna process. Det som påverkar meningsskapandeprocessen kan vara lärare, andra elever/studerande, artefakter och det socio-materiella. Rapporten innehåller en sammanställning av metodologiska bidrag till det didaktiska forskningsfältet såväl som till utbildningspraktiken. Sammanställningen av de metodologiska bidragen är strukturerad i fyra delar: Naturorienterande ämnen, Miljö- och hållbarhetsundervisning, Idrott och hälsa samt Utbildning i förskolan. Utifrån denna sammanställning kan man dra slutsatsen att studierna varit fruktbara för forskningsproblem som handlat om att: (a) fånga komplexiteten i lärandeprocesser, (b) undersöka identifiera och belysa avgörande situationer/ögonblick i lärandeprocesser, (c) undersöka och belysa lärares handlingar och dess betydelse för individers lärandeprocesser, (d) bidra med kunskap och illustrerande empiriska exempel till debatter om hur lärande går till och/eller undervisning bör bedrivas, (e) identifiera och belysa olika ämneskulturer såsom de framträder i praktiken, samt (f) problematisera förgivet-taganden om vad olika utbildningsaktiviteter leder till. Avslutningsvis ges förslag på riktning för fortsatt arbete avseende analys av undervisning och lärandeprocesser.

This report presents analytical methods and research (27 peer-reviewed academic papers) based on a pragmatic theoretical framework for studies of learning processes in educational practices, developed and applied by the research group SMED (Studies of Meaning-making in Educational Discourses) in Uppsala and Örebro (2006–2018). An introduction to the pragmatic theoretical framework and a description of the basic analytical methods (Practical Epistemology Analysis and Moves Analysis) is included in the report. The aim is to provide an orientation for teacher-students, teachers and researchers with an interest in teaching and learning processes in educational practices, as well as other social practices where learning takes place. Learning processes are here understood in terms of meaning-making (including qualification, socialisation as well as ‘person-formation’/subjectification) and that which affects this process (teachers, other students, artefacts and socio-material aspects). The report includes a compilation of contributions to educational research and practice structured in four parts: Science Education; Environment and Sustainability Education; Health and Physical Education; and Early Childhood Education. Based on this compilation, it is concluded that the analytical methods have been successful in: (a) capturing the complexity of learning processes; (b) investigating, identifying and illuminating critical situations and moments in learning processes; (c) investigating and illuminating teachers’ and others’ actions and their significance in individual learning processes; (d) contributing of knowledge and illustrative empirical examples to debates about how learning takes place and/or how teaching ought to be done; (e) identifying and illuminating different subject-cultures as they come forth in practice; and (f) problematising presuppositions regarding outcomes of different education activities. Finally, the report makes suggestions with regard to future research involving analysis of teaching and learning processes.

It has long been suggested that the ‘homo economicus’ assumption underpinning neo-classical theory is not limited to its theoretical function, but also has a ‘productive’ function by ‘creating’ individuals acting in accordance with the assumption (Schütz, 1953). Several studies have indeed pointed out that economists/economics students act in selfish ways, although there is some disagreement about the effect of education (Etzioni, 2015). Nelson (2006) and Zaman (2013) offer some clues as to how this process can be understood. They describe that and how we have come to embrace the metaphorical understanding of economy as a machine, running on self-interest, as something real rather than a figure of speech. Along the way, the tools with which sustainability issues could be addressed have become limited to those that fit ‘homo economicus’. In the wake of the financial crisis of 2008 and increased concerns about climate change, this critique of economics education has been re-actualised to the extent that economics students have organised themselves worldwide and called for a curricular reform (Earle, Moral, & Ward-Perkins, 2016). In line with this critique, academic economists have also argued that to equip students for the challenges of the 21^st century, economics education needs to embrace a more complex and dynamic picture of human nature (Nelson, 2006; Zaman, 2013; Brant, 2016; Raworth, 2017). In view of this, it could be argued that educational researchers and teachers need tools to identify situations in educational practices as well as educational materials where ‘homo economicus’ is reproduced or challenged. The purpose of this paper is to address this need by presenting and suggesting a methodological approach that could be used for this. The approach draws on poststructuralist and anti-essentialist discourse theory (Laclau and Mouffe, Glynos and Howarth) and a methodological approach for analysis of socialisation and teaching and learning processes in classroom practice (Lidar, Lundqvist, & Östman, 2006; Wickman & Östman, 2002; Rudsberg & Öhman, 2010). Empirical material in the form of transcripts from classroom observations will be used to illustrate the approach.

Calls for the inclusion of ‘sustainable development’ in the business curriculum have increased in the wake of financial crisis and increased concern about climate change. As a result, new initiatives are emerging and new teaching approaches are being developed. At the same time, the integration of sustainability in the business curriculum has been described as particularly challenging, which relates to assumptions underpinning mainstream business theories and different views about how business education should deal with values. In addition, sustainability issues are often complex and uncertain, which implies severe challenges for predominant responsibility regimes. With this background, we here draw on a typology of responsibility (Pellizzoni 2004) to analyse results from four previous empirical studies of business education and suggest how business students could become better equipped to address uncertain and complex sustainability issues. The results from the empirical studies, in the form of three categories of business roles articulated in educational practice, are based on analysis of textbooks, teacher interviews and classroom observations. The three business roles could be described in terms of ‘companion meanings’, ‘collateral teaching’ or what sometimes is referred to as ‘the hidden curriculum’. It is argued that students could become unequipped, ill-equipped or better equipped to address uncertain and complex sustainability issues, depending on the way in which ‘sustainable development’ is incorporated business education. It is therefore suggested that the three categories of business roles (adapting, adding or creating), could be useful to analyse and assess environment and sustainability education initiatives in general, and of initiatives to include ‘sustainable development’ in business education in particular. 

It has long been suggested that the ‘homo economicus’ assumption underpinning neo-classical economic theory is not limited to its theoretical function, but also has a ‘productive’ function by ‘creating’ individuals acting in accordance with the assumption. Nelson (2006) and Zaman (2013) offer some clues as to how this process can be understood. They describe how we have come to embrace the metaphorical understanding of economy as a machine, running on self-interest, as something real rather than a figure of speech. Along the way, the tools with which sustainability issues could be addressed have become limited to those that fit ‘homo economicus’. Against this background, this paper presents a study of the roles of a business person privileged by teachers when the concept of ‘sustainable development’ is incorporated into the subject of business economics. A logics approach to discourse analysis was used to analyse the empirical material, which consisted of video recorded observations in five teachers’ classrooms collected two years after the inclusion of the concept ‘sustainable development’ in the upper secondary school syllabus in Sweden. The results show how different rules and conditions for doing business are foregrounded in classroom practice. This in turn has different implications for whether a responsible business person is expected to: a) adapt to self-interest, b) respond to customers’ increasing interests in sustainable products, or c) be sensitive to the needs or interests of others (including humans, animals and nature), when making business decisions. These three roles could be described in terms of different ‘companion meanings’ or what sometimes is referred to as ‘the hidden curriculum’.  Empirical examples are provided to illuminate different aspects of the subject matter and/or particular classroom practices opening up for different roles. The results are discussed in relation to how students as future business people could be better equipped to address uncertain and complex sustainability issues.