Escaping the disciplinary straitjacket

Author:

Sherren Kate,Robin Libby,Kanowski Peter,Dovers Stephen

Abstract

PurposeCurriculum design is often a challenge. It is particularly so when the subject is sustainability, which is an aspirational but contested concept, draws on a range of disciplinary insights and is relatively new to university curricula. There is no single “right way”, or even agreement across the disciplines that inform the collective enterprise about general approaches to sustainability curricula. The likely content is ill‐defined and spans departmental units and budget areas in most traditional universities. Like other societal and institutional attempts at realising sustainability, curriculum design for sustainability is beset by difficulty, yet an essential intellectual activity. This paper aims to focus on these issues.Design/methodology/approachThe paper compares actual curriculum development processes for “sustainability” in two very different Australian universities, as studied using participant observation and qualitative interviews.FindingsThe paper draws out some of the common challenges of interdisciplinary curriculum design for sustainability, and identifies four principles transferrable to other institutional adaptation settings. It argues that curriculum design is an opportunity to develop collegiality, and further advance the problem area under discussion.Originality/valueCase study research is often difficult to generalise to other settings. The opportunity to observe two sustainability curriculum design processes, operating in parallel, provides transferrable insights.

Publisher

Emerald

Subject

Pharmacology (medical),Complementary and alternative medicine,Pharmaceutical Science

Reference57 articles.

1. Aslin, H. and Brown, V. (2004), Towards Whole of Community Engagement: A Practical Toolkit, Murray‐Darling Basin Commission, Canberra.

2. Association of University Leaders for a Sustainable Future (1990), Talloires Declaration, Association of University Leaders for a Sustainable Future, available at: www.ulsf.org/programs_talloires.html (accessed 15 August 2007).

3. Australian Department of Education Science and Training (2005), Students 2005 [ full year]: Selected Higher Education Statistics, Government of Australia, Canberra.

4. Benn, S. and Dunphy, D. (2009), “Action research as an approach to integrating sustainability into MBA programs”, Journal of Management Education, Vol. 33, pp. 276‐95.

5. Boyer, E.L. (1987), College: The Undergraduate Experience in America (The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching), Harper & Row, New York, NY.

Cited by 6 articles. 订阅此论文施引文献 订阅此论文施引文献,注册后可以免费订阅5篇论文的施引文献,订阅后可以查看论文全部施引文献

同舟云学术

1.学者识别学者识别

2.学术分析学术分析

3.人才评估人才评估

"同舟云学术"是以全球学者为主线,采集、加工和组织学术论文而形成的新型学术文献查询和分析系统,可以对全球学者进行文献检索和人才价值评估。用户可以通过关注某些学科领域的顶尖人物而持续追踪该领域的学科进展和研究前沿。经过近期的数据扩容,当前同舟云学术共收录了国内外主流学术期刊6万余种,收集的期刊论文及会议论文总量共计约1.5亿篇,并以每天添加12000余篇中外论文的速度递增。我们也可以为用户提供个性化、定制化的学者数据。欢迎来电咨询!咨询电话:010-8811{复制后删除}0370

www.globalauthorid.com

TOP

Copyright © 2019-2024 北京同舟云网络信息技术有限公司
京公网安备11010802033243号  京ICP备18003416号-3