Business Education Teacher Training and the
pursuit for the triple bottom line ideals – are
we taking our eyes off the ball?
SIEC-ISBE Conference 2013
Dr Carina America
Overview
• Teacher Education Requirements – South
Africa (SA)
• Business Education in SA schools
• Background
• Curriculum aspects
• Literature Perspectives
• Rationale for the study
• Methodology
• Summary of findings
• The way forward
2
Minimum Requirements for Teacher Education (RSA, 2011)
DISCIPLINARY LEARNING –
subject matter
SITUATIONAL LEARNING –
context, schools, districts, regions
PRACTICAL LEARNING –
teaching practice
FUNDAMENTAL LEARNING – 2nd
official language
PEDAGOGICAL
LEARNING – how to teach – curriculum,
assessment, learners, etc
3
Business Education in South Africa (schools)
GET-PHASE – grades 7 to 9
Economic & Management Sciences (EMS) compulsory
FET-PHASE – grades 10 to 12
Accounting elective
4
Business Studies elective
Economics elective
Economic & Management Sciences (EMS)
Senior Phase
TOPICS AND SUBTOPICS (DBE, 2011)
THE ECONOMY
(30%)
FINANCIAL
LITERACY (40%)
ENTREPRENEURSHIP
(30%)
1. History of money
2. Needs and wants
3. Goods and services
4. Inequality and
poverty
5. The production
process
6. Government
7. The National Budget
8. Standard of living
9. Markets
10. Economic systems
11. The circular flow
12. Price theory
13. Trade unions
1. Savings
2. Budgets
3. Income and
expenditure
4. Accounting concepts
5. Accounting cycle
6. Source documents
7. Financial management
and keeping records
1. Entrepreneurship skills
and knowledge
2. Businesses
3. Factors of production
4. Forms of ownership
5. Sectors of economy
6. Levels and functions of
management
7. Functions of a business
8. Business plan
5
BUSINESS EDUCATION - FET-PHASE
ECONOMICS
Macroeconomics (25%)
Microeconomics (25%)
Economic pursuits (25%)
Contemporary economic issues
(25%)
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SUBJECTS AND TOPICS
ACCOUNTING
BUSINESS STUDIES
Financial Accounting
(50-60%)
Business Environments
(25%)
Managerial Accounting
(20-25%)
Business Venture (25%)
Business Roles (25%)
Managing resources
(20-25%)
Business Operation (25%)
Triple Bottom line orientation
•
Triple bottom line (TBL)
•
•
•
•
•
Types of capital within the TBL (Dyllick and Hockerts, 2002)
•
•
•
•
Economic sustainability alone not sufficient (orthodox management theory), i.e. Single
bottom line
Three dimensions to triple-bottom-line (Elkington, 1997)
Integrating short-term and long-term aspects
managing economic capital, natural capital and social capital (Kuchertz and Wagner,
2010; Dyllick and Hockerts, 2002, Rogers & Ryan, 2001)
Economic capital – Economically sustainable companies
Natural capital – Ecologically sustainable companies
Social capital – Socially sustainable companies
Accountability beyond corporate annual reports and bottom lines –
sustainable consumption and production (SCP) (UNEP, 2011)
•
•
•
Eco-efficiency in producing competitively prices goods (OECD, 2012)
Minimising use of natural resources and toxic materials
Life cycle of products / supply chain
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ESD / EfS)
• ESD/EfS prioritises the changing of mindsets and an active
engagement of the learner in matters relating to a more
sustainable future.
• Great significance to mainstream in schools (Summers &
Childs, 2007; Walshe, 2008; Frith & Winter, 2007)
• Multisectorial approach to ESD (Fien, 2004:94)
• EfS refers to a more holistic approach to sustainability
(Bently, Fien and Neil, 2004:57)
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CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
• The subject-matter knowledge: corporate sustainability
•
“Do teachers possess the knowledge and understanding
to teach effectively in the new domain of ESD” (Summers,
Corney and Childs, 2004:164)
• LEARNING VIRTUES FOR SUSTAINABILITY (Foster, 2011):
• “How” the TBL matters
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LEARNING VIRTUES FOR SUSTAINABILITY
(Foster, 2005, 2008, 2011; Sterling, 2004):
1. Critical self-awareness
•
•
•
First order learning - adaptive learning
Second order learning - examine assumptions
Third order learning – leads to transformative perspective shift
2. Exploratory-creative commitment
•
robust persistence in exploring and testing frameworks of
assumptions
3. Robust tolerance for uncertainty
•
•
•
•
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positively valuing and welcoming the uncertainty and openendedness
intuition to move forward
new sense take shape and shape the ‘us’
collective social intelligence
Rationale for this study
• Challenges : BE teacher training in South Africa
• Not uniform teacher training for HEI institutions
• Diversity in schools
• Subject matter content knowledge of teachers are varied
• Progression of EMS education to FET-band
• Complexity of integration of curriculum constructs
• Pedagogical components of EfS absent in teacher education(Tilbury, et al,
2005)
• Relevance of TBL orientation in Business Education at school level
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Reseach Methodology
•
•
•
•
A case study design strategy
Content analysis
Purposive sample
Qualitative framework
• Research question: How do BE pre-service teachers conceptualize TBL?
• Three approaches
1. Reflection on video - Video about how human consumption
impacts the earth and, in it, the stages in which materials are
processed from beginning to end (cf. Leonard, 2007; Nowak, Hate,
Lindholm and Strausser, 2011)
• Students to reflect on the supply chain from extraction to
disposal of used products.
2. Focus group discussion – did you find the video convincing?
• Do you think differently about consumption?
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Reseach Methodology - continued
3. CURRICULUM ANALYSIS
• As a student BE teacher, do you have EfS as part of your
teacher education curriculum? If yes, which areas of the
curriculum?
• Do you think that EfS/ESD/SE is relevant in BE in the senior
phase. Why / Why not?
• Suggest at least two practical steps how you as a BE teacher
would introduce SE in BE education.
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SAMPLE
CASE
STUDENTS
REGISTERED
FOR BE
SPECIALIST
AREA
CONTENT
Profile
Previously
advantaged – now
a merged HEI
Previously
disadvantaged;
A
58
44
In Education faculty
B
17
14
1st and 2nd year in EMS
faculty
22
C
14
NUMBER OF
PARTICIPANTS
22
3rd and 4th year focus is
on methodology in
Education faculty
In Education faculty
Previously
advantaged
SUMMARY OF FINDINGS
LEARNING VIRTUES - capacity for critical understanding - infrequent
Critical self-awareness: Examples from cases
“Factories attributes to pollution … we’re unaware that it is making us sick”
“Shop, shop, shop … buying new or unwanted stuff”
“Too much junk are being manufactured and the manner in which to get rid
of it can be harmful to the environment”
“It has affected the way I think in a sense that it is true that the products we
consume do not last for such a long time and the market changes
products and come out with new things over and over”
“yes, I have never really thought about the different processes a product
has to go through and the lives affected by it”
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SUMMARY OF FINDINGS (continued)
LEARNING VIRTUE: Exploratory-creative commitment
“Yes, I will think twice now before buying products which may
contain toxins”
“Yes, it made me realize that I am part of the problem and should
start to think before I buy stuff”
“not exactly because some of us are aware of the government’s
“hand” in it and we lost hope, if we all unite we can change it”
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SUMMARY OF FINDINGS (continued)
LEARNING VIRTUE: Robust tolerance for uncertainty
“Yes, I have had these thoughts before, but the tasks seems
too enormous for me to handle alone”
“Yes, it is convincing, but her tape is too light-hearted. The viewer
listens, but I was not fully swayed to her point of view”
“She does make you aware that the process is not flawless, but
looking at it from an American standpoint her arguments are
not well motivated”
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SUMMARY OF FINDINGS (continued)
THE BUSINESS EDUCATION CURRICULUM – diverse reactions
• Economic systems/Entrepreneurship?
• Depth and breadth of curriculum concepts – exploratory-creative commitment?
“It would be a great advantage to have a facet where sustainability can be implemented
in our curriculum”
RELEVANCE OF EfS IN BE – overall view EfS very relevant
“Yes, it encourages to be responsible citizens. Sustainability education is not isolated in
one area but in all areas. Also help learners to learn social responsibility”
“In EMS the foundation of production and business is laid and it is essential for learners
to come to the realization that resources are limited and (they) need to be
responsible to ensure a sustainable future”
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SUMMARY OF FINDINGS (continued)
PRACTICAL APPLICATION – examples from cases
• Environmentally friendly projects – collages
• Awareness using technology – internet, web-course
management systems
• Market day reconceptualized – environmentally friendly
products
• Excursions to factories – carbon footprint
• Debates about consumerism, consumer behavior, lifestyle
choices.
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Conclusion: 3BL matters – how?
• Learning virtues for sustainability
• TBL orientation integral in BE teacher training
curriculum content – beyond accounting TBL
• Contemporary issues – e.g. fracking debate, case studies,
etc.
• EfS-BE-SYNTHESIS
• Collaboration with other Bus Ed teacher training
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institutions
Thank you
References
Bently,, M., Fien , J and Neil, C. 2004. Sustainable Consumption: Young Australians as agents of change. Final Report:
National Youth Affairs Research Scheme (NYARS)
Department of Basic Education (DBE), 2011. Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) – Economic and
Management Sciences. Final. Pretoria, South Africa.
Dyllick and Hockerts, 2002, Beyond the business case for corporate sustainability. Business Strategy and the
Environment. 11:130-141.
Elkington, J. 1997.Cannibals with forks: The TBL of 21st century business. Oxford, Capstone.
Fien, J. 2004. Education for the environment. Critical Curriculum Theorising and Environmental Education. In W.
W. Scott and S. Gough (Eds.). Key issues in sustainable development and learning: a critical review. London and New
York: Routledge Falmer.
Frith, R. and Winter, C. 2007. Construction education for sustainable development: The Secondary Geography
curriculum and initial teacher training. Environmental Education Research , 13(5):599-619
Foster, J. 2005. Options, sustainability policy and the spontaneous order. In J. Foster and S. Gough (eds), Learning ,
natural capital and sustainable development: options for an uncertain world. London Routledge, 111-131
Foster, J. 2008. The Sustainability Mirage: Illusion and Reality in the Coming War on Climate Change;. Earthscan: London,
UK,
Foster, J. 2011. Sustainability and the learning virtures. Journal of Curriculum Studies. 43(3):383-402
Sterling, S. 2004. The Learning of ecology, or the ecology of learning? In W. Scott and S. Gough (Eds.). Key issues in
sustainable development and learning: a critical review. London and New York: Routledge Falmer.
Seuring, S. And Műller, M. 2008. From a literature review to a conceptual framework for sustainable supply chain
management. Journal of Cleaner Production. 16(2008):1699-1710.
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References (cont.)
Tilbury, D., Stevenson, R.B., Fien, J. and Schreuder, D. 2002. Education and Sustainability: Responding to Global Challenge.
Commission on Education and Communication, IUCN. Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK.
OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development). 2002. Policies to Promote Sustainable Consumption: An
Overview. ENV/EPOC/WPNEP (2001)18/FINAL. OECD, Paris.
Kaufman, L. 2009. A cautionary video about America’s ‘Stuff’. Online: The New York Times.
http://www. nytimes.com/2009/05/11/education/11stuff.html?_r=1&pagewanted=print Accessed: 13 March 2011
Kuchertz, A. and Wagner, M. 2010;. The influence of sustainability orientation on entrepreneurial intentions – Investigating
the role of business experience. Journal of Business Venturing, 24:524-539
Leonard, A.2007. The story of stuff: How our obsession with stuff is trashing the planet, our communities, and our health – and a
vision for change. New York, NY: Free Press.
Republic of South Africa (RSA), 2011. The minimum requirements for Teacher Education. Government Gazette, vol. 55 no
34467.
Rogers, M. and Ryan, R. 2001. The triple bottom line for sustainability community development. Local Environment.
6(3):279-289.
Scott, W. A. H. and Gough, S. R., 2010. Sustainability, learning and capability: exploring questions of balance. Sustainability,
2(12):3735-3746.
Summers, M. and Childs, A. 2007. Student science teachers’ conceptions of sustainable development: an empirical study of
three postgraduate training cohorts. Research in Science & Technological Education, 25(3):307-327.
UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme), 2011. Global Outlook on Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP) –
Taking action together.
Walshe, N. 2008. Understanding students’ conceptions of sustainability. Environmental Education Reaearch. 14(5):537-558.
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