Management Education for a Sustainable World

Societies across the world currently deal with multiple interconnected problems whose solutions call for the active participation of various actors. The private sector is among them and as a result, business leaders are in need of competencies that enable them to find appropriate answers. Sustainability competence may offer the key to transition towards a more equal and fair economy where the resources are maintained for the use of future generations. Higher Education Institutions and specifically business schools are an essential means to develop such competency. This chapter presents a proposal of an educational pathway for the development of competencies for sustainability and offers educators an array of teaching techniques that could be used at each stage.

Entrepreneurship Education

This chapter is based on the assumptions, methodologies, and results of two intermunicipal entrepreneurship education projects carried out in Portugal, specifically in Dão Lafões and Baixo Alentejo regions. It analyzes and demonstrates how, in formal and/or non-formal educational contexts, developing work methodologies that promote entrepreneurship consolidate competencies of creativity, proactivity, group work, planning, division of tasks, focus on problem solving, which are fundamental to full and active citizenship. The projects undertaken, supported on learning by doing methodology involved different agents of the communities beyond the schools, are and/or have been valuable contributions to the formation of more autonomous and proactive citizens with a democratic, pluralistic, critical, and creative spirit. Entrepreneurship is a competence for life. Taking initiative, mobilizing others, and getting them on board with ideas and/or solutions to problems are useful skills for daily life in our society and contribute to the sustainability of our common world.

Teaching and Learning for Global Citizenship in the EFL Classroom

This chapter reports on a case study that aimed to understand how global citizenship education (GCE) can be integrated in the English as a Foreign Language (EFL) curriculum. In order to do that, the authors analyze the practicum reports of two pre-service teachers, which included the GCE projects they developed in a primary or in an upper secondary school, and the personal reflections they wrote at the end of the academic term. The first analytical procedure consisted in the identification of the topics, goals, methodologies, activities, and resources outlined by the pre-service teachers for their projects. Then, the authors analyzed the personal reflections to pinpoint learning outcomes, limitations, and recommendations. Finally, using a grounded theory approach, which drew on the data and on literature review, the authors propose a theoretical model for GCE pedagogies that provides possibilities for concrete EFL practices and teacher education programs.

Education for Sustainable Development and Global Citizenship

The education of global citizens prepared to live with each other and one another in a fair, respectful and sustainable way has taken a high place at the heart of education systems, politics and practices in different parts of the world. This document presents a systematic review, carried through a survey of a cohort of articles that portray pedagogical practices of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and/or Global Citizenship of children (three-to-thirteen) in school context. For this systematic review three search phases/stages were performed/took place: a) definition of keywords, b) definition of exclusion and inclusion criteria, and c) construction of three tables that will serve the purpose of data collection for later analysis. A descriptive analysis will be carried out as a way of assessing which pillars of Sustainable Development (SD), sustainability themes, pedagogical strategies and key competences for SD are most representative in reported practices in early childhood education.

“Development”

The current text aims to contribute to the conceptual debate on global citizenship education. It does so by presenting empirical results from a survey that aimed for a comprehensive understanding of representations and experiences of participants and practitioners of global citizenship education in Portugal. Specifically, this chapter presents empirical results that depict common imaginaries around “development” in the context of global citizenship education. The authors assert that despite a terminological shift that favours the idea of “global citizenship” over the idea of “development,” and the polysemic and problematic nature of development, the education at stake cannot be fully understood, problematized, or reconfigured without a clear discussion on development. The chapter aims to provide critical insights on this by looking at assumptions and actions connected to “global development”.

Sustainable Entrepreneurial Thinking

The Sustainable Entrepreneurial Thinking module aims to help shape the global citizens necessary to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. A global citizen has a certain set of competencies, and the module develops activities that train those competencies. The SET module uses the adjectival form ‘sustainable'. When presented adjectivally the question arises as to what one is trying to sustain? This module explores the ability to sustain “the self”, “the planet”, “the organization”, and, as the course progresses, the interconnectedness of all three. Using the awareness developed in “the sustainable self” and the knowledge gained in “the sustainable planet,” students adopt the mind-set of a sustainable entrepreneur by taking on a societal challenge related to one or more SDGs, and developing innovative entrepreneurial solutions to tackle it. In the process, they train the skills, develop the knowledge, and shape the attitude on their path to becoming global citizens.

Socio-Ecological Literacy

In this chapter, the authors, dealing with an uncertain and complex context, defend that socio-ecological literacy is crucial for societal evolution since it contributes to changes in attitudes and behaviors, and, as a consequence, it promotes society transformation. This can be accomplished through Social Labs (SL), carefully designed and professionally facilitated, promoting genuine dialogue. These SL end up operating as privileged learning spaces contributing to socio-ecological literacy citizenship. Through evaluative interviews of the stakeholders involved in the SL created within the MARGov Project, the authors show how the SL created were able to bring to the table angry stakeholders and turn a negative discourse into a positive one, engaging the community in search of joint solutions. As reported by the participants, knowledge was expanded and new knowledge was built during the sessions showing that the multiplicity of learnings does contribute to the promotion of a more resilient and sustainable community, while increasing the socio-ecological literacy of the ones engaged.

Code

Modern societies are increasingly based on digital technologies thus the gender gap is an important social problem for creating a fair, equal, and prosperous societies in the digital age. One of the first steps toward closing gender gap is about encouraging girls to receive education. Although there are positive developments in the closure of gender gap in the education field, the inadequate representation of women in ICT jobs has continued, and the figure of participation of women in this field have not been improving significantly. This chapter focuses on users' reactions for the activities on Girls Who Code, Girls Develop It, and Black Girls Code, Facebook pages as a support mechanism to improve their abilities and motivations on coding area to provide a better perception of possible selves. The results show that these activities attracted users and provided a chance to improve abilities and positive motivation for possible selves.

Development Education in the Age of COVID-19 and Climate Change

Development education (DE) is a radical learning pedagogy that combines analysis, discussion, and action to engage the learner in active citizenship toward positive social change. This chapter discusses the contribution that DE and other related ‘educations' can make to mitigating the climate crisis and addressing the growing levels of poverty and inequality in the global North and South. Central to this discussion is the neoliberal economic model that has driven ‘development' since the 1970s and placed the needs of the market above the social needs of citizens. This has become particularly apparent during the coronavirus pandemic which has overwhelmed the health services of countries across the world. The chapter argues for a more sustainable form of development based on de-growth and a Green New Deal.

Global Citizenship Education and Sustainability Otherwise

This chapter presents a selection of theoretical and pedagogical frameworks for global citizenship education (GCE) otherwise of the “Gesturing Towards Decolonial Futures” (GTDF) collective. The authors discuss the challenges of addressing the depth and complexity of existing global challenges, in particular as they relate to the questions of (un)sustainability and inherent systemic violence and injustices of modern societies. They begin by introducing the basic premises that guide the work of the GTDF collective and then proceed to map different (soft, critical, and beyond reform) approaches to GCE. The chapter also introduces the pedagogical metaphors/cartographies of the “House of Modernity,” the “Bus,” and the “In Earth's CARE” pedagogical framework and provides links and references to other pedagogical experiments, developed by the collective.