Exploring Student Understandings of Economic Perspectives in Sustainable Development

Author(s):

Teresa Berglund(presenting / submitting)Niklas Gericke

Conference:

ECER 2016

Network:

30. Environmental and Sustainability Education Research (ESER)

Format:

Paper

Session Information

30 SES 02 B, Preconceptions, Understandings and Perceptions of SD

Paper Session

Time:

2016-08-23

15:15-16:45

Room:

NM-G109

Chair:

Niklas Gericke

Contribution

The role of the economy in sustainable development (SD) has been debated and discussed over the years. The debate has centered on the ways in which economic objectives influence or impact on the environment and on the development of society. People make different interpretations of the relationships between human and environmental conditions and individuals may also allocate different meanings to concepts such as economic growth, economic development and sustainable development (see e.g. Hector et al., 2014). Economic growth is usually described as growth in the production of the economy, often measured in terms of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The growth-environment issue originates from the relationships between growth in the production of the economy and growth as an increase in the physical quantity of resources going through the economy (Ekins, 2000). Many consider economic growth and SD as compatible, but others view current environmental damage as a consequence of their incompatibility (Munda, 1997; Neumayer, 2003; Daly, 1990; Ekins, 2000).

To educate citizens about economy and to engage citizens into decision-making within the political and economic field has been emphasized as important (Davies, 2006; Huckle and Wals, 2015). However, teachers and students in Sweden report teaching and learning about economic issues as difficult and social studies teachers report that they sometimes avoid the subject because they either lack sufficient subject knowledge and/or find it difficult to make adequate linkages to students’ everyday life (The Swedish National Agency for Education, 2013). It has been argued that education should encompass critical and reflective perspectives on current economic structures in society (e.g. Dyment et al., 2015; Huckle and Wals, 2015). Concerning current environmental and social unsustainabilities, it is relevant to explore in what ways students leaving school for working life or higher education view the relationships between economic objectives and SD. To our knowledge, few if any studies have focused on students or young adults in this respect. Therefore, to investigate whether students hold critical stances and how they perceive economic-environmental relationships seems to be an under-explored area of research.

Aim and research questions

The aim of this study is to investigate these issues from the perspective of upper secondary students in Sweden. An explorative approach is used to map their views on the role of economic growth and economic development in SD. Additionally, the study aims to find out if different views on the relationships between economy and SD can be related to different ways of perceiving SD and its underlying environmental, economic, and social dimensions.

The following research questions constituted the focus of this study:

- What are students’ views of economic growth and economic development in relation to sustainable development?

- Can differing views on economic growth/-development be related to differences in the way the students perceive sustainable development?

Method

Data was acquired by using a well-established questionnaire, which probed students’ sustainability consciousness as a measurement of their perceptions of SD. Two additional items probed attitudes concerning if economic growth is necessary or a threat to SD. One item probed students’ knowingness about whether economic development is necessary for SD. The concept of sustainability consciousness embraces cognitive and affective domains related to the three dimensions of SD. It measures either knowingness (19 items), attitudes (14 items), or behaviors (17 items), each related to the environmental, the economic, or the social dimension. We used definitions in which a number of sub-themes to the SD dimensions have been outlined (UNESCO, 2006). Each item in the construct of sustainability consciousness relates to one of the sub-themes. The items in the construct of sustainability consciousness and the separate economic items have a similar structure in the survey instrument. The respondent marked the level of agreement on a five-point Likert scale, ranging from (1) Strongly disagree to (5) Strongly agree. A Do not know option was also available. A total number of 638 students (grade 12, aged 18-19 years) from 15 schools were included in the analysis. The overall response rate was 65.7 percent. Schools across Sweden from different socio-economic conditions are represented in the sample and there is a mix of rural and urban schools and schools of different sizes. We believe that the results are applicable for a broad Swedish context, and perhaps even a Western European one: however, our ability to generalize the results is restricted due to the non-randomized sampling. The data was analyzed in IBM SPSS Statistics version 20. A cluster analysis was performed to explore and identify clusters of individuals based on their views of the relationships between economic growth, economic development and SD. Cluster analysis is a multivariate technique in which objects (here: respondents) are grouped in clusters based on similarity on a defined set of characteristics (Hair et al., 2006). The cluster analysis was performed based on the responses to the three items probing economic growth as either necessary or a threat to SD, and economic development as necessary for SD or not. In a second step, a multivariate analysis of variance was made to test differences between the clusters of students regarding their sustainability consciousness. This analysis may also indicate differences relating to the underlying SD dimensions of the construct of sustainability consciousness.

Expected Outcomes

Reliability analysis (Cronbach’s Alpha) of the environmental, social, and economic dimensions of the sustainability consciousness construct, measured as knowingness, attitudes, and behaviors, indicated that the instrument functioned adequately for the intended purpose. The cluster analysis engendered four distinctive groups of viewpoints, all different in their ways of viewing the role of economy in SD. In addition to the expected one-sidedly positive and negative group, two other distinct groups were identified. The first of them could be described by a slightly negative attitude towards economic growth and a more positive view of economic development for SD. The last cluster of students showed a clear two-sidedness in their attitudes towards economic growth, which was considered both necessary and threatening to SD, and an overall positive view on economic development for SD. The clusters were labeled according to their views into the following: The un-differentiating positive (57%), The critical (8%), The nuanced ambivalent (30%), and The bilaterally convinced ones (5%). The clusters of students differed in regard to their sustainability consciousness (Wilks’ lambda, p < 0.01). A closer look within the underlying dimensions showed that significant differences were found within the environmental dimension of sustainability consciousness (p < 0.05). The overall results showed that students most negative to economic growth/-development in relation to SD were characterized by the highest scores within the environmental dimension of sustainability consciousness and the students most positive were characterized by the lowest scores within the environmental dimension of sustainability consciousness. The size of the effect (Cohen’s d) varied between 0.245 and 0.363. Conclusively, the results suggest that most students do not question current socio-economic structures. However, smaller groups of young adults seem to hold more nuanced views on the role of the economy in SD and show awareness of the tensions embedded in the concept of SD.

References

Daly H.E. 1990. ‘Toward some operational principles of sustainable development’. Ecological Economics 2(1): 1-6. Davies, P. 2006. ‘Educating citizens for changing economies’. Journal of Curriculum Studies 38(1): 15-30. Dyment, J. E., Hill, A., & Emery, S. (2015). “Sustainability as a cross-curricular priority in the Australian Curriculum: a Tasmanian investigation.” Environmental Education Research 21(8): 1105-1126. Ekins, P. 2000. Economic growth and environmental sustainability: The prospects for green growth. Abingdon: Routledge. Hair, J.F., W.C. Black, B.J. Babin, R.E. Anderson, and R.L. Tatham. 2006. Multivariate Data Analysis, 6th ed. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall. Hector, D.C., C.B. Christensen, and J. Petrie. 2014. ‘Sustainability and Sustainable Development: Philosophical Distinctions and Practical Implications’. Environmental Values 23: 7-28. Huckle J., and A.E.J. Wals. 2015. ‘The UN decade of education for sustainable development: business as usual in the end’. Environmental Education Research 21(3): 491-505. Munda, G. 1997. ‘Environmental economics, ecological economics, and the concept of sustainable development’. Environmental Values 6: 213-233. Neumayer, E. 2003. Weak versus strong sustainability: Exploring the limits of two opposing paradigms. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing Limited. The Swedish National Agency for Education. 2013. Finanskris gyllene tillfälle för ekonomiundervisning. Stockholm: Skolverket, http://www.skolverket.se/skolutveckling/forskning/amnen-omraden/so-amnen/samhallskunskap/2.7668/finanskris-gyllene-tillfalle-for-ekonomiundervisning-1.211198 (accessed 12 January 2016). UNESCO. 2006. Framework for the UNDESD International Implementation Scheme. Paris: UNESCO.

Author Information

Teresa Berglund (presenting / submitting)

Karlstad university

Karlstad

Niklas Gericke

Karlstad university, Sweden

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