Sustainability in finance teaching: evaluating levels of reflection and transformative learning

Janette Brunstein, Marta Sambiase (), Roberto Borges Kerr, Claudine Brunnquell and Luiz Carlos Jacob Perera

Social Responsibility Journal, 2019, vol. 16, issue 2, 179-197

Abstract: Purpose - The purpose of this study is to argue for the need for more critical-reflective teaching-learning experiences in finance teaching, capable of promoting changes in students’ frames of reference toward sustainability. The aim was to evaluate the levels of reflection and the transformative learning experiences perceived by undergraduate students enrolled in three finance disciplines at a Business Administration course of a Brazilian business school. This course has been the object of pedagogical experience toward sustainability teaching-learning for some years. Design/methodology/approach - The authors used mixed data. For quantitative data, the authors collected 188 questionnaires, as well as 160 student-written reports for qualitative data. Findings - Incorporating sustainability topics into finance disciplines, longitudinally, stimulates critical reflection and transformations in students’ mindsets toward sustainable rationality in finance. Despite the high number of agreements with reflection and critical reflection levels, emphasis only on the theoretical discussion of sustainability presuppositions does little to contribute to the practical application of concepts. Research limitations/implications - Although the study was conducted in a particular Business School, the authors expect that the results can be replicated and improved in comparative studies, encouraging transformative learning in the teaching-learning of finance. Practical implications - The results show the potential and limitations of the experiences studied and its implications for theoretical and didactics in finance teaching. The discussions and the examples of practical activities presented can bring contributions to educators, professors and researchers. Originality/value - Few studies in finance seeks to evaluate pedagogical experiences from the point of view of students’ learning, especially in relation to the development of a new rationality.

Keywords: Critical reflection; Business school; Transformative learning; Finance teaching-learning; Sustainable rationality (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.110 ... d&utm_campaign=repec (text/html)
https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.110 ... d&utm_campaign=repec (application/pdf)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eme:srjpps:srj-07-2018-0164

DOI: 10.1108/SRJ-07-2018-0164

Access Statistics for this article

Social Responsibility Journal is currently edited by Prof David Crowther

More articles in Social Responsibility Journal from Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Emerald Support ().