Equipped for responsibility? Discursive resources in business education for sustainability – an analytical tool

Abstract

To transform society in a more sustainable direction we not only need specific knowledge, skills and attitudes, but also discursive resources that enable the seeing of alternative ways of living. This paper analyses such discursive resources as used in educational practice, and presents an analytical tool to facilitate further environment and sustainability education research. The identification of discursive resources is facilitated by the concept ‘companion-meanings’ referring to implicit meanings that ‘accompany’ or ‘follow’ teaching and learning in a particular subject. Results from four studies (based on discourse analysis of textbooks, teacher interviews and teacher-student interactions in classroom practice of business education) about the expectations of a ‘responsible business person’ are analysed resulting in three categories of companion-meanings relating to expectations of a business person: ‘adapting to’, ‘adding’ and ‘creating’ ethical values. In a second step, these categories of companion meanings are analysed using a typology of responsibility. The results illuminate the diverging and often contradictory companion-meanings of a ‘good’ business professional in educational practice and discuss the implications for how business students are equipped to address sustainability issues. Lastly, an analytical tool for identifying these companion-meanings in educational practice is presented.