Sustainability teaching using case-based debates

Abstract

Purpose Given today’s pressing societal challenges, business schools are increasingly expected to incorporate sustainability in their curricula. Yet, while research on corporate sustainability is on the rise, there is less innovation in teaching methods as most institutions rely on traditional methods to teach sustainability in the classroom. This paper aims to present the case-based debate as an appropriate teaching method for exposing students to the complexity of business sustainability issues. Design/methodology/approach The pedagogical background of the traditional case method and the debate method have been analyzed to provide an integrated understanding of the benefits of combining the two in the case-based debate. Building on the authors’ experiences from using case-based debates in the classroom, the paper describes what a case-debate is and how it can be implemented. Findings The paper offers a practical tool that can be used to teach sustainability in business schools and other educational institutions. Case-based debates can elicit active participation, support the development of students’ critical thinking skills and improve reflexivity by compelling students to seriously and actively engage with opposing viewpoints on a given issue. Originality/value This paper presents a hybrid approach for sustainability teaching that combines the benefits of the traditional case method with those of an in-class debate. The case-based debate method has received little attention in educational research and business sustainability teaching practice but can serve multiple teaching objectives relevant to sustainability teaching.

Enhancing curricular integration of the SDGs: fostering active methodologies through cross-departmental collaboration in a Spanish university

“…It is a suitable teaching methodology to acquire and learn competencies related to sustainability (Georgallis and Bruijn, 2022) in which the topics are complex and multidisciplinary. It allows for reflecting on and analysing the different problems identified in a specific reality from different perspectives and the sustainability solutions proposed.…”

CoDesignS Education for Sustainable Development: A Framework for Embedding Education for Sustainable Development in Curriculum Design

“…It is important to highlight that these teaching strategies target second-order learning [25]. Individual methods can be combined, for example, Georgallis & Bruijn [29] combined case-based learning and debate to teach sustainability in business education. [16,28] as adapted by the authors.…”

Do Cases Always Deliver What They Promise? A Quality Analysis of Business Cases in Higher Education

“…The case study as a teaching and learning tool is, therefore, a learning setting that puts learners at the heart of constructivist learning processes by providing them with a problem-based company situation based on the reality that they have to analyse and solve independently or with others [42,43]. The model used here can be linked to the characteristics of constructivist teaching and the principles of complex teaching and learning arrangements [12,43,44] in the same way as the steps of holistic problem-solving methodology and networked thinking [25,45] can be linked to the context of a complex teaching and learning situation (see, for example [7]). With reference to the findings on the case study method from the perspective of teaching and learning research and the associated academic discourse, a guiding model from the University of St. Gallen is used as the conceptual basis for creating training units and for deriving and elaborating pedagogic dimensions (see above and [16,17]).…”

“…The design of the description of the situation, in which the learners should recognise themselves as well as discover problems independently, is of great significance. Active learning and the independent discovery of problems has been recognised as an important component of case study learning (see, for example, [7]). The assumption of a certain role by the students working on a case study can also enhance independent discovery.…”

“…They are applied in HE mainly because of their problem orientation and learner-centred focus [6] (p. 6). The use of case studies is also intended to impart an applied understanding of academic theories and models and to supplement conventional lectures [7]. However, there is little empirical evidence of the pedagogic aspect of their usage [8,9] (p. 34), and only quite old and rudimentary evidence of how using case studies influences the learning process, or the conditions under which their advantages can be exploited [10] (p. 407).…”