Teaching Based on TEFI Values: A Case Study

Abstract

The case study presented in this article illustrates an example of value-based teaching in the context of sustainable tourism. Specifically, the five TEFI core values of mutuality, stewardship, knowledge, ethics and professionalism were integrated in an innovative learning environment that involved students from two universities in Finland and the United States who built a collaborative knowledge base via Facebook, worked on group reports, and produced a video reflecting on their learning experience. The article discusses the structure of the learning experiment and some of its outcomes while reflecting on the importance of value-based teaching in tourism.

Academic Agency and Leadership in Tourism Higher Education

“…It is also a collective response from educators to ensure that higher education meets its responsibilities to society, now and in the future. A number of educators have taken a leadership role, integrating these TEFI values within their teaching and incorporating them within program planning and curriculum design (e.g., Gretzel, Isacsson, Matarrita, & Wainio, 2011;Liburd, 2012). Moscardo and Murphy (2011) have focused on developing a tool to measure values by embarking on the development of a TEFI Values Inventory.…”

The tourism education futures initiative

“…Initiatives include the development of a values-based student oath at Modul University; the development of a global TEFI course using the open access learning platform Innotour (Liburd, Hjalager, & Christensen, 2014), and various papers examining the development and implementation of TEFI values (Gretzel, Isacsson, Matarrita, & Wainio, 2011;Gretzel, Jamal, Stronza, & Nepal, 2009;Moscardo & Murphy, 2011).…”

Learning with companies (LeWiCo) through the use of Facebook in the context of vocational hospitality education & digital spa marketing

“…We decided to use Facebook for the joint module due to geographical distance, and because of the following FB features: a) access and familiarity, b) easy tool for sharing pictures, sites, links and videos, and c) collaborativity and interactivity Facebook, as a learning tool builds on previous studies executed within Finland and the US Gretzel, Isacsson, Matarrita, & Wainio, 2011).…”