Students' Influences on Sustainability Education - Going Beyond Listening to Students' Voices - Kth Diva ...
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Degree Project in Industrial Ecology Second Cycle, 30 Credits Students’ Influences on Sustainability Education Going Beyond Listening to Students’ Voices SILVIO NIEßNER Stockholm, Sweden 2022
Abstract While many actors agree that higher education plays a key role for a sustainability trans- formation of our society, there is no consensus on how higher sustainability education should look like. In this discourse, the students’ perspectives are currently underrepre- sented and their participation rarely goes beyond passive consultation, which means that they cannot have any real influence. Although some authors emphasize the importance of students’ active participation in shaping higher education, little in-depth insights on their perspectives and wishes exist. This study draws on participatory action research and invited students from around dif- ferent universities and different parts of the world to a collective exchange in online focus groups. Primary data was gathered in the form of audio and video recordings, students’ notes on a digital whiteboard and the provided answers in the registration form. A subsequent thematic analysis and relevance classification of the identified themes yielded valuable insights that can enrich the entire sustainability education discourse with diverse student perspectives. In addition, the relations made to industrial ecology and industrial ecology education throughout the study demonstrate, how the findings can be applied to a specific discipline. Lastly, the study provides some methodological contributions to conducting online focus groups. The key findings include that sustainability education is often treated as a side topic which is rarely connected to existing subjects of study. However, the students noted that sustainability topics are gaining importance at their universities. They also pointed out that the engagement of the higher education institutions, their leaders and their teachers plays a key role and can either enable or stand in the way of student oriented higher sustainability education. In addition, students collected thoughts on the importance and manifold ways of student engagement, as well as hurdles and possible enablers for a lively student engagement. The students further discussed about current hegemonies at higher education institutions and the need to share power equally among students, staff and university leaders. Finally, sev- eral suggestions were collected on how higher sustainability education should be shaped in the future. The qualitative nature of the study allows for an in-depth understanding of the students’ perspectives as an antithesis to the superficial evaluation forms commonly used and offers a critical basis for a shift of paradigms in higher education. i
Abstract - German Während sich viele Akteure einig sind, dass die Hochschulbildung eine Schlüsselrolle für die Nachhaltigkeitstransformation unserer Gesellschaft spielt, gibt es keinen Kon- sens darüber, wie die Nachhaltigkeitsbildung an Hochschulen aussehen sollte. In diesem Diskurs sind die Perspektiven der Studierenden derzeit unterrepräsentiert, und ihre Beteili- gung geht selten über eine passive Konsultation hinaus, was bedeutet, dass sie keinen wirklichen Einfluss nehmen können. Obwohl einige Autoren die Bedeutung der aktiven Beteiligung von Studierenden an der Gestaltung des Hochschulwesens betonen, gibt es nur wenig vertiefte Erkenntnisse über ihre Perspektiven und Wünsche. Diese Studie nutzt Ansätze der partizipativen Aktionsforschung und lud Studierende aus unterschiedlichen Universitäten und verschiedenen Teilen der Welt zu einem gemeinsamen Austausch in Online-Fokusgruppen ein. Es wurden Primärdaten in Form von Audio- und Videoaufzeichnungen, Notizen der Studierenden auf einem digitalen Whiteboard, sowie den gegebenen Antworten im Anmeldeformular der Fokusgruppen gesammelt. Eine anschließende thematische Analyse und Relevanzklassifizierung der identifizierten The- men lieferten wertvolle Erkenntnisse, die den Diskurs um die Nachhaltigkeitsbildung an Hochschulen durch vielfältige studentische Perspektiven bereichern können. Darüber hi- naus zeigen die in der Studie hergestellten Bezüge zur Industrieökologie bzw. zur Indus- trieökologie Bildung, wie die Ergebnisse auf eine spezifische Disziplin angewendet werden können. Abschließend liefert die Studie einige methodische Beiträge zur Durchführung von Online-Fokusgruppen. Zu den wichtigsten Ergebnissen gehört, dass Nachhaltigkeitsbildung oft als Nebenthema behandelt wird, welches nur selten mit bestehenden Studienfächern in Verbindung steht. Die Studierenden merkten jedoch an, dass Nachhaltigkeitsthemen an ihren Hochschulen grundsätzlich an Bedeutung gewinnen. Außerdem wiesen sie darauf hin, dass das En- gagement der Hochschulen, ihrer Leiter und ihrer Lehrkräfte eine Schlüsselrolle spielt und diese eine nachhaltigkeits- und studierendenorientierte Bildung sowohl ermöglichen als auch behindern können. Darüber hinaus sammelten die Studierenden Gedanken über die Bedeutung und die vielfältigen Möglichkeiten des studentischen Engagements, sowie über Hürden und Er- leichterungen für ein lebendiges studentisches Engagement. Außerdem wurde über die derzeitige Hegemonie an den Hochschulen diskutiert und die Notwendigkeit einer gleich- berechtigten Machtverteilung zwischen Studierenden, Mitarbeitern und Hochschulleitung betont. Schließlich wurden mehrere Vorschläge gesammelt, wie die Nachhaltigkeitsbil- dung an Hochschulen in Zukunft gestaltet werden sollte. Der qualitative Charakter der Studie ermöglicht ein tiefgehendes Verständnis der studentischen Perspektiven als Gegen- pol zu den üblicherweise verwendeten oberflächlichen Evaluierungsbögen und bietet eine kritische Grundlage für einen Paradigmenwechsel in der Hochschulbildung. ii
Abstract - Swedish Även om många aktörer är överens om att högre utbildning spelar en nyckelroll för en håll- barhetsomvandling av vårt samhälle, finns det ingen konsensus om hur högre utbildning för hållbar utveckling bör vara utformad. I denna diskurs är studenternas perspektiv för närvarande underrepresenterade och deras deltagande begränsas ofta till passivt samråd, vilket innebär att de inte kan ha något egentligt inflytande. Även om vissa författare be- tonar vikten av studenternas aktiva deltagande i utformningen av högre utbildning finns det få djupgående insikter om studenters perspektiv och önskemål. I denna studie, som baseras på participatorisk aktionsforskning, bjöds studenter från olika universitet och olika delar världen in till ett kollektivt utbyte i fokusgrupper online. Primärdata samlades in i form av ljud- och videoinspelningar, studenternas anteckningar på en digital whiteboard och frågor i ett registreringsformulär. En efterföljande tematisk analys och klassificering av de identifierade temana gav värdefulla insikter som kan berika den övergripande diskursen om hållbarhetsutbildning med studenternas perspektiv. Hur resultaten kan tillämpas på en specifik disciplin demonstreras för utbildning i industriell ekologi. Slutligen ger studien några metodologiska bidrag till genomförandet av fokus- grupper online. De viktigaste resultaten är bland annat att studenter upplever att hållbarhetsutbildning ofta behandlas som ett sidoämne som sällan har någon koppling till respektive ämnesom- råde, även om studenterna påpekade att ser förbättringar. Studenterna påpekade också att engagemanget hos de högre utbildningsinstitutionerna, deras ledare och lärare spelar en nyckelroll och kan antingen möjliggöra eller stå i vägen för studentorienterad högre hållbarhetsutbildning. Dessutom identifierades och dokumenterades studenternas tankar om betydelsen av att och olika sätt att engagera studenter, samt hinder och möjliga faktorer som kan bidra till ett aktivt studentengagemang. Studenterna diskuterade vidare de nuvarande hege- monierna vid högre utbildningsinstitutioner och behovet av att dela makten jämnt mellan studenter, personal och universitetsledare. Slutligen samlades flera förslag in om hur högre hållbarhetsutbildning bör utformas i framtiden. Studiens kvalitativa och participatoriska karaktär möjliggör en djupgående förståelse av studenternas perspektiv som en motpol till de ytliga utvärderingsformulär som vanligtvis används och erbjuder en kritisk grund för ett paradigmskifte inom högre utbildning. iii
Acknowledgements A very big thank you goes to my supervisor Anders Rosén. He accompanied the whole project with his outstanding passion for research, education and sustainability and in- vested an extraordinary amount of time in the supervision. I enjoyed the collegial atmo- sphere of our collaboration and his openness for critical and controversial perspectives. In addition, I appreciate the way Anders guided me from the beginning in developing my own research question until the submission of my final report. He always gave me the necessary freedom to guide my own research, while at the same time providing construc- tive feedback and valuable impulses without imposing them on me or the project. In this way, the research project itself became an exemplary model of emancipatory education. Even beyond supervising the thesis, Anders offered me great opportunities to increase the impact of my research and make sure it gets attention. I really appreciate having such a committed and engaged supervisor and I am very grateful to be able to complete my studies with such a positive experience - looking forward to our continued collaboration! My thanks also go to Monika Olsson, my examiner and programme coordinator, who gave me valuable feedback and supported me in realising my self-designed research project. Furthermore, I am grateful to all the people who made this study possible by supporting me in pilot testing the focus group sessions, recruiting participants, and taking part in the study itself. I would also like to thank all interview partners who provided insights into their activities, as well as all the people who provided feedback and contributed their perspectives and ideas to this work. I am also very grateful for the support from my partner and family who always stood behind me and my aspirations. They continuously provided a loving, encouraging and safe environment for me and my personal development and thereby contributed to the successful completion of my studies. Finally, I want to thank the German Academic Scholarship Foundation (Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes) for providing a scholarship for my studies and thus enabling me to take the challenge of completing this master programme abroad. iv
Contents Abstract i Abstract - German ii Abstract - Swedish iii Acknowledgements iv List of Figures vii List of Tables viii Abbreviations ix 1. Introduction 1 2. Background 3 2.1. Streams of Sustainability Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 2.2. Industrial Ecology and Sustainability Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 2.3. Research Approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 3. Methods 8 3.1. Focus Groups as Qualitative Research Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 3.1.1. Considerations for Doing Focus Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 3.1.2. Ethical Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 3.1.3. Limitations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 3.2. Focus Group Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 3.2.1. General Focus Group Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 3.2.2. Digital Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 3.2.3. Development of Focus Group Sessions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 3.3. Conducting the Focus Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 3.3.1. Preparation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 3.3.2. Running the Focus Group Sessions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 3.3.3. Follow-up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 3.4. Data Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 3.4.1. Analysis Procedure of Gathered Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 3.4.2. Evaluating the Relevance of Identified Themes . . . . . . . . . . . 24 4. Findings from the Student Focus Groups 26 4.1. Overview of Conducted Focus Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 4.2. Very Relevant Findings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 4.2.1. Sustainability as Side Topic with Growing Relevance . . . . . . . 29 4.2.2. Designing Sustainability Education - Content and Pedagogy . . . 32 v
Contents 4.2.3. Higher Education Institutions - Between Stagnation and Progression 39 4.2.4. Teachers in Sustainability Education - Between Enabling and Per- sistence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 4.2.5. Students’ Engagement for Sustainability Education - Between Driv- ing Change and Resignation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 4.3. Relevant Findings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 4.3.1. Students and Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 4.3.2. Adequate Funding for Sustainability Education . . . . . . . . . . 55 4.3.3. Mandatory Sustainability Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 4.3.4. Regional Differences and Sustainability Education . . . . . . . . . 58 4.4. Unique Insights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 4.4.1. Accessability of Sustainability Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 4.4.2. Regenerative Sustainability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 5. Validity and Implications of the Results 61 5.1. Reliability and Validity of Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 5.2. General Implications of the Findings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 5.3. Industrial Ecology Specific Implications of the Findings . . . . . . . . . . 62 6. Lessons Learned from Conducting the Focus Groups 64 6.1. Online Recruitment and Focus Group Sessions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 6.2. Moderation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 6.3. Background Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 7. Conclusion 66 Literature 67 A. Checklist Focus Groups 75 B. Informed Consent 76 C. Background Information Materials 79 D. Recruitment Materials 81 vi
List of Figures 3-1. Frame on the digital whiteboard with introductory question . . . . . . . 19 3-2. Frame on digital whiteboard with first key question . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 3-3. Frame on the digital whiteboard with second key question . . . . . . . . 20 3-4. Frame on the digital whiteboard for feedback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 3-5. Frame on the digital whiteboard to leave contact details . . . . . . . . . 22 4-1. Overview of the students’ different study backgrounds . . . . . . . . . . . 27 4-2. Overview of the number of semesters studied by the students . . . . . . . 27 4-3. Students’ connection to sustainability through their studies . . . . . . . . 28 4-4. Students’ connection to sustainability through their private engagement . 28 B-1. Informed consent - page 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 B-2. Informed consent - page 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 C-1. Background information material for participants . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 D-1. First version of the invitation letter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82 D-2. Latest version of the invitation letter - page 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83 D-3. Latest version of the invitation letter - page 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84 vii
List of Tables 3-1. Outline of the focus group process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 3-2. Overview of the items used for conducting the focus groups . . . . . . . . 17 3-3. Relevance categories for the identified themes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 4-1. Overview of the conducted focus groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 viii
Abbreviations EE Environmental Education. ESD Education for Sustainable Development. FG Focus Group. HE Higher Education. HEI Higher Education Institution. HSE Higher Sustainability Education. IE Industrial Ecology. IEE Industrial Ecology Education. LCA Life Cycle Assessment. PAR Participatory Action Research. SD Sustainable Development. SDG Sustainable Development Goal. SE Sustainability Education. ix
Chapter 1 Introduction There is ample empirical evidence that humans are putting massive and unprecedented pressures on the earth system and that drastic changes are required to e.g. limit global warming to 1.5°C and avert severe consequences for humanity and nature (IPCC, 2015; Rockström et al., 2009). This calls for an urgent transformation in all aspects of our society as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) show (UN, 2015). In this light, the role of education is emphasized by the UNESCO (2017), the UN (2015), the OECD (2018) and other authors (e.g. Getzin, 2019; Wals, 2012). However, the topic of Sustain- ability Education (SE) and its role in sustainability transformations is highly debated in the scientific community (Getzin, 2019) and plays a key role in the political discourse (e.g. OECD, 2018; Thürer et al., 2018; UNESCO GAP, 2018). Leading organisations such as the United Nations have described SE as “[...] a key enabler for sustainable development” (UN, 2021) which further emphasises its international importance. In this regard it can be noted that although most societal stakeholders agree, that SE is an important means to achieve a sustainability transformation (e.g. Jickling and Wals, 2008; Michelsen and Wells, 2017), there is ample disagreement on how SE should be designed and practiced (e.g. Getzin, 2019; Jickling and Wals, 2008). In this discourse, the students’ voices often remain underrepresented (Barth and Timm, 2011; Pleasance, 2016), even tough it was found that student participation can lead to “[...] improvements in organizations, teaching practices, teacher-student relationships, communication and learning [...]” (Pleasance, 2016). Furthermore, many sources point out the relevance of participation practices - especially student participation - to enhance the Higher Education (HE) system and better contribute to Sustainable Development (SD) (e.g. Brooman et al., 2015; Cook-Sather, 2002; Pleasance, 2016). Despite these find- ings and some practical examples of active student participation in HE (e.g. at CEMUS - Sweden (Hald, 2011) or Summerhill School - United Kingdom (Neill, 1960)), several stud- ies have identified a lack of student participation in the current HE system (Campbell et al., 2007; Cook-Sather, 2002; Pleasance, 2016) and even describe drawbacks for SD, when old educational paradigms with little to no student participation are maintained (Pleasance, 2016). Generally, much theory exists around the role of students’ voices in HE (e.g. Brooman et al., 2015; Cook-Sather, 2002; Goff and Knorr, 2018; Ho, 2017) and some more specific literature on students’ perception of SE can be found (e.g. Barth and Timm, 2011; Jickling and Wals, 2008; Pleasance, 2016; Wals, 2012). There are also studies and publications made by student organisations which, like this study, are intended to reflect the students’ perspectives (Netzwerk-n et al., 2017; SOS International, 2021). However, students often remain to be the study objects (Thürer et al., 2018) whose passive perception of SE is studied through pre-defined surveys or similar narrow approaches (e.g. Barth and Timm, 2011; Brooman et al., 2015; Campbell et al., 2007; Yuan and Zuo, 2013). They are rarely involved as subjects in actively designing their vision of a successful and engaging SE and they seldom have a say or the power to influence the way in which SE is carried out (e.g. Cook-Sather, 2002, 2006). 1
1. Introduction This study intends to contribute to the discourse around SE with diverse and still unerrep- resented student perspectives and gives impulses on how a more student oriented SE could look like in future. The results are intended to underpin the still general calls for greater student participation in Higher Sustainability Education (HSE) with concrete insights into what students are demanding. Based on this aim, the following research questions can be formulated: What perspectives do students in different countries have on current sustainability education? What suggestions and demands do they have for future sustainability education? In addition, the findings are related to the discipline of Industrial Ecology (IE) and In- dustrial Ecology Education (IEE) as a special case of SE. Therefore, the third research question can be formulated: What implications do the insights from the students have for industrial ecology education? Focus Groups (FGs) were chosen as qualitative research method to investigate diverse student perspectives in depth. The target participants were students around the world, who study at different universities and have a connection to sustainability either through their studies or their private engagement. The report is structured in six parts. Chapter 2 provides some background to the study e.g. on the used terminology, different streams in SE and IEE as a special case of SE. Chapter 3 describes the qualitative research method of FGs, used in this study and the data analysis approach. Chapter 4 presents and discusses the findings from the FGs and connects them to IEE. Chapter 5 provides perspectives on the validity of the results and formulates implications for SE in general and IEE specifically. Chapter 6 presents some lessons learned from working with online FGs, before Chapter 7 connects back to the research questions and draws conclusions from the study. 2
Chapter 2 Background This chapter provides some background information on the study and begins with a discussion of the concept of Sustainability Education (SE) in contrast to Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and continues with the presentation of different streams in the SE discourse (section 2.1). Subsequently, Industrial Ecology Education (IEE) is introduced as a special case of SE (section 2.2), before some remarks on the general research approach are made (section 2.3). 2.1. Streams of Sustainability Education The terminology connected to sustainability and education includes among others Edu- cation for Sustainable Development (ESD), Environmental Education (EE) and Sustain- ability Education (SE), whereby ESD is the most commonly used term (Cockerill, 2013; Getzin, 2019). Some authors criticise ESD, to be strongly connected to a pradigm of economic growth (Berryman and Sauvé, 2016) and thereby “blocking transitions towards genuine sustainability” (Huckle and Wals, 2015). Furthermore, the inflationary use of the ‘development’ term in SD, ESD etc. comes with the danger that it is not being reflected upon potential underlying biases coming with it, such as “a one-dimensional understanding of development as technology driven to pro- duce economic growth” (Acosta and Martínez Abarca, 2018). Dividing the world into developed and developing countries is also fatal considering the following statement: “The concept of development does not exist in many indigenous systems of knowledge. They do not espouse a linear vision of life, such as the path lead- ing from underdevelopment to development. This western dichotomy – as a necessary path to be followed in order to achieve welfare – is alien to many indigenous societies. [...]. From this perspective, conventional development is seen as a western cultural, colonial imposition.” (Acosta and Martínez Abarca, 2018) Considering these conflicts which are coming with the term of ‘development’ and the calls to distance oneself from it (Acosta and Martínez Abarca, 2018), this study refrains from the ESD term. Instead SE is used throughout this study in the attempt to take a more neutral and unbiased perspective. It is understood as educational activities that are connected to sustainability. Thereby sustainability is considered as a holistic concept which is not limited to the usual three pillars (environmental, social, economic), but also includes aspects like politics, culture, justice etc. The discourse around SE differentiates among others between two concepts, an instrumen- tal and an emancipatory education approach (Getzin, 2019). The instrumental approach is oriented towards “changing human environmental behaviour in predetermined and more or less agreed upon directions” (Wals, 2012) and it considers education more as “an instru- ment for installing the educator’s message or ‘agenda’ in the learner’s minds” (Getzin, 2019). An example for such an instrumental perspective can be found at UNESCO (2017): 3
2. Background “Education for Sustainable Development – a key instrument to achieve the SDGs” This heading shows, that SE is considered as an instrument or tool to achieve some pre-defined goals, in this case the SDGs. When following the instrumental approach, students are more passive and rather receive education as consumers (Jickling and Wals, 2008; Pleasance, 2016), so that it can be affiliated with transmissive education practices (Getzin, 2019). Generally, such instrumentalising education approaches are considered to rather support a ‘weak’ sustainability concept (Getzin, 2019). The emancipatory approach on the other hand aligns more with a ‘strong’ sustainability concept (Getzin, 2019) and should allow students to become ‘democratic practicioners’, who not only go to the polls but actively participate “in ongoing decision-making pro- cesses” (Jickling and Wals, 2008). In other words, emancipatory SE is oriented to “strengthening people’s capacities and confidence to enable them to help determine how to live together in ways that do not further undermine the carrying capacity of the earth” (Wals, 2012). Thus, it is much more oriented on enabling students to make their own as- sessments and draw independent conclusions (Wals, 2012). With this, emancipatory SE refrains from “authoritatively prescribing alternative norms, behaviours, and lifestyles” (Jickling and Wals, 2008), which are proclaimed to be more sustainable. Instead, emanci- patory SE involves students actively in the learning process by co-constructing knowledge and providing a “space for autonomy and self-determination” (Jickling and Wals, 2008). If enabling a real sustainability transformation is desired, instead of maintaining the sta- tus quo, the publications of Getzin (2019), Jickling and Wals (2008), and Wals (2012) indicate that it is necessary to realise SE which follows the principles of emancipatory education. This study contributes to students’ emancipation by encouraging them to co- construct knowledge and understanding in the FGs (Jickling and Wals, 2008; Krueger, 1998a) and act as ‘democratic practitioners’ (Jickling and Wals, 2008) by raising their voice in the discourse around SE. Therefore, this study itself can be seen as a practical implementation of emancipatory education. 2.2. Industrial Ecology and Sustainability Education This section provides some background on Industrial Ecology (IE) and Industrial Ecology Education (IEE) as a special case of SE, to better understand their relation and see where students’ perspectives can come in. Cockerill (2013) gives an insight on the history of IE and mentions the article “Strategies for Manufacturing” written by Frosch and Gallopoulos (1989) which increased the interest in IE. While there are different attempts to define IE (see for instance Cockerill (2013), Frosch (1992), Gallopoulos (2006), and Graedel and Allenby (2010)), Liu and Côté (2021) mention that “its scope is still being defined”, which shows that it is not a settled concept yet but the subject of continuous change. However, common features of IE are the focus on industrial systems and the use of inspirations from ecological ecosystems. Furthermore, it usually maps and optimizes material and energy flows by taking a cradle to grave perspective when assessing industrial activities. The concept also recognises the interconnectedness of industrial systems with the natural surrounding and sometimes, it is also referred to the attempts of reducing negative environmental impacts. As a relatively new discipline, IE is taught for about 20 years as own courses or whole programmes (Finlayson et al., 2014; Liu and Côté, 2021). Nevertheless, the attention to 4
2. Background IEE is still lower compared to ESD or Environmental Education (EE) (Cockerill, 2013; Liu and Côté, 2021). With an increasing formalisation, IEE could benefit from a closer connection to ESD and EE by getting inspirations on education approaches (Cockerill, 2013; Liu and Côté, 2021). Besides that, many authors see a close connection between IEE and the area of engineering education or other technical programmes (Ausubel, 1992; Cockerill, 2013; Graedel and Allenby, 2010; Starr, 1992), which often make use of IE tools and principles (Cockerill, 2013). However, with its focus on industrial systems and the aim to reduce environmental burdens (Cockerill, 2013; Gallopoulos, 2006), it is just covering a niche in SE. Even though Graedel and Allenby (2010) mention the relevance of e.g. social issues for IE, it is rather handled as a side topic and thus does not give a holistic picture of sustainability (as e.g. defined by the SDGs (UN, 2015)) and leaves out political or justice aspects for instance. In addition, IE is considered to deliver tools and approaches to achieve some pre-set goals, instead of reflecting upon the challenges we face ourselves and draw conclusions for the own behaviour. This shows that IEE would rather follow an instrumental than an emancipatory education paradigm (see also section 2.1). The following quote shows exemplary this applied nature of IE: “Industrial ecology arose as an applied attempt to address environmental con- cerns and meet sustainability goals.” (Cockerill, 2013) While it can be admitted that there is a need to practically execute the defined goals in order to reach them, it is as important that one is able to challenge and question the set goals and assess if they are actually able to meet the challenges we face (see for instance Wals, 2012). To give a practical example, there could be the goal to produce a certain amount of electrical cars in order to make transportation more sustainable. When being educated with the concept of IE, one will be able to fulfil this goal with a minimum of resources and energy input, limiting the impact from the car production, use and disposal to a minimum. At the same time, it is not questioned whether the production of electric cars is the right path to more sustainable mobility at all, so that improved public transport or even abandoning travel is not considered as an option. Thus, it can be argued that IE is focussed on optimising systems or processes within an established system, but it is not looking on the bigger picture beyond the industrial sector, to lead to socio-ecological transformations. Such a shift from optimization to transformation is also described in literature (Lotz-Sisitka et al., 2015). Related to that, the quote from Jickling and Wals (2008) points out two different kinds of an ‘educated’ citizen, where IE and an instrumental education paradigm can rather lead to the first kind of ‘educated’ citizen, while an emancipatory education paradigm can lead to the second kind of ‘educated’ citizen: “If social reproduction is the inherent expectation, then citizens should work ef- ficiently within existing frameworks. Taking this view of the ‘educated’ citizen, we expect to see individuals well prepared to accept their role within society and the workforce. They are obedient, deferential, and compliant as they take their place within hierarchical and authoritative social structures and power relationships. From this vantage point, individuals are content to participate in democratic processes at electoral intervals while daily choices are made by decision-makers and their supporting bureaucracies. If enabling social transformation is the inherent expectation, then we would ex- pect to find ‘educated’ citizens who are active participants in ongoing decision- 5
2. Background making processes within their communities. They would be democratic practi- tioners in the sense that democracy is more than selecting a government [...]” (Jickling and Wals, 2008). Current IEE is closer linked to the first education paradigm that makes people fit in and keep running the unsustainable status quo in the attempt to make it somewhat more environmentally friendly. This underlines the narrow perspective of IEE on only certain sustainability aspects. Furthermore, IE and IEE lacks reflection upon the bigger picture by for instance promoting the decoupling of resource use from economic growth (Graedel and Allenby, 2010), while ignoring that an absolute decoupling can fail due to rebound effects or similar (Getzin, 2019). Thus, overarching and underlying problems of an unsustainable world, such as a prevailing growth paradigm, likely remain untouched by IEE so that is misses the chance to lead to the urgently needed transformation of our society. Therefore, it is important to broaden the perspective of IEE which could succeed by getting inspirations from ESD and EE (Cockerill, 2013; Liu and Côté, 2021). Furthermore, this study can enrich IEE with new perspectives and diverse impulses which are gathered from students around the world who are passionate for sustainability. 2.3. Research Approach What is special about this study is, that both the researcher and the participants are students. As colleagues, the researcher and the participants meet on an equal eye level, which creates an atmosphere of trust and prevents the participants from being treated as mere objects of study. On the other hand, the perspectives and opinions of the researcher, being a student himself, could influence the data collection and analysis. Drawing on the suggestions of Krueger (1998a), measures were taken to counteract the influence of possible bias by making the process of data collection and analysis as transparent as possible (see chapter 3), by following a FG protocol (see Table 3-1) and by having the researcher take a neutral stance. The latter was also echoed by the participants in the feedback rounds, where they commented positively on the neutrality of the researcher, through comments such as: “I like the neutral stand the moderator takes.” The researcher’s personal involvement in the topic, the dissolution of hierarchies between the participants and the researcher, and the desire to bring about real change through the study are features of Participatory Action Research (PAR) (Kindon et al., 2007), from which this study is inspired. The study desires to address the deficit in student participation at Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) (see chapter 1), which is achieved in mainly two ways. Firstly, the FG method provides a platform for collegial exchange and collaborative learning (Wibeck et al., 2007; Krueger, 1998a), so that students can inspire each other on how to strengthen their voices in universities. Secondly, the study enriches the discourse around SE with still underrepresented student perspectives, which can result in a more student oriented SE. The FG method allows to investigate different standpoints without trying to find consen- sus (Morgan, 1998b). Thus, this research does not seek a single truth on how SE can be realised best, but acknowledges multiple perspectives. In addition, there are many more stakeholders besides the students who have demands on SE. In this light, the study ac- knowledges, that other stakeholders may have different opinions. The openness to diverse 6
2. Background ‘truths’ shows the close connection of this research to emancipatory education, which is a more open ended approach and allows for multiple perspectives, understandings and solu- tions (see section 2.1). Furthermore, a connection can also be made between emancipatory education and PAR (Kindon et al., 2007). Finally, this self-designed study, conducted as a Master’s thesis, is itself part of HE and thus presents a ‘living example’ of emancipatory education. 7
Chapter 3 Methods This chapter begins with a description of the qualitative research approach and a reasoning for using FGs in this study (section 3.1). Subsequently, the FG design (section 3.2) and conduction process (section 3.3) are outlined. The last section points out how the gathered data was analysed (section 3.4). 3.1. Focus Groups as Qualitative Research Method The study follows an inductive research approach since little is known about students’ perspectives on current HSE and their demands for future HSE (see chapter 1). For exploring all facades of students opinions and perspectives in depth, FGs are used as qualitative research approach. Morgan (1998b) describes FGs as a qualitative method which is suitable to get a deep understanding of a topic and which is used in different contexts - including academic research. “Rather than generalizing to larger populations, you may need an in-depth understanding of a particular setting or circumstance. This is where focus groups and other qualitative methods excel.” (Morgan, 1998b) From the variety of qualitative methods, FGs are used because the group setting allows to get a holistic perspective on a topic from different viewpoints (Morgan, 1998b; Wibeck et al., 2007). The participants can bring in their individual and diverse backgrounds (Mor- gan, 1998b) and can build on each others comments (Krueger, 1998a). Thus, FGs can be a space of collective learning (Krueger, 1998a; Wibeck et al., 2007) and the redundancy of the collected data can be reduced compared to individual interviews for instance (Mor- gan, 1998b). Furthermore, data from the interactions between the participants can be collected (Krueger, 1998a; Wibeck et al., 2007). Morgan (1998b) also provides a checklist to assess whether FGs are a suitable method for the respective research project. Going through this checklist indicates as well, that FGs are an appropriate method for this study (see also Appendix A). Even though there is no clear definition of FGs, Morgan (1998b) provides three characteristics of FGs: “They are a research method for collecting qualitative data, they are focused efforts at data gathering, and they generate data through group discussions.” (Morgan, 1998b) Since this study intends to get an in depth understanding of students’ perspectives and thus seeks for qualitative data, it is focused on the topic of HSE and uses the interaction of the group participants as data source, all three criteria are met. While FGs excel in getting a deep understanding of a topic, they lack generalisability (Morgan, 1998b). However, it could be assessed whether the findings are transferable to other contexts (Krueger, 1998a). 8
3. Methods 3.1.1. Considerations for Doing Focus Groups When running FGs, it can be challenging for the participants to establish a “common communicative ground” (Hydén and Bülow, 2003) and work out how they can “add their contributions to the common ground” (Hydén and Bülow, 2003). To ease the formation of a ‘common ground’, it should be assured in the group composition, that the participants share some prior experiences (Hydén and Bülow, 2003). In this study, this ‘common ground’ is the participants’ prior knowledge and connection to the topic of sustainability, which is also described in subsection 3.3.1 as the homogeneity among the participants. A further challenge can be the domination of the discussion by some participants, which leads to a situation where others, e.g. more silent or reserved participants, do not get sufficient space to talk (Krueger, 1998c; Smithson, 2000; Wibeck et al., 2007). In such situations the moderator can intervene to make space for other participants and include more opinions and perspectives in the discussion (Barbour, 2007; Krueger, 1998c; Wibeck et al., 2007). Another challenge for the FG moderator is, for example, the need to find a balance between the degree of guidance and the freedom given to the FGs and their discussions (Savin- Baden, 2003; Wibeck et al., 2007). If the guidance is too weak, participants might start exploring what is expected of them during the FG instead of discussing the actual topic under study (Wibeck et al., 2007). A too strong guidance, on the other hand, can bring in the moderator’s agenda into the discussion and limit the gathered results (Krueger, 1998c). Thus, the moderator needs a good intuition to successfully facilitate FGs (Wibeck et al., 2007). Finally, one should keep in mind that there are some study ethics that need to be considered when doing FGs which are explained further in subsection 3.1.2. 3.1.2. Ethical Considerations When doing FGs and working with individuals, study ethics play an important role and need to be addressed in the study design (Morgan, 1998b; Barbour, 2007). Since this study is targeted to adult students no special considerations in regards to the partici- pant’s age are needed. Morgan (1998b) points out, that it is key to not put participants of FGs “at risk” by disclosing personal information for instance. This could have nega- tive effects for the participants, especially when considering that international students are recruited for this study and not all countries around the world apply the freedom of speech. In such cases the disclosure of personal information could lead to negative effects for the participants. Therefore, a careful handling of personal data is important. Another aspect that needs to be considered is the risk of over-disclosure by participants, which means that participants disclose information that they later wish they had not shared (Morgan, 1998b; Barbour, 2007). The risk of over-disclosure is particular high in situations where participants do not know each other and only meet for a single oc- casion (Morgan, 1998b). Additionally, people tend to share more openly in digital FGs (Liamputtong, 2011). Since all these conditions are given in this study, the informed consent points out that the participants should be careful on what they share in order to prevent them from over-disclosing sensitive personal information. In addition, partic- ipants were reminded at the beginning of the FGs to be mindful of what they want to share. This should ensure that sufficient safeguards are put in place while providing the participants with the freedom to make their own decisions on what they want to share (Barbour, 2007) without patronizing them. 9
3. Methods Handling of Personal Data Personal data is collected through an online registration form as well as during the FGs. The following list provides an overview of the collected data: • Name • Email address • Study subject • Number of studied semesters • Location of their university • If they study in the field of sustainability • How the studies are connected to sustainability • If they engage in sustainability topics outside the university and what they do • Audio and video recording of the FGs • Personal notes from the moderator • Workshop results on a digital whiteboard The data collected through the survey and the digital whiteboard remains in the online tools and is downloaded to a local computer with password protection. The audio and video recordings as well as the moderator’s notes are also stored on the same password protected computer to ensure that only the researcher has access to the non-anonymised data. All personal data is deleted after the completion of the project. Informed Consent and Confidentiality To ensure that all participants are comprehensively informed about the study and the handling of their personal data, every participant was asked to sign an informed con- sent prior to the FG sessions, as suggested by Morgan (1998b). The informed consent included information about the purpose of the study, how the study will be conducted, how the gathered data will be handled, what the data will be used for and what rights the participants have. Furthermore, it is stressed that the participants can freely decide on “[...] what they want to share and what they wish to keep private.” (Barbour, 2007). This should reduce the risk of over-disclosing personal information. The informed consent used in this study can be found in Appendix B. In addition to the informed consent, the moderator informs the participants in the be- ginning of each FG that they are recorded and that they can drop off if they do not want to be recorded. Furthermore, the participants are reminded to keep all personal and sensitive information which they obtain from other participants confidential as suggested by Barbour (2007). 3.1.3. Limitations The study is limited to voluntary participants, since no direct benefits are granted for par- ticipation. Thus it can be assumed that only such students participated in the FGs who are interested in the topic. Furthermore, the study is limited to students who can speak English, have enough free time to participate and feel comfortable to join an unfamiliar group of people in an online setting. Rezabek (1999) describes that a fear of technology 10
3. Methods can be an obstacle for some students. However, this was more than 20 years ago and is probably no longer an issue today, as online conferences are now part of students’ every- day study routines. From a practical point of view only those who have an internet connection can partici- pate in the study since it is conducted online (Edmunds, 1999). Additionally, the internet connection must be stable and a sufficient bandwidth is needed, so that all participants can equally participate in a fluent group discussion. The participants also need the tech- nical equipment to participate, namely a computer, a video camera and a microphone. While all participants had the equipment to participate in the FGs, there were still some difficulties to understand some participants due to a weak internet connection or a low microphone quality. However, such difficulties occurred rather seldom. Another limitation is that students can drop off at any time, which is a necessity accord- ing to the FG research ethics. Regardless of whether the reason for participants dropping out is a weak internet connection, data security concerns, other technical problems or a personal desire to drop out, it may affect the group discussion and dynamics. While no participant dropped out permanently from the FGs, some turned off their audio and video for a short while during the FG sessions. As they were not fully involved in the group discussions during these times, this might have had an impact on the group dynamics. However, the moderator could not detect any such effects. 3.2. Focus Group Design In this section the design of the FGs will be explained in depth. It starts with the general setup which will expand on the group size, duration etc. and continues with a description of the specialities of the online format. Lastly, the development process of the FG sessions is explained. 3.2.1. General Focus Group Setup The FGs were conducted synchronously in digital format, using a conferencing tool with audio and video transmission. The FGs were audio and video taped and a digital white- board was used for remote collaboration during the FGs. A group size of four to six participants was aimed for and the FGs were planned and announced for taking place on a single occasion for a duration of two hours. Both, the FG size and duration are typical variables which can be found in FG literature (Barbour, 2007; Krueger, 1998b; Liamputtong, 2011; Morgan, 1998b; Wibeck et al., 2007). This group size and duration should ensure that all participants have sufficient time to express their thoughts. In ad- dition, Wibeck et al. (2007) describe, that smaller groups are beneficial for more focussed discussions. During the FGs, a short break was taken to allow participants to regain concentration and energy for the rest of the session. At the end of the FGs, the recording was stopped and an open space with no time limit was offered to allow participants to socialise. It was not intended to find a group opinion or consensus on the topic under investigation, instead a wide range of opinions was aimed for, as also suggested by Morgan (1998b). The sharing of the participants’ unique perspectives was encouraged by valuing their contributions and not declaring answers as right or wrong (Wibeck et al., 2007). 11
3. Methods 3.2.2. Digital Format There are various forms of digital FGs, ranging from text based chat rooms, to the recon- struction of live discussions with a conferencing tool (Liamputtong, 2011). The use of a conferencing tool with audio and video transmission in this study helps to overcome some limitations of digital FGs, such as the “lack of verbal and visual interaction” (Liamput- tong, 2011). This however is only true, if all participants have turned their audio and video on and the bandwidth and internet stability allow transmission. In general, digital FGs became more popular with increasing technological advancement and they are now often used as a quicker and cheaper alternative to analogue FGs, al- lowing participation from different distant locations (Liamputtong, 2011). In addition, almost all computers nowadays have build in cameras and microphones so that the use of conferencing equipment for doing digital FGs does not demand a substantial investment any more, as it was described by Rezabek (2000) some 20 years ago. The use of a conferencing tool makes it possible to record the FGs without any special recording equipment as it is needed for analogue FGs (Barbour, 2007). When a session is recorded, participants can feel discomfort (Barbour, 2007) which could be lower when recording an online FG, because there is no physical equipment that constantly reminds the participants of being recorded. The recording quality of digital FGs depends mainly on the bandwidth, a stable internet connection and the microphone and camera quality of the participants’ equipment, which cannot be influenced by the researcher. That is different in analogue FGs where challenges such as the correct positioning of the camera and microphone (Barbour, 2007), can be controlled by the researcher. Literature suggests, that people could feel more comfortable with participating in digital FGs e.g. because of an increased feeling of anonymity (Liamputtong, 2011). This could encourage participants to also share critical comments (Liamputtong, 2011), which can deliver deep and interesting insights. However, this can come with the ethical issue of over-disclosing personal information, which is discussed in subsection 3.1.2. Generally the data quality from digital FGs is expected to be similar compared to analogue FGs in terms of the amount of data and the identified themes (Barbour, 2007). 3.2.3. Development of Focus Group Sessions Based on the research questions of the study (see chapter 1) and considering additional literature on formulating questions for FGs (Krueger, 1998b), a brainstorming on po- tential questions for the FGs was done by the researcher. The gathered questions were grouped into similar themes and condensed into about a dozen questions. Subsequently, the gathered questions were ordered and adapted to the structure of Krueger (1998b), who categorises the FG questions in opening, introductory, transition, key and ending questions. By doing this, the first version of a FG structure was set up. For conduct- ing the FGs, different formats were planned, such as group discussions and anonymous brainstorming sessions on a digital whiteboard. This should ensure that all participants can share their opinions freely, which is important for running FGs (Krueger, 1998a) and which is also a particular strength of digital FGs (Liamputtong, 2011). As Krueger (1998b) and Morgan (1998b) suggest, the developed structure was pilot tested. This was done with people from the researcher’s personal network who were invited to a FG test round. The intention was to try out the structure, get feedback and generate insights on how to improve the FG structure. Furthermore, the pilot was intended to get 12
3. Methods some routine in conducting the FGs before starting data collection. As expected, the first pilot yielded valuable experiences which were incorporated in the FG structure. Main changes include a further reduced number of questions, an increasing use of stimulus ma- terials and the digital whiteboard as well as detaching the structure from the suggested order by Krueger (1998b) by removing the question category of transition questions. This improved structure went in a second iteration of pilot testing which again yielded some insights, including a sharper framing of the questions and a slightly reduced use of the digital white board. Besides the pilot testing the FG structure was also discussed several times with the supervisor of this study to get additional feedback. 3.3. Conducting the Focus Groups This section elaborates on the preparations for the FGs, it explaines in detail how they were performed and describes some follow-up tasks which were dealt with once the FGs were finished. 3.3.1. Preparation Some preparation was needed to perform the FGs including the recruitment of partici- pants, composing the groups for the FG sessions and handle some pre-workshop commu- nication. These aspects are explained in more detail below. Recruitment No spatial boundaries were set for recruiting participants. By inviting students form all over the world, they can enrich the gathered data with their diverse backgrounds and perspectives. In this respect it is important to note, that this work explicitly does not aim to identify regional differences but tries to capture a diverse perspective on the topic from various angles. Participants were recruited mainly by reaching out to the personal network of the author and supervisor of this study, asking for forwarding an invitation letter for the FGs. The first version of the invitation letter asked students to fill in an online registration form and state their time preferences for the conduction of the workshop. Since the arrangement of a date based on the students’ preferences turned out to be challenging, this was changed later, so that a set of pre-defined dates was suggested, which the students could select from. Further improvements of the invitation letter were done in multiple iterations based on the feedback from the pilot testing, the supervisor and comments gathered during the distribution of the invitation. Major changes include an optical redesign (see Appendix D) and the shift to call it ‘workshop’ instead of ‘focus group’, to make it more understandable and attractive for the participants. Besides sending the invitation letter to existing contacts, different sustainability student initiatives were contacted and asked to forward the invitation to their members. The author also joined some online meetings to shortly present and ‘advertise’ the workshops in person. The recruitment started in June 2021 but yielded only few registrations which could be traced back to the approaching summer time where students are either on vacations or busy with examinations. A further possible reason could be the fatigue of students to participate in another online event, as for many students their education has been 13
3. Methods completely digitalised during the ongoing pandemic. Due to the difficulties in recruiting, some groups were offered to hold a workshop within their existing group, even though the research aimed to compose diverse groups with students from different study locations around the world. In addition, the recruitment was paused for the summer and restarted in August 2021, once students returned to the universities and thus were easier to access. Group Composition The goal of capturing as many different perspectives on HSE as possible should be achieved through the most diverse group composition possible with regard to different study loca- tions and study semesters. FG literature states as well, that a heterogeneity of background experiences of the participants can be beneficial for the FG discussion and the generated data (Liamputtong, 2011; Kitzinger and Barbour, 1999). However, it turned out to be a challenge to steer the group composition as the number of registrations for the FGs was low. This led to a situation where selecting only certain participants was nearly impossible when aiming for a group size of four to six people, considering the need for over-recruitment (Barbour, 2007), to compensate for participants who do not show up or decide to drop out during the FGs. However, it was possible to gather diverse groups nonetheless by directing the recruitment efforts to diverse target groups at the same time. Despite aiming for heterogeneity, literature also suggests that there should be a certain degree of homogeneity among the FG participants (Kitzinger and Barbour, 1999; Krueger, 1998c; Liamputtong, 2011). Therefore, care was taken to ensure that the participants have at least one characteristic in common, as suggested by Barbour (2007). In the context of this study this characteristic is their connection to the sustainability topic through their university education and/ or their extracurricular activities, which was asked for in the registration form. Pre-Workshop Communication Once the students had registered and the groups were composed, the participants were contacted by email to express my gratitude for their participation and inform them about the date, time and meeting place (in this case a link to join the conferencing tool) for the FG. They were also asked to read some attached materials before the FG, to get on the same level of background knowledge (see Appendix C). Moreover, it was requested to sign the attached informed consent and send a signed copy via email to the researcher. It was stressed that without signing the informed consent, they will not be able to participate in the FG (for more information about the informed consent see subsection 3.1.2). A reminder to sign the informed consent was sent out latest one day before the respective FG session to those participants who have not yet signed it. In addition, all participants received a reminder for the FG session usually one day before the meetup. For groups with participants form different time zones, the number of hours until the start of the FG was stated in the email to avoid confusions due to time differences. 3.3.2. Running the Focus Group Sessions The previously described development process in subsection 3.2.3 led to a FG structure that is oriented on the question categories proposed by Krueger (1998b) which entail opening, introductory, transition, key and ending questions. Solely a transition question 14
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