Sustainability learning threshold in an MBA subject : an exploratory study

Drawing on Jan Meyer and Ray Land’s work on “threshold concepts”, this paper reports the findings of an exploratory study which sought to understand the journey of a small cohort of MBA students from an Australian university through the “threshold” of sustainability learning; in other words, the consciousness of individual students of being more receptive to the notion of sustainability, and more receptive to knowledge that had previously caused anxiety in them. Through a thematic analysis of the reflective journals which these students were required to develop as part of their formative assessment, some critical aspects of this process are mapped out. The analysis has enabled a better understanding of concepts that seemed to produce “troublesome knowledge”. It has also provided clues as to the extent to which the students’ views and attitudes shifted, in varying degrees, as they progressively developed their reflective journals over a period of eight weeks.