The Role of Values in Sustainable Tourism Education

The Role of Values in Sustainable Tourism Education – a practical perspective Dr Christian Schott Victoria Management School Victoria University of Wellington New Zealand

Theme of the Presentation will not: Discuss the need for sustainable tourism Dissect the ‘values’ construct in education Engage in discussion about concise definitions of sustainable tourism and sustainable tourism development Instead, the presentation will: Accept sustainability-driven thinking as a necessity Focus on the core values of the ‘sustainability’ concept Propose how values can be incorporated in tourism education.

Sustainability: back to ‘Management’ Basics to sustain ‘to keep something going over time or continuously’ (OED, 2002) Encompasses: cultural, economic, environmental, and social considerations ‘positive’ and ‘negative’, direct, indirect, and induced impacts of human activity at local, regional, national, and international levels over the short, medium, and long-term valuing perspectives of all stakeholders

Brainstorming Core Values comprehensive/’eco-system’ thinking critical assessment empowerment equality ethical behaviour harmony, compatibility, synergy (Hunter, 1997) monitoring pro-activity/foresight transparency knowledge exchange valuing diversity

‘Our’ Mission as Educators “higher education institutions bear a profound, moral responsibility to increase awareness, knowledge, skills and values needed to create a just and sustainable future” (Cortese, 2003: 17) Sustainability-driven thinking is an essential investment in our common future Purpose of my presentation is to ask educators: ü How do your students apply and ‘experience’ these values? ü How do you cultivate these values in the learning experience you construct?

My experience - applying the values Role-play* - ethical behaviour, critical assessment, empowerment Tutorial role play debate based on the ethics and implications of tourism in Burma Case studies* - eco-system thinking, compatibility, synergy, transparency Tutorial based group case-study to develop sustainable tourism plan at local level (macro level) Applied student ‘controlled ‘report – eco-system thinking, pro-activity, compatibility, monitoring, empowerment A large-scale consultancy report requiring students to apply their knowledge of sustainability to the development of a tourist accommodation business (micro level). Only essential guidelines are given, the rest is up to the student. * Learning activities suggested by Tribe (2002)

My experience – cultivating the values Opening Format – valuing diversity, eco-system thinking, empowerment, knowledge exchange At beginning of every lecture I use an opening format that briefly presents a different country and its tourism industry by use of music, a factsheet, a quiz, and Google Earth Informal feedback – monitoring, critical assessment, empowerment Informal feedback in sought half way through the course for both lectures and tutorials to determine whether adjustments would assist student learning Guest lectures – eco-system thinking, valuing diversity, equality Guest lecturer presenting unique cultural (Maori) perspective on impacts of tourism on Maori communities

My experience – cultivating the values Support of assignment – knowledge exchange The consultancy report and the group case-study are both supported by a site visit to a local tourism business and a fieldtrip to a local island with sustainability focused management (respectively). An industry-sponsored prize is presented to the best report as selected by the business. Explicit rationale and transparency – transparency When setting tasks and assessments I aim to provide clear rationale as to the value and the sought learning outcomes and to provide clarity about the assessment criteria and weighting.

Conclusions Did I cultivate sustainability values in this presentation? Purpose of presentation: to advocate the need to incorporate and cultivate values that are core to the sustainability concept in the learning environment rather than merely lecturing about them. I particularly want to promote the idea of cultivating values in a ‘walk the talk’ fashion so that these values are normalised and thus internalised by the tourism managers of the future. Educators may already incorporate sustainability values in tourism education but the examples may nevertheless provide opportunities for ‘critical assessment’ and ‘knowledge transfer’ that will assist in building a more sustainable future.

Who would like to engage in knowledge exchange? Keen to hear what you or colleagues are doing to walk the talk in this context What are your thoughts on the values identified?