ERIC Number: EJ1055218
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2015-Apr
Pages: 25
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1052-5629
EISSN: N/A
"Paradigm Change" or No Real Change at All? A Critical Reading of the U.N. Principles for Responsible Management Education
Louw, Jonathan
Journal of Management Education, v39 n2 p184-208 Apr 2015
Proponents of the transformative potential of the United Nations Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME) claim that their adoption could lead to a "paradigm change" in business schools, thus addressing many of the sustained critiques of the sector in recent years. However, this claim and the PRME themselves have to date not been subjected to systematic scrutiny from a Critical Management Education perspective. Applying a critical discourse analysis methodology, this article evaluates how business schools and management education are positioned in key PRME documentation and the Sharing Information on Progress reports of U.K. business school signatories to the PRME. A key finding is that the PRME discourse assumes and promotes a problematic understanding of management education that includes a positioning of business schools as servants of the corporate sector. The impact of this and other assumptions undermines any "paradigm change" claim. Conclusions identify potential discursive and organizational strategies to nurture a more critical, learning-centered PRME discourse.
Descriptors: Critical Reading, Management Development, Business Administration Education, Foreign Countries, Discourse Analysis, Corporations, International Organizations, Transformative Learning, Educational Change, Criticism, Educational Principles, Phrase Structure, Reports, Educational Practices, Semiotics, Language Usage, Higher Education
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: United Kingdom
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A