Visual Images of Sustainability in Higher Education The hidden curriculum of climate change on campus

Cotton, Debby, Winter, Jennie, Allison, Joseph and Mullee, R. (2023) Visual Images of Sustainability in Higher Education The hidden curriculum of climate change on campus. International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education. ISSN 1467-6370 (In Press)

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Abstract

Purpose Perceptions of climate change are strongly influenced by visual cues and images. Many universities have made significant steps towards decarbonisation yet these often remain hidden from the campus community. In this research, we explore the hidden curriculum of climate change on campus and compare participants’ images of sustainability on campus with those on university web-sites. Design/methodology/approach This research was underpinned by a critical realist perspective utilising innovative visual research methods including auto-photography and photo-elicitation to enable deep understanding of perceptions of sustainability and climate change on campus. Grounded visual pattern analysis(GVPA) was used to analyse campus photos and compare them to images used on university websites. Findings Findings suggest that staff and student images more strongly encapsulated tensions between humans and nature than web-site photos, but that the latter included more evidence of social sustainability. Neither image set expressed climate change issues effectively; the invisibility of university decarbonisation activities represents a lost opportunity for learning. Originality/ value This research utilises novel visual methodologies and analysis (GVPA) with potential for wider use in sustainability research. It offers new insights into the importance of the hidden curriculum of sustainability in HE, and the difficulties of making climate change visible on campus.

Item Type:	Article
Keywords:	Hidden Curriculum, Climate Change, Sustainability, Visual images, Decarbonisation
Depositing User:	Ms Raisa Burton
Date Deposited:	16 Mar 2023 11:32
Last Modified:	16 Mar 2023 14:15
URI:	https://marjon.repository.guildhe.ac.uk/id/eprint/17734
Related URLs:	https://www.eme ... /issn/1467-6370 (Publisher URL)

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