Transformative learning to promote sustainability : inserting the third level of learning in management programs

Abstract

Sustainability is a complex issue, which has required individual, organisational and social changes. Therefore, programs related to management play an important role, since they educate the majority of managers that lead organisations. They can therefore prepare them to lead organisations more committed to sustainability. To this end, some studies show that such programs need to go through a transformative learning process, both at the individual and organisational level. Thus, this article aims to present an expanded framework of the integrated model of organisational learning by inserting transformative learning as a proposal for the programs related to the field of management to increase their contributions to sustainability. It also presents a case study of a postgraduate program at an educational institution that seeks to promote transformative learning. The case study was developed for the application of the framework. The main contributions of this study highlight the importance of expanding individuals’ mental models and shared mental models in organisations that take place, respectively, through critical reflection and the promotion of spaces where the mental models of different stakeholders can be shared.