Teaching within their worlds

Space for Sustainability Practices
Case Study / Santander Educational Practices
for Sustainability - Claudio Senna (UNISINOS)
March 2013
Teaching within
their worlds
Renato Suzuki
Professor Cláudio Senna during the presentation of his work at the end
of the Santander Educational Practices for Sustainability awards
Professor Claudio Senna Venzke makes himself available to his Management students at the Universidade
do Vale do Rio Sinos (UNISINOS), located in São Leopoldo (RS), both inside and outside of the classroom.
He and his students are also connected through Facebook, where they discuss issues raised in the
classroom as well as the content of next week’s test.
The social network was also a showcase for the final assignment in the Foundations of Management
Process course, which Claudio led for first year students. To broaden the reach of their ideas, students
created fanpages featuring solutions they had created to address environmental problems that
surrounds them.
“Their friends started asking about the projects and this impact outside the classroom motivated the
students a great deal. I try to use social media to my advantage. If they do not take part in classes, they
will go to Facebook, so I tried to use it as a tool. The teacher is no longer the sole holder of knowledge.
Our role is to encourage the student to go find it in several sources,” explains Claudio.
However, the initial reaction to the proposal was not so positive. Early in the course, when the teacher
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Space for Sustainability Practices
Case Study / Santander Educational Practices
for Sustainability - Claudio Senna (UNISINOS)
March 2013
But, as he showed, this integration of
ideas, beyond being beneficial, was
also viable – and easily put into practice
in many situations – and so students
spontaneously began offering their own
ideas.
Courtesy
told students that he would present
the classical concepts of Management
Theory, applying them to sustainability
practices, he felt some skepticism on the
part of the students.
Students met in groups to come up with solutions that
address the social problems surrounding them
For course’s final project, student
Emerson Mendes and his group, for
example, chose a topic that is one of the biggest nightmares for large cities: traffic. They selected a city
near São Leopoldo and developed a proposal for construction of bus lanes.
“In Cachoeirinha, there are many buses surrounded by other vehicles, but the number of public
transport users is still very low. We decided to create a way to streamline this option with bus lanes.
We also thought of other incentives: buses with air-conditioning systems, stops with Wi-Fi and more
affordable ticket prices,” says Emerson.
“
The teacher is no longer
the sole holder of
knowledge. Our role is
to encourage the student
to go find it in several
sources”
A reduction in the number of cars on the streets creates
less pollution and improves quality of life. Based on
this observation, Emerson says he rethought the role of
manager. “We know that our work is to obtain results and
profit, but the professor was able to show us that we are
also responsible for thinking about collective action for a
better future,” he says.
Professor Claudio’s initiative also promoted structural
changes in management courses at UNISINOS. “We are
already working on teaching plans so that all professors
in Foundations of Management Process can start to
approach these concepts with their students. This happens both on the campus in São Leopoldo as well
as Porto Alegre and also in the distance learning course,” says Dagmar Sordi, the course coordinator at
the university.
Claudio Senna Venzke, winner
of the Santander Educational
Practices for Sustainability award
Claudio was not expecting his proposal to have such a great impact. His work was one of three winners
of the Santander Education Practices for Sustainability cultural contest, held in 2012, which honored
teachers who best introduced sustainability into compulsory subjects in Economics and Management
programs (learn more at www.santander.com.br/praticasdeeducacao). “I was surprised by this result.
The students offered very good and creative ideas, which shows how this new generation has greater
awareness of their environmental and social responsibility.”
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Space for Sustainability Practices
Case Study / Santander Educational Practices
for Sustainability - Claudio Senna (UNISINOS)
March 2013
Step-by-Step InnovatIon
See how ProfeSSor Claudio introduCed SuStainability into foundationS of ManageMent
ProCeSS CourSework
1St Step
2nd Step
Sustainability concepts were
introduced along the study timetable
of management process and its
stages: planning, organization,
management and control.
In each class, a sustainability concept
was presented to the students together
with traditional theory. An in-class
discussion of how this integration
would work followed.
adaptation of the lesson plan
debate
3rd Step
4th Step
Proposal for a final activity, prepared
and submitted by groups of five to
eight students. They were encouraged
to identify social problems in their
areas, to pinpoint the causes and to
design a possible solution, including
strategic and operational planning for
project implementation.
Creation of fanpages for solutions created by
students on Facebook.
Learn about some of them:
hands-on
Innovation in disseminating results
Associação Cará
Proposal: develop actions to protect the
waters of the Rio dos Sinos.
https://www.facebook.com/ONGCaraa
SR Solução de Resíduos
Proposal: creation of a selective collection
system with community participation.
https://www.facebook.com/
SrSolucaoDeResiduos
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Space for Sustainability Practices
Case Study / Santander Educational Practices
for Sustainability - Claudio Senna (UNISINOS)
For more information*
ALIGLERI, L., ALIGLERI, L. A. e KRUGLIANSKAS. Gestão Socioambiental. São
Paulo: Ed Atlas, 2009
AMBROSE, G; HARRIS, P. Design Thinking. Porto Alegre: Ed. Bookman, 2011.
BARBIERI, J. C.; SILVA, D., Educação Ambiental na Formação do Administrador. São
Paulo: Cengage Learning, 2011.
DEMAJOROVIC, J. Ecoeficiência em Serviços. In Modelos e Ferramentas de Gestão
Ambiental: Desafios e Perspectivas para as Organizações. São Paulo: Ed. Senac,
2010
DIAS, R. Gestão Ambiental. São Paulo: Ed. Atlas, 2009.
GASI, T. M. T.. Produção Mais Limpa. in Modelos e Ferramentas de Gestão
Ambiental: Desafios e Perspectivas para as Organizações. São Paulo: Ed. Senac,
2010
JACOBI, P. R.; RAUFFLET, E.; ARRUDA, M. P., Educação para a Sustentabilidade
nos Cursos de Administração: Reflexão sobre Paradigmas e Práticas. RAM, Rev.
Adm. Mackenzie, V. 12, N. 3, Edição Especial, São Paulo, SP, maio/jun. 2011
LAZARO, J.C. ; DINATO, M. Uma Escala para Medição do Novo Paradigma
Ecológico. In: VII Encontro Nacional sobre Gestão Empresarial e Meio Ambiente
(ENGEMA), 2003, São Paulo. ANAIS do VII ENGEMA. São Paulo: EA-USP / FGVSP,
2003
SAVITZ, A. A Empresa Sustentável. Rio de Janeiro: Elsevier, 2007
SEIFFERT, Mari E. B. Gestão Ambiental: Instrumentos, Esferas de Ação e Educação
Ambiental. São Paulo: Atlas, 2009.
* Bibliography used by Professor Cláudio Senna Venzke
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