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Bo Bo Lwin (2024). Exploring Education for Sustainable Development in Myanmar:

Concepts and Models to Influence the Integration in, and the Transformation of, Higher
Education Institutions. PhD thesis The Open University.

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Exploring Education for Sustainable Development in
Myanmar: Concepts and Models to Influence the
Integration in, and the Transformation of, Higher
Education Institutions

Bo Bo Lwin

A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy

Supervisors: Prof Andy Lane and Dr Rachel Slater

School of Engineering and Innovation

The Open University (UK)

April 2024
 Abstract

Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) is a priority area for the United Nations
and features in the Sustainable Development Goals. While Higher Education Institutions
(HEIs) have an important role in ESD, what ESD means and how it is integrated into
HEIs requires further investigation in some contexts. Indeed, ESD in South-East Asian
HEIs, including Myanmar, has rarely been studied. This research considers the
conceptualisation of ESD in Myanmar HEIs’ context, desirable graduate attributes for
the sustainable development of Myanmar, and factors that should influence the
integration of ESD in, and the transformation of, Myanmar’s HEIs. An in-country scoping
study helped formulate the research questions and design. All other data collection
occurred remotely as first Covid-19, and then the Military coup, prevented in-country
work.

A mixed methods approach was employed with qualitative data collected through key
informant interviews (n=7) and two focus group discussions (FGD) with university
teachers and students (n=19). A large survey (n=417) collected quantitative (and some
qualitative) data on graduate attributes, triangulated by a follow-on survey with FGD
participants (N=15).

Thematic analyses indicated that ESD can be viewed in two dimensions. First, desirable
sustainable development for Myanmar can be reviewed through five thematic lenses:
political, economic, sociocultural, environmental, and philosophical perspectives.
Second, HEIs are expected to contribute to ESD by nurturing graduates with essential
attributes, conducting locally relevant research and innovation, advocating for policy
changes, and fostering learning hubs.

Statistical analyses highlighted the relative importance of graduate attributes for ESD,
revealing some differences compared to UNESCO’s ESD competencies. The
quantitative findings support the efficacy of the three pillars: Head, Heart, and Hand, in
fostering graduate attribute development. The thematic analysis findings suggest an
adapted ESD integration model as well as an adapted educational reconstruction model
that can offer useful guidance for the transformation of Myanmar’s HEIs.

i
Declaration

The work presented in this thesis is the author’s original work. No part of this thesis has
been submitted to this or any other university for any further qualification or degree.

Bo Bo Lwin

April 2024

ii
 To

My sisters and brothers:

Maw Maw

Nyi Nyi

Ni Ni

Maung Maung

iii
 Acknowledgement

First of all, I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to my supervisors Professor Andy
Lane and Dr Rachel Slater (The Open University, UK) for their enthusiastic supervision
and warm support throughout my PhD journey.

Sincerely, I would like to thank the research participants who accepted my invitation to
participate in key informant interviews and focus group discussions. This research could
not have been possible without their contribution and active engagement.

I would also like to thank all the participants who took part in the online survey. I deeply
appreciate and acknowledge all my friends and friends of my friends who helped to make
a wide distribution of the survey that was an immense support to this research.

I am grateful to The Open University (UK) and Global Challenge Research Fund (GCRF)
for the funding I need to pursue this doctoral research. I am also appreciative of Alan
Senauke (International Network of Engaged Buddhists) for his generous contribution
which was helpful indeed for me to complete writing and submission of my thesis.

Furthermore, I would like to express my deep appreciation to Associate Professor Dean

Kyne (The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, USA) for his academic guidance,
feedback, and moral support.

Many thanks are also due to Swe Zin and Dae Poe for their help in data collection
process, deep listening when I needed to discuss something related my research, and
encouragement in critical times.

I would also like to extend my special thanks to Jane, Stephanie and Daniel who warmly
welcomed, generously supported, and friendly encouraged me whenever I need a hug.

Finally, I cannot forget to acknowledge my friends, who listened to me when I was so

lonely and feeling lost or provided me valuable feedback and suggestions. Without these
Kalyana Mitta, I could not have survived to overcome those tough times.

iv
 Table of content

Chapter 1 Introduction ...................................................................................................... 1

1.1 Sustainable Development in the global context ..................................................... 2

1.2 Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) ..................................................... 2

1.3 ESD in the Myanmar context.................................................................................. 4

1.4 Research Questions ............................................................................................... 6

1.5 Rationale and personal context .............................................................................. 6

1.6 Composition of Thesis structure ............................................................................. 8

Chapter 2 The Higher Education System in Myanmar’s Socio-political and

Environmental Context ................................................................................................... 10

2.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................... 10

2.2 Socio-political context of Myanmar ...................................................................... 10

2.2.1 Political and inter-ethnic issues ..................................................................... 11

2.2.2 Environmental issues ..................................................................................... 12

2.2.3 Sustainable development planning ............................................................... 14

2.2.4 Potential role of education for social transformation and development ........ 15

2.3 Recent education reforms in Myanmar ................................................................ 16

2.4 Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in Myanmar ................................................ 17

2.5 Lack of ESD integration and holistic reconstructions in the HE reform during
2010-2020 ................................................................................................................... 19

2.6 Chapter Summary................................................................................................. 22

Chapter 3 Education for Sustainable Development and the Reconstruction of Higher

Education Institutions: Global and Local Perspectives .................................................. 24

v
3.1 Introduction........................................................................................................... 24

3.2 Emergence and Progression of ESD on the Global Stage ................................. 25

3.2.1 Sustainable Development or Sustainability .................................................. 25

3.2.2 Origins of ESD in International Agreements ................................................. 28

3.3 Global Engagement of HEIs in Advancing ESD .................................................. 30

3.3.1 Overview of HEIs’ Roles for ESD .................................................................. 30

3.3.2 HEIs’ different approaches for ESD .............................................................. 31

3.3.3 HEIs’ engagement with ESD in Asia Pacific region ...................................... 35

3.3.4 HEIs engagement with ESD in Southeast Asia region ................................. 36

3.3.5 UNESCO’s lead in approaches ..................................................................... 37

3.4 Contextualising ESD in the Southeast Asian context.......................................... 40

3.5 Conceptualising ESD in the Myanmar context .................................................... 42

3.6 Understanding Graduate attributes in the Context of ESD ................................. 44

3.6.1 Understandings of Graduate Attributes (GAs) .............................................. 44

3.6.2 Graduate Attributes from a Sustainability Perspective ................................. 48

3.7 The 4Cs+RP Model: Integrating ESD in HEIs ..................................................... 51

3.7.1 Curriculum ..................................................................................................... 55

3.7.2 Pedagogy....................................................................................................... 57

3.7.3 Research ....................................................................................................... 59

3.7.4 Campus ......................................................................................................... 59

3.7.5 Community .................................................................................................... 60

3.7.6 Culture ........................................................................................................... 63

3.8 Educational reconstruction of HEIs ..................................................................... 64

vi
 3.8.1 Ideological reconstruction .............................................................................. 65

3.8.2 Psychological reconstruction ......................................................................... 66

3.8.3 Provision of materials and curricular reconstruction ..................................... 66

3.8.4 Physical reconstruction .................................................................................. 67

3.8.5 Human resources........................................................................................... 67

3.9 Crafting and Justifying Research Enquiries ......................................................... 67

3.10 Chapter Summary .............................................................................................. 71

Chapter 4 In-country Scoping Study .............................................................................. 73

4.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................... 73

4.2 Purpose and methods employed in the scoping study ........................................ 73

4.3 Teachers’ perspectives on ESD in HEIs .............................................................. 75

4.4 Students’ perspective on ESD in HEIs ................................................................. 78

4.5 Key findings and recommendations ..................................................................... 80

4.6 Chapter Summary................................................................................................. 81

Chapter 5 Research Methodology ................................................................................. 83

5.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................... 83

5.2 Philosophical orientation and research paradigm ................................................ 84

5.2.1 Ontological and epistemological stance ........................................................ 84

5.2.2 Adapted research enquiry framework ........................................................... 85

5.2.3 Choice of data collection and analysis methods ........................................... 87

5.3 Preparation ........................................................................................................... 90

5.3.1 Ensuring ethical research .............................................................................. 90

5.3.2 Risk mitigation ................................................................................................ 92

vii
 5.3.3 Sampling and participants selection in the given context ............................. 93

5.4 Research data collection...................................................................................... 96

5.4.1 Key Informant Interviews (KIIs) ..................................................................... 96

5.4.2 Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) ................................................................ 98

5.4.3 Online Survey .............................................................................................. 101

5.4.4 Follow-on survey of FGD participants ......................................................... 103

5.5 Research data processing and analysis ............................................................ 104

5.5.1 Transcribing and Translating....................................................................... 104

5.5.2 Qualitative analysis ..................................................................................... 105

5.5.3 Quantitative analysis ................................................................................... 108

5.6 Reliability and Validity ........................................................................................ 109

5.7 Chapter summary............................................................................................... 110

Chapter 6 Conceptualisation of Education for Sustainable Development in the Higher

Education Context of Myanmar ................................................................................... 112

6.1 Introduction......................................................................................................... 112

6.2 Desirable sustainable future or development of Myanmar................................ 112

6.2.1 Economic View ............................................................................................ 114

6.2.2 Environmental view ..................................................................................... 117

6.2.3 Political view ................................................................................................ 120

6.2.4 Socio-cultural view ...................................................................................... 123

6.2.5 Philosophical view ....................................................................................... 125

6.3 Roles of HEIs for sustainable development of Myanmar .................................. 129

6.3.1 Investing in education as a foundation of society ....................................... 130

viii
 6.3.2 Preparing students with sustainability literacy and attributes ..................... 131

6.3.3 HEIs as exemplar learning hubs.................................................................. 136

6.3.4 Research and innovation ............................................................................. 139

6.3.5 Influencing Policy ......................................................................................... 141

6.4 Conceptualised ESD for Myanmar HEIs ............................................................ 141

6.5 Chapter summary ............................................................................................... 144

Chapter 7 Graduate Attributes for the Sustainable Development of Myanmar........... 146

7.1 Introduction ......................................................................................................... 146

7.2 Graduate attributes that emerged from the data ................................................ 147

7.3 Seven graduate attributes from thematic analysis in NVivo .............................. 148

7.3.1 Personal abilities .......................................................................................... 151

7.3.2 Employability skills ....................................................................................... 152

7.3.3 Social abilities .............................................................................................. 156

7.3.4 General knowledge and life skills ................................................................ 157

7.3.5 Leadership and entrepreneurship skills ....................................................... 158

7.3.6 Professionalism ............................................................................................ 159

7.3.7 Sustainability literacy and practices ............................................................ 160

7.4 Quantitative study of the graduate attributes via online survey ......................... 161

7.4.1 Ensuring reliable and valid data .................................................................. 163

7.4.2 Respondents’ demographic characteristics ................................................ 164

7.4.3 Perceived priority values of graduate attributes .......................................... 166

7.4.4 Normality test and outliers ........................................................................... 167

7.4.5 Priority ranking of Graduate Attributes ........................................................ 167

ix
 7.4.6 Demographic parameters and priority values of graduate attributes ......... 172

7.5 Prioritising the graduate attributes by FGD participants (Jam-board)............... 175

7.5.1 Rating from two dimensions: importance and impact over time................. 175

7.5.2 Jamboard survey result ............................................................................... 175

7.6 Fourteen graduate attributes in the three Hs model.......................................... 177

7.7 Chapter summary............................................................................................... 179

Chapter 8 Transforming Myanmar HEIs: the Role of ESD Integration and Educational
Reconstruction in Developing Graduate Attributes for a Sustainable Future ............. 180

8.1 Introduction......................................................................................................... 180

8.2 Research data and analytical process ............................................................... 181

8.3 Comparative study of two themes: ESD integration and HEI reconstruction ... 183

8.4 Potential approaches for ESD integration ......................................................... 185

8.4.1 Curriculum ................................................................................................... 185

8.4.2 Cultural Approach ........................................................................................ 187

8.4.3 Community Approach .................................................................................. 189

8.4.4 Campus Approach ....................................................................................... 193

8.4.5 Research Approach..................................................................................... 194

8.4.6 Pedagogic Approach ................................................................................... 196

8.4.7 Overview of ESD integration model and themes ........................................ 197

8.5 HEI reconstruction.............................................................................................. 198

8.5.1 Ideological reconstruction process.............................................................. 199

8.5.2 Psychological reconstruction....................................................................... 202

8.5.3 Curricula and materials ............................................................................... 204

x
 8.5.4 Human resources development................................................................... 205

8.5.5 Physical reconstruction ................................................................................ 207

8.5.6 Administration and quality assurance systems ........................................... 209

8.5.7 Overview of educational reconstruction for HEIs ........................................ 210

8.6 Overview of two purposes leading to HEIs’ transformation ............................... 211

8.6.1 Inner transformation Versus External influence .......................................... 211

8.6.2 Recommended changes for policy, principles, and practices ..................... 212

8.7 Chapter summary ............................................................................................... 217

Chapter 9 Conclusion ................................................................................................... 219

9.1 Introduction ......................................................................................................... 219

9.2 A summary of this thesis .................................................................................... 220

9.3 Key findings for the research questions ............................................................. 221

9.4 Recommendations for policy and practices ....................................................... 227

9.4.1 Recommendations for Myanmar’s higher education stakeholders ............. 227

9.4.2 Potential application of this research ........................................................... 228

9.4.3 Recommendations for HEIs in the Southeast Asia region .......................... 228

9.5 Knowledge contribution ...................................................................................... 230

9.6 Research limitations ........................................................................................... 233

9.7 Recommendations for further research ............................................................. 234

9.8 Personal reflections as a researcher.................................................................. 235

9.8.1 Motivation and personal improvement ........................................................ 235

9.8.2 Surviving and thriving in the context of Covid-19 and the Coup ................. 237

9.8.3 Final remark ................................................................................................. 238

xi
Bibliography ................................................................................................................. 239

Appendices .................................................................................................................. 266

Appendix 1 HREC approval letter for scoping study ................................................... 266

Appendix 2 Semi-structured questionnaires used in the scoping study ..................... 268

Appendix 3 Jisc Online Survey Form .......................................................................... 270

Appendix 4 HREC approval letter for data collection of this research project ............ 281

Appendix 5 Questionnaire guidelines for semi-structured interviews and focus group

discussions................................................................................................................... 283

Appendix 6 Reliability statistics and inter-item correlation amongst the ranked graduate
attributes (online survey data) ..................................................................................... 286

Appendix 7 Pairwise comparison of ranked specific fourteen graduate attributes (Jisc

Online Survey) ............................................................................................................. 287

Appendix 8 Kruskal-Wallis H test result showing no significant differences amongst

different age groups for their priority of all fourteen graduate attributes..................... 288

Appendix 9 Kruskal-Wallis H values for priority ranking of graduate attributes by the

respondents' education levels ..................................................................................... 289

Appendix 10 Pairwise test of education levels and their priority ranking of personal
abilities. ........................................................................................................................ 290

Appendix 11 Kruskal-Wallis test of respondents' locations and priority of attributes . 291

Appendix 12 The priority ranking order of the graduate attributes based on the FGD
participants' rating from two dimensions. .................................................................... 292

Appendix 13 Ranking tables for attributes from two dimensions ................................ 293

Appendix 14 Comparison of tables showing ranking order of graduate attributes in four

different tests................................................................................................................ 294

Appendix 15 An example of draft concept map during coding and categorising in NVivo
...................................................................................................................................... 295

xii
List of tables

Table 2.1. Corrected Number of HEIs under the ministries’ administration in Myanmar
........................................................................................................................................ 18

Table 3.1 UNESCO’s ESD competency framework adapted by the QAA and Advance
HE (UK) .......................................................................................................................... 49

Table 4.1 Categories to be considered for ESD implementation in Myanmar HEIs ..... 76

Table 4.2 Important 'Needs' for ESD Implementation in Myanmar HEIs ...................... 77

Table 5.1 Research enquiry framework ......................................................................... 86

Table 5.2 Sampling and participant selection processes for the data collection .......... 95

Table 5.3 Key Informant Interviewees' profiles and mode of interview ......................... 97

Table 5.4 List of FGD-1 participants' profiles ............................................................... 100

Table 5.5 List of FGD-2 participants' profiles ............................................................... 100

Table 6.1 Sub-themes for the desirable sustainable development for Myanmar ....... 113

Table 6.2 Intersectional coded references across five thematic views for desirable
sustainable development in Myanmar ......................................................................... 114

Table 6.3 Five sub-themes for the roles of HEIs for sustainable development in
Myanmar ....................................................................................................................... 129

Table 7.1 Comparison of two sets of graduate attributes to be studied ...................... 148

Table 7.2 Seven categories of graduate attributes from thematic analysis (NVivo) ... 149

Table 7.3 Comparison of ESD graduate attributes from this research and UNESCO’s
recommended competencies ....................................................................................... 150

Table 7.4 Comparison of employability skills: research data and three institutions ... 155

Table 7.5 Graduate attributes and descriptors used in the online survey ................... 162

Table 7.6 Frequency distribution of respondents' gender groups ............................... 165

Table 7.7 Frequency distribution of respondents' age band ....................................... 165

xiii
Table 7.8 Frequency distribution of respondents' education levels ............................ 166

Table 7.9 Frequency distribution of respondents' locations ........................................ 166

Table 7.10 Perceived priority values of graduate attributes by mean ranks and
medians........................................................................................................................ 169

Table 7.11 Friedman's post hoc test showing to reject null hypothesis ...................... 170

Table 7.12 Comparison of mean ranks amongst 14 graduate attributes ................... 170

Table 7.13 The graduate attributes and its paired attributes with similar mean ranks in
the pairwise comparison .............................................................................................. 171

Table 7.14 Mann Whitney U test showing significant association of two gender groups
and their perceived priority on 'Social abilities' and 'Thinking proficiency' .................. 172

Table 8.1 Sub-questions, related models, and analytical methods to address RQ3. 182

Table 8.2 Themes and sub-themes of ESD integration and HEI reconstruction........ 183

Table 8.3 Matrix coding of two themes: ESD integration and HEI reconstruction...... 184

Table 8.4 Recommended changes in principles or policies enabling ESD practices for
transformation of Myanmar HEIs ................................................................................. 212

xiv
List of figures

Figure 3.1 Definitions of graduate outcomes, profiles, and attributes adopted by

Spronken-Smith et al. (2015) ......................................................................................... 46

Figure 3.2 Head, Heart, Hand Model of students’ transformative learning [modified with
simplified descriptions from (Sipos, Battisti and Grimm, 2008, p. 75)] .......................... 50

Figure 3.3 '4Cs' Model developed by Jones, Selby, and Sterling in 'Sustainability
Education: Perspectives and Practice Across Higher Education (2010, p.7) [adapted in
colour and shape] ........................................................................................................... 53

Figure 3.4 Model of integrating sustainable development in higher education in-

situations adapted from Jones, Selby, and Sterling (2010a) and Chase (2009)
(Adapted from the source: Anand et al., 2015) .............................................................. 53

Figure 3.5 Proposed modified model of ESD integration in HEIs (4Cs+RP) ................ 54

Figure 5.1 Flow-chart of research data collection and analysis procedures ................. 87

Figure 5.2 An example of an attribute to be rated in the online survey ....................... 102

Figure 5.3 A sample Google Jam-board responded by a participant of FGD ............. 104

Figure 6.1 Influence diagram of conceptualised ESD in the Myanmar HEIs' context. 144

Figure 7.1 Graduate attributes in priority ranking chart with two dimensions:
importance and potential impact for the sustainable future of Myanmar [0-1 = Low; 2-3
= Medium; 2-3= High] ................................................................................................... 176

Figure 7.2 The fourteen graduate attributes in the three Hs model. ........................... 178

Figure 8.1 Influence diagram for Myanmar HEIs' transformation through a combination
of educational reconstruction and ESD integration leading to the development of ESD
graduate attributes. ...................................................................................................... 217

Figure 9.1 A framework of ESD implementation for countries with major reform needs
...................................................................................................................................... 232

xv
 List of Abbreviations

ADB Asian Development Bank

AI Artificial Intelligence
ASEAN Association of South-East Asian Nations
AUA Asian Universities Alliance
B.A. Bachelor of Art
BE Basic Education
BEHS Basic Education High School
CDM Civil Disobedience Movement
CEL Community Engaged Learning
CESR Comprehensive Education Sector Review
CETL Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning
CHEA Council for Higher Education Accreditation
Connecting Higher education Institutions for a New Leadership On
CHINLONE
National Education
COL Commonwealth of Learning
COP21 21st Conference of Parties
Co-operation Programme in Europe for Research in Nature and Industry
COPERNICUS
through Coordinated University Studies
COVID Corona Virus Disease
CSF Centre for Sustainable Futures
CSO Civil Society Organisation
DESD Decade of Education for Sustainable Development
DFID Department For International Development
DHE Department of Higher Education
DOF Department of Forestry
EAO Ethnic Armed Organisation
EAUC Environmental Associations of Universities and Colleges
EEAC Engineering Education Accreditation Committee
EFL English as a Foreign Language
EIA Environmental Impact Assessment
EPI Environmental Performance Index
EQ Emotional Quotient
ESD Education for Sustainable Development
ESIA Environmental and Social Impact Assessment
FAO Food and Agriculture Organisation
FCDO Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office
FESR Framework of Economic and Social Reform
xvi
FGD Focus Group Discussion
GA Graduate Attributes
GAP Global Action Programme
GCRF Global Challenge Research Fund
GDP Gross Domestic Product
GDPR General Data Protection Regulation
GIS Geographic Information System
GNH Gross National Happiness
GPI Graduate Profile Institution
GPP Graduate Profile Programme
HE Higher Education
HEFCE Higher Education Funding Council of England
HEI Higher Education Institution
HEQAA Higher Education Quality Assurance Agency
HHH Head-Heart-Hand
HR Human Resources
HRD Human Resources Development
HREC Human Research Ethic Committee
IBM International Business Machines
ICDE International Council for Open and Distance Education
ICT Information and Communication Technologies
IDEA Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance
IDP Internally Displaced People
IEA International Engineering Alliance
IIE Institute of International Education
IJEM International Journal of Educational Management
IJQRM International Journal of Quality and Reliability Management
IJSHE International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education
ISCN International Sustainable Campus Network
IT Information Technology
JICA Japan International Cooperation Agency
JOSM Journal of Service Management
KG Kindergarten
KIA Kachin Independence Army
KII Key Informant Interview
KMF Kalyana Mitta development Foundation
LDC Least Developed Countries
xvii
LGBT Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender
MA Master of Art
MDG Millennium Development Goals
MP Member of Parliament
MSDP Myanmar Sustainable Development Plan
MUDE Mandalay University of Distance Education
NCC National Curriculum Committee
NCEA National Commission for Environmental Affair
NEL National Education Law
NESP National Education Strategic Plan
NGO Non-Governmental Organisation
NIHED National Institute for Higher Education Development
NLD National League for Democracy
NNER National Network for Education Reform
NUG National Unity Government
NUS National University of Singapore
NZQA New Zealand Qualifications Authority
NZQF New Zealand Qualifications Framework
OCHA Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
OECD Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
OU Open University
PD Professional Development
PDF People Defence Force
PSEC Post Secondary Education Conference
QAA Quality Assurance Agency
RES Research, Enterprise, and Scholarship
RFA Radio Free Asia
RMIT Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology
RQ Research Question
SAC State Administration Council
SCP Sustainable Campus Programme
SD Sustainable Development
SDG Sustainable Development Goal
SEA South-East Asia
SOS Students Organising for Sustainability
SPHEIR Strategic Partnerships for Higher Education Innovation and Reform
SPSS Statistical Package for Social Sciences
xviii
SSE Sustainability: Society and Environment
STEM Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics
TIDE Transformation by Innovation in Distance Education
TLA Teaching, Learning, and Assessment
TSL Transformative Sustainability Learning
UDE University of Distance Education
UK United Kingdom
ULSF University Leaders for a Sustainable Future
UN United Nations
UNCTAD United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
UNDP United Nations Development Programme
UNEP United Nations Environment Programme
UNESCO United Nations Education, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation
US United States
USA United States of America
USDP Union Solidarity and Development Party
UWE University of West England
VPN Virtual Private Network
WCED World Commission on Environment and Development
YUDE Yangon University of Distance Education

xix
Chapter 1 Introduction

This doctoral thesis investigates the conceptualisation and integration of education for
sustainable development (ESD) in the context of Myanmar’s higher education
institutions (HEIs) and the prospective educational reconstruction for the transformation
of HEIs in the country. The investigation was influenced by the researcher’s motives and
interest in education reform for his home country, Myanmar, and the expectations of the
initial funding agency and The Open University (UK) to contribute to Myanmar’s
sustainable development (SD) by supporting the doctoral studentship. The research
addresses the definition of sustainable development in Myanmar and the interpretation
of ESD by Myanmar (Burmese)1 higher education stakeholders.

While SD and ESD have long been globally acknowledged and used by many HEIs
worldwide, it was seen as important to conceptualise them in the researched context
before they could be adopted and integrated into the existing higher education system.
It was also the right time to start this research project because while education reform
in Myanmar was well underway, ESD had not yet been considered amongst Myanmar
HEIs. Subsequent events halted these reforms, but exploring the potential models and
approaches of ESD integration in preparation for future changes to the higher education
system is still critical. To address these gaps, the overarching research aim was to
determine how ESD can be appropriately integrated into Myanmar HEIs.

This chapter provides a brief historical outline of the international communities’ efforts
to conceptualise and enact sustainable development, the emergence of ESD as part of
that effort and HEIs’ implementation of it, the political and higher education context of
Myanmar, the rationale and personal context for this doctoral study, and finally the
organisation of this thesis.

1 Myanmar was used to be known as Burma (country) and Burman/Burmese (people), but it was officially
changed to Myanmar by the military regime in 1989. Myanmar will be used in this thesis for both the
country’s name and its citizens albeit some controversies and disputes. However, Bamar/Burmese will
be interchangeably used in this thesis to refer the majority ethnic group.
1
1.1 Sustainable Development in the global context

The increasing scale and scope of human activities, such as consuming natural
resources and producing goods or services to meet human needs, have led to positive
and negative outcomes regarding both human and natural systems' social, economic,
and environmental sustainability. Environmental issues have become a core agenda
amongst the international communities seeking alternative pathways for the sustainable
development of these activity systems. Originally, sustainable development was rooted
in the United Nations (UN) Conference on Human Environment in Stockholm in 1972,
although the term was not explicitly used (United Nations, 1973). It was widely
acknowledged that the World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED),
chaired by Brundtland (Norwegian Prime Minster), was one of the historical milestones
calling for the global cooperation of a new development model considering
environmental sustainability concerns2.

Since the time of Brundtland’s Report (1987), known as ‘Our Common Future’,
intergovernmental meetings and global partnership events have made some
agreements and commitments to undertake sustainable development and
environmental protection, such as Agenda 21 by the UN Conference on Sustainable
Development in Rio de Janeiro (1992), the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)
(2000 – 2015) and the Sustainable Development (SDGs) (2016 – 2030) (United Nations,
1973, 1992, 2015a). Although there are many aspects to work on, climate change has
been one of the most prominent issues to be tackled. This prominence can be seen in
both the MDGs and the SDGs, and it became a global agreement to keep global
warming at 1.5 to 2 degrees Celsius in the Paris Climate Conference (COP213) in 2015.

1.2 Education for Sustainable Development (ESD)

The SDGs, which replaced the MDGs, were officially launched by the United Nations on
1st January 2016. They include 17 Goals, 16 of which are set out for different thematic
sectors covering three dimensions: economic growth, social inclusion, and
environmental protection (the 17th deals with partnerships working within and across the
thematic sector goals). Amongst the 17 Goals, Education, titled SDG 4, aims to:

2 United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, Stockholm 1972 | United Nations
3 21st Conference of the Parties
2
 ‘ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong
learning opportunities for all’ (United Nations, 2015a, p. 14).

SGD 4 has ten targets, amongst which target 4.7 is specifically highlighted as the role
of education to prepare the students with the required competencies to contribute to
sustainable development. It is commonly known as ESD, which aims to:

‘ensure that all learners acquire the knowledge and skills needed to
promote sustainable development, including, amongst others, through
education for sustainable development and sustainable lifestyles, human
rights, gender equality, promotion of a culture of peace and nonviolence,
global citizenship and appreciation of cultural diversity and culture’s
contribution to sustainable development by 2030’ (United Nations, 2015a,
p. 17).

Although an important aspect of the SDGs, the development of ESD began much earlier
than this. To provide a long-term strategic direction, the sustainable development
movement embraced education as a key component of human needs and expected
HEIs to be sources of ‘change agents’ as noted by Svanstrom, Lozano and Rowe (2008).
They claimed that there is a possibility that unsustainable actions in communities can
be reversed and that ESD is essential for everyone to make appropriate contributions to
society. Intending to foster the implementation of SDG 4 and strengthen collaborative
work across the nations, UNESCO4 developed the Global Action Programme (GAP) of
ESD to further develop and distribute the findings from the UN’s Decade of ESD (2005
- 2014) (Brandt et al., 2019). UNESCO’s GAP includes a key action area with an explicit
aim of strengthening the capacity of educators, trainers, and other change agents to
become learning facilitators for ESD. Aligned with the UN’s mandate, ESD has been
extensively integrated into teachers’ education policies and practices by more and more
countries working alone or collaboratively [for example, see Higgins and Kirk, 2006;
Steele et al., 2010; Brandt et al. (2019)]. For example, the Asia-Pacific Regional Network
of Teachers’ Education Institutes for ESD (ESD-Net) is a related network supported by
UNESCO (Nomura and Abe, 2011).

4 United Nation Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) is a special agency of the UN
to promote world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, science, and
culture.
3
Over three decades, ESD has been discussed, studied, and tested amongst many HEIs
worldwide. An early and important catalyst that preceded the SDGs and the GAP was
the University Leaders for a Sustainable Future (ULSF) conference in France in 1990.
This conference committed to environmental sustainability in higher education (HE) by
delivering the Talloires Declaration5, signed by 526 HEIs in 60 countries according to
the ULSF website6 as of July 2023. The Declaration aims to create an ‘institutional
culture of sustainability’ and to ‘educate for environmentally responsible citizenship’
(Shephard et al., 2015, p. 3). Alongside the Talloires Declaration, SDG 4 and GAP, there
have been many studies and publications on the role of higher education in
implementing ESD. ESD-related research and publications have generally been widely
observed in more developed countries. However, most developing countries, particularly
the Least Developed Countries (LDCs), are still struggling to upgrade the general quality
of their education services. Therefore, ESD, set out in the SDGs, is a relatively new
agenda for these nations. ESD integration into HEIs has been carried out using different
approaches, such as redesigning the existing curricula, developing courses/modules on
sustainable development, innovating the campus operations or management (for green
campuses), and promoting community engagement. However, the extent to which ESD
is embedded in HEIs’ practices is variable, although adoption is increasing.

1.3 ESD in the Myanmar context

Myanmar, one of the LDCs, had been ruled by the military following a coup in 1962
before transitioning into a quasi-civilian government in 2010. Following two terms of
elected governments (2010-2015 and 2015-2020), the military staged another coup in
February 2021 following national elections, bringing about the abrupt destruction of the
democratic transition process (Brown and Hung, 2022). The country has since been
facing political turbulence and civil wars, with whole systems collapsing, leading many
to declare it a failed state (Kurlantzick, 2021). This includes the education reform process
initiated by the former civilian government and set out in National Education Strategic
Plan (NESP). Reform has become uncertain under the military junta and through

5 Talloires declaration is the first official statement made by the university presidents, chancellors, and
rectors of a commitment to environmental sustainability in higher education, which was composed in
International Conference in Talloires, France in 1990.
6 Talloires Declaration Signatories List – ULSF (accessed: 26 July 2023)
4
people’s resistance to the coup, with many university teachers and students not
participating in the continuing work of their universities.

The Myanmar education system has two main levels of formal education: basic
education7 (BE) and higher education (HE). The terms tertiary education and HEIs are
not commonly used in Myanmar, and higher education is widely understood as the
degree awarding institutes. In this thesis, ‘HEIs’ will cover all the public universities,
institutions, and colleges offering degree programmes, excluding the diploma-awarding
institutions commonly known as vocational or training institutes in Myanmar. There was
no officially registered private HEI in Myanmar during this doctoral research and there
was not yet any related law for them.

The pre-coup education reform process incorporated elements of ESD, leading to

significant enhancements in the BE sector, encompassing both practices and systems.
More specifically, some new subjects, for instance, Morality, Civic Education and Life
Skills, were introduced, and 21st-century skills and Five Strengths8 (physical,
intellectual, moral, social, and economic which are also discussed in section 3.5) were
embedded as the expected skills to be developed through the new curricula (Tanaka
and Khine, 2021) to meet the demands of the changing society and developing world
(Volman et al., 2020). According to the former website of the National Education Policy
Commission9, these subjects aimed to build basic knowledge of peace and conflict,
social harmony, teamwork and cooperation, good citizenship, environmental
awareness, gender awareness and how to respect others’ rights. Some teachers have
also undertaken training about integrating ESD into BE (UNESCO, 2017b). Still, ESD
integration was not explicitly mentioned in the newly developed curriculum framework of
the four-year degree programme for the student-teachers10 at Education Colleges
(UNESCO, 2016). Similarly, there is no evidence of formal integration of ESD into the
two education universities in Yangon and Sagaing.

7 Basic Education in Myanmar includes three levels: ‘Primary, Middle and High School’ and a new system
of 12 year-schooling (KG+5+4+3) has been updated to meet the ASEAN standard during 2015-2020.
8 Myanmar traditional belief and discourse of teaching the young to prepare the skills and strengths for the
betterment of livelihood and wellbeing.
9 https://www.nepc.edu.mm/national-curriculum-committee-ncc/ (accessed on May 11, 2020, but no longer
running)
10 Undergraduate or pre-service students who are preparing to become teachers for Basic Education.
5
Less attention was drawn to the role of higher education in the initial reform process,
while more emphasis was put on basic education. In addition, ESD was still new to
Myanmar HEIs and needed to be more widely discussed and known amongst them. This
omission meant that research was needed to understand how ESD could be
conceptualised and integrated into Myanmar HEIs, including what ESD means to
Myanmar citizens and the definitions of the UN and other international communities.
This incorporates investigating what kinds of knowledge and skills (or competencies)
are needed for the graduates who will contribute to the country's sustainable
development in the future and exploring any necessary changes for the transformation
of HEIs which can help students build these desirable competencies.

1.4 Research Questions

Therefore, as justified above, this doctoral research has three main research questions
to address the knowledge gaps and understand ESD integration in the context of
Myanmar's higher education.

Research Questions

1) How might ESD be conceptualised in the Myanmar HEIs’ context?

2) What are the graduate attributes to be expected from integrating this conception
of ESD in Myanmar HEIs?
3) What transformations in Myanmar HEIs’ educational policy and practices are
needed to develop these graduate attributes?

1.5 Rationale and personal context

Three factors mainly influenced the personal context underpinning this research project:

• The researcher’s personal interests and professional background,

• The expectation to gain insights into the potential transformation of universities
through the international education development project called ‘Transformation

6
 by Innovation in Distance Education (TIDE)’11 spearheaded by the Open
University (UK), and
• The opportunity to pursue a doctoral studentship funded by the Global
Challenge Research Fund (GCRF) to explore the students’ experiences in
higher education concerning ESD.

From 12 years’ experience of leading and managing multiple projects and programmes
of youth empowerment in Myanmar, the researcher has built a certain level of knowledge
and expertise in the capacity development of youth and university students, particularly
in the context of non-formal education, and witnessed their contribution to peacebuilding
and environmental conservation. Moreover, collaborations with twenty University Green
Clubs (for the green campus movement) and the two Universities of Education for
promoting education for peace have built his commitment to understanding the context
of higher education in Myanmar. This doctoral research opportunity aimed to explore the
possibilities of ESD integration, upgrade personal knowledge and academic skills, and
contribute to the reconstruction of higher education in Myanmar. This learning journey
started well, but the challenging political turbulence after 18 months tested him, both as
a developing researcher and as a Myanmar national. Finally, this thesis has been made
possible with the researcher’s eagerness, interest, motivation, and commitment.

Three external factors influenced the learning journey. First, due to the paucity of
research and academic publications on Myanmar’s HE sectors (Esson and Wang,
2018), this research has had to rely on grey literature references such as reports,
websites, and non-academic review articles. Furthermore, most reviewed documents
relating to Myanmar HE reform were written by Western scholars, and only a few
publications were produced by Myanmar researchers. The latter were mostly found as
theses for master’s degrees, and there is a doctoral thesis for ‘Higher Education and
Social Justice in Myanmar’ (Heslop, 2019) by someone who worked for the British
Council in Myanmar for some years. To offset this lack of academic publications, an in-

11 The TIDE project aimed for the enhancement of staff capacities for academic, teaching, and
complementary staff, enhancement of Programmes and Approaches to the strengthening of Higher
Education and Distance Education system (Gregson, Lane, and Foster, 2019). It was a partnership led
by The Open University (UK), working with Yangon University (Myanmar), Yangon University of
Distance Education (Myanmar), Yadanarbon University (Myanmar), Irrawaddy Policy Exchange (UK),
The University of Oxford (UK) and The University of Manchester (UK) funded by DFID/FCDO (UK).
7
country scoping study (in December 2019) contributed to what was needed to help
formulate the research questions.

Second, the restrictions placed on international travel after March 2020 caused by the
Covid-19 pandemic prevented further in-country data collection through accessing
unpublished documents, conducting interviews, and running focus group discussions.
Instead, all planned data collection activities had to be revised to be carried out remotely.

Third, the research design and data collection process needed further revision due to
the political crisis in Myanmar following the 2021 coup. The coup meant that involving
Myanmar citizens in the country was technically very difficult (due to disrupted internet
provision) and not without personal risk. Hence, Myanmar national residents outside of
Myanmar became the focus. The coup also led to the early termination of the TIDE
project with which this doctoral studentship was associated.

These external factors tested the researcher’s resilience. They understandably

impacted his emotional state, meaning the thesis had taken longer than planned, and
the researcher could not return home to visit friends and family.

1.6 Composition of Thesis structure

This doctoral thesis is organised into nine Chapters.

This introduction, Chapter 1, provides an overview of sustainable development (SD) in

a general context, ESD in higher education and the political landscape of Myanmar,
focusing on its education reform efforts under the two semi-civilian governments (2010-
2020). It also outlines the primary goal of this doctoral research to bridge the knowledge
gap concerning ESD conceptualisation in Myanmar’s HEIs and its potential contributions
to HE reforms. In addition, it also discusses the personal context of the researcher in
undertaking this study.

Chapter 2 summarises the political landscape of Myanmar, the higher education context,
and the role of HEIs in ESD integration for the future sustainable development of
Myanmar. The chapter tries to provide a holistic picture when considering the
reconstruction needs of Myanmar HEIs and the place of sustainability in preparing future
graduates. It portrays the challenges and constraints the HE communities face in the
ongoing political turmoil and civil war.

The following Chapter 3 presents the literature review, including the historical
background of sustainable development in the global context and its links to HE. It

8
discusses why it is important to consider ESD in HE, how graduate attributes are viewed,
and what different approaches can be regarded in the complex systems of universities’
activities. It discusses an ESD integration model and an educational reconstruction
model for the HEIs’ transformation, which significantly inform this research study and
analytical process. The chapter also outlines existing ESD implementation in the Asia
Pacific and Southeast Asia regions and how sustainability can be viewed through
Myanmar traditions.

Chapter 4 comes next, providing an account of the in-country scoping study conducted
before the Covid-19 pandemic closure and the military coup, which took place in
February 2021. This chapter describes the process and essential findings of the in-
country scoping study, highlighting how these understandings justified and shaped the
formulation of the research questions.

Chapter 5 outlines the research questions with justifications and explains the relevant
research enquiries and methodologies. This chapter describes the research design,
preparation, data collection and analytical processes, and the related adaptations and
challenges caused by the global pandemic and the military coup. It covers ethical
considerations and some activities needed to make data collection flexible, measures
taken to ensure the validity and reliability of the research data and the analytical
processes.

The subsequent chapters, namely Chapters 6, 7, and 8, are dedicated to presenting the
research findings in connection with each research question. Chapter 6 explores the
conceptualisation of ESD in the context of Myanmar. Chapter 7 examines the desirable
graduate attributes for sustainable development in Myanmar. Chapter 8 investigates
potential approaches for integrating ESD and the reconstruction processes of HEIs.
These chapters thoroughly discuss the themes and sub-themes derived from the
qualitative data analysis and the statistical analysis of quantitative data concerning
graduate attributes.

Chapter 9 summarises the composition of this thesis, discusses key findings related to
the research questions in comparison with literature review and the country’s context,
and synthesises vital learnings and knowledge contribution to the ESD integration in
higher education sector, and recommends further studies. In addition, it discloses the
limitations in conducting this research, the researcher’s personal reflection and key
learnings based on this doctoral research experience in the context of uncertainty and
distressful crisis. Then it concludes with a brief remark.

9
Chapter 2 The Higher Education System in Myanmar’s Socio-
political and Environmental Context

2.1 Introduction

This chapter provides the background context of the higher education (HE) system in
Myanmar, including the recent education reform processes amongst the higher
education institutions (HEIs) and the national picture concerning views about the
environment and sustainability. In setting out the HE system in Myanmar, this chapter
first considers the socio-political and environmental context (section 2.2) in the three
major political transitional periods:

• Military regime during 1988-2010

• Quasi-democratic governments (2011-2020) and
• ongoing Military Coup (2021-2023).
It outlines some challenges and concerns of the recent educational reform process
(section 2.3) and the nature of HEIs from this history (section 2.4). The chapter then
covers lack of ESD integration and holistic reconstruction in the HE reform process by
the government and introduced a few initiatives of international projects (section 2.5). It
concludes with a description of the policy frameworks for Myanmar Sustainable
Development Plan (MSDP) and National Education Strategic Plan (NESP) which were
developed during the recent governments (2010-2020) but were lacking strategic link
of higher education and sustainable development (section 2.6). Then, the chapter
identifies the gaps to be considered for the HEIs’ contribution to address the
sustainability issues in Myanmar.

2.2 Socio-political context of Myanmar

Myanmar, previously known as ‘Burma’, gained its independence from the British
Empire in 1948 and encountered a chaotic political situation and civil unrest for 14 years
in the post-colonial period. Then it was ruled by the military junta for 48 years: 26 years
(1962 – 1988) under the Burma Socialist Programme Party and 22 years (1988 – 2010)
under the State Peace and Development Council. It became a member state of the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 1997. A new political system, known

10
as a quasi-democratic system12, began in 2010 through the 2008 constitution. The Union
Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), backed by the military, won the first election
in 2010 as the first term for a semi-civilian government in Myanmar and initiated some
educational reforms. Then, the National League for Democracy (NLD), chaired by Aung
San Suu Kyi, won the second term’s election in 2015 and escalated the education reform
process.

The subsequent election was won in a landslide by the NLD party in November 2020.
However, on February 1, 2021, the military seized power from the civilian government
by arresting top politicians, including Aung San Suu Kyi. Most of the people of Myanmar,
including many university teachers and students, have been rejecting the coup through
informal protests and the more organised Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) since
then. As the military coup used both army and police forces to crack down on the
protests by shooting, arresting, and jailing them, the anti-coup movement turned into a
resistance movement. Thus, sustainable development and education reform processes
have been disrupted since early 2021.

2.2.1 Political and inter-ethnic issues

Socially, Myanmar is rich in cultures with a diversity of ethnicity13, languages, traditions,

faiths, and spirituality. This diversity brings both strengths and challenges. Amongst its
population of approximately 50 million, according to the 2014 Census 14 (Department of
Population, 2018), Bamar-Buddhists are the majority group in this population. However,
the ethnic and religious data of the 2019 census has not been released yet due to the
concern for high conflict. The inter-ethnic tension and disputes amongst the ethnic
groups, particularly the minority groups’ grievance over the unfair treatment by the
majority Burman group (International Crisis Group, 2020), remain the most prolonged
issue in the country since the post-colonial period.

12 25% of the parliamentary seats were appointed by the Chief Commander of Tatmadaw (Myanmar
Military) by the 2008 Constitution.
13 The term ‘ethnicity’ is still controversial and common understanding is needed because the term “Taing-
Yinn-Thar” in the Myanmar language is difficult to translate into the English word ‘race’ or ‘ethnicity’
(Cheesman, 2017; International Crisis Group, 2020).
14 Note that an estimated population of 1,206,353 people were not covered in some conflict prone areas
such as Rakhine, Kachin and Kayin (Department of Population, 2018).
11
These issues were sparked during the post-colonial political crisis because a group of
authoritarians (majority Burman15) controlled the power after assassinating General
Aung San, who committed at the Panglong Conference16 to establish a federal union of
Burma after gaining independence from the British. The dominance and politicisation of
ethnoreligious drivers in building the nation-state during the revolutionary government’s17
time created social disintegration and hatred amongst the ethnic minority groups upon
the majority Bamar-Buddhists. The anti-colonial movement in the British colonial period
also left a negative side effect reinforcing this social disintegration and hatred between
ethnic minority groups and the majority Bamar-Buddhists. Decades of ethnic conflict
fuelled by U Ne Win’s Burmanisation18 and forced assimilation programmes have led to
the formation of ethnic armed groups (Lall, 2016) and fragmentation of social
connections amongst the ethnic groups. The civil wars between the military and Ethnic
Armed Organizations (EAO) have deprived hundreds of thousands of people of homes
and villages, resulting in suffering as refugees in the border areas, lacking all access to
public services, and having lost their human rights and dignity. That situation fuelled
hatred amongst the suffering ethnic minority groups upon the majority Bamar group.
Consequently, any trust-building or reconciliation process is challenging at both national
and community levels. The decades-long ethnic-armed resistance to the Tat-ma-daw
(Burman-dominated Military) has been added to and escalated by the proliferation of
militia groups, mostly called People’s Defence Forces (PDF), emerging from the Spring
Revolution after the coup in 2021.

2.2.2 Environmental issues

Myanmar has diverse geographic features and rich aquatic resources in both inland and
coastal zones. However, there have been reports of overfishing activities leading to
lower biomass (Krakstad, Krafft and Alvheim, 2015). Deforestation is an issue; there
was a continual increase in forest loss from 2001 to 2017, resulting in a total forest loss

15 ‘Burman’ was used by English speaking communities, and it is locally pronounced as ‘Bamar’.
16 A conference in Panglong attended by the governors of Burma and representative leaders from Shan,
Kachin, and Chin hills in February 1947
17 The Union Revolutionary Council, chaired by General Ne Win, became the first coup d’état after
removing the Anti-Fascist People’s Freedom League (AFPFL) government, headed by U Nu in 1962.
18 An underlying policy used by the military coup in Myanmar (called Burma in the past) that involves open
discrimination against minority ethnic nationality groups in the aspect of their cultures, education,
languages, and religions as well as silencing of alternative historical narratives (Burma Link, no date).
12
of approximately 43 thousand square kilometres (Biswas et al., 2021). According to the
National Commission for Environmental Affairs (NCEA) and United Nations Environment
Programme (UNEP) (2008), cited in Raitzer, Samson, & Nam (2015), Myanmar has
been encountering serious environmental problems such as rapid deforestation,
biodiversity loss, and increased pollution. On the other hand, natural resources still need
to be managed in some areas, even though environmental management and related
regulations are relatively weak (Raitzer, Samson and Nam, 2015). Holding the rank of
164 out of 178 countries in the Environmental Performance Index (EPI) in 2014 (Raitzer,
Samson and Nam, 2015), Myanmar needs better environmental policy and regulations,
as well as human resources devoted to environmental management and sustainable
development, to balance the country’s urgent requirement for economic development
and ecosystem vitality. This is reflected in a quote from U Ohn Win, a former union
minister of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation of Myanmar:

‘Although extractive industries contributed substantially to the rapid growth

of the economy in recent years, we have been facing many challenges
concerning social and environmental issues. In this regard, strong
institutions, clear environmental regulations and governance, law
enforcement and social safeguards are undoubtedly required, along with
social, economic, and environmental factors to achieve sustainable
development.’ (Oxford Business Group, no date).

The corrupted governance under the military did not make sound natural resources
management and environmental protection. Moreover, the military used their power and
legal status as a government to maximize their benefit from exploitation of natural
resources. The country has been listed in the LDCs and the overall country’s
development, including education sector, was underdeveloped, although there were a
lot of foreign investments over variety of natural resources. Indeed, Myanmar has been
suffering from a ‘development trap’ and a ‘resource curse’ as remarked by Pick and
Htwe Thein (2010, p. 270). Whilst the country needed to develop related policies and
human resources in environmental management, there has been only a few universities
offering environmental related degree programmes recently. It is, therefore, necessary
to understand the whole country’s context before identifying what sustainable
development means to Myanmar and how education should contribute to desirable
sustainable future due to these complications.

13
2.2.3 Sustainable development planning

This section describes some progress in planning for sustainable development in

Myanmar during the political transition from a military dictatorship into a quasi-
democratic system between March 2011 and January 2021. The first semi-civilian
government (2011-2015) led by President U Thein Sein launched a series of liberal
reforms which:

‘created the impression that the country, in undeniably difficult social and
economic circumstances, was undergoing a successful process of
fundamental political reform’ (David and Holliday, 2018, p. 1).

However, being a country of traumatic tension and civil unrest, peacebuilding and
reconciliation between all ethnic-armed organisations and the Myanmar military was the
priority needed to undertake further development and renovation in different sectors. Kyi
and Walton (2016) highlighted in their editorial notes that:

‘decades of military repression, ethnic conflicts, political exclusion, abuse

of natural resources and the environment, neglect of health, education, and
infrastructure, and mismanagement of the economy, have left serious
challenges for the new government’ (p. 2).

In 2012, the Framework of Economic and Social Reform (FESR) was developed to
identify the key parameters of the reform process and outline the policy priorities for the
country to become a ‘modern, developed democratic Myanmar in 2030’ (Government of
Myanmar, 2013, p. 1). At the same time, Myanmar started to welcome international
investments to become a more market-oriented economy.

In 2018, the NLD-led Government set up the ‘Myanmar Sustainable Development Plan:
2018-2030 (MSDP)’, which was strategically framed following the economic policy of the
Union of Myanmar initiated in July 2016. MSDP, which was heavily informed by the UN’s
SDGs, was considered as a road map for the country’s sustainable development. It was
envisioned:

‘to establish an economic framework that supports national reconciliation,

based on the just balancing of sustainable natural resource mobilisation
and allocation across the States and Regions’ (Ministry of Planning and
Finance, 2018, p. 7).

Moreover, its strategic components were framed in three main pillars:

14
 • Peace and Stability
• Prosperity and Partnership
• People and Planet.
The MSDP provides a reference point for ESD conceptualisation in HE despite their
needing to be more guidance on the roles of HEIs and expected outcomes from higher
education as a contribution towards sustainability.

In brief, transitioning from a military regime to a quasi-democratic civilian government

system (March 2011-January 2021) was a very short period to prepare the foundational
steps of the reform processes in the MSDP. On the other hand, the country had achieved
some progress in reforming its path towards long-term sustainable development, such
as increased access to mobile phones and internet; learning opportunities for young
people; international aid; cooperation with various development projects (Sampson,
Farrelly and Holliday, 2018), e.g., the TIDE project (introduced in Chapter 1) and the
CHINLONE19 project; increased foreign investment and economic growth (Selth, 2020);
and the development of the MSDP and educational reforms.

2.2.4 Potential role of education for social transformation and development

As part of Myanmar’s transition from the predominance of military rule, education was
and is expected to play an important role in developing a more democratic and
collaborative culture and encouraging economic development. The Organisation for
Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) recommended that:

‘Training people in higher-level skills can help countries move up the value
chain into producing more sophisticated goods and services and avoid
becoming stuck in a low-skills equilibrium’ (2014, p. 116).

Furthermore, the country specifically needs more human resources with knowledge and
skills in environmental management and environmental impact assessment (EIA) to help
address the future demands of natural resource sectors and industrialisation, given how

19 CHINLONE (Connecting Higher Education Institutions for a New Leadership on National Education)
project, financed by the European Union, Erasmus+ programme Key Action 2 Capacity Building in
Higher Education. The consortium, under the supervision of the University of Bologna, facilitated to work
amongst five HEIs and Department of HE from Myanmar and three HEIs and one University Association
from the EU (CHINLONE, 2018).
15
these have been and will be important for economic development. But as noted earlier,
environmental education was only recently added to the curricula of Basic Education in
Myanmar and only a few degree programmes related to the environment were being
offered by universities. Improving this picture was one of the expectations of the TIDE
project20 supporting the capacity development of Myanmar HEIs to prepare the
graduates with knowledge and skills for environmental and sustainable development
(Lane, 2017a).

2.3 Recent education reforms in Myanmar

The lack of in-country vision, prolonged isolation and sanctions from international
communities resulted in a slow and steady decay in Myanmar’s state education system
(Howson and Lall, 2020). Despite the high rate of adult literacy, 89.5% in the 2014
census (Department of Population, 2018), many suggestions were made to improve the
education sector in Myanmar (Comprehensive Education Sector Review, 2013). The
National Education Strategic Plan: 2016-21 (NESP) provided comprehensive strategic
guidelines for almost all sectors of education reform promoting quality education, which
includes teaching, assessment and curriculum development, accessibility to education,
development of alternative education (accommodating the needs of different groups of
learners with restricted access to formal education), technical and vocational skills
development and higher education sector development. The goal was set as follows:

‘Improved teaching and learning, vocational education and training,

research and innovation leading to measurable improvements in student
achievement in all schools and educational institutions’ (Ministry of
Education, 2016).

Critics of NESP highlight the poor connection between education issues and the politics
of the peace process (Lall, 2016) and the lack of conflict-sensitive curriculum reform and
strategies for parallel education systems (Zaw, 2017). Both Lall (2016) and Zaw (2017)
recommended considering peace education as part of the peace-building process by
integrating it into the curriculum. As noted earlier, education is seen to be important in
cultivating a non-violence culture and democratic practices for transforming Myanmar
due to the prolonged oppressive leadership for several decades. For instance, the

20 TIDE’s achievements can be studied in the spheir_final_report.pdf. (see Page 27-29) (FCDO, 2022)
16
dominance of the teacher-centred approach is visible in the leadership culture of schools
and universities. Although education alone cannot address all these issues, it can play
an important role in developing social skills (January, Caesy and Paulson, 2011),
contributing to peacebuilding and reconciliation processes (Davies, 2017; Taka, 2020),
and it is impossible to reach a sustainable future without ESD (UNESCO, no date).

2.4 Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in Myanmar

In general, HEIs in Myanmar are commonly known as universities or colleges. Normally,

the matriculation examination and university admission process are centrally managed
and tightly controlled by the Department of Higher Education (DHE) based on students’
marks (scores) in the matriculation examination. Plans to revise the admission
procedures have been curtailed due to the military coup. Only 11% of students who
completed BE progressed to HE in Myanmar as reported by OECD (2014) with
considerable social inequalities in access to higher education (Heslop, 2019), although
NESP aimed to expand access to higher education.

Regarding the learning mode, HEIs can be distinguished as 1) full-time/face-to-face

universities and 2) distance universities. Yangon University of Distance Education
(YUDE) and Mandalay University of Distance Education (MUDE) were the two major
universities, accommodating the largest proportion of HE students (British Council,
2013b), counting for about 50% of overall HE students according to 2010 statistics
(JICA, 2013). There were 411,164 students enrolled in 2015 for distance education
(Ministry of Education, 2016) and these numbers remained similar in 2019, according to
Gregson, Lane, and Foster (2019). Moreover, they claimed that distance education in
Myanmar had been criticised for poor quality and lack of relevance to the job market
demand despite the largest number of students. Therefore, one of the aims of the TIDE
project, as a part of higher education reform process, was to improve distance education
by upgrading the capacity of staff members, promoting online learning technologies and
open education resources, integrating environmental and sustainable development
concepts into the existing curricula, and facilitating the transformation of leadership and
the policy reform process (Gregson, Lane, and Foster, 2019).

Another significant feature of HEIs in Myanmar is the historic multi-ministry

administration structure, with some specialist universities under the administration of
other ministries (see Table 2.1). Having declared the University Education Law of 1964,
Arts and Science Universities and Professional Institutes were separately established
and administered by the Office of Universities Administration, which became the

17
‘Department of Higher Education’ (DHE) in 1983, under the Ministry of Education (MoE)
(Khine, 2000). Thus, there was a lack of autonomy for these Universities and Colleges
(Khine, 2000; Hayden and Martin, 2013). This situation still held years later as both
briefing reports of IIE (2013) and Ulla (2017) shared a common critique on this highly
centralised education system with no autonomy for the universities in Myanmar.

Table 2.1. Corrected Number of HEIs under the ministries’ administration in Myanmar

No. Ministry HEIs Quantity

Art and Science Universities 42

Universities of Economics 3

Universities of Distance Education* 2

1 Ministry of Education Universities of Foreign Languages 2

Universities and Colleges of Education 25

Technological Universities 33

Universities of Computer Studies 27

Total universities under the Ministry of Education 134

2 Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, and Irrigation 4

3 Ministry of Environmental Conservational and Forestry 1

4 Ministry of Defense 6

5 Ministry of Religious Affairs and Culture 5

6 Ministry of Border Affairs 3

7 Ministry of Transports 2

8 Ministry of Health and Sports 16

Total HEIs in Myanmar 171

Source: From CHILONE report-2018 (data provided by DHE, Myanmar), but the correction was made in
total due to the changes in the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, and Irrigation, as four instead of seven
according to the MoALI website (accessed in 2020), and the total number mentioned in NESP (2016-2021).

*University of Distance Education is counted for Yangon and Mandalay as they were still in operation,
although ‘one campus two systems’ was introduced to other Arts and Science Universities.

18
However, there needs to be more cooperation amongst these ministries in managing
their universities (Comprehensive Education Sector Review, 2013). Dr Thein Lwin21, a
reformist education expert, recommended putting all these institutions (universities,
vocational education, basic education, early childhood education, etc.) only under the
MoE’s administration (British Council, 2013b). However, this was and is still a
controversial issue to debate amongst the HEIs as they have been under the multi-
ministry administration system for a long time.

2.5 Lack of ESD integration and holistic reconstructions in the HE reform

during 2010-2020

The term ‘transformation’ is more appropriate for the HEIs in the planned educational
reform process context. It implies a wider scale, longer term, and even ongoing and
evolving sense of the development of policies and practices across the whole higher
education sector. However, the word ‘reform’ is commonly used in Myanmar.

Although the 2013 CESR report gave an overall picture of challenges and suggestions
for higher education in Myanmar, the higher education sector was not widely mentioned
in both NESP (2016-2021) and MSDP (2018-2030). Nevertheless, the role of higher
education is acknowledged as an important sector for the country’s socio-economic
development in NESP and the commitment of the MoE on the transformational shift of
HE to be achieved by 2021 was stated as follows:

‘Students have equitable access to a world-class higher education system

leading to better opportunities for employment and significant contributions
to a knowledge-based economy’ (Ministry of Education, 2016, p. 189).

As an initial step of higher education reform, a project to renovate and upgrade the
University of Yangon, was began in 2012. However, the project put more emphasis on
the physical infrastructure and not enough on ideological, pedagogical, and
psychological reconstruction despite its claimed necessity and importance (Esson and
Wang, 2018). Some critiques of the pilot initiatives were based on the inequality of

21 He led the National Network for Education Reform (NNER) and engaged in the NLD’s Education
Committee.
19
provision, especially in remote areas where ethnic minorities cannot access education
effectively. For instance, Sandan strongly argued that:

‘reinvigorating Yangon University without addressing some of the social

issues affecting wider relations between communities or recognising that
higher education systems can engage proactively to bring change in those
relations will result in limited impact on these discourses of marginalisation
and discrimination’ (2014, p. 70).

In fact, a good balance between central control and autonomy is significantly required
for HE reform process in Myanmar. Although the University Education Law (1973)
implemented by the Revolutionary Council was amended thrice – in 1983, 1989 and
1998 - there still was a centralised administration structure to control universities’
activities, including forcing to teach about Myanmar’s socialist philosophy. A feature of
centralisation is that all staff recruitment processes, research collaboration, schedules,
collaboration with different stakeholders, and even the campus activities were strictly
monitored and controlled by the higher department. Equally, all the curriculum
programmes needed approvals from the National Curriculum Committee (NCC) and
official permissions from the Ministry or the DHE. Therefore, Dr Mya Oo (a former
Secretary of Myanmar’s Education Development Committee) acknowledged the
challenges of founding autonomous universities and overturning the centralised system
(Oo, 2013).

NESP (2016-2021) expected HEIs to develop their own University Charters and
University Councils and practice autonomy in the future. Before that, there would be
some processes like capacity building for leadership and management bodies of HEIs
and the establishment of a National Institute for Higher Education Development (NIHED)
and a Higher Education Quality Assurance Agency (HEQAA) as independent institutions
(Ministry of Education, 2016). The National Education Law (NEL) was issued in 2014
and amended in 2015 as a reform process; however, it did not explicitly cover the role
and authority of HEIs and contradicts NESP’s strategic outcomes, which had not yet
been completed when the military seized power again in 2021.

According to OECD (2014), the education system of Myanmar needs to prepare

graduates with the skills required by the labour market. Dr Thein Lwin also
recommended focusing on the individual’s academic performance and research-based
learning rather than the rote learning or memorisation approaches that have historically
characterised education in Myanmar (British Council, 2013b). Whilst NESP mentions
the quality of education, accessibility, and relevancy in general terms, it does not talk
20
about graduate attributes or generic core competencies that are important for specific
disciplines or ESD that can contribute to employment or citizenship.

The needs to improve in teaching content and methods are also key issues Myanmar
HEIs face (Lall, 2016) because rote learning, locally named ‘parrot learning’, is
commonly critiqued (Comprehensive Education Sector Review, 2013; IIE, 2013). A
reformed system of teaching, learning and assessment was suggested by the findings
of Comprehensive Education Sector Review (2013), which also recommended
upscaling the quality of graduates’ learning and skills and the development of university
teachers’ professional skills and capacity. Teacher-centred approaches dominate the
learning system, and exam-oriented teaching is mainly practised due to the lack of
formal training provisions in universities reported by Comprehensive Education Sector
Review (2013). Thus, the argument for required changes in teaching methods and
learning approaches at Myanmar HEIs is supported by Hayden and Martin (2013).
Although recent initiatives for teachers’ capacity-building programmes had some
positive results, e.g., enthusiasm from teachers to explore and apply new styles of
teaching and assessment, Hayden and Martin (2013) found that teachers’ challenges of
applying new methods learnt in their professional development programmes and
tendency to shift back again to their old ones once they were back to their jobs.

Limited competencies and opportunities for research are other key challenges for
Myanmar HEIs. In addition, lack of research freedom and dominance of autocratic
administration discourage partnership projects with international institutions, hindering
their research capacity development. Regarding research competency and collaborative
engagement, Myanmar HEIs are lagging far behind those in the ASEAN countries and
‘the budget for research activities and institutions remains unchanged’ despite the
gradual increase in the educational budget since 2010 (Lee et al., 2020).

Additionally, the lack of quality assurance systems for higher education is still
challenging for Myanmar HEIs and there have only been a few developments in this
area (Hayden and Martin, 2013) for instance five partner universities in the CHINLONE
project had developed a list of graduate attributes and a competency framework for their
specific accreditation system as part of internal quality assurance processes.

These issues show that both physical infrastructure and human resources are the
significant needs in Myanmar HEIs to provide a quality education as well as to integrate
ESD. Moreover, what is to be taught (curricula) in the higher education should be
reconsidered if ESD is to be integrated in Myanmar HEIs based on the socio-political
context discussed above. The context of higher education in Myanmar also reveals the
21
needs of reconstruction amongst HEIs to accommodate ESD integration in different
aspects. As previously discussed, there is no explicit national drive to integrate ESD in
higher education in Myanmar. The role of HEIs in the MSDP described in its study
number 4.1.7 is mentioned to ‘improve the quality of and access to higher education
through improved teacher training and academic administration’ (Ministry of Planning
and Finance, 2018, p. 43). Nevertheless, it does not clearly link to the role of HEIs in
preparing the graduates for the sustainable development of Myanmar. Thus, both MSDP
and NESP do not strategically display the role of HEIs to address the sustainability
related issues discussed in the socio-political context of Myanmar (see 2.2). In addition,
there is a lack of evidence on how ESD is viewed in Myanmar. This meant that a review
of how ESD is regarded globally is needed and is covered in Chapter 3, as well as a
better initial picture of ESD in Myanmar is required and was done through an in-country
scoping study reported in Chapter 4.

2.6 Chapter Summary

This chapter begins with an overview of Myanmar’s socio-political, environmental

circumstances, sustainable development planning, and the potential role of education
for social transformation and development. Despite the country’s abundant natural
resources and cultural diversity, Myanmar has grappled with many issues, including
military coups, inter-ethnic conflicts, environmental degradation, poor management of
natural resources, civil wars, civil unrest, and a lack of human resources and quality
education. Prolonged isolation and international sanctions have further hampered the
development of Myanmar’s education system, placing it far behind even other ASEAN
countries.

The chapter then provides a brief history of recent education reform alongside the
political reform and some progress and gaps through national strategic plans for
sustainable development and education, such as MSDP and NESP, during the semi-
democratic system from 2010 to 2020. It also extensively discusses the context of higher
education in Myanmar and particularly their challenges in the centralised administrative
structures and systems. Then, the reform process for higher education was explained
acknowledging some positive developments related to the formulation and practical
implementation of NESP (2016-2021) and MSDP (2018-2030), which cover the HE
sector. These plans do not adequately address the conceptualisation and strategic
implementation of ESD in Myanmar’s HEIs although there were some progresses in
international cooperation projects, such as TIDE and CHINLONE, contributed to

22
capacity building in HEIs and fostered collaboration amongst universities, CSOs, and
NGOs in ESD-related activities.

In brief, the chapter laid out the context of Myanmar’s socio-political and environmental
issues as well as the landscape of higher education reform recently commenced with
progress and gaps. Moreover, the issues in this chapter highlighted that there is a need
in ESD conceptualisation for Myanmar HEIs and necessary changes to be made to
integrate ESD and ensure the development of graduate attributes for the country’s
sustainable development.

With the country context explained, the next chapter will review the broader literature on
ESD, exploring its history, concepts, and potential models relevant to integrating ESD
into the reconstruction of Myanmar’s higher education sector.

23
Chapter 3 Education for Sustainable Development and the
Reconstruction of Higher Education Institutions: Global and
Local Perspectives

3.1 Introduction

Chapter 2 laid out the socio-political context of Myanmar and the nature of its education
system, particularly the landscape of public higher education institutions (HEIs) in term
of their administrative systems, their challenges (including the military coup in February
2021), and their potential roles in contributing to the country’s sustainable future. In
addition, it noted that Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) is still new to
Myanmar HEIs and has not yet been part of the recent education reform process, except
through the development of the National Education Strategic Plan (NESP) and Myanmar
Sustainable Development Plan (MSDP). Both NESP and MSDP aimed to contribute to
the country’s sustainable development and upgrade the education provision although
they were not strategically linked to ESD integration particularly in the HEIs. Due to a
paucity of published literature on ESD in Myanmar HEIs, it is necessary to review the
existing literature regarding the international context of ESD concepts and related
activities, as this helps to shape, inform, and reflect the conceptual framework and scope
of this doctoral research.

To frame the scope and justify the purpose of this study, three research questions (RQ)
were formulated based on this literature review and an in-country scoping study (see
Chapter 4):

RQ (1): How might ESD be conceptualised in the Myanmar HEIs’ context?

RQ (2): What are the graduate attributes to be expected from integrating this
conception of ESD in Myanmar HEIs?
RQ (3): What transformations in Myanmar HEIs’ educational policy and practices
are needed to develop these graduate attributes?

This chapter reviews the literature to add to this local context of ESD through the
following key aspects:

• Section 3.2 investigates the global evolution of environmental and sustainable

development by exploring the historical progression of sustainable development
(SD) and the inception of ESD within international agreements.

24
 • Section 3.3 encompasses international and Southeast Asian regional contexts.
This section examines the concepts associated with ESD, the engagement of
HEIs, and UNESCO’s leadership in promoting ESD.
• Section 3.4 presents a reasoned argument for the contextualisation of ESD,
highlighting its significance within the localised educational context.
• Section 3.5 underscores the importance of conceptualising ESD within the
specific context of Myanmar.
• Section 3.6 explores the broader concepts of graduate attributes and further
narrows the focus to graduate attributes associated with ESD.
• Sections 3.7 and 3.8 discuss the various models employed for ESD integration
and educational reconstruction which can lead to HEIs’ transformation for
developing desirable ESD graduate attributes.
• Section 3.9 explains how the research questions were formulated and justified.
• Section 3.10 summarises the key points covered within the chapter.

Through these components, the chapter highlights the local perspective by assimilating
international insights and theories within the unique framework of Myanmar’s higher
education landscape.

3.2 Emergence and Progression of ESD on the Global Stage

3.2.1 Sustainable Development or Sustainability

This section aims to provide an overview of different understandings of the terms

‘sustainability’ and ‘sustainable development’ – history, meanings, and concepts behind
them and how they have evolved. This is necessary to understand how ESD (and
Education for Sustainability) can be framed and implemented in HEIs and why a
particular term is used in this thesis. Indeed, scholars and development practitioners
have had a diverse range of discussions about sustainability and sustainable
development. According to a commonly used definition appeared in the report by
Brundtland et al. (1987), sustainable development is the development that ‘meets the
needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their
own needs’ (p. 24). Despite the popularity of the Brundtland definition, Justice and
Sandra (2019) have argued that the definition and meaning of sustainable development
is still an unresolved question for many people.

Sustainability, according to Gray (2010), can be seen as ‘a state, a way of being’ in

which business or development interventions are justified by social and ecological

25
resilience for justice (p. 57). Similarly, Moore (2005) claims it as ‘a concept, a goal, and
a strategy’ (2005, p. 32). Gray (2010) argues that there is no single state to be named
as sustainability and there can be different ways and solutions to achieve it. Thus, a
sustainability approach might be one way of addressing many of the current global
challenges of economic gaps, inequitable resource distribution, climate emergency,
serious pandemic health risks, environmental pollution, and social injustice issues. Both
views have become commonplace beyond academic discourse, being attractive to
various groups and sectors of socio-economic and political life as they adjust to growing
environmental concerns.

Moreover, sustainable development and sustainability are often used interchangeably

to mean the same thing, yet they have different origins. Authors such as Du Pisani
(2006), Schmithusen (2013), and Barfod and Daugbjerg (2020) claim that ‘sustainability’
was used for the first time by Hans Carl von Carlowitz, a German forestry author, in
1713. It was rooted in sustainable forestry management in which Carlowitz used the
German term ‘Nachhaltigkeit’ (Barfod and Daugbjerg, 2020, p. 149) (which translates as
sustainability). Sustainable development emerged from the rising concern about
environmental degradation due to human activities in the name of development (Du
Pisani, 2006) and to prevent the risk of limiting future generations’ access to ecosystem
services22 or natural resources (Glavič and Lukman, 2007).

While sustainable development was rooted in the concept of development interventions

in environmental management as noted previously (Du Pisani, 2006; Glavič and
Lukman, 2007), the word ‘development’ itself is contested and can be interpreted from
diverse professional or disciplinary fields and from different socio-economic
perspectives (Ufford, Giri and Mosse, 2003; Chandler, 2013; Esteva, 2018). Chandler
(2013) critiqued Western countries’ dominance over others in relation to community and
human resource development. Following the lens of morality, ethics, and responsibility
used by Ufford, Giri and Mosse (2003) in examining various development interventions,
Esteva (2018) saw international aid programmes, particularly from the powerful Western
countries in the post-war period, as a form of saviourism and a ‘colonising emblem’ (p.

22 The benefits provided by the ecosystems contributing to human beings for their lives, e.g., food, water,
climate regulation, and non-material benefits such as recreation or spiritual believes as adopted by the
UK National Ecosystem Assessment <http://uknea.unep-
wcmc.org/EcosystemAssessmentConcepts/EcosystemServices/tabid/103/Default.aspx>
26
7). This highlights a tension between the different perspectives of Western and Asian
nations, amongst others, in looking at or defining the meaning of development if the
indicators or parameters are to be based on income, living standards, possession of
resources, or acquired knowledge and skills.

Whilst there are international statements on these sustainable development concepts

through the United Nations (UN) and other international bodies, it is also to be expected
that they will be influenced and shaped by differing cultural, political, institutional, and
religious (spiritual) ideologies and people’s experiences in a particular location. Landorf,
Doscher and Rocco (2008) stated that there were over three hundred definitions on SD
and ESD found by Debson in 1996 ‘ranging from equating it with environmentalism to
basing implementation upon the overthrow of existing social, political, and economic
structures’ (p. 222).

While this research primarily uses the terms ESD and Sustainable Development (SD),
sustainable development and the desirable sustainable future for Myanmar were used
interchangeably during data collection. The purpose was to be more understandable
rather than using only SD or Sustainability which is more likely to elicit the participants’
thinking, i.e., to create space to freely express attributes of a desirable society, and not
to let the definitions in the literature limit their ideas. This approach to data collection
was more comprehensive in the local context particularly since the research did not
intend to limit the definition of SD by using a single definition or discourse because SD
itself has many meanings. More importantly, the study aims to explore and understand
how research participants (Myanmar nationals) understand and express the optimum
conditions for sustainable future.

Although any particular definition of sustainable development was not introduced to the
research participants during research data collection in order to allow them to express
their views, this research embrace the definition of sustainable development in the ‘Our
Common Future’ report (Brundtland et al., 1987), acknowledge concerns about
environmental issues from human’s activities and limitation of access to ecosystem
service for both current and future generations as highlighted by Du Pisani (2006) and
Glavič and Lukman (2007), and agrees with van Ufford, Giri and Mosse (2003) and
Esteva (2018) to be mindful about the influence of Western’s development model over
the developing countries. In brief, sustainable development for Myanmar, from this
research’s view, needs to be locally relevant, socio-economically and politically
compatible, able to fulfil the country’s needs, friendly with local environment and climate,
and harmonious with cultural values and belief systems of Myanmar. The literature

27
reviewed in this section and the knowledge of country’s context discussed in Chapter 2
informed the qualitative analysis and these components can be seen in the sub-themes
of desirable sustainable future for Myanmar in Chapter 6.

3.2.2 Origins of ESD in International Agreements

While the academic discourse notes the variety of terms and meanings around SD,
international political discourse has tended to be more focussed. The Brundtland report
(Brundtland et al., 1987) was the first political milestone for defining sustainable
development, raising worldwide concerns about the impact of human activities, and
inspiring a series of international conferences and meetings. Then, the first UN
Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) in 1992 agreed to
‘Agenda 21’ as the first step of international commitments on sustainable development
from a global partnership.

In 2000, world leaders made a Millennium Declaration as a global partnership to

implement the ‘Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)’, which included eight targeted
goals with a deadline of 2015. The MDGs generally targeted developing countries and
are claimed to have saved millions of lives and improved livelihoods for many people
through global, regional, national, and local efforts (United Nations, 2015b). MDG 2
focused on accessibility and completion of primary education in all countries but did not
mention the role of higher education and other education levels. MDG 7, targeting
environmental sustainability, mainly focused on addressing deforestation, greenhouse
gas emissions, water sanitation, and pollution issues. There was also no explicit link
between the environmental sustainability goal and educational institutions’ involvement
in MDGs. Nevertheless, the ‘Experiences and evidence from the efforts to achieve the
MDGs’ through this global partnership on sustainable development provided insights for
the next 15-year strategic plan of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for all as
noted by Mr. Ban Ki-Moon, Secretary-General of UN, in his foreword to the final MDG
report (United Nations, 2015b, p. 3).

The role of education in SD has been there from the beginning. Chapter 36 of Agenda
21, promoting education, public awareness, and training were the foundational
agreements in the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (DESD) (2005-
2014) by the resolution 57/254 in 2002 (UNESCO, 2009). The Action plan 36.1 of
Chapter 36, in Agenda 21, clearly states ‘Education, raising of public awareness and
training are linked to virtually all areas in Agenda 21’ (United Nations, 1992, p. 320) while
36.2 also recommends that education programmes should be oriented towards

28
sustainable development. It also recognises all types of education covering both formal
and non-formal ones, and Action plan 36.3 states:

‘education is critical for promoting sustainable development and improving the capacity
of the people to address environment and development issues’ (United Nations, 1992,
p. 320).

At the UN General Assembly in 2015, all member states adopted the 17 Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs) to extend the global partnership for the next set of 15-year
targets and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development was launched on 1 st January
2016. Out of 17 SDGs, the role of education is set out in SDG 4 as follows:

‘Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong

learning opportunities for all’ (United Nations, 2015a, p. 14).

There are different targets under each SDG with specific indicators. Amongst ten
different targets under SDG 4 (4.1 to 4.7+ additional 4.a, 4.b, and 4.c), sustainability
specifically features in target 4.7, commonly known as Education for Sustainable
Development (ESD), which states:

‘by 2030, ensure all learners acquire knowledge and skills needed to
promote sustainable development, including amongst others through
education for sustainable development and sustainable lifestyles, human
rights, gender equality, promotion of a culture of peace and non-violence,
global citizenship, and appreciation of cultural diversity and of culture’s
contribution to sustainable development’ (United Nations, 2015a)

This doctoral research uses this target as the context for investigating the role of HEIs
in general towards ESD, their contributions to this target through preparing graduates
with relevant attributes, and more specifically what this might mean in the context of
Myanmar HEIs. Echoing what Calder and Clugston (2003) claimed, the term ESD should
be broader than environmental education as it should include international development,
cultural diversity, social and environmental equity. At the same time, the statement of
target 4.7, still left questions as to what ESD covers – particularly what graduate
attributes should be expected and how it could be integrated in HEIs. However, the term
ESD has been consistently used throughout the study. Moreover, this research uses
SDG target 4.7 – to ensure all graduates, throughout their studies at HEIs, acquire
expected knowledge, skills, and attitudes (attributes) to promote SD of the country that
reflects cultural context and expectations of Myanmar nationals.

29
3.3 Global Engagement of HEIs in Advancing ESD

3.3.1 Overview of HEIs’ Roles for ESD

To understand how HEIs can implement ESD, it is necessary to understand what HEIs
do. There have been and still are different expectations on the roles of HEIs depending
on political ideologies, economic systems, and social values. Fadeeva and Mochizuki
see the roles and responsibilities of HEIs to involve wider activities called ‘third mission’
in addition to its core missions of education and research (2010, p. 251). They also
added that HEIs should influence policy in addition to knowledge creation and
technology transfer, and they claimed that the third mission no longer means merely
‘outreach’ to society, but it calls for deeper engagement with and relevance to society.

Regarding research in higher education, Tilbury (2011) claims that sustainability

research has adopted inter and multidisciplinary focuses, putting more emphasis on
transforming rather than just informing and aiming at social and structural changes.
Moreover, she also claims that increasingly the researcher acts like a partner rather than
an expert, conducting research with the people instead of researching on the people,
through a ‘partnership and outreach for sustainability’ (2011, p. 22). In this way, HEIs
can potentially contribute to the development of lifelong learning, mutual respect,
collaboration, awareness of climate and environmental issues for all the people involved
and at all levels of decisions and activities through promoting research as a learning
process.

As well as debates on the scope of third mission and research activities, there have
been debates about how and to what extent higher education can prepare future
leaders, workers, and citizens. As part of this agenda, the expected attributes of
graduates are increasingly defined by governments, employers, professional bodies and
others (Hill, Walkington and France, 2016; Khan, Malik and Janjua, 2019; Wong et al.,
2022) and which become a significant driver for HEIs to prepare their graduates with
these expected sets of knowledge, skills, and attitudes. Likewise, the European
Commission mentioned that HEIs are the ‘focal points for shaping critical thinkers,
problem solvers and doers’ (Shephard et al., 2015, p. 3), while authors like Robley,
Whittle and Murdoch-Eaton (2005), Barnett (2012) and Donleavy (2012) support the
idea that universities should equip their graduates with more than an in-depth knowledge
of specific disciplinary content – they should also develop important employability and
life skills. Other authors (Sterling, 2004; Paten et al., 2005; Tilbury, 2011; Shephard et
al., 2015; Tierney, 2016; Dlouha et al., 2017; Filho et al., 2018; Gul et al., 2019; Vargas
et al., 2019) support the idea of HEIs as the place where students can develop their
30
competencies that can contribute to society’s prosperity by addressing important social
and environmental issues. So, it is important to understand what competencies
graduates are expected to have and how HEIs could develop these.

Additionally, most statements on ESD merely cover the competences believed to be

able to contribute to sustainability, but do not include how HEIs should instil those
competencies in graduates nor how to make significant changes in the administrative
and academic functions needed to support research and learning processes driven by
sustainability. As noted by Singer-Brodowski, Etzkorn and von Seggern (2019) ‘one
transformation path does not fit all’ (p. 1) regarding ESD integration in educational
institutions in Germany, and this is also likely to be so for Myanmar’s HEIs within their
particular context.

Overall, this section has shown that there are more expectations of HEI’s activities, in
addition to their teaching and research, to engage in ESD implementations. HEs should
teach sustainability related competencies and create learning opportunities or campus
activities in which students can engage and learn. Moreover, HEIs can apply research
projects to promote students’ development in ESD competencies as well extending
collaboration with various stakeholders. HEIs also should engage in policy advocacy
and serve as learning spaces for students and their neighbouring communities. The
reviewed literature in this section and the knowledge of country’s context in Chapter 2
informed the data analysis particularly in developing sub-themes of ESD for Myanmar
HEIs (to be discussed in Chapter 6): teaching, research, engaging in influencing policy,
HEIs as learning hubs, and required investment in higher education.

3.3.2 HEIs’ different approaches for ESD

This section covers ESD related activities implemented by HEIs in different countries
and regions. These activities not only informed the research scope but also provided
ideas for potential approaches contributing to ESD in general, as well as developing
desirable graduate attributes from ESD integration in HEIs.

Regardless of being conceptualised in many ways, ESD has been adopted by some
HEIs and embedded into their institutional vision and curriculums as well as providing
pedagogical guidance to the teachers for sustainability concepts, knowledge, and

31
related skills. For instance, the University of West England (UWE) Bristol UK23 embraces
sustainability in their research and teaching strategies. Plymouth University UK24
embeds the three pillars of sustainability (environmental, economic, and social
sustainability) into curricular themes and encourages teachers to use appropriate
pedagogical approaches to encourage critical thinking, reflective learning, systems
thinking, analytical skills, participatory learning, creative thinking, and collaborative
learning. The Higher Education Academy (HEA)25, a UK based institution for capacity
development and research for UK HEIs, collaborated with 18 HEIs to bring an ESD focus
to curricula and staff development (McCoshan and Martin, 2014). More recently,
Advance HE and UK’s Quality Assurance Agency for education (QAA) have provided
guidance for ESD which recommends how communities (students and staff) in UK HEIs
should be actively engaged, how ESD could be integrated into the teaching, learning
and assessment processes, and potential strategic approaches to develop students’
ESD related competences (QAA and Advance HE, 2021).

Moreover, the UK HE student body has been engaged in sustainability education, for
instance Students Organising for Sustainability (SOS) is helping to inform the teaching
and development of sustainability knowledge and skills through their student surveys 26
(SOS, 2021). Their sustainability skills survey (2021-2022) reported that HEIs should
promote sustainable development (88% respondents) and that it should also be
incorporated into their learning courses (79% respondents) to develop related skills such
as ethical issues, planning, problem solving, understanding environmental impact, etc.
(SOS, no date). In general, UK HEIs and their students have done much ESD
implementation (Fiselier, Longhurst and Gough, 2018).

Sustainability literacy is increasingly seen as an important attribute (Winter and Cotton,

2012; Zizka and Varga, 2021), although HEIs need to clarify what the term ‘sustainability
literacy’ means to them (Sterling, 2004; Stibbe and Luna, 2009; Zizka and Varga, 2021),
which is not easy with such a contested term as ‘sustainability’. El Ansari and Stibbe
(2009) claimed that sustainability literacy has evolved from environmental literacy and

23 Sustainability at UWE Bristol - Our values, vision, and strategy | UWE Bristol
24 https://www.plymouth.ac.uk/students-and-family/sustainability/sustainability-education/esd
25 More about our ESD work | Advance HE (advance-he.ac.uk)
26 https://uploads
ssl.webflow.com/6008334066c47be740656954/62de805cb0d9030a96c6e88a_20220125_SOS-
UK%20Sustainability%20Skills%202021-22%20-%20HE%20only%20-%20FINAL.pdf
32
ecological literacy, but it is commonly interpreted in terms of competencies, knowledge,
skills, values, and attitudes of graduates required for sustainable development (Stibbe
and Luna, 2009; Sterling, 2012). One early listing of the attributes or qualities needed
for sustainability literacy was in Sterling’s (2012) ‘the Future Fit Framework’:

‘. . . resilience, resourcefulness, creativity, systemic and critical thinking,

enterprise, and co-creative and caring outlook’ (p. 23).

Mochizuki and Fadeeva (2010) argue that achieving sustainability literacy is a

challenging task that requires working with more ambitious educational goals for
preparing students to build a society which is resilient to economic, environmental, and
social shocks and to anticipate and envision different futures. Moreover, HEIs’ interests
and the staff’ commitments to implement and make necessary changes in their practices
might play as key drivers, too. Regarding the university teachers’ perspectives on ESD,
Cotton et al. (2007), based their survey of some UK HEIs, concluded that lecturers
generally had a good understanding of sustainable development and supported the idea
of ESD integration across the whole institution despite uncertainty and concerns of
‘pedagogies for teaching sustainable development’ (p. 593). This informs the inclusion
of university teachers in this study as they are relevant as well as important stakeholders
to facilitate students’ learning while acknowledging that their teaching methods might
influence the development of students’ ESD related attributes (Cotton et al., 2007).

Although some countries have not given ESD priority in their national agendas, it has
been gradually gaining wider attention amongst HEIs since the Rio Earth Summit
(Calder and Clugston, 2003). The Talloires Declaration (1990)27 (introduced in Chapter
1) is a significant milestone in the HEI’s ESD movement. The Talloires Declaration has
a commitment for a 10-point action plan:

1) Increase Awareness of Environmentally Sustainable Development

2) Create an Institutional Culture of Sustainability

3) Educate for Environmentally Responsible Citizenship

4) Foster Environmental Literacy for All

5) Practice Institutional Ecology

27 http://ulsf.org/talloires-declaration/
33
 6) Involve all stakeholders

7) Collaborate for Interdisciplinary Approaches

8) Enhance capacity of Primary and Secondary Schools

9) Broaden Service and Outreach Nationally and Internationally

10) Maintain the Movement (University Leaders for a Sustainable Future,

1990)

Whilst this action plan talks about environmentally responsible citizenship and
environmental literacy, it does not specify what graduate attributes are needed to fulfil
these aims.

Another significant network is the International Sustainable Campus Network (ISCN)28,

representing 101 signatory member universities from thirty-two countries on six
continents. The first three ISCN commitments call for HEI leadership to:

1) ‘Embed sustainability in all aspects of the university (governance,

operations, learning, research, community)

2) Create an environment that cultivates resilient, empowered, caring, and

engaged students, staff, and faculty who will contribute to the health of
people and places

3) Engage with external partners, industry, government, and civil society

to disseminate knowledge, research, and best practices to benefit the
communities’ (ISCN, 2018a).

Amongst other activities that HEIs have been trying to be catalytic role models, the
greening universities campus movement has become popular across the world (Dave
et al., 2014). Some examples are the China Green University Network (Tan et al., 2014),
Green Campus Initiative29 in Africa (Dave et al., 2014), the Alliance for Sustainability
Leadership in education or Environmental Associations of Universities and Colleges

28 https://international-sustainable-campus-network.org/membership-overview/
29 http://blogs.uct.ac.za/UCTGCI/
34
(EAUC)30 in the UK and Ireland, the Green Campus Network31 and student-led groups
such as the Sustainable Universities Network in Australia32.

3.3.3 HEIs’ engagement with ESD in Asia Pacific region

In the Asia Pacific region, ESD is very much rooted in environmental education and
widely influenced by the greening campus movement in some countries such as

• Green Campus Association (Korea),

• government’s support and national approaches to sustainability and ESD
(Japan),
• universities’ policies and practices guided by local context and traditions (South
Pacific islands),
• localisation and contextualisation for curriculum and campus practices (China),
• whole institution approaches to sustainability called Dark Green School Project
(The Philippines), and
• policy and funding support for Sustainable Campus Programme (Taiwan). (Ryan
et al., 2010).

Japan, one of the most pro-active countries in Asia in promoting ESD and development
of higher education ‘despite the rare publication about them in international academic
journals’ (Nomura and Abe, 2008, p. 120), is significant in terms of proactiveness,
prompt response and government support. Although governmental support has been
achieved in Japan, India, and Taiwan to implement ESD in the higher education sector,
Ryan et al. (2010) acknowledged three key challenges:

• the lack of inter-ministerial communication and cooperation,

• the need to build sustainability progress based on the specific local context of
the region and on the strength of HEIs, and
• the need to create learning opportunities in the formal curriculum by embracing
sustainability in disciplinary content or inter-disciplinary learning approaches.

30 https://www.eauc.org.uk/about_us
31 https://www.earthday.org/green-campus-network/
32 https://www.sustainableuninetwork.org/
35
Nomura and Abe (2010) recommended that more attention should be given to the
development of ESD research and Japanese HEIs should consider the ‘whole institution’
approaches (p. 127). Moreover, they reminded these HEIs to consider the continuation
of the ESD programmes beyond the termination of government’s support and suggested
them to find the ways to

‘encourage university executive staff responsible for mobilising and

allocating resources for university management, to show strong leadership
and commit to further developments in ESD’ (2010, p. 127).

Taiwan’s effort is apparently standing more on the physical, curricula and material
reconstructions based on their experience of tragic earthquake disaster according to Su
and Chang (2010). Regarding HEIs’ effort to facilitate the community’s engagement, Su
and Chang (2010) acknowledged the proper consultations with community, non-
governmental organisations (NGOs), and academics in preparation step in Taiwan
experience. It is likely to have employed a participatory approach in the process.
Although both Taiwan and Japan’s experiences are apparently emphasising the campus
environmental management and developing explicitly designed courses and curriculums
related to sustainable development, there was no comprehensive explanation of
conceptual relations amongst ‘education, research, operations and outreach’ (Nomura
and Abe, 2010, p. 127).

3.3.4 HEIs engagement with ESD in Southeast Asia region

ASEAN (Association of South-East Asian Network), a network of ten member states, is

the leading agency in promoting environmental education and ESD in Southeast Asia.
However, it is relatively late in implementing ESD and their work is rarely published in
international academic journals. The 35th ASEAN Summit in Bangkok (November 2019)
declared to advance their partnership to achieve the agenda 2030 for SDGs. In that
Bangkok declaration, the second one, out of three key targets, focuses on SDG 4 and
the sub-targeted objective 2.10 mentions learning outcomes or competences of learners
as

‘active promoters of peaceful, tolerant, inclusive, secure and sustainable

societies by equipping them with knowledge, behaviours, attitudes and
values on global citizenship’ (ASEAN, 2019, p. 3).

Recently, ASEAN launched its ‘Roadmap on the ASEAN Higher Education Space 2025
and its Implementation Plan’ which mentions SDG 4 and target 4.b in general but there

36
is no explicit mention of ESD (ASEAN, 2022). The ASEAN University Network33 has no
concrete mandate or commitment to collaborate for ESD amongst its thematic networks
either.

However, there are some HEIs in this region implementing ESD in their own ways and
engaging in international networks. Teachers’ Education Institutions collaborated
through the South-East Asia ESD Network (SEA-ESD Network)34 in which universities
and institutes from eight ASEAN countries, except Myanmar and Brunei, participated.
Like other university networks in different regions, there is an established network in
Asia called the Asian Universities Alliance (AUA) in which the University of Yangon is a
member amongst fifteen members of HEIs. Amongst the AUA members, the National
University of Singapore (NUS) offers over 60 modules or course related to sustainability,
the University of Yangon launched a degree programme on environmental studies, and
the University of Malaya is incorporating ESD in the campus management as a living
lab (Liu and Kitamura, 2019).

Forming HEIs’ network for ESD in the region also revealed their interests and
commitments to some extent. Based on the existing literature, most attempts of ESD
implementation by HEIs in the Southeast Asia region is through offering courses or
degree programmes related to sustainable development and sustainable campuses as
role models to lead their local communities. Otherwise, ESD is relatively new to most of
them.

3.3.5 UNESCO’s lead in approaches

While individual HEIs and networks of HEIs have been at the forefront of thinking about
and implementing some form of ESD, UNESCO has been most prominent globally in
promoting the need for ESD in HE. As well as UNESCO’s reports and official documents
on ESD, the role of HEIs was explicitly highlighted in ‘the Draft International
Implementation Scheme for the Decade of ESD (2005-2014)’. This scheme
acknowledged universities as leading agencies of research, learning spaces, and
preparing students with competencies to address sustainability issues, as well as being
a role model for practicing sustainability values through employing ESD sensitive

33 https://www.aunsec.org/discover-aun/thematic-networks
34 https://bangkok.unesco.org/content/southeast-asia-esd-teacher-educators-network
37
learning content and innovative teaching/learning methods. The report laid out seven
strategies to help incorporate the responsibilities for the Decade of ESD (2005-2014):

‘Advocacy and vision-building

Consultation and ownership

Partnership and networks

Capacity-building and training

Research and innovation

Use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) and

Monitoring and evaluation’ (UNESCO, 2005, pp. 28–29).

These strategies were set out as overall recommendations which could be adapted to
individual contexts. A critical view of these strategies is that they are too general and not
specific enough to ESD at different levels (institutional, national, and regional) even
though the ‘Decade of ESD’ specifically mentioned that ESD implementation should not
be ‘a stand-alone programme’ but it should be integrated at all levels of learning spaces
or corners (UNESCO, 2005, p. 31).

More recently, UNESCO launched ‘Education for Sustainable Development: A Road

Map (ESD for 2030)’ which identifies five key stakeholders: Government; Learners;
People/ community; Educators; Youth, and set out five priority action areas:

• Advancing policy
• Transforming learning environment
• Building capacity of educators
• Empowering and mobilizing youth
• Accelerating local level actions (UNESCO, 2020).

Amongst them, the second priority action area suggests a ‘whole-institution approach’
to transform learning environments by developing a concrete action plan in collaboration
with HEIs’ members and stakeholders including ‘the local community’ (UNESCO, 2020,
p. 28). Priority action area three is aimed at empowering educators or teachers by
building their knowledge and capacity to facilitate the learners’ transformative learning
to become ‘change agents’ (UNESCO, 2020, p. 30). The main objective of this roadmap
is to ‘integrate ESD and the 17 SDGs into policies, learning environments, capacity-
38
building of educators, the empowerment and mobilization of young people, and local
level action’ (UNESCO, 2020, p. 14). Although the key stakeholders are broadly
mentioned, this roadmap does not include any specific suggestions for the role of HEIs
on ESD integration through the priority actions except for developing the capacity of
educators and training institutions in general. The roadmap is tending to suggest that
member states’ governments adopt ESD related policies or integrate ESD into the
existing ones and encourage the capacity-building for the educators to facilitate
transformative learning.

Having lifelong learning taking place could be a contribution to societal level SDGs but
lifelong learning itself cannot be named as ESD per se. ESD is interpreted in many ways
in UNESCO’s roadmap, such as a framework, a tool, a learning process, a learning
environment itself, and a key enabler. At the same time, ESD is a goal or an objective.
Nevertheless, the roadmap is embracing a wider scale of communities to engage in ESD
implementation and reminds the higher education sector to consider transformative
learning by transforming the institution.

In brief, the roadmap itself does not provide the specific conceptual framework of how a
whole-institution approach could facilitate the individual learner’s personal
transformation. It remains a question to be studied and researched based on the actions,
experiences, and evidence (UNESCO, 2020). It is aligned with the aim of this doctoral
research because the expected graduates’ attributes or competences from ESD
integration will be studied through different approaches including the whole campus or
institutional approach.

This literature review revealed that different authors and institutions introduced or
claimed by including the UNESCO that some approaches for integrating ESD did exist.
This needs to be studied intensively regarding how it could be implemented in a
particular context. There can also be variations in those approaches and
implementations, including what are the desired graduate outcomes and how they could
or should be achieved. For example, HEIs are expected to actively engage in
contributing to the sustainable development in addition to their two main tasks: teaching
and research. This idea is consistent with UNESCO’s ten-year roadmap that highlights
community engagement as being important. Some papers highlighted the curriculum
and the campus approaches to improve the students’ learning process, while others
discussed the values and practices of HEIs to foster societal level transformation. This
is also aligned with the whole-institution approach which considers all aspects of HEIs’
activities. All of this literature has informed the proposed modified model (or framework)

39
of ESD integration, which will be discussed in 3.7, and that model has also supported
the data analysis because all these elements and factors informed the qualitative
analysis, especially in the phase of developing categories and naming the themes.

3.4 Contextualising ESD in the Southeast Asian context

While many of the core issues around ESD are similar across the world, different regions
will respond it in different ways based on their local contexts. Jackson (2017), in her
comparative discussions on East and West based philosophical stand points, religious
beliefs, educational theories, and environmental attitudes, claimed that ‘Asian
philosophies of ESD are diverse, intersecting with each other and with Western views’
(2017, p. 478). This is similar to the claim by Merrill (2018) that there is much diversity
across countries in the region in terms of ‘languages, religions, and political systems’,
therefore regional contexts are important (p. 7). Since the HEIs in the Asia Pacific region
have been dominated and shaped by Western culture and philosophies, ‘the challenge
of sustainability in the era of globalisation has required them to reconsider their roles
both in local and global contexts’ (Nomura and Abe, 2011, p. 85). Then, it is necessary
to explore the perspectives of ‘Asian sustainability thinking’ to allocate and practice
locally relevant ESD (Jackson, 2017, p. 474) because the UN’s ESD has been
influenced by Western thinkers.

Education in certain Asian countries claims to focus on teaching heart and mindfulness
in addition to knowledge and skills. Chano (2012) argued that such contemplative
education ‘has been largely overlooked by traditional Western-oriented liberal education’
(p. 107). Sulak Sivaraksa, a Thai social activist writer and scholar, has made many
criticisms in his book ‘The Wisdom of Sustainability’ and other writings35 - particularly
about capitalistic consumerism, neo-liberal development pathways, invisible traps of
globalisation and structural-violence, social disintegration, dominance of
monoculturalism and the lack of spiritual values and moral values/virtues in the
internationalised or mainstream education (Sivaraksa, 2011). However, it can be argued
that the claims made by Sivaraksa (2011) and Chano (2012) about the lack of morality
in Western education are irrelevant criticisms because there might be unique styles or
perspectives for looking at moral values and conduct. These two scholars’ views might

35 Economic Aspect of Social and Environmental Violence from a Buddhist Perspective (Sivaraksa, 2002)
and Global Problem-Solving (Sivaraksa, 2021)
40
be induced by their standing in a different cultural context or there might have been
some changes in the western education during the last ten years. From the experience
of a post-graduate research student in the UK, there have been some good practices
and guidelines recognised as morality. For instance, ethical guidelines and procedures
that all research degree students and professional researchers need to follow with due
respect of research participants and the natural environment including animals.
Moreover, respecting the individual’s rights and freedom, which is likely more oriented
towards individualism or self-ness from an Asian perspective, are being taught and
practiced. So, there could be contradictory standpoints in using the same term ‘morality’
in looking at the two different cultural contexts and it is not pragmatic to judge who is
right or what is good in this case. On the other hand, looking at both cultural atmospheres
and exploring inter-civilisational learnings might be helpful in seeking useful solutions, a
belief that underpins this research.

Nevertheless, in exploring the contextualising of ESD in Southeast Asia and in

considering the attitude or mindset in the holistic development of a learner, the writings
of Sivaraksa have influenced the research reported in this thesis. Sivaraksa pointed out
the unsustainable impact from the implementation of mainstream development ideas
(he often used the term ‘western-type development’) and claims that Buddhist way for
social justice, peace and development should be ‘the middle way’ rather than the idea
of ‘the quicker the better’ or ‘the richer the better’ mindset in the capitalistic development
model (Sivaraksa, 1994, p. 72). To him,

‘True development must be in harmony with the needs of people and the
rhythms of the natural world. Humans are a part of the universe, not its
masters. This awareness of the interrelatedness of all beings, as expressed
in Buddhism, is lived in the traditions of indigenous peoples throughout the
world. They do not separate the political from the personal or spiritual, but
dwell in awareness of the sacredness of all life. This understanding guides
their every step and every choice.’ (Sivaraksa, 2011, p. 32)

Regarding the sustainability, he claims:

‘Societies would be healthier if they advanced sustainability rather than

unlimited growth, if they were places where people would help one another
in hard times, where power would be shared rather than fought over, where
nature would be revered rather than exploited, where spirituality and
wisdom would be honoured.’ (Sivaraksa, 2011, p. 49)

41
He also makes a strong criticism on the western influenced mainstream education,
which is more objectivity oriented, narrowly focused, and predominantly favouring
competition while acknowledging some benefits from the science and technology
advancement (Sivaraksa, 2011). The threefold training - wisdom (panna), ethics/morality
(sila), and mental culture/concentration (samadhi) are the key principles from his
Buddhist education perspective (Sivaraksa, 2005, 2011). Gaining knowledge and
developing skills alone cannot be regarded as a good education or a holistic one to
ensure the sustainability. He affirms:

'Education needs to be re-envisioned to include the cultivation of wisdom,

as well as learning to live in society and overcoming oppression and
exploitation.’ (Sivaraksa, 2011, p. 41)

Although not academic texts, his perspectives and reminders in these writings reflect
the Southeast Asian culture and which can be noticed in the research findings for
Myanmar in Chapter 6 and 7.

3.5 Conceptualising ESD in the Myanmar context

However, Southeast Asia is not monocultural. Traditionally, the term ‘wellbeing’ is more
familiar to Myanmar society than ‘development’. The former is more holistic and
meaningful to them as it bears the sense of long lasting peaceful and healthy life while
the latter is sometimes confused with modernisation or living in higher social standards
which means enjoying comfortable lifestyles by consuming modern facilities and utilising
advanced technologies. In the Myanmar tradition, wellbeing or prosperity in one’s life,
including socio-economic development, are mainly determined by the five pillars or
aspects of strengths36: physical, intellectual, moral, social, and economic.

These five strengths are similar to the Sustainable Livelihood Framework developed by
DFID (Department for International Development, UK) in which five capitals were used
(DFID, 1999), although in the Myanmar model of five strengths, economic strength
includes one’s belongings and properties such as natural capitals or physical materials
whilst these were separated as financial, physical, and natural capitals in DFID's model.
Physical capital in the DFID model refers to physical materials whilst physical strength
(the word physical ‘kar-ya’ or ‘ru-pa’ in Myanmar language) in the five strengths means

36 It is called ‘Ba-La Ngar Tan’ in Myanmar Language meaning five pillars of strengths.
42
human body (as a healthy and fit condition). Health was incorporated into human capital
in the DFID model. Morality is not considered as a capital in DFID’s model which mainly
focuses on knowledge, skills, and abilities for personal income (DFID, 1999). However,
the Myanmar model thinks of it as an important aspect of strength to achieve something
or sustain it for the long term.

Traditionally, these five pillars of strength, considered as critical determinants for a

person’s achievement or success, are commonly referred to in Myanmar education. It
can be considered a ‘Myanmar lens’ for examining how these elements of personal
development might equate to national level development for Myanmar. Therefore, one
way to conceptualise ESD for Myanmar is that it provides ways of facilitating the
students' learning by building up all the qualities inherent in the five strengths rather than
disciplinary related knowledge and skills alone.

Buddhist education is another potential lens to look at Myanmar’s ESD because

Myanmar’s politics, education, and the monasteries37, is immensely influenced by
Buddhist teaching and discourses. The threefold training, as mentioned above,
confidence and conduct in morality (Sila), mental culture or spirituality (Samadhi), and
wisdom or intellectual values (Pannya) are well known priority virtues amongst
Buddhists scholars (for instance Sivaraksa, 2005, 2011; Mahathera, 2007; Sri
Dhammananda, 2023). These qualities are often referred to as the core values of
education amongst Buddhist communities in Myanmar.

As discussed, and argued in this section, it is necessary to understand the locally

relevant and socially accepted ESD concept through exploring people’s understanding
and expected features of sustainability in the Myanmar context. Hence, the first research
question is to investigate how ESD might be conceptualised in the Myanmar HEIs’
context. Equally, it is necessary to decide what contextual attributes graduates should
gain from an educational experience focussed on SD.

37 the community of Buddhist monks or Buddhists lay people is also known as ‘Sangha’.
43
3.6 Understanding Graduate attributes in the Context of ESD

3.6.1 Understandings of Graduate Attributes (GAs)

When setting out the attributes that graduates should achieve it is important to note that
there have been many ways in which these have been expressed within and across
countries. HEIs use the language of Learning Outcomes in describing the students’
development. In the UK higher education context, the use of outcome-based education
and learning outcomes were predominantly informed by the recommendations of The
Dearing Report - 199738, an output of Higher Education in the learning society (Edwards,
1996). Learning outcomes are specifically:

‘a statement of what a student is expected to know, understand and be able

to do at the end of a module or qualification’ (Edwards, 1996, p. 4).

The Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA)39, a non-profit higher education
organisation based in the United States, also uses Learning Outcomes.

From a wider societal perspective, graduates’ progress can be viewed as broader than
the learning outcomes which are narrowly specified with a disciplinary point of view and
some scholars also talk about graduate competences or attributes. Svanstrom, Lozano
and Rowe (2008) talk about learning outcomes as a set of competencies which includes
knowledge, skills, and attitudes beyond a specific qualification. Indeed, employability is
the predominant perspective in the literature when discussing outcomes, attributes
and/or competencies (see Edwards, 1996; Amin and Amin, 2003; Hager and Holland,
2006; McCabe, 2010; Spronken-Smith et al., 2015) as graduate level recruitment has
been increasing since 1985 (Rigg et al., 1990). Consequently, graduates’ competences
have gained more attention amongst governments, policy makers, employers, and
professional bodies, and many of them have developed a set of general and specific
competencies for which HEIs are expected to prepare the graduates through their
qualifications (Lane, 2017b). An early study of graduate employment in the UK reported
that 52% of graduates were recruited for their general abilities in 1988 (Rigg et al., 1990).

38 http://www.educationengland.org.uk/documents/dearing1997/dearing1997.html
39https://www.chea.org/search?search_api_fulltext=graduate+attributes&sort_by=search_api_relevance&s

ort_order=DESC
44
Increasingly, HEIs are expected to prepare their graduates with much wider skills and
attitudes for their personal lives, employability, their communities or societies, their
environment and sustainability rather than a narrowly scoped set of specified disciplinary
related competencies demanded by work roles (McArthur, 2011; Hill, Walkington and
France, 2016; Abunasser, AlAli and Al-Qahtani, 2022). On the other hand, skills are
widely used to describe these graduate attributes such as soft-skills, transferable skills,
generic skills, high skills, core-skills, and 21st century skills etc. (Bridges, 1993; Tight,
2021). Whether describing specific attributes or competencies, a variety of terms are
used by different authors, HEIs, and research institutions to explain them, such as
cognitive and practical skills, knowledge and understanding, attitudes, values, and
behaviours (see Spronken-Smith et al., 2015; Hill, Walkington and France, 2016).

In the case of New Zealand, Spronken-Smith et al. (2015) use graduate attributes as the
subsets of the two main graduate profiles: Graduate Profile Programme (GPP) and
Graduate Profile Institution (GPI) (see Figure 3.1). They describe the overall graduate
outcomes as the composite of two profiles GPP and GPI, the former is a set of discipline
related attributes (or discipline-specific attributes) and the latter as institution-wide
generic attributes. It is such generic attributes, rather than discipline specific ones, that
this research seeks to explore. However, the graduate profile they quoted is mentioned
as a set of expected learning outcomes in the New Zealand Qualification Framework
(NZQF) – 2011. The updated NZQF notes that the outcome statement must ‘describe
the knowledge, skills and attributes of a graduate’ as well as the graduate profile should
identify ‘the expected outcomes of a qualification’ (NZQA, 2016, p. 7). The framework
needs to be more consistent in describing the graduate outcomes for a bachelor’s
degree to meet a holistic set of qualities according to the principles of clear outcomes in
which it is mentioned that a graduate can ‘do, be and know’ (NZQA, 2016, p. 3).

Certain institutions and professional networks have developed graduate attributes

related to their fields of disciplines. For example, the International Engineering Alliance
(2021) (Washington accord, Sydney accord and Dublin accord), issued an agreement
of graduate attribute statements and professional competencies for three types of
engineering professions: engineer graduate, engineering technologist graduate and
engineering technician graduate. Their graduate attributes are claimed to be generically
developed for three professional types of engineering and there are specific profiles of
competences for each profession too, all well informed by the UN’s SDGs. Although the
International Engineering Alliance (IEA) named them ‘generic’, it is specifically
considered for engineering disciplines only. This makes it like the disciplinary

45
(programme) related attributes or specific attributes under the graduate profiles
programme used by Spronken-Smith et al. (2015).

Figure 3.1 Definitions of graduate outcomes, profiles, and attributes adopted by

Spronken-Smith et al. (2015)

The South African higher education network has made an extensive discussion of the
graduate attributes with a significant emphasis on the relation of higher education and
employability (see Council on Higher Education, 2003) although the roles of HEIs are
mandated more than preparing for the jobs argued by Griesel and Parker (2009). They
applied Harvey and Green’s (1994) model of categorising ‘to determine the importance
and employers’ satisfaction’ with the observed graduate attributes in the workplace
(Griesel, 2003, p. 42). The model is based on employability and employers’ satisfaction,
thus it is difficult to claim as generic graduate attributes, as their research is limited to
only one type of stakeholder’s perspective.

Indeed, graduate attributes are still a relatively new topic to be discussed, contested,
and studied more, although it has been increasingly used by HEIs although they can be
differently viewed by the students and the university teachers/academics. Moreover, it
could be contextually different in term of expectations because the studies in different
countries like Botswana (Moalosi, Oladiran and Uziak, 2012), Oman (Belwal, Priyadarshi
46
and Al Fazari, 2017) and in the Middle East (Osmani, Weerakkody and Hindi, 2017)
have shown diverse views of it. To respond to the graduate job markets and attract
students’ attention, HEIs reveal their commitments for a particular set of graduate
attributes in their websites which are commonly found in developed countries. For
example, Staffordshire University mentions digital literacy and lifelong learning as their
graduate attributes in their library website as:

‘lifelong learner with the capability to be technologically, digitally and

information literate, and on leaving the university, able to apply these skills
to a range of life experience’ (Staffordshire University, no date)

As another example, the University of Melbourne claims that their graduates from the
Bachelor of Arts (B.A) programme ‘are academically outstanding, practically grounded
and socially responsible’ and the graduates are equipped with ‘research and reasoning
skills to be influential citizens with high leadership potential’ as well as prepared for their
engagement ‘with national and global issues and are attuned to social and cultural
diversity’ (The University of Melbourne, no date).

In addition, Hager (2006) argued that generic attributes are not something like ‘discrete
or atomic entities to be acquired and transferred singly’ (p. 19) and learning does not
mean putting things (knowledge) into a container (mind), rather it is a process. These
outcomes could be contributed or influenced by any other sources of informal learning
exposures in addition to the formal learning because attributes could be developed from
the process and exposure to cultural context as claimed by Hager (2006). Thus, more
studies are needed to understand the philosophical and epistemological views of
developing of these generic attributes. Although it is claimed to be the results or impact
of the learning process, it should be acknowledged that neither every kind of experience
could be considered as a good learning source (Ison, 2017) nor every participation itself
can guarantee the meaningful learning (Hager, 2006).

Despite the high demand, it might be a challenge for HEIs to measure and prove their
graduate’s attributes or competences. As Kensington-Miller et al. (2018) argue, there
are some attributes students can acquire in higher education from wider learning
processes (such as autonomous learning), social interactions (e.g., diversity awareness
and collaborative skills) and professional readiness (e.g., time management and
resilience). However, these attributes do not appear on the graduates’ certificates or
transcripts (academic records) and may be invisible to students and employers.

47
3.6.2 Graduate Attributes from a Sustainability Perspective

With the UN’s mandate and its members’ commitment on ESD, and the target 4.7, HEIs
have become more active in developing and delivering environmental and sustainable
development related degree programmes. Moreover, other disciplinary fields have been
influenced by the ESD concept, and as a result environmental awareness or
sustainability related skills have been embedded as a part of core competences in their
graduate attributes. In fact, some qualities are hard to be called as skills, but they are
rather considered as attitudes, dispositions, and behaviours (Hager, 2006).

The determination of graduate attributes for ESD has come about through various routes
and developments. There were national and international discussions happening about
ESD and the inclusion of ESD as part of the SDGs has also led to UNESCO developing
a set of ESD competencies for graduates that HEIs can use as a guide in which the
following eight cross-cutting key competencies were recommended.

‘Systems thinking, Anticipatory, Normative, Strategic, Collaboration, Critical

thinking, Self-awareness, and Integrated problem-solving’ (UNESCO,
2017, p. 10)

These competencies were developed by authors from Europe and reviewed by the
scholars and experts from different countries (UNESCO, 2017). They were reportedly
informed by the concepts and models from the three articles which mainly discussed 12
sub-competencies of design skills or shaping competencies40 (de Haan, 2010), key
sustainability competencies based on the literature (Wiek, Withycombe and Redman,
2011), and the key ESD competencies from the perspectives of senior members in
higher education, NGOs and public administration (Rieckmann, 2012). So, the concepts
were grounded in the experiences of Germany and influenced by the western scholars
and the experts’ views.

In the UNESCO’s guide, the eight competencies are categorised into three domains:
cognitive (for knowledge); socio-emotional (for attitude and values); and behavioural (for
skills) (UNESCO, 2017). These UNESCO competencies for ESD have been slightly
modified and adopted by the QAA and the UK Advance HE (QAA and Advance HE,

40 https://www.bene-muenchen.de/gestaltungskompetenz-was-ist-
das/#:~:text=Mit%20Gestaltungskompetenz%20wird%20die%20F%C3%A4higkeit,nicht%20nachhaltige
r%20Entwicklung%20zu%20erkennen.
48
2021) using different terminologies for the three domains - ways of thinking (cognitive),
ways of being (socio-emotional) and ways of practicing (behavioural) (see Table 3.1).
The table, as a high-level competency framework, does not explicitly have
environmental or ecological literacy as a specific competency but instead has all eight
competencies as being applicable and relevant to the subject knowledge and the SDGs
which include environmental literacy in detail learning outcomes, and that learning
outcomes for a programme should also enable graduates to develop these key
competencies.

Table 3.1 UNESCO’s ESD competency framework adapted by the QAA and Advance
HE (UK)

Competency Students who display this competency can

Systems recognize and understand relationships; analyse complex

thinking situations; consider how systems are embedded within different
competency domains and scales; and deal with uncertainty.

Ways of thinking
understand and evaluate multiple futures; create their own visions
Anticipatory
for the future; apply the precautionary principle; assess the
competency
Subject Knowledge and Knowledge of All SDGs

consequences of actions; and deal with risks and changes.

Critical question norms, practices, and opinions; reflect on own one’s

thinking values, perceptions, and actions; and take a position in the
competency sustainability discourse.

Strategic develop and implement innovative actions that further sustainable

competency development at the local level and further afield.

Ways of practicing
learn from others (including peers, and others from inside and
Collaboration outside of their institutions); understand and respect the needs,
competency perspectives, and actions of others; deal with conflicts in a group;
and facilitate collaborative and participatory problem solving.
Integrated apply different problem-solving frameworks to complex
problem- sustainability problems; develop viable, inclusive, and equitable
solving solution options; and utilize appropriate competences to solve
competency problems.
reflect on their own values, perceptions, and actions; reflect on
Self-awareness their own role in the local community and the global society;
Ways of being

competency continually evaluate and further motivate their actions; and deal
with their feelings and desires.
understand and reflect on the norms and values that underlie one’s
Normative actions; negotiate sustainability values, principles, goals, and
competency targets, in a context of conflicts of interests and trade-offs,
uncertain knowledge and contradictions.

Source: (QAA and Advance HE, 2021, p. 20)

The idea of three domains of learning have been well known through the work of
Benjamin Bloom and a group of researchers during 1956-1972, although education has

49
been more influenced by the idea of cognitive domain (Sipos, Battisti and Grimm, 2008;
Lynch et al., 2009; Hoque, 2016). Work on the affective domain was developed by
Krathwohl et al. in 1964 (Lynch et al., 2009) and the psychomotor domain by Dave in
1975 and Harrow in 1972 (Hoque, 2016). Although these two domains have been less
well used than the cognitive, today’s education is expected to prepare the learners with
appropriate awareness, attitude, behaviours, and mindset for addressing the world’s
issues in the name of ESD competencies (Rieckmann, 2012).

Indeed, learning is a process rather than an event and is more than mental skill or
cognitive development (Lynch et al., 2009; Hoque, 2016; Marc Smith, 2018). Therefore,
all three domains should be considered as important categories of generic attributes that
graduates should have developed from their transformative learning process (Sipos,
Battisti and Grimm, 2008) to become change agents for sustainability. Related to these
models - UNESCO’s competencies framework and three domains of learning from the
work of Bloom et al. (Krathwohl, 2002) - the three categories of attributes have also been
referred to as three Hs: Head for cognitive domain (way of thinking); Heart for affective
domain (way of being); and Hand for psychomotor domain (way of practicing). The 3 Hs
are also found in the Transformative Sustainability Learning (TSL) framework introduced
by Sipos, Battisti and Grimm, 2008; Singleton (2015). The TSL framework covers all
aspects of generic attributes as developed through pedagogic models (such as action-
based learning, environmental education, problem-based learning) and the expected
learning outcomes (see Figure 3.2).

HEAD HEART (learning for

(learning for attributes in Affective
attributes in domain)
Cognitive Domain)
Holistic development
through transformative
learning

Students learning in non-formal or

informal zones of expereince

HAND (learning for

attributes in
Psychomotor domain)

Hs Model of transformative learning (adopted and modified diagram of Sipos, Battisti and Grimm, 2008)

Figure 3.2 Head, Heart, Hand Model of students’ transformative learning [modified with
simplified descriptions from (Sipos, Battisti and Grimm, 2008, p. 75)]
50
The ‘3Hs’ model is friendly to Myanmar, as discussed earlier, particularly in Buddhist
communities. Being dominated by Buddhist philosophies and Asian cultures, education
in the Myanmar tradition aims for learning to understand the natural phenomena in the
world, to upgrade good attitudes41, and to nurture wisdom for addressing the societal
issues. The Eight-fold noble path is seen as a foundational root of teaching and learning
in building a peaceful and sustainable society. It is explained by many religious scholars
(see Sivaraksa, 1994, 2005; Mahathera, 2007; Sri Dhammananda, 2023) in three
trainings for morality (Sila), mental culture (Samadhi), and wisdom/intellectual qualities
(Panna) as discussed above.

• Morality (Sila): Right Speech; Right Action; Right Livelihood

• Mental culture (Samadhi): Right Effort; Right Concentration; Right Mindfulness
• Wisdom (Panna): Right Understanding; Right Thoughts

Moreover, it is widely used by the development practitioners in the NGO/CSO

communities for measuring their training achievements by checking participants’
development in knowledge, attitude, and behaviours. For this reason, this research
intends to employ the ‘3Hs’ model (Head, Heart, and Hand) in exploring the desirable
graduate attributes for the Myanmar HEIs’ context. The term graduate attribute is used
to cover non-subject discipline attributes including, but not limited to, attitude, behaviour,
values, skills, and competencies most relevant to SD. In brief, this research aims to
develop a list of ESD graduate attributes that emerges from Myanmar research
participants so that they are context specific, and not directly influenced by prior
formulations and listings. Once developed through a grounded approach, these
attributes will be compared with established listings such as UNESCO and QAA.

3.7 The 4Cs+RP Model: Integrating ESD in HEIs

The literature variously reports on the experiences of HEIs’ engagement in, and
implementations of ESD at international and regional levels as well as use of the
UNESCO statements, strategies, and recommendations (discussed in the former
sections). Some authors have also discussed various approaches or models for
integrating ESD in HEIs and some of which have been tested. This section discusses a
potential ESD integration model which was adapted and modifed based on the initial

41 It can also include altruism according to Myanmar culture.

51
one proposed and tested by the Plymouth University (UK). This model tries to indicate
that the relationships between HEIs’ activities and practices are holistic and systemic,
but some additional elements were proposed in the adapted and modified model used
in this research.

The University of Plymouth accepts ESD as ‘a holistic concept’ and acknowledges the
whole university approach considering all different aspects of teaching, learning,
assesment, research including the university’s cultural practices in ESD implementation
(Dyer, Selby and Chalkley, 2006, p. 309). Subsequently, the Centre for Sustainable
Futures (CSF) at the Plymouth University proposed a ‘4C’ model as a whole institutional
approach in which ‘Curriculum, Campus, Community and (institutional) Culture are seen
as mutually enfolded and complementary foci’ (Jones, Selby and Sterling, 2010a, p. 7)
as a framework for a sustainability-sensitive university (see Figure 3.3). They claimed
that:

‘learning programmes encompass the exploration of campus, community

partnerships and initiatives, and university culture from a sustainability
perspective, while student experiential learning and action research can be
directed towards campus, community and institutional cultural change’
(Jones, Selby and Sterling, 2010a, p. 7).

Jones, Selby and Sterling (2010a) illustrate the ESD integration in HEIs by a graphic
model in which the four elements, 4Cs, are represented by circles (Figure 3.3). They
claimed that the students’ learning (curricula) can be facilitated or supported by the
experiences in the campus, the community’s engagement, and the cultural practices of
the university. Equally, they claimed that the students’ learning from these experiences
and action research ‘can be directed towards campus, community and institutional
cultural change’ (Jones, Selby and Sterling, 2010a, p. 7).

It can be critiqued that the authors have tried to visualise the ideas in their proposed
model using a graphic diagram seemingly without consistent illustrative elements. They
did not explicitly discuss how campus and community are inter-related and how the
university’s culture can influence the other three elements. Moreover, it is not clear if the
campus element in the model refers to just the campus operations or whether it also
includes academic activities on campus (e.g., teaching, learning, and assessment). The
diagram is useful in simplifying an institutional ESD approach, but it does retain some
confusion and raise questions, for example if the three circles (curriculum, community,
and campus) inside the bigger circle (culture) are equal in size, does that mean they are
equally important? Additionally, ‘culture’ in the diagram is referred as ‘institutional’ or
52
‘university culture’ (Jones, Selby and Sterling, 2010a, p. 7) in their discussion so it is
inconsistent to keep the community inside that circle of culture because the community
can be both internal (HEI’s community) and the external one. Although innovative
teaching methods or approaches are recommended, pedagogy is not represented in the
4Cs model, and how culture relates to the HEIs vision and mission is not set out (see
Figure 3.3). Despite the weakness of the diagram, the model is a prototype holistic model
for ESD integration in HEIs.

Curriculum

Campus Community

Culture

Figure 3.3 '4Cs' Model developed by Jones, Selby, and Sterling in 'Sustainability
Education: Perspectives and Practice Across Higher Education (2010a, p.7) [adapted
in colour and shape]

Jones, Selby and Sterling (2010a) discussed research but they did not mention it in the
graphic model therefore it remains to be questioned if it was considered as one of the
activities in or by the campus. Anand et al. (2015) adapted the 4Cs model by adding
research as an additional element and by elaborating ‘campus’ into ‘operations and
campus operations’ which matches Chase’s (2009) four elements: ‘curriculum, research,
university operations, and relationships with the community’ (cited in Anand et al., 2015,
p. 919) (see Figure 3.4).

Research Curriculum

Operations & Campus Community

Institutional Culture

Figure 3.4 Model of integrating sustainable development in higher education in-

situations adapted from Jones, Selby, and Sterling (2010a) and Chase (2009)
(Adapted from the source: Anand et al., 2015)
53
Again, although the role of pedagogy under both curriculum and culture was discussed
by Jones, Selby and Sterling (2010b) and Anand et al. (2015), they did not make
pedagogy explicit in their graphic models. As discussed earlier, ESD attributes could be
influenced by both curriculum and pedagogy in the HEIs through interactive as well as
interpersonal learning processes (Walker, 2002). Using the model (4Cs+Research or
4Cs+R) adapted by Anand et al. (2015), and considering ‘pedagogy’ as an explicit
element to the ‘4Cs+R’, a new model of ESD integration framework for HEIs, i.e.,
‘4Cs+RP’ (Curriculum, Campus, Culture, Community, Research, and Pedagogy), is
proposed as a framework for this research enquiry into a holistic approach for ESD
integration in Myanmar HEIs (see Figure 3.5). The five oval elements inside the
institutional context are meant to be mutually supportive and interdependent with each
other and between them are expected to support the development of ESD related
graduate attributes where they intersect. They are shown being the same size but the
size of their contribution to the graduate attributes will vary depending on the context. In
addition, the proposed model broadens out the context beyond the institutional culture
to reflect the influence of proximate and distant communities to encompass their cultural
values, policies, and expectations.

Figure 3.5 Proposed modified model of ESD integration in HEIs (4Cs+RP)

54
This graphic model attempts to illustrate the key elements - the inner circle (institutional
culture) has elements that HEIs can directly influence, the middle and outer circles
represent proximate and distant stakeholders’ influence, all of which can contribute
towards developing ESD related graduate attributes. Each element in the model is
viewed as a particular area of action which themselves have many parts as described
in the literature and covered below. The proximate and distant communities’ influence
were not explicitly mentioned in the original graphic models ‘4Cs’ (Jones, Selby and
Sterling, 2010a) and ‘4Cs+R’ (Anand et al., 2015), therefore this modified model of ESD
integration ‘4Cs+RP’ is a supportive framework in this research in the context of
Myanmar HEIs and also informed the qualitative analysis in forming the themes of
potential ESD integration approaches for Myanmar HEIs.

3.7.1 Curriculum

Including ESD in the curriculum raises questions about where it is to be integrated and
how it will be implemented, with three main approaches:

• Integrating ESD related learning content into existing modules or by re-designing

the existing content of a programme or course (Hadgraft, Xie and Angeles,
2004). Anand et al. (2015) claim that sustainable development can be more
efficiently integrated at programme level, and it can build the stronger links to the
professional practices of the future graduates. However, the applicability
apparently depends on the acceptance and genuine dedication of the faculty who
will deliver the courses (Briggs et al., 2019).
• Developing a new stand-alone course or an explicitly tailored degree or diploma
programme on sustainable development, for example a Master of Sustainable
Practice at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) University which
uses adult learning principles or andragogy42 (Holgaard et al., 2016). Another
approach is a university wide course, for instance ‘Sustainability: Society and
Environment (SSE)’ is offered as a compulsory course for first-year
undergraduate students in seven professional degree programmes as well as an

42 Malcolm Shephard Knowles (1913-1997) made six assumptions as principles of adult learning (Forrest
III and Peterson, 2006) and Alexander Kapp first developed the term andragogy in early 19th century
and became widely used in 1960 according to Nottingham Andragogy Group (1983), cited in (Forrest III
and Peterson, 2006).
55
 elective course for all other undergraduate students from different disciplines at
the RMIT university (Hegarty et al., 2011, p. 454), and
• Using a non-explicit or hidden-curriculum approach. Anand et al. (2015) claims
that this option can be used in ‘a context that enables knowledge acquisition but
without being explicitly targeted as such’ (p. 921). Cotton and Winter (2010)
explain this approach as a way of transmitting certain messages, particularly
‘ethos and values’, to students through teachers’ behaviours or lectures or the
institutional culture and practices, often unconsciously, in a tacit or unplanned
manner (p. 45).

Regarding the first approach, Sterling (2004) thinks that it is not about making ESD ‘an
add-on’ to existing structures and curricula’ but rather to change our world view and
social view as well as to adopt diverse cultures of learning and practices (p. 50). It is
also about ensuring the learning outcomes cover ESD related knowledge, attitude, and
skills as well as contributing to the development of related generic attributes.

All three approaches to integrating ESD into the curriculum can be influenced by
different perspectives, ideological standpoints, and political orientations amongst the
scholars. For instance, Maina-Okori, Koushik and Wilson (2018) claim that

‘several scholars draw on intersectional frameworks to challenge dominant

structures such as patriarchy, colonialism, capitalism, and
anthropocentrism that reproduce inequality and contribute to continued
environmental degradation’ (p. 293).

Regarding the constraints and challenges in implementing ESD through developing

sustainability-related curriculum, Jones, Selby and Sterling (2010a) acknowledge three
main inhibitors:

• Resistance from the academics based on ‘academic freedom’ and not matching
with ‘the students’ expectations’ about specific discipline knowledge (p. 9)
• Hesitation by academic staff ‘who consider themselves as lacking the knowledge
and skills, expertise, and experiences’ for teaching about ESD (p. 10)
• Perception of academics and administrators on the ethos of the institution as ‘not
favourable for the successful integration of sustainability across the teaching and
learning programmes’ (p. 10).

While it is acknowledged that the likelihood of ESD integration into curricula is largely
influenced by the faculty members’ commitment (Briggs et al., 2019), students’

56
engagement in HEI’s curricula innovation and development should be encouraged
(Brugmann et al., 2019). In light of the recent decolonising the curriculum movement
amongst HEIs in the West, a sustainability curriculum itself must be properly assessed
to ensure the learning process and the graduate outcomes are free from a neo-colonial
approach of dominating other developing countries or the least developed countries
(Charles, 2019).

3.7.2 Pedagogy

How ESD is taught and learned is as important as what and where it is taught.
Pedagogy43 refers to the method and practice of teaching and learning, especially of
academic subjects and theoretical concepts according to the Oxford Dictionary 44.
Although the original meaning referred to teaching young children, it is now widely used
to refer to all levels of education. The related term ‘andragogy’ refers to the method and
practice of teaching adult learners, but it is rarely used in practice. Hence this thesis
uses the term pedagogy, as it is the most widely used term in HEIs.

Howlett, Ferreira and Blomfield (2016) claim that students need to experience
transformative learning to develop expected graduate attributes, so that they can cope
with complex as well as challenging sustainability issues and global crises. ESD itself is
‘holistic and transformational education’ (Rieckmann, 2018, p. 40) and it is critical to
reconsider the ways of teaching, learning, and assessing students, and the learning
environment involved, in addition to rethinking the curricular content. Whilst promoting
teachers’ competencies is emphasised in primary and secondary education (Bertschy,
Künzli and Lehmann, 2013; Hayden and Martin, 2013; Brandt et al., 2019), transforming
teaching methods and practices at higher education for ESD graduate attributes is still
under-published (Lozano et al., 2019). Although university members could have a
significant role in moving the ESD agenda forward, the level of staff motivation and
engagement in ESD is still under-researched (Cebrian, 2017).

Learning in a particular type of situation may be difficult for the learner to be able to apply
in another circumstance according to Kettunen, Kairisto-Mertanen and Penttila (2013).

43 It might have a broader meaning than what it has been traditionally used and understood while it could
be controversial in translating into English as it came from a Greek word (Friesen and Su, 2023).
44 pedagogy - definition of pedagogy in English from the Oxford dictionary (open.ac.uk) (accessed January
15, 2023)
57
It is apparent that they overlook transferable skills. Further, teaching and learning in
higher education is heavily reliant on the knowledge of previous research. Research-
based learning is more popular because it is interchangeably used as ‘problem-’ learning
or ‘enquiry-’ or ‘active’ learning to improve the students’ practical skills (Lambert, 2009,
p. 303). However, Lambert (2009) made a critique of the poor encouragement of
students’ engagement in seminars or conferences in UK’s undergraduate programmes.
To ensure achieving the student’s learning outcomes, more innovative learning should
be designed, for instance running projects, seminars, or internships etc., creating
opportunities for the students’ immediate use of their knowledge and skills in addition to
lectures and traditional examination experiences. This is supported by Lozano et al.'s
(2019) research that there is a relation between the contribution to sustainability and the
strength of competences, and between the strength of competences and the strength of
pedagogical approaches. They suggested a combined use of different pedagogical
approaches to develop the sustainability competencies recommended by UNESCO and
further research on alternative pedagogical approaches. In contrast, Humphreys (2019)
employed the term ‘Ecopedagogy,’ which is different from conventional environmental
education, to emphasise teaching on

‘how to think through the problematic of global environmental degradation

in its broadest sense and how to engage with and respond to this
problematic as concerned, reflexive and active citizens’ (p. 59).

Whatever the approach used for teaching, the effectiveness of learning is often
determined by using appropriate assessment methods that relate to a programme’s
learning outcomes which in turn contribute to graduate’s attributes. If ESD is primarily
expected to start from an individual’s changes in attitude and behaviours, the taxonomy
of affective domain (represented as Heart in Figure 3.2) should be recalled back
because that domain explains from the ‘awareness’ level through ‘responding’, ‘valuing’,
and ‘organisation’ to ‘characterisation’ in which a learner can reach his development to
‘a consistent philosophy of life’ based on the internalised attitude and values (Krathwohl,
Bloom and Masia, 1964, p. 35). Following the argument of Krathwohl et al. (1964),
Shephard et al. (2015) also supported that ‘we cannot teach students to be
environmentally responsible without addressing their affective nature’, (p. 863), whilst
acknowledging hardship in teaching for affective domain. They supported Bloom et al.’s
(1956) critique that most teaching and learning in the university falls under the cognitive
(knowledge, understanding, analytical skill etc.) and much of this cannot be categorised
in the affective domain of learning (such as listening, responding, valuing, etc.) because
the cognitive alone cannot influence or shape the students’ behaviour through emotions
58
or desire. Education for sustainability should be acquired through the best practice in
learning and teaching as the entry point to sustainability skills and knowledge, instead
of the focusing on curriculum content only, as claimed by Hegarty et al. (2011).

3.7.3 Research

Research on sustainability issues, as a part of universities’ functions, can be considered

as a potential approach of ESD integration as suggested by Chase (2009) (cited in
Anand et al., 2015). Sterling (2013) argues that universities with a commitment for
sustainability should prepare their students to become leaders who can transform
society not only through teaching and learning but also research. Moreover, universities
should be willing ‘to serve as a test bed for innovation’ to learn new knowledge and
practices for ESD and share their experiences and learnings from the practices and
research with their students and other HEIs (Sterling, 2013, p. 25). Some universities
and networks have been trying to promote a focus of ESD in HEI’s educational practices
using grants and awards for the research and students’ projects (Anand et al., 2015)
and the Green Gown Awards45 is an example in the UK and Ireland. Although research
activities are extensively carried out on sustainability, more studies are needed on the
ESD integration approaches for HEIs. At the same time, HEIs themselves need to
practice and transform as reflexive institutions rather than just distributing the knowledge
from its own research (Sterling, 2004). Moreover, more research and learning from
Indigenous Peoples’ knowledge and practices should be encouraged to understand how
these Indigenous knowledge systems and practices could be revitalised and applied in
the teaching and learning process as some of them can be relevant to ESD. For
example, Mbah, Ajaps and Molthan-Hill, based on their systematic review of the
Indigenous Knowledge Systems towards Climate Change Adaptation in developing
countries particularly in Africa and Asia, encouraged to explore more of the Indigenous
knowledge and practices and accommodate them in the ‘educational framework’ (2021,
p-20).

3.7.4 Campus

The Green campus model has been widely followed by universities and colleges in the
UK and some European countries. It is also practiced by the HEIs in some countries in

45 Categories and Criteria 2022 | Green Gown Awards (accessed March 8, 2023)
59
South-East Asia. It includes campus (estate) management and resource utilisation in an
environmentally friendly manner or sustainability practices. For instance, the Aalborg
University in Denmark, a member of COPERNICUS (Co-operation Programme in
Europe for Research on Nature and Industry through Coordinated University Studies)
alliance started their green campus initiatives with a concept of environmental
sustainability and green practices with the aim of influencing staff and students’ practices
and behaviour (Holgaard et al., 2016). The COPERNICUS’s Charter is to integrate
sustainable development in all university’s actions and function as fundamental status.

Practices in the classroom and campus can influence students’ behaviour and attitude
through experiences. Lozano, Huisingh and Delgado (2006) showcased ‘Sustainable
Campus Programme (SCP)’ (p. 37) (at the Monterrey campus in Mexico) as a campus
approach model that provides students with the opportunity to look at the daily academic
and campus practices from ESD perspectives, including reports on use of water, energy
and office stationery, as well as how waste is managed, by using ‘basic principle of eco-
efficiency’ (Lozano, Huisingh and Delgado, 2006, p. 41).

3.7.5 Community

Networking and collaborating with other stakeholders such as other HEIs, governments,
businesses, NGOs, alumni, and civil society can be considered as one of the potential
approaches. There can be two main communities or sets of stakeholders for HEIs: an
internal community and an external one. The former includes all the people in a particular
HEI such as teaching staff, students, administrators, and all other employees. There can
be many ways to categorise and consider external stakeholders, and Figure 3.5 divides
external stakeholders into proximate and distant communities. The stakeholders in the
proximate communities (outside the university) may include, but not limited to, graduate
alumni, other HEIs and research institutions, business and enterprise entities,
government, and civil society organisations, etc. The outermost layer (distant
community) may include stakeholders or partners of regional, international, and global
level. In the internal community, the roles and engagement of teaching staff and leaders
of HEIs are important because their acceptance, commitment and active participation
largely influence the achievement of ESD integration. At the same time, external
communities can be supportive structures for potential resources and mutual learning
communities through networking and partnerships. Different stakeholders’ involvement
and collaboration were strongly encouraged in ‘support framework’ model proposed by
Mbah, Shingruf and Molthan-Hill (2022) based on their learning of policies and practices
for climate change education in South Asia. This is also aligned with the community

60
approach of 4Cs+RP model although they discussed more specifically about climate
change adaption education rather than ESD.

The organisational transformation could be enhanced by its strength of networks and

partnerships as well as the institutional knowledge and capability of utilising such
available resources and opportunities. A case study on the Network of Higher Education
Stakeholders for Sustainability (UK) also gave an important lesson about the influence
of network density and a clear governance vocabulary on the interactions, coordination,
and fund flow (Vargas et al., 2019). In addition, further research studies were
recommended by Vargas et al. (2019) on ‘the role of governance at network level for
sustainable development in higher education in order to understand how networks’
governance happens in practice’ (p. 476). There have not been studies on comparative
assessment of different networks. Networking and partnership approaches are under-
researched although one of the SDG’s Goals is to promote partnership and collaboration
(Dlouha et al., 2017). It can bring more opportunities for HEIs to commence their
transformation. At the same time, it is needed to acknowledge challenges that might be
faced by HEIs in the shift from industrial economy to a knowledge-driven economy as
there have been struggles with

‘revolutionary cultural shifts, loss of direction and vision, re-invention of

identity, and the redefining of leadership’ (Egizii, 2015, p. 1741).

Networking should not remain restricted to HEIs, but rather be extended to business
partners, Civil Society Organisations (CSO) and International Development
Organizations. In the model of ESD integration shown in the Figure 3.5, the stakeholders
in the proximate communities and the distant communities complementarily support the
students’ learning process and research opportunities. Engaging with potential
employers has become a popular topic amongst HEIs because they need to prepare
graduates with attributes well suited to meet their societal, professional and career
needs. A research study by Garci´a-Aracil (2015) on the graduates’ employability
representing eight different disciplines shows that

‘a well-designed degree programme, that is, a broadly focused,

academically prestigious, vocationally oriented, and whose content and
objectives are known to the employers, contributes to an increase in
earnings and attracts higher scores for job satisfaction’ (p. 751).

In addition to formal learning at HEIs, non-formal education activities can potentially

contribute to students’ values, attitude, behaviour, and competence. Collaborating with
61
NGOs or CSOs can be considered to potentially expand the students’ learning
opportunities through extra-curricular activities or formal modular courses. It could be
offered as either ‘elective’ or an ‘institute-wide course’. As an alternative option,
students’ internship programmes might be arranged. These extra-curricular activities
might deliver personal and social benefits for students that engage with them, that may
help their employment prospects (Stuart et al., 2011). In Myanmar, for example, Kalyana
Mitta Development Foundation (KMF)46 collaborated with university environmental
clubs/associations, Student Unions, and two Education universities. They supported the
green campus movement and intensive trainings such as ‘Eco-Youth Camp’ and
‘Education for Peace’ (Kalyana Mitta Development Foundation, 2018). Participating and
learning in these activities could be helpful in young learners’ transformational
development in addition to classroom-based learning. Soe (2014), in her study of
students and teachers’ perceptions on the extracurricular activities at a private university
in Myanmar, verified the significant benefits of students’ participation in extra-curricular
activities on their social lives, life-skills development, and carrier opportunities. Existing
literature is limited on the relationship of non-formal learning and development of
graduate attributes in higher education. It is lacking in the context of ESD, particularly in
Myanmar.

Alumni community, as another potential stakeholder in the proximate communities, can

be welcomed for their contribution through their contextually relevant feedback and
suggestions based on their professional experiences. Egizii (2015) highlights the
importance of alumni for an HEI because

‘they are valued, vital, lifelong stakeholders of an educational community

and, should be kept informed and involved in its vision and priorities’ (p.
1744).

Moreover, Egizii (2015) claims that a lot of benefits can be gained through building such
external relationships with different stakeholders and alumni network, for instance
understanding the real-world situation and the needs of the employment sector, or the
opportunities for the students’ learning process like study visits or internships, or
graduate employment opportunities. This practice is likely suitable for a situation in
which ESD has been adopted and conceptualised. More studies are needed to

46 It is a Myanmar NGO I founded and led for twelve years from 2008-2019.
62
understand the potential development of ESD graduate attributes through building
partnerships and collaborating with these stakeholders including the alumni. There is no
doubt that more studies are needed to understand Myanmar HEIs’ engagement with
diverse layers of communities – how HEIs and their stakeholders interact and mutually
support or influence each other to contribute towards the development of ESD related
graduate attributes.

3.7.6 Culture

Another aspect to consider is policy changes and adopting sustainability values and
practices in HEIs’ programmes and mandates. That could be seen as cultural
approaches because practices and decisions are expected to be made according to
agreed policies which in turn are guided by the values and philosophical stands of the
organisations. Cultural and community approaches seem to be alike as it is generally
meant to be aimed at developing good practices which are shared and carried forward
as cultural norms by the key stakeholders (members of the HEIs) alongside the
institutional values and vision. The community approach can be considered as activities
and practices of different stakeholders whereas culture can be viewed as the social
values and perspectives guiding or leading to the activities and practices in general.

Moore (2005) called for cultural change and HEIs’ community engagement by proposing
seven recommendations for integrating sustainability education (based on a case study
of the University of British Columbia) in which staff, teachers and students engaged and
discussed how to integrate sustainability at all levels of decision and activities in the
university. From another perspective, the transformative development of HEIs should
integrate ESD policy, but practices mean ‘a profound cultural change more than a
technical shift’ (Anand et al., 2015, p. 922). In addition, it is critical that sustainability
education should be implemented by value-focused thinking and inclusive consideration
(Moore, 2005). In this way, HEIs could support students’ learning process of
sustainability education through facilitating transformative practices which could be
gradually nurtured as cultural practices or community of practices (Tummons, 2018).

To date, education is being questioned for its purpose as the globalised economic
system is pushing HEIs’ for employable skilled workers. Sterling (2017) argues that
HEI’s policy and practices are being challenged and impeded by current global
economic systems. Then, the paradigm shift of education reform needs to start by
questioning the purpose of higher education and what kinds of competence or attributes
should be aimed for. What Sterling calls for aligns with the idea of three ‘Hs’ (Head,
Heart, and Hand) in the consideration of educational reform aiming by
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 ‘a broadening of perception (the affective dimension), a shift towards
relational thinking or conception (the cognitive dimension), and
manifestation of integrative practice (the intentional dimension)’ (2017, p.
41).

All these learning domains can be embedded in the whole HEIs’ cultural practice. More
understanding is undoubtedly needed to verify how these cultural aspects of HEIs could
contribute to the nurturing of such graduate competencies or attributes. According to the
argument of Burford et al. (2013), UN’s Sustainable Development concept is missing
one important pillar such as a ‘cultural-aesthetic, political-institutional and religious-
spiritual dimension’ (p. 3036). These values, attitudes, and spirit should be nurtured
through the cultural practices in HEIs to build a holistic set of graduate attributes as
discussed earlier.

Reflecting on SDG 17, ‘to strengthen the means of implementation and revitalise the
global partnership for sustainable development’ (United Nations, 2015a, p.14), learning
from synergy and collaboration could be added value for the HEIs. For this reason,
interdisciplinary learnings and collaborative cultures can be considered in the
institutional level. It may be amongst the HEIs or even with the stakeholders at national
and international levels. Referring to learning theory, Sterling (2013) highlighted the
importance of deep understanding of educational paradigms and questioning the
purpose and policy of higher education for transformative process despite the
challenges. Often the cultural approach is interchangeably used to mean a whole
university approach. However, in this research enquiry, all the principles, policies,
practices, and the stakeholders will be viewed by cultural approach as the underpinning
sustainability values and desirable ESD view.

3.8 Educational reconstruction of HEIs

As discussed earlier, HEIs are expected to contribute to addressing the global

challenges and searching for better solutions and approaches to sustainability.
Rethinking and reorganizing HEIs might be needed to ensure future graduates have
desirable ESD attributes to be able to contribute to addressing global issues.
Nevertheless, it is acknowledged that such transformation is hard, challenging, and a
long-term process for HEIs (Holmberg et al., 2012) which also needs external support
from government and other national and international stakeholders. The potential for
ESD integration depends very much on the current state of HEIs and the country they
are located in. For some countries integration will require relatively small changes, for

64
others it requires a more fundamental transformation or reconstruction of the HEIs,
particularly where the country context is also changing dramatically.

Educational reconstruction is defined in different ways and Aran Milton (2013) agreed
with Barakat and Zyck (2009) (cited in Aran Milton, 2013) to use ‘recovery’ as a proper
term by claiming that it could encompass a wider scope of meaning than ‘reconstruction’.
Moreover, he stands with the argument made by Barakat and Zyck (2009) that the latter
term was narrowly defined as physical reconstruction in his doctoral thesis (Aran Milton,
2013). In fact, reconstruction is not necessarily or strictly defined as being for the
physical or infrastructure rebuilding and this research has adopted the idea of Arnhold
et al. (1998) in using different types of educational reconstruction processes.

Education is considered as having a vital role in the reforming process of war-torn

countries or countries severely affected by natural disasters or ethnic/religious conflicts.
At this level, the concept of education for reconstruction developed by Arnhold et al.
(1998) provides a framework through which to study HEIs in Myanmar which have
suffered from civil unrest, various conflicts, and civil wars. Esson and Wang (2018) used
this model as a conceptual framework for the case study of the reform process of
Yangon University before the military coup in 2021. The model, based on the
experiences of countries with prolonged civil wars and conflicts like Bosnia, Rwanda,
etc., includes five components of reconstruction:

‘Physical reconstruction

Ideological reconstruction

Psychological reconstruction

Provision of materials and curricular reconstruction

Human resources’ (Arnhold et al., 1998, p. 11)

3.8.1 Ideological reconstruction

Of most relevance for this study is ideological reconstruction, which could be a potential
driver for Myanmar HEIs to ask critical questions: what roles are HEIs expected to play
to contribute towards the desirable future of the country; how might HEIs in Myanmar
need to transform themselves to integrate ESD; and what attributes are expected that
graduates should develop by learning at these HEIs. Moreover, it is aligned with the
cultural practices in the proposed ESD integration model as all the decisions, activities

65
and practices could be informed by the sustainability concept once ESD has been
conceptualised in HEIs. Then, it could influence the curricula determining what
knowledge, concepts, attitude, and behaviours are to be addressed as the learning
outcomes for a particular courses or disciplines as well as the expected generic graduate
attributes. Capacity building and professional development activities for the teaching
staff, non-teaching staff and the leaders of the HEIs could be a part of ideological
reconstruction and it can be linked to human resources development. In addition, the list
of ideas synthesised based on the DESD’s strategies (2005-2014) and the UNESCO’s
ESD Road Map (2020-2030) which have been discussed earlier are consistent with and
can be incorporated in this ideological reconstruction.

3.8.2 Psychological reconstruction

Psychological reconstruction might play a critical role for HEI’s transformation in

Myanmar as it is needed to investigate the required changes to be made in different
aspects of HEIs such as leadership styles, decision making, collaboration with
stakeholders, teachers’ behaviour and relationship with students, students’
engagement, and a service providing mindset of staff in the supporting departments and
units. Arnhold et al. (1998) claimed that ‘psychological problems ranging from
demoralisation to severe trauma’ could be inevitable to be addressed in a country with
prolonged conflict or civil wars (p. 19). In Myanmar, there is a collective traumatised
experience of being oppressed by the military dictatorship for several decades in the
past and currently since 2021. This suggests investigation into the necessity of trauma
healing and mental wellbeing support for university teachers as they have been suffering
during the current political crisis, too.

3.8.3 Provision of materials and curricular reconstruction

The model also looks at the supplies of necessary materials or facilities like teaching
materials and resources related to library, laboratories etc., and the curricular
reconstruction process. For Myanmar HEIs, the requirement of curricular reconstruction
may be varied depending on the individual HEIs’ need, however the Institute of
International Education (IIE) reported that ‘most of the curriculum being offered inside
Myanmar’s universities are seriously outdated’ (IIE, 2013, p. 19). From another
perspective, it should be reconsidered in the general sense of reforming higher
education based on the political pathway to be determined in the future. The graduate
attributes to be expected and determined might include some mental and moral trainings
according to the nature of ‘post-crisis situation’ as well (Arnhold et al., 1998, p. 19).

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3.8.4 Physical reconstruction

Indeed, the needs of HEIs in Myanmar is quite diverse like Denis Simon’s remark: ‘the
entire system requires nothing less than a complete renovation – from the physical
infrastructure to the academic curriculum’ (IIE, 2013, p.17). Due to the deficient budget
and facilities supplied by the Myanmar government, as well as the lack of international
aid and prolonged economic sanctions by developed countries, the infrastructure and
facilities of Myanmar HEIs need to be upgraded (British Council, 2013a; Comprehensive
Education Sector Review, 2013; IIE, 2013). In this case, the reconstruction of the
physical infrastructure and facilities can be overlapped with the campus approach of
ESD integration which were not covered in these reports.

3.8.5 Human resources

The community approach of the ESD integration model is reflected in the human
resources in this educational reconstruction model. A programme of capacity building is
likely to be needed to increase the number of staff as well as improve the quality of
teaching. Professional development of staff members might need to be holistic and
contextualised. Moreover, human resources from the proximate communities can be
called for their cooperation but Arnhold et al. (1998) noted it should be carried out with
great care for undesirable consequences of conflict sensitivity or misconception. They
acknowledged the need of well-trained teaching staff in such a reconstruction process
of the post-conflict situation. Collaboration with different stakeholders from distant
communities might be helpful if it is wisely and strategically incorporated to speed up
and upgrade the quality of HEIs’ services. The perspectives, resources, and willingness
of those stakeholders in the proposed model of ESD integration and the several types
of human resources being discussed in the educational reconstruction model are
consistent in both ESD integration and HEIs’ transformation processes.

3.9 Crafting and Justifying Research Enquiries

The reviewed literature about ESD integration in the international context, together with
the country context of Myanmar, has confirmed that there is a need to understand the
sustainable development of Myanmar expected by its nationals. As ESD was apparently
shaped and influenced by western philosophers and scholars, the first research question
has been adopted to understand how ESD might be conceptualised in the context of
Myanmar HEIs. The role of graduates’ attribution towards the sustainable development
of Myanmar which is to be expected and conceptualised in the first question became a
second question to be explored. The third question is to study what changes might be

67
needed in the HEIs’ practices or policies for their transformation if ESD is to be
integrated. As discussed in both Chapter 2 and this Chapter 3, the HEIs’ reform needs
to be conducted in the time of a favourable situation because the previous reforms were
halted by the coup in 2021. Thus, considering ESD integration within the HEI’s
transformation processes for Myanmar context framed the third research question.

RQ (1) How might ESD be conceptualised in the Myanmar HEIs’ context?

The reviewed literature has shown that ESD concepts have been widely discussed
amongst scholars from developed countries and the UN’s ESD was mostly informed by
western philosophies and ideologies (such as United Nations, no date b; Brundtland et
al., 1987; Calder and Clugston, 2003; Landorf, Doscher and Rocco, 2008; Holgaard et
al., 2016). While the role of HEIs has been argued for the third mission of universities
(for example Newman, 2008; Fadeeva and Mochizuki, 2010), it is important to be
conceptualised in a particular context if ESD is to be operationalised (Landorf, Doscher
and Rocco, 2008). Taking up the concept that there is no one-size-fits-all solution, it is
necessary to understand Myanmar nationals’ expectations on the role of HEIs for the
country’s sustainable development. As discussed in Chapter 2, the term ‘taing-yin-thar’
is controversial. Likewise, ‘nationals’ and ‘citizens’ are complicated issues in Myanmar
due to the ethno-religious based political conflicts rooted in the history (see more detail
in Holliday, 2014; Cheesman, 2017; Martin Smith, 2018). I use ‘nationals’ in this thesis
to refer all the individuals who were born in Myanmar regardless of holding their
citizenship or not because there are many people who still cannot get that kind of official
registration. On the other hand, 'Myanmar nationals’ in this thesis do not intend to claim
as ‘national race’ by aggregating all ethnic minorities to be Myanmar or Burmese from
burmanisation perspective. I would rather use it as individuals or people of Myanmar
regardless of their ethnicity or religious belief.

The ideological reconstruction process of Arnhold et al.'s (1998) model informs the
research question (1) asking how educational communities in an HEI conceive ESD.
And the research question will help them to re-discover the purpose of their HEIs in
contributing to the sustainability of society by considering ESD from diverse perspectives
in Myanmar context.

The country context (Chapter 2) has proven that there is a need to reconstruct HEIs in
Myanmar and to ask how ESD can be integrated during the reconstruction process. The
country has been ruled by the military dictatorship for several decades and the on-going
situation of civil wars, and democratisation might be a key part of the educational reform
process. Therefore, ideological reconstruction is assumed to be relevant in this case and
68
it helped and informed the first research question. Moreover, the findings of the in-
country scoping study showed that university teachers should be aware of ESD and a
mutual understanding of what ESD means to Myanmar HEIs is needed. These informed
and justified the first research question.

RQ (2) What are the graduate attributes to be expected from integrating this conception
of ESD in Myanmar HEIs?

Alongside the ESD conceptualisation, it is required to answer what graduate attributes

are expected by the HEIs’ community if ESD is to be integrated. The reviewed literature
proved that more studies are needed to understand what graduate attributes should be
set out from ESD perspectives. Also how it should be developed based on the
expectations of stakeholders such as university students and teachers while there have
been lots of studies on different evaluation and measurement techniques on the
achievement of graduate attributes quantitatively. Fadeeva and Mochizuki (2010) call
for designing curriculum contents for integrating ESD concept and teaching methods
alone cannot be adequately addressed without any clear definition of learning outcomes
and comprehensive competencies that learners should acquire. They also made a
critique:

‘UNESCO has provided only descriptors for ESD in connection with the
United Nations decade of Education for Sustainable Development (DESD),
but these describe the characteristics of the educational offering (inputs)
rather than outcomes for students (outputs)’ (Fadeeva and Mochizuki,
2010, p. 251).

As discussed earlier, certain studies on different ESD integration approaches and

different projects have been done such as teachers’ capacity development for ESD in
Asia-Pacific region and green campus models, but it is still under researched to study
the most locally appropraite and culturally relevant graduate attributes to be developed
in accordance with the countries’ context and institutional context. This is associated
with conceptualised ESD in a particular context.

In Myanmar, MSDP and NESP generally mentioned about capacity development of

teaching staff, required competency development for university students, and the
opportunity for the students’ accessibility to quality education being equivalent to the
international HEIs’. However, they did not clearly describe what kinds of graduate
qualifications are to be expected from an ESD perspective. Also, some universities have
recently initiated developing learning outcomes for their specific disciplines or degrees,
69
for example the CHINLONE project (CHINLONE, 2018). Although the NESP aimed to
establish a Higher Education Quality Assurance Agency (HEQAA), there was no
concrete plan for the universities to set their own graduate attributes and learning
outcomes. Therefore, this research question is critical and consistent to the existing
context of Myanmar HEIs. Moreover, the university students who participated in the
scoping study expected a wide range of knowledge, skills, and competencies as a set
of generic attributes apart from the disciplinary content. This is a positive insight for the
research to commence a deeper study on the expected graduate attributes related to
ESD from university students and faculty members.

RQ (3) What transformations in Myanmar HEIs’ educational policy and practices are
needed to develop these graduate attributes?

The proposed adapted model of the 4Cs+RP holistic approach (Curriculum, Culture,
Campus, Community, Pedagogy and Research) helped scoping to understand the
complex systems of activities and processes in the HEIs’ context. It also helped to
explore the areas that needed to be changed for the HEIs’ transformation in contributing
to developing ESD related attributes. It is also noted that the holistic approach of ESD
integration in particular in the HEI context is still under-researched. Most of the research
covered on the ESD integration is embedded in a particular approach such as curriculum
or third mission approach or campus approach. However, not many studies have looked
at the complex system of individual HEIs within which there can be diffferent elements
functioning and influencing each other and inter-relating with outside elements. These
inform the third research question - to look at the systems of an HEI before seeking the
necessary changes ESD integration.

As discussed, all the HEIs in Myanmar have been strictly controlled by the respective
ministries for many years. Thus, they are very likely to face challenges in making a
change in a concept, a procedure, or a practice. HEI’s nature in the Myanmar context
might be different from other countries. This is due to the prolonged historical tension
and conflicts amongst different ethnic or faith groups. Also, the experiences of
revolutions in its decolonisation process. Findings from the scoping study and published
literature have informed that it is crucial to understand HEIs’ systems in considering the
integration of ESD during the reconstrucion process.

The proposed model of ESD integration (practices) (Figure 3.5) is considered alongside
the educational reconstruction model of Arnhold et al. (1998). It will explore any changes
which might be needed in the policy and principles for Myanmar HEIs and to what extent

70
they might be useful to inform HEIs’ transformation in Myanmar through comparing them
with the research findings.

3.10 Chapter Summary

This chapter has extensively reviewed the literature, from the sustainability or ESD
concept in its historical roots to the potential model of HEI’s transformation through which
ESD integration could be made. This doctoral research aims to understand how
Myanmar nationals view and interpret sustainability or sustainable development, and
consequently, how ESD might be conceptualised in the Myanmar HEIs context. The
concepts of ESD in higher education and different approaches of its implementation in
international, regional, and sub-regional levels have been reviewed to ensure the
research’s conceptual framework is consistent. At the same time, it is claimed to be
contextualised.

As HEIs are expected to prepare the graduates with relevant competences, attitude and
values required to contribute to the implementation of sustainable development, it is
needed to question what graduate attributes should be expected in this aspect for
desirable Myanmar’s sustainable development. Amongst diverse views and discussions
about the graduate attributes in the published literature, there remains a gap in the
literature to study generic graduate attributes related to ESD, particularly for Southeast
Asian context and Myanmar HEIs. Even HEIs in the western developed countries,
including the UK, mostly refer to the list of competences developed and recommended
by UNESCO. However, this research questions if these are relevant and applicable to
Myanmar HEIs and society. Thus, the literature review introduced the three ‘Hs’ model
(Head, Heart, and Hand) which is friendly to traditional beliefs in Asian and Myanmar
society.

The last part of the literature review focuses on two models: ESD integration and
educational reconstruction. This research proposes a modified model of ‘4Cs+RP’
(curriculum, community, campus, culture, research, and pedagogy) considering all
possible aspects of integration at HEI’s practices. The education for reconstruction
model proposed by Arnhold et al. (1998) mainly informs the emergence of three main
research questions for this thesis. As Myanmar HEIs have been strictly controlled by
centralised administrative bodies and the recent education reform was halted by the
coup in 2021, HEIs’ transformation is an important part of the study considering all
potential changes of practices and principles required for the ESD integration. The
combined use of ESD integration model and educational reconstruction processes is

71
helpful to conceptualise the research enquiry framework, approaches, and data analysis
process.

In summary, this research is new not only to Myanmar but also to many other least
developed countries (LDCs) or developing countries particularly with experiences of
prolonged political crisis and civil wars. The study also aims to make a potential
contribution of new learning and ideas towards further learning and implication in each
individual HEI. The lack of published literature on ESD conceptualisation and integration
amongst the HEIs in ASEAN and the lack of ESD related research for Myanmar HEIs
have highlighted an important knowledge gap that has informed the research questions.

The following chapter explains the in-country scoping study, an important learning step
of this doctoral research in the early literature review stage. As has been highlighted in
the former chapters, ESD integration in Myanmar higher education is the main gap in
the existing literature. Thus, this scoping study also supports developing the research
conceptual framework and three main research questions.

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Chapter 4 In-country Scoping Study

4.1 Introduction

As noted in previous chapters, Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) is

relatively new to Myanmar’s education community. It was noted that ESD was
incorporated in the new curriculum for Basic Education (primary, middle, and secondary
schools) in the education reform process during 2015-2020. However, it has not yet
been discussed or adopted widely amongst the Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in
Myanmar, except for some preliminary introductions through the Transformation by
Innovation in Distance Education (TIDE) project and initial consideration for four-year
degree programme for Educational Colleges. Due to the paucity of published literature
on the role of HEIs around sustainability, sustainable development, and ESD in
Myanmar, Chapter 3 covered these topics at international and regional levels more
broadly (as it could not have a Myanmar focus). As a result of this deficiency in the
literature, it was necessary to do an in-country scoping study, primarily aimed at
discovering some key features of the existing situation to determine the scope of
research further and help develop the research questions. In addition, this scoping study
helped test the feasibility and reliability of the (initial) research methodology.

The results of the scoping study, as described in this chapter, are used to:

1) explore the current situation of ESD implementation in Myanmar HEIs,

2) scope out university students' and teachers’ understandings and their
perspectives on the role of HEIs for sustainable development in Myanmar, and
3) investigate students’ expectations of graduate attributes (non-disciplinary) if ESD
is to be integrated with higher education (HE)

Starting with the methods used in the scoping study, the chapter first describes the
university teachers’ perspectives on ESD and then the students’ views on ESD in HE.
The chapter ends with synthesising the key findings and recommendations from the
scoping study and a summary.

4.2 Purpose and methods employed in the scoping study

To better understand the context of ESD in Myanmar HEIs and to inform the research
questions, this scoping study was undertaken in Myanmar in December 2019, following
full ethics approval by the Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC) of The Open
University (Reference No. HREC/3423/Lwin) (See Appendix 1). The study mainly

73
involved semi-structured interviews with university teachers and focus group
discussions (FGD) with university students on their understanding of ESD and the
factors that they think are important in higher education for ESD. In addition, a literature
search was done at the Universities’ Central Library on the Yangon University campus
as part of the fieldwork.

Interview with teachers: Seventeen individuals representing ten universities across

five locations (Yangon, Mandalay, Sagaing, Naypyitaw, and Loikaw) participated in the
semi-structured interviews. These participants brought diverse expertise, spanning
various disciplines and specialisations such as science, art, agriculture, and
engineering. The interviews were conducted adhering to the prepared semi-structured
question guidelines (See Appendix 2) and following the guiding principles set forth by
the HREC (Human Research Ethics Committee).

Focus Groups with students: In four cities, namely Yangon, Mandalay, Loikaw and
Sittwe, focus group discussions were conducted, and a total of 37 participants took part
in these sessions. The purpose of selecting four different geographical locations was to
cover the range of students’ backgrounds and fields of study.

• Yangon is the capital city of Myanmar with several universities offering diverse
disciplines and accommodating many students from various parts of Myanmar.
Moreover, potential participants with different socio-economic backgrounds and
socio-cultural experiences studying there.
• Mandalay is the second largest city of Myanmar and the hub of students from
upper (northern) Myanmar with different cultural and socio-economic
backgrounds, too. Compared to Yangon, it was assumed that students in
Mandalay might have slightly fewer opportunities for exposure to public events
and international affairs.
• Loikaw, the capital of Kayah State, is the eastern part of Myanmar and is a
mountainous landscape of several ethnic minority groups. It was chosen to
include students from remote areas where access to higher education is more
difficult and as an under-developed and war-affected location.
• Sittwe was selected to cover the different range of voices from the ethnic minority
groups residing in the West of Myanmar. It is the capital of Rakhine State and
was selected for its remoteness, representation of a minority ethnic group, and
its geographic area (coastal area).

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The invitation was shared through social media on the researcher’s networks. All
participants were fully informed before they consented to participate, including the
purpose of the scoping study and data anonymisation. Both facilitating group
discussions and taking notes were carried out by the researcher himself. All the
information discussed in group discussions was recorded as written notes (FGD-1, FGD-
2, etc.) without personal data. The final researcher’s notes on each FGD session were
written in English. Myanmar language was used as the medium of instruction and
discussion except for some terms described in Myanmar and English.

Data from interviews and focus group discussions were translated into English shortly
after January 2, 2020, in Myanmar. The data were manually processed and analysed.
Microsoft Excel was used for the frequency of references in each code across all
participants, although qualitative data were the key source.

Before being analysed, the data were thoroughly read and checked to ensure their clarity
and understandability. Then the key textual points were highlighted and listed. After that,
all these points were grouped under different themes based on their similarities and
semantics. Then the groups were named according to their thematic nature, such as
professional development of university teachers, curriculum, leadership of the
universities and multi stakeholders’ involvement, etc. The interview and FGDs data were
analysed by the same method.

Each thematic group was counted to notify how frequently the participants highlighted
it. However, this only partially represents the degree of importance of each theme and
the number of participants who responded to a particular question. The main purpose
was first to see how teachers view the elements in their HEI context as key features for
the HEIs’ transformation and potential ideas of ESD integration in their HEIs’ systems.
Similar techniques were applied to the students’ perspectives, except for an additional
question about their expected graduate attributes.

4.3 Teachers’ perspectives on ESD in HEIs

Generally, interview participants (teachers) agreed that ESD was important as it

prepares the young generation with good values and practices for a desirable future.
They see university as a training ground to equip young learners with proper skills and
knowledge for society’s required human resources. One teacher highlighted the
undergraduate student experience as a critical period in one’s life during which they are
accumulating new concepts and values. Furthermore, another teacher said that it is a
foundational stage for their social and personal development, including internalising a
75
new vision in addition to their disciplinary knowledge and skills. The interview data
revealed sixteen important categories for ESD implementation in Myanmar HEIs (see
Table 4.1). These are the outputs of the first part of the exploratory enquiry in the
interview process.

Table 4.1 Categories to be considered for ESD implementation in Myanmar HEIs

No. Categories for ESD integration

1 Professional Development of University Teachers

2 Curriculum

3 Infrastructures

4 Culture of cooperation

5 The motivation of University Teachers

6 Network and International Cooperation

7 Leadership of Universities

8 Quality Assurance System/ Exam System

9 Integration of Environmental Awareness and Concern

10 Multi-stakeholder's involvement

11 Peer Learning amongst University Teachers

12 Research

13 Student's willingness to learn

14 Social Awareness/Skills

15 Art and emotional intelligence

16 University’s Vision and Mission towards ESD

Source: From Semi-Structured Interviews, Scoping Study (December 2019)

To ensure the participants’ understanding of HEIs’ role in ESD implementation and to

look at their perspectives of important factors, a follow-up question was used to identify
the most important (priority) needs to integrate ESD effectively, and seven categories of
important needs were listed along with their frequency (see Table 4.2).

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 Table 4.2 Important 'Needs' for ESD Implementation in Myanmar HEIs

No. Needs Description Frequency

Pedagogical skills
Teachers’ International experience
Awareness &
1 Ability to use multi-media 12
Capacity
Development Motivation and ESD awareness
Cross-learning amongst academic staff
Review from a sustainability perspective
Interdisciplinary connection (e.g., Engineering,
2 Curriculum 5
environmental/socio-economic sciences)
Extra-curriculum activities/ Programmes
Experts to train the academic staff
Financial resources
3 Resources 5
Library facilities and learning resources
Facilities/teaching aids (e.g., software)
4 Leadership Awareness/commitment of HEIs' leaders 4

Review the current examination system

Balance ratio of students-teachers
Better human resource management (especially staff
allocation and transfer)
Upgrade the University of Distance Education (UDE) by
Policy and enhancing its teaching-learning process.
5 4
Systems
As core graduate attributes, raise environmental and
social awareness and sympathy in university education.
‘Art and Emotional Intelligence’ are considered graduate
attributes.
Linking HEIs' vision/mission to SD and promoting
awareness
Stronger cooperation across different departments and
Culture of HEIs
6 3
cooperation
Networking and partnership with international institutions

Stakeholders’ All stakeholders’ involvement

7 2
participation Student's willingness to learn

Source: From Semi-Structured Interviews, Scoping Study (December 2019)

The role of university teachers was most frequently mentioned, followed by curriculum
and availability of resources. Other needs were about leadership support, better policy,
and systems of HEIs, promoting a culture of cooperation, and encouraging stakeholders’
active participation.

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4.4 Students’ perspective on ESD in HEIs

The FGDs with university students explored their expectations of higher education and
their opinions on ESD implementation. Moreover, a wide range of generic skills and
knowledge, in addition to their disciplinary ones, are expected from their university
education:

• Improve their leadership and management skills,

• Enhance social skills and communication skills for teamwork,
• Upgrade their emotional intelligence,
• Broaden their knowledge of local to global issues and cultural awareness,
• Develop their digital skills, media literacy and research skills,
• Upgrade their English language proficiency and presentation skills,
• Increase their readiness in professionalism and potentiality for employability,
• Develop cognitive skills like critical thinking, logical thinking, and analytical
thinking, and
• Develop their ability to apply their major subjects (e.g., locally relevant applied
chemistry for some areas).

Amongst this list, leadership skills, management skills, social skills and emotional
intelligence were frequently expressed by participants in all four FGDs, whilst the rest
were also considered important graduate attributes. In addition to these points, the
participants wanted the following improvements in Myanmar HEIs.
• The university teachers should apply more interactive and innovative teaching
methods and support students more effectively by providing critical feedback on
their research projects or assignments. They recommended more investment in
university teachers' Professional Development (PD), promoting academic
freedom and recognising their dignity.
• Transferring the staff to remote areas as a penalty should be halted in the
government’s administrative system, including HEIs. Faculty members with good
experience and qualifications work in the remote site for only 1 or 2 years before
returning to the major cities. This is perceived as unfair for the students in the
remote locations, and it was intensely discussed in both Kayah and Rakhine
States, where ethnic minority students feel desperate for a change to this
practice.
• Better measures should be applied to ensure anti-corruption (particularly
regarding staff promotion), allow decentralisation, and enable the academic staff
recruitment process related to a Professional Standard Framework.
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 • University admission systems should favour students' choices and interests.
Quality Assurance Systems should be developed to ensure desirable knowledge
and skills development. To help build this, improvement is needed in the current
assessment methods, pushing both students and teachers towards exam-
oriented teaching and learning.
• The current practice of budget distribution amongst the universities should be
fair and transparent. Better information management should be done for more
effective communication and comprehensive public relations.
• Universities should have freedom and autonomy for cooperation with other non-
governmental organisations (NGOs) or international organisations and campus
management.
• Most universities in Myanmar have poor laboratory facilities, creating fewer
opportunities for students to access practice and learning. Other facilities like
libraries, sports, and canteens (cafés) need to be renovated and upgraded to
become safe, reliable, and environmentally friendly learning spaces.
• The participants also mentioned that students should actively engage in extra-
curricular activities and social movements on campus.

To integrate ESD in HEIs, participants suggested that the Myanmar government should:

• start with changes from the basic education level,

• develop a better educational policy for the future generations,
• make sure that university teachers understand the goal and visions of their
institutions and build their confidence by empowering them, and
• facilitate the job satisfaction of the academic staff.
Some focus groups claimed that sustainable development should be added to the
curriculum content. One group recommended establishing a particular unit or
department to train the teaching staff from all HEIs on ESD awareness and related skills.
The participants encouraged extracurricular activities as they perceived that students
should take opportunities to gain experience through non-formal and informal learning
processes. Student exchange and civic education programmes were also fostered.
Moreover, the participants in the FGDs highlighted freedom of expression and
discussion as an important necessity. Innovative learning opportunities (e.g., field trips,
presentations, group discussions) should be created, and the teaching and learning
aims should be a social impact.

In short, student participants want more practical work, experiential learning, teachers’
coaching support, and access to learning resources and reading materials for effective
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and independent learning. Most discussions by the students’ focus groups covered the
overall development or transformational aspects of HEIs in Myanmar rather than the
ESD-specific perspectives. However, comprehensive growth and transformation are
fundamentally important for better ESD integration.

4.5 Key findings and recommendations

The key findings and recommendations of the scoping study are:

• As noted in Chapter 2, ESD does not have a high profile amongst the HEIs in
Myanmar, and more SDGs awareness is needed amongst the academic staff,
according to the responses by some interviewees (university teachers). The
teachers’ professional development was a focal point of discussions in both
interviews (teachers) and FGDs (students), especially in innovative teaching in
HEIs to meet developing a wide range of expected skills and knowledge or ESD
graduate attributes discussed in Chapter 3.
• The curriculum approach is a question of the best strategic direction – to
integrate ESD in the existing curricula, teach as stand-alone modules, or use a
‘hidden’ curriculum approach or something else.
• Having proper awareness of SDGs and a deeper understanding of ESD amongst
academics across all disciplines might be helpful for the application of a hidden
curriculum approach in the context of Myanmar HEIs.
• Review of current systems (including curriculum, teaching, learning, and
assessment) is called for as part of a Quality Assurance System and more
studies on graduate attributes and employability are recommended.
• Transformational development in HEIs’ leadership, administration, and
management, including human resources, are highly recommended. This is also
reflected in the reviewed literature in Chapter 3 and will be covered in the findings
and discussions in Chapter 8.
• Government and policymakers must provide the required support and resources
to meet these expectations.
• All stakeholders’ interests and participation must be recognised at all levels of
the educational reform process. It is aligned with what has been discussed in the
4Cs+RP model in Chapter 3.
• Basic needs for HEIs’ facilities, e.g., infrastructures, libraries, laboratories and
learning spaces for both students and teachers, should be prioritised. This point
is supported by physical reconstruction in the model of Arnhold et al. (1998).

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Regarding the teachers’ professional development and upgrading the quality of
university leadership, further cross-checking with other relevant stakeholders’ views
should be undertaken because it is also aligned with a strategic programme component
of the National Education Strategic Plan (NESP), i.e., to establish a National Institute for
Higher Education Development (NIHED) for the capacity development of the
professionals and leaders of HEIs (Ministry of Education, 2016).

The expected graduate attributes discussed in the students’ focus groups showed
different abilities ranging from thinking skills through emotional intelligence to many
other skills required for their personal lives and professional works. The ‘3Hs’ model
(Head, Heart, and Hand), discussed in the literature review (see 3.6.2), and these
graduate attributes expected by the students in the scoping study are helpful to affirm
the second research question – to explore what graduate attributes to be expected from
integrating ESD in Myanmar HEIs. There could be a certain set of graduate attributes
which are relevant or potentially contributing to building the desirable sustainable future
for Myanmar. Reflecting on holistic development of UNESCO’s ESD competency in
Chapter 3 and the context of Myanmar in Chapter 2, students’ development can be
considered based on the three sets of attributes: Head, Heart, and Hand.

Moreover, it can be clearly observed that the role of HEIs in implementing ESD are
aligned with the 4Cs+RP model discussed in the literature review (see 3.7) because the
discussions from both focus groups and individual interviews covered all the elements
in the model: curriculum; campus; community; culture; research; and pedagogy. The
recommended changes to be made for Myanmar HEIs’ improvement are also
consistently reflecting the HEIs’ transformation based on the Arnhold et al.'s (1998)
model of education for reconstruction. Findings from both reviewed literature and this
scoping study informed in developing the last research question – to investigate what
changes in policies and practices to be made for the transformation of Myanmar HEIs.

4.6 Chapter Summary

The scoping study, which was conducted alongside the initial literature review, was
conducted in the first year of this doctoral research, to understand the context of ESD in
Myanmar HEIs. The responses from 17 university teachers and 37 students in the
scoping study helped determine the research scope. Then, continuous as well as
iterative literature review informed this research enquiry. Consequently, both intensive
literature review and the findings of scoping study helped shaping the research
questions because the knowledge from those prior studies affirms that ESD is still new
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to Myanmar HEIs, and it is important to appreciate how ESD is understood or can be
conceptualised in the Myanmar context. Most scoping study participants were not yet
aware of SDGs and ESD, and the literature review has shown a significant research gap
in Myanmar HEIs’ engagement in ESD integration. Therefore, this scoping study also
contribute to affirming and justifying the research scope and questions.

Both focus groups and interviews covered the graduate attributes to be expected for
ESD. The students’ responses to graduate attributes also relate to necessary changes
to be made in the teaching, learning, assessment, and university leadership. Moreover,
both groups of participants emphasised transforming the HEIs in various aspects, which
is also related to developing expected graduate competencies through a quality
education system. All the key areas covered in the scoping study such as potential ESD
integration, higher education reform process for Myanmar HEIs can be related to the
models reviewed in Chapter 3. It shows that more detailed studies are needed to
understand the whole context and affirms the third research question – what changes to
be made for Myanmar HEIs’ transformation.

In addition to these purposes, the experiences from this study informed the research
approach and data collection methods in many ways, such as to ensure the invitation
process is as widely distributed as possible, to ensure participants are sufficiently
informed of their consent, better to use a volunteer’s assistance in focus groups, and to
use audio recordings in both interviews and focus group for more effective data
collection. Moreover, these experiences helped design and plan the research and data
management. Carrying out the scoping study, including HREC approval, interviewing
participants, and facilitating focus groups, provided valuable experience, and helped to
develop important skills for the main research. Even though the main data collection was
unexpectedly moved online, this scoping study was an important stage for the
researcher’s development. Similar approach, except using online mode of data
collection, was applied in the main research data collection and the models discussed
in the reviewed literature and key findings from this scoping study supported the data
analysis stage because the actual data from the main research reveal very similar
patterns and results particularly in the second and the third research questions.

In short, this in-country scoping study helps fill the literature gap in understanding ESD
in Myanmar HEIs and supports the scoping and framing of the research design and
questions. It also affirms the research enquiry approach and develops the researcher’s
knowledge and skills for the main research. The next chapter details the full research
methodology, adapted to cope with a global pandemic and an in-country military coup.

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Chapter 5 Research Methodology

5.1 Introduction

The previous chapters have explained the background context of both international and
local ESD implementation (what is to be studied), the main purpose of this research, and
how the research questions were scoped and developed (why this study was
undertaken). This chapter details the adapted research approach and methods in the
changing context (how it was studied). As discussed in Chapters 3 and 4, Education for
Sustainability (ESD) is not only a contested term in international communities but also
relatively new to the Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in Myanmar. The HEIs in
Myanmar bears two unique features: the centralised control by the military regime
(historical context) and the recent reforms hindered by the coup (current political
context). For these reasons, this research aims to understand how ESD could be viewed
and integrated in Myanmar HEIs, which need to be reconstructed. However, this doctoral
research project was interrupted and influenced by the global pandemic lockdown
(2020-22) and the political turmoil in Myanmar, the country to be studied (2021-2023).
The original research design, i.e., case studies of two universities in Myanmar, had to
be dropped after four months of preparation due to the military coup in February 2021.
After a two-month study-break, a new research enquiry was designed in discussion with
supervisors - a mixed methods approach using online survey, interviews, and focus
groups to generate quantitative and qualitative data to be largely analysed through an
interpretivist approach using a grounded theory method. It was decided that a mixed
methods approach could be appropriately employed to answer the three original
research questions (RQ):

RQ (1) How might ESD be conceptualised in the Myanmar HEIs’ context?

RQ (2) What are the graduate attributes to be expected from integrating this conception
of ESD in Myanmar HEIs?

RQ (3) What transformations in Myanmar HEIs’ educational policy and practices are
needed to develop these graduate attributes?

This research aims to investigate these questions from the perspectives of Myanmar
university teachers, students, and key informant interviewees with different socio-
cultural and professional backgrounds. Indeed, it relies on the abundant qualitative data
acquired but, in addition, a quantitative survey of graduate attributes is also an important
source of data to answer RQ2.

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The chapter is set out as follows.

• philosophical orientation and research paradigm (section 5.2),

• preparation (section 5.3),
• research data collection (section 5.4),
• data processing and analysis (section 5.5),
• reliability and validity (section 5.6), and
• chapter summary (section 5.7).

5.2 Philosophical orientation and research paradigm

5.2.1 Ontological and epistemological stance

Aiming to understand how ESD can be conceptualised in the context of Myanmar HEIs,
‘sustainability’ or ‘sustainable development’ are the key terms or texts to be explored
and understood in Myanmar society. It is necessary to recognise in which situations
these texts are used or how they are expressed. The latter is known as context which
can be understood as ‘encompassing external (institutional and cultural) factors and/or
internal, cognitive factors’ (House, 2006, p. 342). Then, it is necessary to understand the
related context and situations in which the text is used or expressed with a particular
intention to explain. The knowledge that the first research question (RQ1) attempts to
understand – how ESD can be interpreted, expected, and to be operationalised relating
to the contextual factors in Myanmar HEIs - means it was ontologically oriented to
relativism because the nature of knowledge to be studied in this research is relative to
a specific society or cultural context (Bernstein, 1983) and the concepts (e.g.,
sustainability or ESD) in this research may be differently represented depending on how
people in Myanmar society think about or view it (O’ Grady, 2002). Relativism, which is
different from positivism and sometimes synonymously used as pluralism, is simply
explained by O’ Grady that ‘there are alternatives – where there is more than one
canonical or valid account of reality’ (2002, p. 5). Likewise, the second and third research
questions (RQ2 and RQ3) - to investigate the stakeholders’ perspectives and priorities
on the ESD graduate attributes and the required changes to be made for the HEI’s
policies and practices and ESD integration - are similarly based on the participants’
understanding, interpretation, and their value laden disposition.

The subjective approach has been employed as a suitable epistemological assumption

because it was enquired through ‘the interpretive understanding of the social action’
(Weber, 1947, cited in Bryman, 2016, p. 26) based on the research participants’
experience, knowledge, ideas, expectation, or conceptions. Such an interpretivist
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approach embraces the logic of inquiry which attempts to understand the social
phenomenon which is different from the phenomenon being investigated by the natural
science and historians and social scientists (Hammersley, 2013). The key difference
from physical science explained by Hammersley (2013) is that interpretivism appreciates
that people:

‘actively interpret or make sense of their environment and of themselves;

that the ways in which they do are shaped by the particular cultures in which
they live; and that these distinctive cultural orientations will strongly
influence not only what they believe but also what they do’ (p. 26).

The theorical foundation of knowledge acquisition in this research is characterised by a

predominantly inductive enquiry and the knowledge to be acquired is specified as being
culturally or contextually unique. Therefore, an interpretivist approach has been mainly
employed for this type of study. However, a quantitative study was conducted to
understand the priority ranking of the desirable ESD graduate attributes and how priority
rankings were associated with socio-demographic factors in responding to RQ2.
Therefore, a quantitative survey for the graduate attributes was employed for RQ2 along
with qualitative inquiry techniques such as semi-structured key informant interviews
(KIIs) and two focus group discussions (FGDs) with university teachers and students to
answer RQ1 and RQ3.

5.2.2 Adapted research enquiry framework

The original research design had to be adapted due to the political changes in Myanmar,
making it impossible to carry out in-country data collection work due to safety and ethical
issues. An alternative approach was developed i.e., to study Myanmar university
teachers and students who are doing their post-graduate studies in Thailand and other
neighbouring countries. They were considered as potential as well as relevant research
participants to help answer the proposed RQs due to their higher education experience
in Myanmar, and more importantly it was safer for them to participate in the FGDs
compared with those living inside Myanmar. In addition, some potential KII participants
were also residing outside Myanmar. These attempts to understand people’s ideas,
perspectives, and expectations are matched with a qualitative enquiry approach rather
than a narrowly scoped quantitative survey. Therefore, qualitative strategy was selected
as the most suitable approach to answer RQ1 and RQ3 and to prepare the potential list
of graduate attributes for the RQ2 which was also contributed by the quantitative study.
Table 5.1 summarises the adapted research enquiry framework to answer the RQs.

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 Table 5.1 Research enquiry framework

Data collection Data Analysis

Sub-Questions Required data/information
method method
Research Question 1) How might ESD be conceptualised in the Myanmar HEIs’ context?
Previous Myanmar literature and
government’s commitment and official
Literature
strategies for SD, its plan in HE documents
review
policy and HEI related (government
1.1 What are the desirable information policies, reports)
features of sustainable
development of Myanmar? Different stakeholders'
perspective on their desirable Thematic
KIIs and FGD
sustainable development of Analysis
Myanmar

1.2 What should be the role of Different stakeholders’

Thematic
HEIs for the sustainable perspectives on HEIs’ roles for KIIs and FGD
Analysis
future of Myanmar? SD for Myanmar - ESD

Research Question 2) What are the graduate attributes to be expected from integrating this conception of
ESD in Myanmar HEIs?

2.1 What graduate attributes Attitude, behaviours, and

should be expected to competencies required as Thematic
KIIs and FGD
contribute to the sustainable graduate attribute for the SD of analysis
development of Myanmar? Myanmar
FGD participants’ perspectives Jam-board
Quantitative
2.2 What are the most important on the priority graduate survey with FGD
analysis
ESD related graduate attributes participants
attributes that Myanmar HEIs Online survey
Prioritised ESD related Quantitative
need to consider? (stakeholders
graduate attributes analysis
related to HEIs)
Research Question 3) What transformations in Myanmar HEIs’ educational policy and practices are needed
to develop these graduate attributes?

2.1 What are the key elements in HEIs' stakeholders' perspective

the Myanmar HEIs’ context on what can potentially Thematic
KIIs and FGD
for developing ESD related contribute to the development analysis
graduate attributes? of expected graduate attributes

2.1 What could be the potential

changes to be made in the Important changes to be made
Thematic
practices and principles of in the HEIs’ systems KIIs and FGD
analysis
HEIs for their transformation (policy/principles and practices)
in enabling ESD integration?

A diagram showing the

3.3 How these elements,
interacting elements or
policies, and practices are collected Matrix-coding
activities in the Myanmar HEIs'
inter-related in contributing to qualitative data and Influence
context to contribute to
the development of ESD and analyses diagram
developing ESD graduate
graduate attributes?
attributes

Note: KII = Key Informant Interview, FGD = Focus Group Discussion

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5.2.3 Choice of data collection and analysis methods

This section briefly introduces the full range of data collection and analysis methods
used (see Figure 5.1) and more detailed procedures and justifications are explained in
the following sub-sections.

Scope and design the

research questions Introducing to potential
(RQ) and enquiry HREC approval research participants via
approach and webinars and poster
methods

Inviting potential
research participants

Key Informant FGDs (Teachers)

Interviews (KII) &Students)

Qualitative Data analysis

(systematic and in-depth
consultation)

Identified 14
Graduate
Attributes
(GA)

Qualitative Data analysis Follow on survey with

(Thematic analsyis- Nvivo) An Online survey for earlier FGD participants
prioritising GA for prioritising GA

Systems mapping &

diagramming
Quantitative analysis

Answering RQ3-ESD
integration in the Answering RQ1-ESD
reconstruction of Answering RQ2-
conceptualisation for desirable ESD graduate
Myanmar HEIs Myanmar HEIs attributes

Figure 5.1 Flow-chart of research data collection and analysis procedures

87
KIIs and FGDs for qualitative data: The interviews with key informants, namely
politicians, scholars/ academics, businessman, and leaders from HEIs and Non-
governmental Organisations (NGOs) or Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), were
employed according to the claim by Hammersley (2013) that it is ‘the best way of eliciting
accounts of people’s experience and perspectives’ (p. 54). Similarly, the FGD technique
was employed as it is considered effective and relevant to capture the ideas, thoughts,
and perspectives from a group of participants with similar experiences and to understand
‘why people feel the way they do’ and ‘the ways in which the individuals collectively
make sense of a phenomenon and construct meanings around it’ (Bryman, 2016, p.
502).

Focus group is ‘an organised group discussion around a given topic, which is monitored,
guided if necessary, and recorded by a researcher’ according to Stewart and Williams
(2005, p. 396). The term online focus groups are widely used but can use different
modes of communications over different time periods. Stewart and Williams (2005)
discussed two types: ‘synchronous’ (the discussions are all at the same time) or
‘asynchronous’ (discussions can be made for a certain period via emails or any other
social media platforms) (p. 402). Synchronous online focus groups were employed in
this research.

Using online mode: Having recognised risk and safety concerns in such a politically
sensitive situation in Myanmar as well as travel constraints with Covid-19 related
restrictions, snowball sampling and targeted sampling were applied to explore and
recruit the potential participants (Watters and Biernacki, 1989; Browne, 2005; Leighton
et al., 2021). It was more sensitive and difficult to invite university teachers because
most of them protested the military coup by participating in the Civil Disobedience
Movement (CDM) and they had great concerns for their safety. As a general assumption,
university students were relatively more confident as well as having less risks than
teachers to participate in the focus groups. Moreover, the researcher’s social contacts
were helpful in the participant invitation process.

Responding to the global pandemic restrictions necessitated a wider use of digitally

assisted (online) data collection methods amongst social science researchers (Harper
et al., 2020; Hall, Gaved and Sargent, 2021; Shamsuddin, Sheikh and Keers, 2021). As
this research was also subject to the pandemic travel restrictions, internet-based
research data collection was employed for both qualitative and quantitative data. Zoom
Video Conferencing was used for both key informant interviews and focus group
discussions to collect the qualitative data required for RQ1 and RQ3. There are many

88
good reasons to use it - accessibility, convenience, safety, and comfort. Participants can
keep their video screen on or off, use pseudonyms for their identification, and can use
the chat box or private chatting if they preferred or needed to (Dodds and Hess, 2021).

Online survey: There has been an increased reliance on the internet (email or web-
based) surveys amongst various researchers, institutions including educational and
commercial ones, with some benefits - lower costs, faster speed, less pollution, more
potential responses in combined use with other communication modes and fewer
resources required compared with a traditional mailing survey (Fricker and Schonlau,
2002; Marta-Pedroso, Freitas and Domingos, 2007; Fleming and Bowden, 2009) whilst
it is still being discussed about the reliability of virtually collected research data (Baltar
and Brunet, 2012). Although there are a lot of benefits, some limitations have to be
acknowledged too, such as potential limitations to get access to internet (Marta-
Pedroso, Freitas and Domingos, 2007; Bryman, 2016), high uncertainty of participants’
engagements or responses, and challenging situation of shifting from traditional face-to-
face interview regarding power relationship (O’Connor and Madge, 2003; Marta-
Pedroso, Freitas and Domingos, 2007). However, this method was selected with an
assumption that most of the university students and graduates invited to take part in this
survey might be using smart-phones and have internet access.

Moreover, an opportunity to get responses from ‘hard-to-reach/ hard-to-involve

population’ is acknowledged by Baltar and Brunet (2012, p. 58) and it has been
recommended as a ‘convenience sampling’ by Fricker and Schonlau (2002, p. 354) for
some research that does not need probability-based statistical inferencing. Although the
targeted respondents for the online-survey do not fall under a hard-to-reach population,
the given context of ongoing political conflicts and crisis could be a barrier for them to
express their opinions openly and safely. It is justifiable to use the web-based survey to
reach them for their opinions. Sampling will be explained in more detail in the following
sub-section. After carefully designing and pre-testing a web-based survey (Jisc Online
Survey)47 as suggested by Fricker and Schonlau (2002), the online survey (Appendix 3)
was conducted to study Myanmar national’s perspectives on their priority ranking of the
selected graduate attributes (RQ2).

47 https://www.onlinesurveys.ac.uk/
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Research data analysis: Firstly, systematic analysis was carried out to list all possible
graduate attributes from the pool of qualitative data. Then, they were quantitatively
studied for their priority ranking based on the data of online survey which also had three
open ended questions. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) was applied for
the quantitative analysis in which descriptive and non-parametric tests were mainly
used. The qualitative data from the online survey were transferred to NVivo and
analysed together with the existing qualitative data from KIIs and FGDs. Thematic
analysis was employed for the qualitative data in addressing the research questions 1
and 3, as well as generating the thematic groups of graduate attributes for the RQ2.
Themes related to the expected features of sustainable future or sustainable
development in Myanmar were developed based on the coding process using all
sources of qualitative data. The same approach was applied to the themes for ESD,
related graduate attributes, and the potential approaches of ESD integration, and the
educational reconstruction for HEIs’ transformation.

5.3 Preparation

5.3.1 Ensuring ethical research

As this research had to learn from the participants in a politically sensitive time and
circumstances, protecting the research subjects for their anonymity, safety, dignity, and
consent were seriously considered and carefully handled throughout the project
(Shamoo and Resnik, 2002). Following the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)
guidelines based on the compliance training of The Open University (OU) (UK) and the
procedural review of the OU’s Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC), the
research data management plan was carefully developed, consulted with supervisors,
and reviewed and approved by HREC as a part of ethical clearance process. The
following key elements were considered in the research data management plan:

• the required data which must be important as well as sufficient to answer the
respective research questions
• the methods for collecting and storing those data
• the title formats of the video/audio and text files (transcripts)
• the folders to keep different files: recorded video/audio, text files, and the survey
files including back-up files
• the data files with different names according to their types and stages
• coding to prepare pseudonyms for personal and organisational names

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 • other precautionary tasks and reminders such as recording, using passwords for
important files, Virtual Private Network (VPN), etc.
• destroying and deleting both physical and digital primary data

This research project was reviewed by the HREC twice, once for the original research
plan then again for the amended plan following the pandemic and the military coup. It
was approved with the reference code HREC/3767/Lwin (Appendix 4), and the ethical
review covers:

• the consent forms

• participant information sheet
• information leaflet
• research data management plan
• semi-structured questionnaires to be used in the focus groups and interviews
• online survey format, and
• research project outline.

The experience of the in-country scoping study in 2019 was of significant help to the
researcher in terms of both HREC application, preparation, ethical conducts, and
qualitative research enquiries in the context of Myanmar culture. There were no sensitive
or vulnerable groups, for example, children, disabled people, criminal and terrorism-
related groups, or sensitive topics like religious affairs in the research enquiry. Besides,
all the participants were well informed and encouraged to contact the researcher for any
complaints if they have any uncomfortable or uneasy feelings during the invitation,
interview or focus group discussions, and follow-on communications. The participants
were respectfully informed to contact the supervisor for any complaint or feedback
regarding the researcher’s conduct.

The potential research participants had the research carefully explained to them,
including the purpose and process of data collection, and how it would be used. They
were informed of their freedom of decision making to either participate or not participate,
and if they chose to participate, they had the option to withdraw their participation even
during the interview or focus group discussions (Shamoo and Resnik, 2002). They could
withdraw their discussion points, even after the interviews or focus groups, without a
requirement to give any reason, up to the point of data processing for analysis. In
addition, they were informed that they could turn off their video, use any pseudonyms in
the Zoom video conference, and use the chat box for the focus groups. Due to the
politically sensitive period, the researcher went through the time-consuming process -

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contacting participants individually to check any worries or concerns and to elicit
suggestions or requests before the data collection day. Moreover, advice from peers
and supervisors were sought to ensure the smooth, safe, ethical, and effective KIIs and
FGDs.

A volunteer participated to assist the researcher during the focus groups. Monitoring the
entire process, she could provide the researcher with important reminders/ comments/
feedback/ suggestions to ensure equal participation, timely flow of discussions, and to
help with the balance of the group dynamic and overseeing the participants’ voice or
text-messages in the chat box. Having an assistant in the online focus groups was
helpful in many ways, although the main purpose was to ensure the researcher’s ethical
conduct and all practices by receiving her feedback after the focus groups.

In fact, ensuring ethical research conduct not only applies to the consent processes and
interview practices, but it is also related to all the activities throughout the project,
including the research data management. Moreover, participants were respectfully
informed about progress and the researcher shared early results and findings via
webinars. Overall, the data collection process went well because most participants were
familiar with using Zoom. The videos were recorded only on the researcher’s computer.
Then, it was transferred to an external hard disk for backing up with passcodes. To
ensure the participants’ anonymity, the data were carefully handled during transcribing
and translation processes as discussed in the data management plan.

5.3.2 Risk mitigation

This type of internet-mediated research data collection is very likely to be safe for both
researcher and participants. However, detailed guidance was given to the potential
participants for their safety in using electronic equipment or devices in the briefing
session as well as the beginning of the interview or FGDs. Some people in Myanmar
are afraid of using mobile phones or computers during heavy rain, thunder, and lightning.
Therefore, they were encouraged to pause if they were not comfortable to continue in
that situation.

Also, the participants were invited to choose their most suitable time and space to
participate in the online interviews and focus groups. Their comfort and safety were
considered as high priority during the COVID-19 pandemic situation. They were
informed that no sensitive information would be collected and there was no likelihood
for any risk of serious psychological or emotional problems.

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The individual interviews went well as all the key informants were mature and familiar
with the internet and the Zoom. In addition, it was relatively easier because the
researcher and the interviewees could easily negotiate for any required changes, and
the researcher could facilitate and manoeuvre the flow of the interview by observing the
interviewee’s motivation and interests. Nevertheless, it was challenging to conduct the
focus group with university teachers at that time due to social tension between two
groups of government employees including them: those who joined CDM and those who
did not. It was of great concern to the researcher that politically polarised participants
may have posed a risk to each other. Despite the concerns, both focus groups were
smoothly as well as effectively completed with thorough consideration, consultations,
and preparedness.

5.3.3 Sampling and participants selection in the given context

Being different from quantitative research, which is often based on probabilistic

sampling, the qualitative data collection commonly, but not limited to, applies ‘purposive
sampling’ – a method to select the potential sample members from specific groups of
people with relevant categories or characteristics which are strategically considered as
being matched with the research questions (Teddlie and Yu, 2007; Bryman, 2016). In
other words, the research questions provide guidance of what type of cases or persons
should be selected to answer them (Bryman, 2016). Following the two levels of sampling
as suggested by Bryman (2016), the context and the participants were considered in
sampling for the qualitative research data. For example, the key informant interview
participants were considered based on the diverse ethnic and socio-economic
backgrounds including their professional areas. For the focus groups, Myanmar
university teachers and students studying abroad were targeted as the relevant
participants for the proposed RQs because of their experience in the context of Myanmar
HEIs and the purpose of avoiding undesirable harms or risks.

As discussed in the remote data collection, university teachers apparently became a

hidden population while the CDM movement rose to its peak. Both CDM and non-CDM
groups had been threatened and pressured by sources. In such a condition, they were
inactive in social media and social contacts to minimize their potential harms/risks, even
though they were studying in foreign countries. Such a condition has led this research
to use ‘targeted sampling’ which was explained by Watters and Biernacki (1989) as

93
 ‘a purposeful, systematic method by which controlled lists of specified
populations within geographical districts are developed and detailed plans
are designed to recruit adequate numbers of cases within each of the
targets.’ (p. 420).

Risk mitigation was carefully overseen, not only for the university teachers, but also for
the students and the key informants. Indeed, different approaches to sampling were
applied, including criterion sampling, snowball sampling, and opportunistic sampling
(Bryman, 2016). Amongst them, snowball sampling was employed through all potential
social media contacts and networks in the given context of global crisis (Baltar and
Brunet, 2012; Bryman, 2016; Leighton et al., 2021). Teddlie and Yu (2007) claimed that
a lot of qualitative researchers conduct ‘sampling using multiple purposive techniques’
in which two or more purposive sampling strategies or techniques are used (Teddlie and
Yu, 2007, p. 83). This research needed to consider a wider range of criteria for the
research participants: experiences, cultural and professional backgrounds (for the KIIs),
the targeted stakeholders of HEIs (teachers and students), and the accessibility and
safety due to the context, hence multiple sampling techniques were appropriate.

All the participants, for both KIIs and FGDs, were contacted through the researcher’s
social contacts and introduced personally (see Table 5.2). Some webinars were
undertaken ahead of the participant invitation, to introduce this research and its research
questions. The presentation part of such webinar was recorded so that those who did
not attend the live webinars could watch the recording to familiarise themselves with the
research. These webinars were intended to be accessible and to help build trust and a
good relationship between the researcher and the potential participants before the data
collection step. To ensure the accessibility to the potential participants, the ethical
research data collection process, and the achievement of reliable quality data, the
research participants selection process was carefully undertaken through proper
consultation with supervisors and some participants who were already known to the
researcher. For instance, an alternative technique was used to collect the data from the
three KII participants residing in Myanmar (see the data collection). Identification of
potential samples were carried out based on their backgrounds (such as professional,
ethnic, and academic backgrounds) and accessibility, and the justification was reviewed
with supervisors.

Regarding the online survey, the sampling criteria for the potential respondents were all
of the following:

• Myanmar nationals (regardless of their residing places)

94
 • university students or graduated from any HEIs in Myanmar
• those who were over 18 years old (students in their first year are mostly 16-17
years old therefore they were excluded for their limited experiences in the HEIs).

Table 5.2 Sampling and participant selection processes for the data collection

Data collection
Applied sampling techniques and recruitment processes
method
Produced a list of potential participants with their socio-cultural and
professional backgrounds after consulting with a friend (a potential KII
participant) and supervisors
Additional potential participants were added to the list based on the
suggestions from supervisors and a friend
Each of potential participants was contacted to determine their interest
and availability for taking part, and they were provided with the information
Key Informant
sheet
Interview (KII)
A short list of interviewees was prepared with up to 10 to 11 in case some
might drop out for any reason.
Each of them was contacted, introduced to the research, invited for
interview, and provided with the consent form.
The ones who responded with completed consent forms were confirmed
and scheduled for interview.

Discussion was made with some friends and potential participants, and
they introduced the researcher to some more people and networks.

The interested parties (e.g., networks and people) who could further
extend the invitation were contacted and requested to link to relevant
people.
The invitation for introductory webinars was made with digital posters
through social networks of interested parties.
Webinars for the potential sample groups (mostly based in Thailand) were
Focus group with
conducted and the attendees were provided with the participant
teachers and
information sheet.
students
Webinar attendees who expressed an interest to participate in the
research were contacted individually, given more details, asked about any
concerns, and informed of the possible times of the focus groups (timings
had to be negotiated with all the potential participants' available
schedules).
Once the participants number reached up to 10-12 for each focus group,
the list was confirmed, and the invitation was made to confirm the FGDs.
Then the focus group discussions were conducted as scheduled with very
few 'no-shows'.

The list of potential social contacts like friends, organisations and

networks were prepared (44 contacts including the researcher himself).

They were contacted and requested to help in spreading the survey

Online survey invitation once it was launched.
Then the survey was launched by sending to all these potential social
contacts and by posting in the researcher's Facebook page which was
further shared by more friends in their networks.

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According to the ‘Digital 2022: Myanmar’ report, there were approximately 25 million
internet users, 21 million social media users and 73 million cellular mobile connections 48
in Myanmar in January 2022, whilst the population of the country was counted as 55
million (Kemp, 2022). Therefore, it was assumed that a web-based survey could reach
a large number of the targeted populations. As the survey was rolled out beyond
Myanmar through social networks, Myanmar nationals living in other countries could
also take part. Nevertheless, the potential limitations of reachability, accessibility to
internet, and probable non-responses, should also be acknowledged (Bryman, 2016).
As this web-based survey targeted a large population of university students and
graduates using multiple sampling techniques, as well as awareness raising through
webinars, the invitation was spread as widely as possible, and the resultant sample is
‘of unknown representativeness and it is impossible to know what the responses rate to
the questionnaire is since the size of the population is unknown’ (Bryman, 2016, p. 192).

5.4 Research data collection

As discussed earlier, this research relied on the qualitative data from seven KIIs and two
FGDs to answer the RQ1 and RQ3, as well as to prepare the ESD graduate attributes
for the RQ2 which was then explored quantitatively through the online survey data to
understand the prioritisation of the graduate attributes. This section details the data
collection methods and procedures.

5.4.1 Key Informant Interviews (KIIs)

Potential key informants were identified based on their diverse professional and ethnic
backgrounds as well as accessibility. The research aimed to interview one professional
per field. Originally, two to three potential key informants were listed for each
professional field to allow for potential dropouts due to accessibility or unwillingness to
take part. The following list of diverse professional fields were considered relevant to
provide insights and useful data for the RQs.

1) Politician
2) Development professional
3) Academic
4) Environmentalist
5) Journalist

48 Each citizen may have more than one mobile phone or sim-card.
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 6) Peace worker
7) Employer
8) Minority/marginalised group
9) Higher Education
10) Artist
11) Youth empowerment

Based on the individual’s accessibility, interest, availability, and commitment to

participate, seven key informants (see Table 5.3) accepted to participate in the
interviews. Some informants have dual roles and professional experiences. Moreover,
the researcher has known all of them personally and their academic backgrounds.
Having consented to participate in the research interview, they were sent a list of semi-
structured questions and explained individually through emails or social media platforms
such as Facebook messenger or Signal ensuring their confirmation, their satisfaction,
and understanding of the process. Amongst seven key informants, three were living
inside Myanmar while the remaining four were outside of the country during that time.

Table 5.3 Key Informant Interviewees' profiles and mode of interview

Mode of Interview
No. Job/Role Professional Stand
Interview Date

Education Development
KII-1 Higher Education and ESD Zoom 06/05/2021
Manager

KII-2 Politician (MP)49 Development and Gender Zoom 23/05/2021

self-
Peace, development, and
KII-3 NGO officer recorded 26/05/2021
Ethnic minority
audio
Writer/ Businessman/ Social justice, education, self-written
KII-4 31/05/2021
School Founder ecology, and peace text

self-written
KII-5 Professor Agriculture 06/06/2021
text

Development and
KII-6 NGO founder Zoom 07/06/2021
environment

NGO leader/ PhD Natural Resources and

KII-7 Zoom 20/06/2021
student Human Rights

49 Member of Parliament. MP will be used in the quotes in the following chapters, but it notes that this
person was a former MP.
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Although participants living in Myanmar had been considered out of scope due to
security concerns, three relevant professionals based in Myanmar expressed an interest
to be interviewed. In discussion with supervisors, it was agreed that these professionals
would be very useful contributors, and alternative methods of collecting the
questionnaire responses were used to minimise security concerns, i.e., their self-
recorded or written files through a secure channel. Therefore, different modes were
applied for the KIIs: three interviewees who were residing inside Myanmar sent their
responses to the questionnaires in a self-recorded audio file or a text file to the
researcher whilst the rest living outside Myanmar were interviewed through Zoom video
conferences. Each online interview session took an hour, and it was recorded on the
researcher’s computer.

5.4.2 Focus Group Discussions (FGDs)

Participants for the focus groups were divided into two different groups: 1) university
teachers (FGD-1) and 2) university students (FGD-2). The participants in the former
group (FGD-1) were the teachers from different HEIs in Myanmar and they were doing
their post-graduate studies (master’s and PhD) in neighbouring countries at the time of
research data collection. The latter group (FGD-2) included Myanmar students who were
studying abroad.

Generally, male dominance can be obvious in such discussions in Myanmar society.

However, the participants in both focus groups were educated individuals and there was
no male participant in teachers’ group. There was also equal participation in the
students’ group. Given that most of the students, in Myanmar culture, are not likely to
speak up in a meeting in which the teachers are also present, it was appropriate to have
separate focus groups for them. Moreover, a minimum gap of different levels/ranks of
the teachers had been carefully considered to ensure a balanced power dynamic
amongst themselves although the group was relatively homogeneous in social status
according to Carey (1994) cited by Wilkinson (1998). This meant the potential for any
undesirable power pressure between students and teachers was removed and their
perspectives could be captured separately. It also meant that each group was an
appropriate size to have good coverage of information to address the research

98
questions. Most potential participants for FGD-1 who showed up were found to be
assistant lecturers and lecturers50.

They were contacted through the researcher’s social networks (using pamphlets,
webinars) and individually explained about the purpose of the data collection once their
signed participant information sheets had been received. Receiving their signed consent
forms, the schedule was confirmed with mutual agreement through a google form. Then,
they were provided with the Zoom links and security passcodes. To save time in the
focus groups, some preliminary questions were sent to participants through email (pre-
FGD). Their responses were summarised and presented before each discussion for a
particular question related to desirable sustainable development in Myanmar, roles of
HEIs for sustainable development, and the expected graduate attributes.

Amongst 16 potential participants for FGD-1 (teachers), 13 replied with interest, 12

responded their consent forms, and 10 participated in the focus group (see Table 5.4).
For FGD-2 (students), 15 potential participants out of 21 who were contacted relayed
their interest and consent to participate, but only 9 appeared on the day of the focus
group (see Table 5.5). Both FGDs had a good number of participants because 6-10
participants were recommended by Morgan (1998) for a traditional face-to-face focus
group and 5-12 participants were recommended by Dodds and Hess (2021) in their
review as an appropriate group size for online FGD. Considering the drop-out rate or
possibility of ‘no-show’ (Morgan, 1998; Moore, McKee and McCoughlin, 2015), a greater
number of potential participants than expected were strategically invited as
recommended by Wilkinson (1990), cited in Bryman (2016).

50 Ranking of teaching staff in Myanmar HEIs are varied based on their administrative ministries.
Generally, the graduates who are qualified for post graduate studies can be recruited as novice level of
academic staff called ‘tutors’ or ‘demonstrators’. Then, they can be promoted as ‘Assistant Lecturers’
after getting their masters’ degrees and some years of teaching experiences. They can be promoted as
Lecturers, Associate/Assistant Professors, and Professors consecutively. The term ‘Associate Lecturer’
is not used in Myanmar.
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 Table 5.4 List of FGD-1 participants' profiles

No. Code Discipline and Current Programme Academic Title

1 P1 Agriculture (Master) Lecturer

2 P2 Chemical Engineering (PhD) Lecturer

3 P3 Electrical Engineering Education (PhD) Assistant Lecturer

4 P4 Computer (PhD) Lecturer

5 P5 Educational Psychology (Master) Assistant Lecturer

6 P6 Education Theory and Management (Master) Assistant Lecturer

7 P7 Zoology (PhD) Lecturer

8 P8 Bio-Medical Technology (Master) Assistant Lecturer

9 P9 Bio-Medical Technology (Master) Assistant Lecturer

10 P10 Agriculture (PhD) Lecturer

Table 5.5 List of FGD-2 participants' profiles

No. Code Location Discipline Programme

1 P11 India Civil Engineering Bachelor

2 P12 Thailand Remote Sensing and GIS Master

3 P13 Thailand Geo-Technology Master

4 P14 USA Wildlife Conservation Master

5 P15 Thailand Educational Management Master

6 P16 Thailand Urban Environmental Management Master

7 P17 Thailand Engineering Master

8 P18 USA Natural Resources Management Master

9 P19 Thailand Conservation Ecology Master

Inclusion of diverse cultural and academic backgrounds of the participants was critical
for this research to understand the diverse perspectives of sustainability and ESD
concepts in the Myanmar context. The final participants were from different ethnic
groups (such as Kachin, Kayin, Chin, Shan, Inn-thar and Bamar) and different religious
backgrounds (such as Christians, Muslim, and Buddhists) and different disciplinary fields
(see Table 5.4 and Table 5.5). They were all Myanmar citizens with experience of
education system in Myanmar but currently living outside the country. Generally, both

100
FGDs went well and each lasted two hours with a 10-minute internal break. It was slightly
difficult to facilitate to ensure inclusivity and active engagement of every participant.
Generally, most of the participants actively engaged in the discussions but two to three
participants were more active in both FGDs.

The quality of FGD can be influenced by many factors, an important one is the
researcher’s facilitation skills: to check and balance the participants’ full presence and
equal participation, as well as to adjust the seniors’ dominance in the group. At the same
time, the researcher himself needed to take care of all logistical arrangements and
processes. To help this, a volunteer with community development experience was
invited to assist in the focus groups. She not only assisted in some logistical tasks but
also co-facilitated on aspects such as time keeping, checking the energetic level of the
participants, ensuring the researcher’s questions or instructions were clear for
participants, and to make sure the session was recorded. Having a co-facilitator or
assistant in the focus group was helpful and supportive, it helped the main facilitator
(researcher) with keeping time and the flow of the group discussion, as well as providing
some logistical support and helping to maintain energy levels (Krueger, 1997). It is also
discussed in the researcher’s reflective learning (see Chapter 9).

Although these online focus groups were financially efficient as it saved budget for the
travel costs and time for both the researcher and the participants, it did require several
negotiations over the participants’ availability due to their different time zones. The
researcher needed to prepare his physical setting, including overhead webcam,
appropriate lighting, audio, and microphone checks, and with some flip chart paper and
marker pens to hand. Rehearsal practice sessions were made with a volunteer. The
participants were familiar with Zoom through the introductory webinars and individual
contacts. Both FGDs were recorded and securely filed on the researcher’s computer.

5.4.3 Online Survey

Based on the initial analysis of the qualitative data from seven KIIs and two FGDs, key
thematic areas were identified for the graduate attributes. Then, 14 graduate attributes
were identified through sieving systematically from the qualitative data and selected
through iterative process of consultation with both supervisors and the research
participants. They were prepared with descriptors to be tested by using an online survey.

The list of graduate attributes was sent back to the research participants (both KIIs and
FGDs) for their verification and comments before conducting the online survey. Once
their confirmations with satisfaction were received, the survey was designed in the Jisc
101
Online Survey platform with a clear layout in which respondents can simply select the
priority rank in the given range of 0 (zero) to 9 (nine) to each given graduate attribute
(see Figure 5.2). The priority rank was ranged from ‘not important at all (zero)’ to ‘most
important (nine)’ towards the sustainable future of Myanmar. This was followed with
three open questions that enabled respondents to:

- provide some comments on the given graduate attributes

- add any additional attributes not already included that they considered important
- to make any general comments or suggestions e.g., about graduate attributes or
the survey.

It took only 6-8 minutes for the respondents to complete the survey, and it was prepared
in both Myanmar and English languages to overcome any language barriers. The
survey design was compatible for both smart-phone and computer users (see Online
Survey Form in Appendix 3). A preliminary test was carried out with the help of ten
volunteers to ensure the convenience of use and accuracy. Some corrections and
amendments were made based on the suggestions of the volunteers.

Recommending graduate attributes by scoring

6 1) Social abilities: Being reflexive and open-minded for feedbacks;
Social dealing skill such as interpersonal communication skill, negotiation skill,
conflict resolution skills, and being able to build social network; Being good in
teamwork such as being collaborative, adaptable, flexible, and confident to
discuss, question or debate.
လူမှုရရေးဆိုငရ
် ာကျွမ်ေးကျင်မှု မမကိုယ်မမ ပြန်လည်ဆင်ပြင်တတ်ပြေး ရြေးလာသည် ရေဖန်၊ မှတ်ြျက်၊ အကကြံပြြု
ြျက်မျာေးကို စတ်ရှငေး် လင်ေးစာ လက်ြြံကကြုဆိုတတ်ပြင်ေး။ ရြေါင်ေးသင်ေးဆက်ဆြံရရေး ရကာင်ေးမန်ပြင်ေး၊ ဥြမာ
လူမှုဆက်ဆြံရရေးရကာင်ေးပြင်ေး၊ ညြုနင်
ှု ေးရဆေးရနေးတတ်ပြင်ေး၊ ြဋြကခမျာေးကိုကိုငတ
် ယ်ရပဖရှငေး် တတ်ပြင်ေး၊
လှုမှုကန်ယက်တည်ရဆာက်တတ်ပြင်ေး။ အသင်ေးအဖွဲ့ ပဖငအ
် လိုြ်လိုြ်တတ်ပြင်ေး၊ ဥြမာ ြူေးရြေါင်ေးရဆာင်ရက်
တတ်၊ လိုက်ရလျာညရ စာ ပြြုမူဆက်ဆြံတတ်၊ ရြျာရပြာင်ေးစာအလိုက်သင် စမြံတတ်ပြင်ေး နှင် ရဆေးရနေးရန်၊
ပငင်ေးြိုနရ
် န်၊ ရမေးြန်ေး ိုတ်ရန် မမကိုယ်မမ ယြံိုကကည်မှု၊ သတတ ရှပြင်ေး။
0 (not
9 (essential/
relevant at 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
most relevant)
all)
Social Abilities          

Figure 5.2 An example of an attribute to be rated in the online survey

The survey was launched on 18th July 2021 with an initial closing date of 15 th August
2021 and initially capped at a maximum of 300 responses. However, due to requests
from people who wanted to respond, the closing date was extended by ten days (to 25 th
August) and capped at a maximum of 500 responses. All social network contacts and
102
friends were contacted and requested to share amongst their networks to reach a larger
number of potential respondents. In total, 417 responses were received by the closing
date. The survey succeeded by reaching a greater than planned number of respondents,
even in the context of the pandemic and military coup. It showed a great contribution of
friends/social networks’ collaborations and the powerful connectivity of social media
platforms for effective research data collection.

5.4.4 Follow-on survey of FGD participants

The initial analysis of the online survey data showed no significant variations in
prioritisation of graduate attributes, mostly the participants prioritised all the given
graduate attributes as important for Myanmar HEIs from an ESD perspective (see
Chapter 7 for more detail). However, there were some interesting differences when
analysed by demographics, which will be explained with the survey results in Chapter 7.

To complement the online survey and help differentiate prioritisation of attributes,

another online survey of the FGD participants was undertaken but this time doing their
priority ranking of the 14 graduate attributes using Google Jam-board51 as an online
application tool. Participants had to place each graduate attribute (mentioned on the
post-it notes) in a matrix with two dimensions: degree of importance and degree of
impact over time (see Figure 5.3). The matrix was composed of three levels on each
axis – Low (L), Medium (M), and High (H). All the graduate attributes were provided on
the left-hand side of the Jam-board and the participants had to drag them and move to
the cells of their preferred ranks e.g., High-High, or High-Medium or Low-Low, etc. They
were informed that the colours of post-it notes have no special meanings. Participants
could do this until they were satisfied during the given period: 21 February 2022 to 07
March 2022. 15 out of 18 invitees responded to this request.

Jam-board is a helpful, feasible, visualised, and convenient digital/online board for the
participants to move the post-it notes as they wish. Participants posted a note ‘DONE!’
at the bottom as a signal of completion for the researcher. Then, their emails in the
shared link were changed into a viewer status to make sure that it could no longer be
mistakenly changed by themselves. After the deadline, all the Jam-boards were
downloaded and saved as ‘pdf.’ files.

51 It is a free version of Google application tools. https://jamboard.google.com/?pli=1

103
 Figure 5.3 A sample Google Jam-board responded by a participant of FGD

5.5 Research data processing and analysis

5.5.1 Transcribing and Translating

Before transcribing the recorded video files, the researcher watched them carefully to
understand the discussions more clearly. Some notes were taken for any unclear voice
or message, which was then checked with the participants to validate what they had
said, particularly to ensure some minor distortions in a few video files.

With a volunteer’s assistance, a remotely co-transcribing process was employed to

transcribe all the recorded Zoom video files 52 (interviews and focus groups) and to save
time. It was carried out in the Zoom video conference in which checking the text,
spellings, and required correction were simultaneously made. The researcher had
prepared the codes to anonymise the participants and some organisations’ names
before co-transcribing. Transcribing interview files could be considered time consuming,
boring, and tiresome (Brinkmann and Kvale, 2019) but by co-transcribing with an
experienced typist, the researcher found it to be effective, productive, and interesting.

52 There was no reliable auto-transcription for Myanmar Language and auto-translation from Myanmar to
English in the Zoom application.
104
Moreover, it deepened the researcher’s reflective learning on his interview techniques
and group dynamic of the focus groups, and it helped with developing initial ideas for
the analysis (Brinkmann and Kvale, 2019).

A simple transcript format was used as the research was not related to conversational
analysis or the participants’ behaviours and mood in the interview process. Only a few
symbols were used to simplify such as (.) for a gap in the speech and (Laughter) for the
participants or researcher’s laugh. After being transcribed, each transcript was sent back
to the respective participant as per the agreed consent to let him/her read and verify the
consistency and accuracy. Most participants replied with their confirmation, and only
three to four made subtle changes and one provided additional information in their reply.
Then, editing the transcripts was completed based on their comments, suggested
corrections, and additional information before being translated into English Language.

Translation was conducted by a professional translator (from Myanmar to English) and

the researcher checked the translated versions (in English) for accuracy, consistency,
and spelling before they were ready to be used for analysis.

5.5.2 Qualitative analysis

As mentioned earlier, this research heavily relied on the large amount of qualitative data
mainly acquired from seven transcripts of KIIs, two transcripts of FGDs, and some
qualitative data from open comment questions of the online survey. There were two
parts of qualitative analysis in this research.

An initial stage of qualitative analysis was carried out to sieve the selected graduate
attributes before the quantitative study. Firstly, the key messages related to the graduate
attributes (the desirable knowledge, skills, attitude, and behaviours regardless of the
disciplinary competencies) were highlighted by using appropriate names (or codes) and
categorised into different thematic groups. Then, the list of graduate attributes together
with respective descriptions were discussed with the supervisors. Then they were sent
out to the research participants for their review and checks. Once the participants’
responses were considered in the revision, it was discussed again with the supervisors
and finalise the fourteen graduate attributes to be surveyed. In fact, this initial qualitative
analysis was conducted in systematic review and analysis without using NVivo software.
Then they were prepared in the Jisc Online Survey format for the quantitative study.

The second part of the qualitative analysis was to analyse all the acquired qualitative
data from interviews, focus groups and some additional comments from the Online

105
Survey NVivo 1253 to help answer all three RQs. The photographs of the flipcharts (with
some notes and diagrams) from the two FGDs were also used as the data sources in
the NVivo software. Being different from a quantitative analytical software like SPSS54,
NVivo software has no buttons to identify themes or concepts but is a programme that
can be useful like a research assistant to manage the concepts generated by the
researcher (Woolf and Silver, 2018). However, the researcher needs to do ‘100 percent
of the intellectual work’ as it does not do any analytical functions for the research (Woolf
and Silver, 2018, p. 2).

Braun and Clarke (2006) suggested six phases of thematic analysis which were widely
used (Kiger and Varpio, 2020) in qualitative research:

1. familiarising the data

2. coding
3. initial themes
4. reviewing themes
5. defining and naming themes
6. reporting

As Woolf and Silver (2018) claim that there is no rigid order of activities in the qualitative
analysis, these phases were not strictly followed in sequence and there were several
stages of iteration and back-and-forth amongst phases 2, 3, and 4.

Familiarisation with the data

Relistening to the recorded video and audio files as well as reading the transcripts before
the analytical process was of great help for the researcher to become familiarised with
the data. After the transcripts had been checked and edited, they became ready for the
analytical procedures. All the transcripts and the responses from the online survey (in
English) were uploaded in the NVivo software.

Coding

Open coding and mixed methods of different coding (e.g., Process coding, In Vivo
coding and Versus coding) were mostly applied in this research. The codes were
thoroughly checked and reviewed before the second cycle coding. Some patterns and

53 A Computer Assisted Qualitative Data Analysis Software (CAQDAS)

54 Statistical Package for Social Science
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initial themes emerged in the second cycle coding process, but the researcher used
inductive coding (grounded theory approach) in the beginning without aligning the codes
to the models, e.g., ESD integration and educational reconstruction, etc. There were
many layers of hierarchy in the branching of coding in the beginning of the process.
Coding also covered what the researcher said in the KIIs and FGDs to ensure
confirmation of what the participants said, e.g., paraphrasing and validating. They were
supportive as a pool of references including what the researcher uttered and confirmed
with what the participants wanted to say. However, in writing and discussion in the
thesis, it was carefully checked if a particular message came from the participants or the
researcher’s comments, paraphrase, or annotations.

Initial themes

Initial themes and categories emerged after the second cycle coding. It took time to
develop a thematic framework because some codes were observed in many overlapping
themes, and some were found difficult to be named with a suitable theme or category.
Nevertheless, both reviewing and initial theming were carried out back and forth as an
iterative process to finalise a stable framework. All the codes were checked as a final
step before being merged into a group of similar thematic meanings or categories.

Reviewing themes

This step built upon the former stage, and the researcher has made several changes
and moved around the codes and checked references amongst the themes. The sub-
themes in ESD integration originally had a category for ‘systems’ but it has been moved
to HEI reconstruction theme later because the data showed more inclining to some
changes required to be made in order to support ESD integration practices. Reviewing
the categories and naming them was informed by the models discussed in the literature.
There were six approaches of naming the themes discussed by Constas (1992) and
because the data in the sub-categories were mostly aligned with those in the models,
‘referential’ (Constas, 1992, p. 259) approach was employed since in this initial theming
phase. It can be noted that deductive reasoning was applied in this stage of theming
although inductive approach was used in the initial coding process following the
discussed models: revised ESD integration model (4Cs+RP) and Educational
Reconstruction proposed by Arnhold et al. (1998).

Defining and naming themes

The final stage of defining and naming the themes was easier to do after the robust
coding and theming processes. Concept mapping was applied to look at the themes and

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their relationships (see an example in Appendix 15). The sub-themes under the
desirable sustainable future and the role of higher education for sustainable future (ESD)
were explored as the first step. The sub-themes under the desirable graduate attributes
for the sustainable development were studied as the second step. Thirdly, the potential
ESD integration approaches and the needs in higher education for reconstruction
process were investigated as the last theme. Writing memo and annotations in NVivo
were helpful for the writing stage, and the researcher’s reading the coded references
and interpreting them with an induction reasoning process were the key parts of the
thematic analysis. Moreover, the analytical processes were informed by the research
questions and the theory (ESD integration model and education reconstruction model
here in this research) in the later stage. More detail will be discussed in the following
chapters.

5.5.3 Quantitative analysis

The quantitative analysis was mainly employed to confirm the important graduate
attributes to be considered from ESD integration in the HEIs for the sustainable
development of Myanmar and their priority ranking using the non-parametric tests. As
noted above, the online survey was employed to measure respondents’ perspectives of
priority values for the selected graduate attributes. The quantitative data from the Jisc
online survey was analysed by using SPSS software (IBM SPSS Statistics 27) to explore
if the selected graduate attributes were differently prioritised and such an analysis
included different respondent demographics which were viewed by descriptive analysis.
Due to the nature of the data which were not a normal distribution, non-parametric tests
(mainly Kruskal-Wallist test, Friedman test, and Mann Whitney U test) were applied to
check the priority ranking of the fourteen graduate attributes, and to understand the
relationships of some demographic data, such as age groups, gender groups, education
levels, and their residing locations, and the priority ranking levels of the graduate
attributes. The attributes could be arranged from the highest to the lowest level of priority
values. However, it was impossible to group the graduate attributes as different clusters
because there were no significant differences of different groups of similar attributes.

The data from the follow-on testing (Jam-boards) were simply analysed to see the
priority rank of each graduate attribute through examining their mean scores based on
the frequency of responses for a particular attribute in the different priority cells - the
three levels were scored as 1 (Low), 2 (Medium), and 3 (High) in the Jam-boards. The
two scores from the degree of importance and the degree of impact over time were
multiplied as a priority score for each participant and finally an average for each graduate

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attribute was calculated based on the number of respondents and total priority scores.
In addition, non-parametric tests were applied to check the median values and the mean
ranks to arrange the order of ranking. After all this, these analyses were compared
against the statistical results from the online survey to see if there were any similarities
or differences.

5.6 Reliability and Validity

Reliability, as a simple definition, is the degree of replicability of a research study or the

extent to which the research study method could likely produce the same findings in the
replicated studies at any time (Kirk and Miller, 2011; Bryman, 2016). However, reliability
in qualitative research enquiries has been discussed as a controversial issue whenever
it is seen through a quantitative lens (Bryman, 2016). Kirk and Miller (2012) argued that
a method could provide reliable data even if the answer is invalid. On other hand, a
method might give a valid data although it could be more reliable. Qualitative studies
differ in both ontological and epistemological nature from the quantitative ones. It is
widely known and accepted that such non-hypothetical research enquiries are not
representing the whole population, and the results cannot be generalised.

There appear two main considerations: reliability of the method (if two different methods
can provide the same answers/data from the same research subjects or not) and validity
of the answers/data (whether the data/answers really represent the research subjects’
feeling, expectation, behaviours, conceptions etc.). Sustainability is a concept which can
be differently viewed and defined by different individuals, however reliability in this
qualitative enquiry is likely to be characterised by a need to provide the same answers
or interpretations through applying the same research method with different research
participants living in the same context of Myanmar. But this research was to explore a
phenomenon or an individual or a group of peoples’ perspectives, feelings, and
conceptions in a unique cultural or political context (Kirk and Miller, 2011). In the
qualitative research, particularly in this thematic analysis, reliability could be replaced
with data saturation or theoretical sufficiency which can be achieved when a certain
number of interviews have been conducted. In other words, saturation is reached when
no new themes appear or be developed even by adding extra information or data
according to Glaser and Strauss (1967) cited in Nelson (2017). Then it is a reliable stage
of making a theorisation in thematic analysis research or grounded theorists’ approach.
Based on the experience of conducting four focus groups in Myanmar during the scoping
study, the researcher could feel and see this phenomenon. The information from the first
two focus groups were similar and it was significantly noticed that all the same points

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and themes were discussed in the following third and fourth focus groups in different
locations. Two FGDs with 19 participants (teachers and students) and 7 KIIs from
diverse professional and ethnic backgrounds in this research were assumed to be able
provide a sufficient pool of data based on the consultation with supervisors and the
literature.

To ensure the data accuracy and authenticity, different steps of verification were made
in this research. Firstly, the transcripts were sent back to the research participants for
their final check and any additional comments until their confirmations were received
before analysis. Secondly, the list of graduate attributes was discussed with supervisors
and the fourteen attributes were sent back again to the research participants (both KIIs
and FGDs) to get their feedback and comments. After the online survey had been
closed, follow-up checks were made with the research participants of FGD using Jam-
board to get their view and perspectives on the priority ranking of the graduate attributes.
A webinar presenting the preliminary findings was conducted for general audience,
including the research participants, to collect their verification and comments. In this
way, research rigour was achieved through cycles of feedback and iterative discussions
with the participants. Both transcription and translation were managed with great care
and attention as it is important to hold the most reliable meanings and interpretations
although the transcripts are not true-to-type copies of its originalities but are
‘decontextualized conversations’ according to Brinkmann and Kvale (2020, p. 9).

However, validity of the qualitative research is not ended in the data collection process,
but it entails the whole research process (Kvale, 2011). Echoing Kvale’s claim that
validation is ‘to check’, ‘to question’ and ‘to theorise’ (2011, p. 5–6), the data collection
was thoroughly designed with appropriate research questions informed by both the
literature review and in-country scoping study. Moreover, consulting with the research
participants has been carefully made throughout the process to check any concerns and
security issues. In this way, the theoretical conception of research enquiries was aligned
with the methods of data collection and analytical process together with interpretation of
the research finding.

5.7 Chapter summary

The chapter has discussed the methods and justification of the research data collection
and analysis and how and why the research enquiry methods had to be adapted. As the
research aimed to explore how ESD and related graduate attributes were viewed and
expected from the research participants’ perspectives, it has employed an interpretive

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approach, mixed methods - relying on the qualitative strategy and subjective approach
together with a quantitative study on the graduate attributes, and grounded theory
method. Research data management and participant recruitment processes were
cautiously handled due to the higher risks and potential likelihood of ethical issues being
imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic regulations and the political crisis in Myanmar. The
participants outside Myanmar were mainly invited for interviews and to the focus groups
to minimize undesirable risks and harms. Remote data collection was employed for
qualitative and quantitative data, which were analysed using NVivo software and SPSS
software. More importantly, this chapter has discussed the research methods,
procedures, and justifications to help ensure ethically sound research practice, to
provide reliability and validity, and a well-informed and comprehensive research strategy
and approach. The discussions in the following chapters will respond to the three main
RQs based on both the qualitative and quantitative enquiries discussed in this chapter.

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Chapter 6 Conceptualisation of Education for Sustainable
Development in the Higher Education Context of Myanmar

6.1 Introduction

Chapter 4 explained how the three main research questions were developed based on
the limited published literature and understanding of the scoping study. Chapter 5
discussed how the research enquiry and data collection methods, and analytical
processes were conducted. Education for sustainable development (ESD) is important
to address the global issues as previously discussed. At the same time, it is necessary
to understand how it could be conceptualised in the context of higher education
institutions (HEIs) in Myanmar. This chapter discusses the first research question (RQ1):

How might ESD be conceptualised in the Myanmar HEIs’ context?

which examines the conceptualisation of sustainable development and ESD in the

context of Myanmar HEIs from the relevant stakeholders’ perspectives based on the
qualitative data of seven Key Informant Interviews (KIIs), two Focus Group Discussions
(FGDs), and responses for the open questions of the online survey. The responses to
semi-structured questionnaires used in both KIIs and FGDs are the main sources of
qualitative data responding to two sub research questions (RQ): RQ 1.1 desirable
features of sustainable development (future) of Myanmar and RQ 1.2 the roles of HEIs
to contribute to the desirable sustainable development for Myanmar (or ESD). This
chapter discusses:

• Themes and sub-themes related to the desirable sustainable development or

future for Myanmar (Section 6.2)
• Roles of HEIs for the sustainable development of Myanmar (Section 6.3)
• Conceptualised ESD in the context of Myanmar HEIs (Section 6.4)
• Chapter summary (Section 6.5).

6.2 Desirable sustainable future or development of Myanmar

Echoing Brundtland’s Report (Brundtland et al., 1987) and the discussion of Sen (2013),
sustainability can be referred to as the qualities of people’s lives, their natural
environment, the political context, the enabling situation of economic development and
people’s satisfaction with it, and the way people enjoy their lives or public services.
Secondly, it may be a process, criteria or determinants of human activities which predict
homeostasis for society or the natural environment. In other words, sustainable

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development can be defined as the progress or well-functioning social and ecological
systems without bringing any harms or deterioration that can threaten the present or
future generation’s wellbeing and ability to meet their needs. Thus, sustainability in this
thesis will be observed from both conditional statement (ends) and pathways/process
(means) (Strange and Bayley, 2008; Sen, 2013) .

The research participants were asked what sustainability means to their personal lives.
While asking the participants in both KIIs and FGDs, ‘sustainable development’ was
intentionally paraphrased and inter-changeably used as 'sustainable future or desirable
conditions they would like to see in the future of Myanmar' to capture a holistic view of
their understandings. As explained in Chapter 5, a robust process of coding, developing
categories, and theming were inductively conducted. Following the naming convention
suggested by Braun and Clarke (2006), the emerged themes were named based on the
codes and categories. Eventually, the following five themes were produced to
conceptualise the desirable sustainable future in Myanmar as expected by the research
participants as shown in Table 6.1.

Table 6.1 Sub-themes for the desirable sustainable development for Myanmar

Desirable sustainable development/future for Myanmar Coded References

Economic view 47

Environmental view 57

Philosophical view 51

Political view 40

Socio-cultural view 23

Total coded references 218

The total number of coded references for each respective theme can be seen in Table
6.2 across the diagonal line (shaded in yellow) and the environmental view contributed
the largest number of coded references towards the desirable sustainable development.
The discussion of each theme will be interwoven with other thematic aspects as some
of the coded references are shared across two or more thematic views, i.e., some
observations are inter-related or overlapping. For example, the economic view can be a
lens to look at all other aspects which influence it and vice versa.

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 Table 6.2 Intersectional coded references across five thematic views for desirable
sustainable development in Myanmar

Economic Environmental Socio- Philosophical

Political view
view view cultural view view
Economic view 47 27 4 4 6
Environmental
27 57 1 2 1
view
Socio-cultural
4 1 23 1 6
view
Political view 4 2 1 40 2
Philosophical
6 1 6 2 51
view

6.2.1 Economic View

The sustainable future of Myanmar, as desired by the research participants, can be

viewed from two main economic perspectives: 1) fair opportunities and inclusive
development, and 2) environmentally friendly economy. They considered economic
development from social justice and environmental perspectives because almost all the
coded references55 (the data excerpts) seem to embrace the values of social justice and
environmental friendliness. The discussion of economic development was strongly
rooted in ecological resilience, and sustainability in ecosystems was largely reflected in
the students’ group.

There was a discussion of environmental conservation management considering local

communities’ economic conditions in the FGD-2 (students). P19 (Participant 19), based
on her work experience in the protection of endemic deer species in the central dry zone
of Myanmar, highlighted the importance of understanding the economic context in
wildlife conservation management. Regarding the hunters who were doing hunting for
their survival, she claimed that:

“We must find alternatives to help them change their livelihoods.” (P19,
FGD-2)

55 The data excerpts coded in a particular theme or subthemes captured from the original transcripts.
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Her discussion was supported by P12 with an example of electrofishing56 threatening
the ‘Ayeyarwady dolphin’ which is an endangered species57 in the Ayeyarwady river.

Regarding livelihood and economy, the data showed that education was seen as a
foundation of all citizens for job opportunities which could, in turn, reduce the burden on
pressuring the natural resources. P10 in the FGD-1 (teachers) viewed education as a
wise investment to build up the nation with good education. She claimed that natural
resources utilisation could be made sustainable without causing any undesirable
impacts if:

“We can raise the awareness on how to sustain our natural resources, and
we can raise the awareness through education.” (P10, FGD-1)

The data revealed a cyclical relationship of interdependence amongst these elements:

education, job opportunities, reliance on natural resources, economic development, and
alternative livelihood options. According to a KII-2’s perspective, there is a link between
the political dimension and economic view because he claimed that:

“Youth have opportunities to work on their dreams and people can feel safe
to walk at midnight' if there is a good government.” (KII-2, former MP)

People can get good access to education to improve their employment opportunities,
and business can be smoothly operated under a healthy political system as claimed by
KII-2. Nevertheless, it is critical to look at the type of education that can also bring about
unexpected harmful impacts to the natural environment according to David Orr’s
argument if it is not aligned with sustainability concepts and principles (Orr, 2004). It was
congruent with P2’s view (in her pre-FGD responses) that citizens should have proper
knowledge to avoid the activities fuelling climate change.

Furthermore, the participants wanted a sustainable economic development model

without bringing negative consequences to social or ecological aspects while a
favourable political condition was desired for the business sector. For instance, KII-3
raised her concerns about the Chinese business investments in Kachin State where
several acres of banana plantations were cultivated in a mono-cropping pattern and

56 Fishing method using electrocution which is banned in Myanmar.

57 Ayeyarwady (or Irrawaddy) dolphins are found in the South and Southeast Asia and entitled as
endangered in https://www.worldwildlife.org/species/irrawaddy-dolphin
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potentially hazardous agrochemicals were being intensively used. She does not
welcome such development because she expects:

"The development that can uplift people from the whole nation." (KII-3, NGO
staff).

Additionally, she provided a metaphor to remind people about the mindset of taking care
of the natural resources:

"I want our people to realize that we are cutting down the branches which
we all are sitting on." (KII-3, NGO staff)

Both KII-3 and KII-6 shared the same perspective and value by highlighting the fair use
of natural resources and for the solidarity of all citizens and ethnic groups across the
country. KII-6 criticized the current industrial economy by saying:

"And for those who exploit natural resources, they gain benefits for just once
and we local communities will suffer for our lifetime." (KII-6, NGO founder)

Their views were echoed with the critique made by KII-7. He made a strong criticism of
large-scaled extractive industries and business interventions drawing on evidence of
disasters and ecosystem degradation in Myanmar. He used the term ‘capitalism’ and
criticised it from his standpoint of political ideology:

“So, if we continue to seek growth with this extractive nature of capitalism,

there will no longer be any sustainability.” (KII-7, PhD student)

Additionally, he complained about some NGOs' approaches to local economy

development by promoting Private-Public Partnership or promoting monocrop oriented
agricultural investment, which is apparently relying on foreign markets. For instance,
local farmers who were cultivating ‘Yam’ (elephant foot yam) in Chin State had no idea
of how to use it when the market collapsed because:

“. . . they did not know how to eat it because it was not their local food.” (KII-
7, PhD student)

For individual wellbeing, KII-4 viewed sustainability as a basic need for human beings:

"Fairness or sufficiency in food, clothing, shelter medicine and education"

(KII-4, Writer)

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To interpret his perspective, sustainability can be determined by the fulfilment of citizens’
basic needs for their livelihood and social security.

As an overall outlook, the participants of both KIIs and FGDs looked at the national
economy without losing sight of the wellbeing of grassroots communities. They
consciously discussed all the potential impacts on the natural environment which might
directly affect the local people’s economy based on their experience. In summary, the
participants’ desirable sustainable future is seen through an economic lens which
expects:

• fulfilment of citizens’ basic needs

• accessibility to education that can prepare sustainability awareness and relevant
competencies
• employment opportunities or alternative livelihood options to reduce the burden
on natural resources
• favourable political condition for economic development together with strong
implication of environmentally friendly practices and policy
• fair share of benefits amongst all the ethnic groups and citizens
• not to neglect at the expense of industrial economy, and
• strengthening the equality and social justice while maintaining the ecological
resilience for future generation.

6.2.2 Environmental view

This theme has the largest number of coded references (57 references) amongst the
five themes for desirable sustainable development of Myanmar. There were more coded
references related to environmental view in the KIIs’ data than those in the FGD’s one,
particularly in KII-3, KII-6, and KII-7 who have been working in the NGO sector. Most
participants expressed their undesirable situations in responding to the question of
desirable conditions for the sustainable future of Myanmar by referring to this aspect.
The participants’ emphasis on the undesirable conditions they have witnessed were
consistent with what have been discussed in Chapter 2: heavy reliance on the resource-
based national economy and less prioritised investment in educational development for
several decades.

KII-1 shared what he had witnessed regarding the positive and negative impacts of
natural resources or environmental management on communities’ wellbeing. He gave
an example of victims’ terrific suffering from the Cyclone Nargis in the delta area of
Myanmar in 2008. According to his claim, massive deforestation of mangrove forests led
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to increased vulnerability of the people in such a delta area. In contrast, he provided
evidence of positive impact from a balanced natural ecosystem due to better
agroforestry practices in Shan State. He affirmed the importance of maintaining the
ecosystem through wise use of natural resources for economic prosperity:

"The ecosystem must be healthy because we are interdependent. We can

be healthy only when the ecosystem is healthy." (KII-1, Education
development manager)

As discussed by KII-3 in the economic view, ecosystem deterioration due to heavy

application of agrochemicals in agriculture and the use of inappropriate fishing
techniques in rivers had compounded her concerns about health issues related to
polluted and/or toxic air, water, or soil because she believed that these can be
bioaccumulated and eventually ingested by humans. Moreover, she questioned the
middle or large-scale investment in agri-business and mining industries under the name
of ‘development’. She proposed that the society needs a change of mindset and to adopt
a new concept of development. For example, she wanted to drop the material
development concept which excessively depends on the intensive use of natural
resources. In addition, she raised a question of who owns the natural resources and
how to use them. She also pointed out the misconception of certain ethnic groups who
take the view that they should use all their natural resources, otherwise it would be
exploited by others. This point is related to the prolonged ethnic conflicts, particularly
between the majority Burman group and diverse ethnic minority groups, and these
tensions are deeply rooted in both inequitable sharing of natural resources and political
power as discussed in Chapter 2.

Regarding sustainable practices in old traditions, KII-3 praised the local wisdom or
indigenous knowledge of ancestors from whom Myanmar society needs to learn in terms
of how they survived and lived harmoniously with nature without damaging it. She gave
a couple of examples - how they took care of their rivers and forest, how they fished,
how they harvested wild vegetables, and how they replenished bamboo in the forests.
She claimed that:

"This is a sustainable way of consuming, our ancestors did not consume all
the species right at once, they understood the importance of co-existence
for sustainability." (KII-3, NGO staff)

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Like some other participants in the focus groups, KII-3 also suggested integrating
environmental awareness in the education system to foster young children’s awareness
and attitude in terms of loving and caring for nature.

Knowledge and technology advancement were considered in terms of efficient use of

natural resources. According to KII-3, it should be strictly controlled to extract the
required resources to meet what society needs but not society’s greed. She expected
innovative technologies to reduce the requirement of natural resources and harmful
effects on nature by promoting and applying green technologies and energy which do
have less detrimental effects, and energy efficient designs and innovations. Aligned to
this, she emphasised the importance of making policy and regulations strong enough to
protect the natural environment and resources as this is still lacking in Myanmar. KII-3
is the only participant who predominantly discussed sustainability issues from an
environmental perspective amongst all the participants of both KIIs and FGDs.

Most of the participants agreed that educating young children and students in terms of
knowledge of environment and ecology as well as the cultivation of love and respect for
nature was important. KII-4 made this point by embracing all different types of educators
such as writers, poets, teachers. He highlighted the role of leadership in showing the
light or pathway for people. His message went beyond the general science of
environment by emphasising the affective skill of valuing the environment:

"We (educators, writers and artists) have to work hard to let the value of
environment (with fresh air, water and fishes, and green forest) be seen and
valued." (KII-4, writer)

Environmental issues were mostly reflected from an economic development perspective

amongst the participants in the focus groups. They wanted to have strong policy and
regulations to keep the resilience of ecosystems and ensure sustainable use of natural
resources while economic prosperity is being sought. Respectively, they demand a good
balance of economy and environmental sustainability. Participant P14 in FGD-2
stressed the need for political systems that enable economic development as well as
avoiding destructive behaviours of businesses:

"The future of sustainable Myanmar should have a good and strong political
system, a developed economy and the economy that can balance the
businesses and the environmental degradation." (P14, FGD2)

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In general, the students’ group desire economic development as they want to see the
country as a developed nation, whilst they also highlighted the importance of
environmental concerns.

The data shows a cyclical relation of interdependence – having good political systems
paves a way for economic development, and a stronger economy can potentially
advance knowledge and technology, which in turn can reduce dependency on a
resource-based economy. Without environmentally friendly economic development,
there can be negative consequences upon ecosystems and wellbeing of society.

The participants’ view of sustainability through an environmental lens can be

summarised as follows:

• Natural ecosystem health and human’s health or wellbeing are inter-dependent

• Business activities need to be environmentally friendly and should be checked
with health and ecosystem concerns
• Undesirable impacts of extractive industries and market-oriented economic
model should not be neglected
• Green technologies and businesses should be encouraged for the national
economy and environmental affair
• Myanmar society should learn from the ancestors’ traditional practices and
indigenous knowledge for sustainable livelihood and natural resources utilisation
• Environmental education should be started since young age and grades to
respect and love for nature.

6.2.3 Political view

There was no coded data in FGD-1 related to the sustainable future of Myanmar from a
political perspective. Recognising that the HEIs in Myanmar have been under the central
government's control, consequently the university teachers who are government
employees were strictly prohibited from engaging in political affairs or discussing them.
This means that it is understandable that the university teachers seldom discussed
political affairs in a group of people they were unfamiliar with. These topics are too
sensitive for them to discuss. However, P11 and P14 in the students’ focus group
discussed it to a limited extent. Amongst the key informants, six participants discussed
their political perspectives regarding sustainability, or a desirable future based on their
professional experiences. It is interesting to note that KIIs employed in education, such
as an educational development manager and a professor, did not make any explicit
discussions from a political perspective.
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A stable and strong political system was frequently mentioned by the participants of KIIs,
and FGD-2 based on the historical background and the current crisis of the country:

“So, the future of Myanmar should have a good and strong political system,
a developed economy, and the economy that can balance the business and
the environmental degradation.” (P14, FGD-2)

Additionally, P14 also warned that these political terms are being used in some countries
without having the full extent of democratic practices, like Thailand and Singapore, whilst
these countries are seemingly good enough in term of fulfilling the basic living-standards
of their citizens and have less problems.

Some KII participants discussed democracy and people power as important matters.
Sustainability needs to be embedded as a core value in all different sectors according
to KII-2 who also brought up the rule of law. Peace, particularly from social security and
freedom perspectives, was raised as a determinant in achieving sustainability by KII-2,
KII-6, and KII-7:

"We must have a rule of law that guarantees safety for a woman to walk
alone at midnight.” (KII-2, former MP)

"Sustainability will be perceived in coupled with peace and good

governance in Myanmar society.” (KII-4, writer)

KII-6 supports the idea of peace which is also linked to economic development by
remarking that:

“… we cannot proceed to democratisation only by election.” (KII-6, NGO

founder)

Ideologically, the participants prefer democracy and interpreted it as ‘people power and
freedom.’ To KII-2 and KII-6, the term democracy means the citizens’ power of decision
and sustainable development is a public owned entity:

“You cannot talk about development because the owners of the sustainable
development are the public. They must have access to it. People ought to
be happy about that.” (KII-2, former MP)

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 “In the end, only the citizens have the answers. All the answers relevant to
peace, sustainability advancement from economic perspectives, and armed
struggles belong to our public. They have all the answers.” (KII-6, NGO
founder)

KII-2 made his clear expectation of a democratic system in which the government's role
must be confined to be public centred services. He added that the citizens should be
strong enough to control the government:

“So, the government will automatically be tamed if there are more people
who aren’t afraid of the government.” (KII-2, former MP)

KII-6 also highlighted the critical need of peace through political solutions to move
forward towards economic development of the country. However, KII-7 raised his deep
concerns about the free-trade and open-market oriented systems which he doubted for
the sustainability of the local economy. After criticising capitalistic political economies,
he claimed that political solutions can be associated with other aspects of sustainability
issues:

"Sustainability can be achieved only if we can address political injustices

and socio-economic injustice.” (KII-7, PhD student)

His discussions were aligned with KII-2’s desirable political system. Ideologically, KII-2
preferred a social democratic system for Myanmar by saying:

"There will be competitions, but not like American liberal democracy. We

designed a model which leaned more towards social democracy.” (KII-2,
former MP)

Underpinned by historical oppression and tragedies, participants emphasised

federalism when they discussed education systems or natural resources management.
Regarding government’s administration and implementations, KII-3 proposed
integrating sustainable development across all the ministries - it should be embedded in
their policies and all the staff should be well-informed about it.

The participants’ view of sustainable development through a political lens can be

summarised as:

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 • Strong and stable political system should be established to address all other
sustainability issues like peace, economic development, and environmental
management issues
• People power is needed for democratisation
• The government’s role should be providing public services
• Sustainability should be embedded as core values across all ministries and
ministry staff should be fully aware of it
• Better regulations are needed to minimise the undesirable impacts of economic
development in trading with international business entities
• Rule of law and social security are a priority need for fundamental peace at a
community level
• Political solutions that can address socio-economic injustices are desired.

6.2.4 Socio-cultural view

Another dimension of sustainability can be viewed through a socio-cultural lens. As

previously discussed, sustainability as a process or pathway can be just as relevant as
an outcome. Some participants in FGD-1 expressed their desire for a peaceful society
in which inclusiveness and values are appreciated without any discrimination. Freedom
is valued and demanded especially by some participants of minority ethnic groups in
FGD-2 based on their experience of being oppressed and dominated by the majority
cultures in Myanmar.

Regarding religious and cultural freedom, KII-2 proposed:

“Freedom of spiritual practice and spirituality should be considered in the

development concept.” (KII-2, former MP)

P2, as expressed in her pre-FGD responses, desired an inclusive society with

collaborative practices. She highlighted the importance of networking as it may foster
accessibility to required resources and technical support through cooperation or
collaboration. It can be interpreted as a socio-cultural perspective because Myanmar
society needs solidarity and peace in terms of collaboration and partnership which have
been set out as a separate goal in the SDGs.

Fairness is the prominent aspect of social value in KII-3’s argument that socio-economic
development should benefit the whole nation rather than a small group of elite citizens.
This sentiment was also reflected in the environmental and economic views. In addition,
it is congruent with some discussions in the reviewed literature which noted monopolised

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resource use by a small group holding political power (Lall, 2016; International Crisis
Group, 2020).

KII-4 emphasised the fulfilment of basic needs in an individual’s life such as safety, social
security, and fundamental human rights as sustainable livelihood by embracing a wide
range of social aspects:

“For an individual life, one needs good health, good friends, freedom,
relaxation and happiness (including spiritual and mental outlook),
environment with culture of peace or at least comfortable atmosphere with
negative peace, fairness or sufficiency in food, clothing, shelter medicine
and education.” (KII-4, writer)

Galtung claims that ‘peace is absence of violence’ (2018, p. 35). To be specific, Galtung
and Udayakumar (2013) described it as a situation free from ‘not only direct violence but
also structural violence’ (p. 3). Also, Galtung (2018) refers to the terms ‘negative peace
and positive peace’ (p. 51) by referring to a situation lacking physical or direct violence
(negative peace) and lacking structural violence or having social justice (positive peace).
In this case, KII-4 used the term ‘negative peace’ (Galtung’s definition) to describe a
situation lacking physical or direct violence such as killing, torturing, and wars etc.
Moreover, he expected the culture of peace or non-violence to be practiced in Myanmar
society.

Communities in some parts of Myanmar have traditional beliefs or ritual practices to take
care of the lakes, rivers, mountains, or forests. Regarding these cultural practices, KII-7
argued that some traditional belief systems are supportive of environmental
conservation, and they should keep using their own practices regardless of lacking
scientific justification or evidence.

The coded references in the socio-cultural view consistently match with the key
principles of social sustainability discussed by Rashid et al. (2021) in their reviewed
literature which appear as ten clusters:

“Equity, community and participation, basic needs, safety and health,

infrastructures and facilities, local characteristics and cultural values,
livelihood and satisfaction, social capital, governance and politics, and
employment and job opportunities” (pp. 297–298).

In brief, the participants’ view of sustainable development through a socio-cultural lens

can be summarised as:
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 • Freedom, fairness, rights, and sufficiency in basic needs should be
acknowledged as crucial elements from a social security perspective
• Respecting the diverse values, inclusiveness, and collaborative culture should
be practiced for building a peaceful society
• Traditional beliefs and cultural practices should be fundamental rights.

6.2.5 Philosophical view

Some data related to ethical values, cultural norms, and ideological aspects were
clustered as a philosophical view although they are somewhat like the socio-cultural
view because they appeared as philosophical ideas guiding the desirable features and
qualities of a sustainable society. Participants’ philosophical perspectives for the
desirable sustainable development in Myanmar were observed in all the transcripts of
KIIs and FGDs, except KII-1.

Feasibility and consistency should be considered as the key principles for implementing
sustainable development according to P2 (in the pre-FGD responses58) because she
claimed that sustainable development models or approaches must be accessible,
implementable, affordable, and relevant to local culture and context. P6 from FGD-1
suggested considering efficiency as part of sustainable development which should not
be dependent on exploiting too much natural resources or large amounts of energy and
time. On the other hand, P8 suggested to be mindful of some cutting-edge technologies
for their relevancy to the local context. Although these concepts have been reflected in
the environmental and socio-cultural views, here participants emphasised the values
and the way actions and interventions are implemented. Thus, the key message here is
relevancy - whatever development intervention is to be brought up or implemented, all
these conditions and principles should be thoroughly considered.

P15 described her desirable sustainable development as added value from an economic
perspective; for instance, a person should earn more than what he had in the past. Her
message can be interpreted as improvement or progress. However, it is also important
to be mindful about the existing qualities or values as KII-5’s claiming:

58 Pre-FGD responses were presented by the researcher during the FGDs, so they were included in the
two transcripts for FGDs.
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 “To achieve sustainable development, the first thing to be considered for a
person or an organisation is to implement something without diminishing
one’s existing qualities. We must be able to maintain all the strengths and
positive sides.” (KII-5, Professor)

From an ecosystem perspective, sustainability can be viewed as ‘a whole system’ -

things or components are inter-connected according to P16 in FGD-2. She claimed that
social life and natural ecosystem are inter-dependent on each other. She also added the
concept of sustainability:

“I think, it refers to a type of practice on adapting ourselves to be sustainable

during natural disasters, and how we can grow resilience towards the stress
and challenges caused by natural disasters. Such practice is not just for us,
it should be passed down to our future generations.” (P16, FGD2)

From another perspective, sustainability is seen as a process and ability to understand

the context to make a better choice amongst the available options. Ability to make better
choices with less negative consequences could be the means of sustainable
development according to KII-3.

KII-2 perceived sustainability as process oriented rather than the progress or goal
oriented. As an alternative view, he expressed his inspiration of Bhutan’s Gross National
Happiness (GNH) model59 in which happiness and fulfilment of the people’s lives are
deeply anchored:

"We did not prioritise to have great wealth, yet people must be happy, and
they could dream and have fulfilling lives rather than owning a huge amount
of money. I was influenced by the happiness index of Bhutan, and Laos
also focuses on people’s happiness." (KII-2, former MP)

Moreover, he wished to see people enjoying their freedom of spiritual practices. He even
proposed spirituality be embedded in the concept of sustainable development.
Regarding freedom, KII-6 claimed that farmers should have freedom of choice for their
farming practices and people deserved to live in peace because she witnessed many
ethnic people in Kachin State suffering from prolonged civil wars. Thus, she demands

59 https://ophi.org.uk/policy/gross-national-happiness-index/
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freedom and safety which are overlapping with KII-4’s negative peace perspective in the
socio-cultural view.

Some of the observations in this philosophical view are overlapped with some in the
economic one. Social justice and equality were a dominant feature of this philosophical
view of sustainable development. KII-3 affirmed that development and wellbeing had to
be shared amongst all citizens and not to be concentrated in a small group of elites. She
proposed such philosophy of community spirit is an important element of sustainability.
KII-2 and KII-4 shared similar opinions, wishing to see fair opportunities of all citizens.
These expectations were driven by ethical and social justice values which were deeply
echoed by KII-4 feelings about the ongoing Myanmar crisis and their hope for people’s
lives to be fulfilled with basic needs, safety, and human dignity.

Another perspective of a pitfall in development, as pointed out by KII-5, was undesirable

dependency on foreign aid. Therefore, self-reliance was considered as one of the core
values or essence of sustainability as discussed by KII-5. He claimed:

“I would not like to see my country just expecting foreign aids with project
proposals and the development type too much depending on the outsiders’
support.” (KII-5, Professor)

To choose an appropriate middle way was significantly highlighted by KII-7 by referring

to the concept of ‘yin-yang’60: a balance of individual and collective freedom; social
democracy; traditionalism and modernization; for self and for others (Western and
Asian); human vs nature (anthropocentrism vs ecocentrism); and market and self-
sufficiency. He preferred a middle-path to a sustainable future using the yin-yang
concept of having an optimum condition with a mixture of two different qualities. One of
his messages covering a balance of social values was:

60 An ancient Chinese philosophical concept which embraces mutually perpetuating complementary forces
of two different qualities. (Yin-Yang - Oxford Reference, no date)
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 “Our Myanmar society normally takes care of each other, we show
sympathy to others and our family members, sometimes we even forget
about ourselves. I don’t want it to be that much extreme. However, I don’t
want to see a society in which people only think about themselves like in
some Western countries.” (KII-7, PhD student)

In addition, KII-7 invited Myanmar society to question what education means and to what
extent people are happy that their intellectual development comes from higher
education. He proposed redefining education based on Myanmar values and attitudes
and not just for the social status or rankings. Thus, he invited a rethink of higher
education:

“We only care about status too much in Myanmar, I think. Parents feel
irresponsible if they cannot send their children to universities and help them
graduated. I think we need to change way of our thinking a lot, you know, if
we really need to pursue higher education. If we do, we need to ask
questions of how much intellectual interests we have.” (KII-7, PhD student)

Participants’ view of sustainable development through a philosophical lens can be

summarised as:

• Development practices or processes should be locally relevant, culturally

acceptable, financially reasonable, and technically feasible to be able to
contribute to a sustainable future, whilst the existing qualities and strengths of
the society are maintained
• Sustainability is process within, and an outcome of, an interdependent complex
system, therefore the whole system should be considered
• Learning for harmonious co-existence and resilience should be undertaken and
transferred these life-skills to the new
• Making appropriate choices, preferably in a middle-way that considers the yin-
yang principles, which would potentially contribute less negative and more
positive impacts
• Happiness, peace, spirituality, social justice, and freedom are valued and should
be promoted in society
• Accessibility to public services, fulfilment of basic needs, self-reliance and
resilience should be enabled and nurtured

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 • Education is valued and the concept of higher education should be redefined
through changing ways of thinking and understanding the source and drivers of
intellectual interests.

Overall, a desirable sustainable development or future for Myanmar can be

conceptualised based on these five thematic views: economic; environmental; socio-
cultural; political; and philosophical. As mentioned earlier, some coded references are
shared across all five themes, meaning there are some intersectional values, concepts,
or attributes in the overlapping areas amongst the themes. The next section will discuss
how HEIs could contribute to ESD when aiming for the desirable sustainable
development of Myanmar.

6.3 Roles of HEIs for sustainable development of Myanmar

Having explored how the desirable sustainable development or future of Myanmar can
be viewed through five thematic lenses which was grounded in the qualitative data, it is
important to set out what ESD in Myanmar should look like at a nationwide scale. Having
scoped the role of HEIs for ESD in Myanmar, this section discusses another five lenses
on the role of HEIs as their contributions to ESD (see Table 6.3). Therefore, this section
attempts to complement answering the first research question - how ESD might be
conceptualised in the Myanmar HEIs’ context through understanding the relevant
stakeholders’ expectations and perspectives. Amongst the five sub-themes, the second
one, i.e., ‘preparing the students with sustainability literacy and appropriate attributes’ is
associated with the second research question (RQ2) which will be discussed in more
detailed in the following chapter.

Table 6.3 Five sub-themes for the roles of HEIs for sustainable development in
Myanmar

Coded
HEIs for Sustainable Development in Myanmar
References
Investing in education as a foundation of society 14

Preparing students with sustainability literacy and attributes 90

HEIs as exemplar learning hubs 31

Contributing to sustainable development through quality research and
25
innovation
Influencing policy leading to sustainability 12

Total coded references 172

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6.3.1 Investing in education as a foundation of society

In this theme, higher education is viewed as an investment for the nation. The theme
emerged from the discussions of only one participant from FGD-1 (P10), five participants
from the FGD-2 (P12, P14, P15, P18, and P19), and there was no contribution from the
KII participants for this theme.

P15 remarked that education is an investment and a foundational learning ground for
the young on how to survive, live harmoniously in society, and contribute to the
sustainable future of society. Similarly, P10 agreed to the education investment concept
for building a sustainable future. She strongly criticised leaders’ past mistakes and
decisions, referring to examples of undesirable impacts due to their lack of sustainability
awareness. She also wished to see better investment in education and sustainability
awareness:

“There are now floods, heatwave, and extreme weather and these are all
the impacts we are suffering now. So, we don’t have awareness on how to
sustain our natural resources, and we can raise the awareness through
education and teach about them since at the young age.” (P10, FGD-1)

Although they discussed the role of higher education, participants emphasised how it
was crucial to prepare good leaders with sustainability knowledge through good
education from a young age. P10 (teacher) and P15 (student) claimed that proper
investment in education to develop sustainability literate graduates who might contribute
to sustainable policy and practices for Myanmar’s development. In this way, P10
affirmed that the resource utilisation and energy requirements could be potentially
minimised through proper knowledge and sustainable technologies supported by HEIs.
Therefore, it can be interpreted as an important investment for Myanmar in preparing
smart citizens and leaders to address the country’s issues and implement sustainable
development. This is also reflected in the following theme - preparing the graduates with
sustainability skills and attributes. P15 supported this idea by saying:

“. . . education is the most fundamental foundation for everyone and every

nation.” (P15, FGD-2)

Their view is aligned with P14’s, which highlighted the importance of investment in
higher education, including vocational institutions, for better human resources so that it
can potentially reduce the reliance on natural resources exploitation for national income.
Moreover, P14 said it would lead to better cooperation of the citizens in development
interventions for the country if more people received a good education. Preparing
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sustainability knowledge and competencies will be discussed further in the curricula
approach of the 4C+RP model for ESD integration in Chapter 8.

P12 and P19 want better facilities and infrastructures like laboratories or libraries and
P18 pointed to the need to promote quality in distance education. These claims are
matched with the reviewed literature (British Council, 2013a; IIE, 2013). These kinds of
investment or needs in the infrastructure or facilities of HEIs will be reflected in the
campus operations in the ESD integration (4Cs+RP model) and the physical
reconstruction in Arnhold et al.'s (1998) educational reconstruction model in Chapter 8.

Based on the participants’ perspectives, ESD in the context of HEIs in Myanmar can be
viewed through a lens of investing for the future society as follows:

• Investment should be made in higher education and basic education to prepare

smart citizens with sustainability literacy, competencies, and attributes to
contribute to appropriate decisions or activities in the development
implementation.
• Investment in higher education should be made for more human resources with
proper knowledge and skills to increase the likelihood of reducing the natural
resource-based economy.
• Improving the quality of education and the number of sustainability literate
graduates are likely to impact development policy and practices positively.
• More investment in higher education should be made to improve the quality of
education provision, which is also a target of SDG 4, such as proper facilities,
teaching quality, or improving some systems in HEIs.

6.3.2 Preparing students with sustainability literacy and attributes

In this section, the role of HEIs in contributing to ESD is viewed through the lens of
preparing students for the development of sustainability related knowledge, concept,
skills, attitude, and attributes. This theme is directly related to the SDG target 4.7 and
contributed the largest number of coded references (90 out of 172) (see Table 6.3). The
section covers three components:

• awareness of sustainability before higher education

• teaching students for sustainability related competencies and attributes, and
• Equipping students with resilience and other life skills for personal lives or
society.

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Firstly, sustainability education, according to P10, should be provided from early
schooling as a foundation before higher education. Indeed, children’s behaviour and
practices should have been prepared for in their younger ages according to the findings
of Otto et al. (2019) - showing that the children’s environmental attitudes and behaviours
significantly increased during ages 7 to 10, remained until 14, then decreased up to 18.
P10 suggested basic awareness and practices like waste management should be
nurtured in earlier ages/grades before going to college or university. It could be
interpreted that students should have prior knowledge and awareness of environmental
sustainability before they study at HEIs to further improve their knowledge and
capabilities.

Secondly, all students at higher education should be equipped with sustainability related
knowledge, attitude, and skills. This point was discussed a lot amongst the participants
of both KIIs and FGDs and is related to the second research question (RQ2): desirable
graduate attributes from ESD perspective. KII-1 argued that graduates should have a
certain level of knowledge of climate change, environmental conservation, and some
related experiences regardless of their specialised disciplines. Moreover, he critiqued
the curricula in Myanmar HEIs as very few modules include the study of environmental
aspects. In addition, he remarked:

“We have a limited number of people who are doing interdisciplinary

studies.” (KII-1, Educational development manager)

Although an ‘Environmental Science’ degree programme was started by Yangon and

Mandalay Universities in 2016-17, the courses were led by the Department of
Geography, and more interdisciplinary studies are still needed even in these courses,
as critiqued by KII-1. Regarding the curricula content related to appropriate sustainability
literacy, is reflected by what KII-4 proposed:

“Every student must learn ecology, geography, and philosophy in their first
two years (freshman and sophomores61)” (KII-4, writer)

61 KII-4 intended to refer to the earlier years of the undergraduate programme (e.g., first year or second
year) and it is more commonly used in the medical universities in Myanmar.
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Similarly, KII-1 claimed that these environmental related modules should be offered as
an elective one for all undergraduate students in their earlier years:

"... it should be a holistic perspective being inclusive of all important

components such as human beings and natural environment including
animals, soil, water, and air etc. It should be designed by different scholars
and experts from different departments." (KII-1, Educational development
manager)

Likewise, KII-3 recommended that:

"We need to make sure that our students specializing in chemistry, zoology,
and botany that their disciplines are interdependent with sustainable
development in some ways." (KII-3, NGO staff)

And she expressed her expectation of future impact:

"Academic disciplines can also make direct contributions. These graduates

from various disciplines would work in diverse professions. They might
become civil servants, businessperson, or community leaders. No matter
which career they choose, when they become adults and leaders in their
households, they will find it easier to follow the preparing government’s
policies in protecting the natural environment from destruction." (KII-3, NGO
staff)

According to KII-1, KII-3 and KII-4, Myanmar HEIs should offer sustainable development
or sustainability related courses as either a compulsory module or an elective one for all
the fresher students (year 1 or 2) from all different disciplines/ degree programmes. It is
consistent with some authors’ claim that HEIs should provide and facilitate the students’
learning opportunities and processes to improve their attitude, awareness, skills, and
making sustainability relevant decisions and choices (see Mochizuki and Fadeeva,
2010; Zizka and Varga, 2021). In this case, HEIs need to clarify what the term
‘sustainability literacy’ means to them and then define the relevant graduate attributes
for sustainable development as discussed in the reviewed literature (see Sterling, 2004,
2012; El Ansari and Stibbe, 2009; Stibbe and Luna, 2009; Zizka and Varga, 2021).

To develop sustainability literacy, KII-3 stressed the importance of learning from the
ancestors' practices, some of which could be justified as sustainable ones. The HEIs in
different geographic locations can provide opportunities for their students to learn
Indigenous knowledge and practices – how they took care of their environment whilst
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using natural resources. The students can link such sustainable practices and
Indigenous knowledge to their disciplines. This idea is related to the pedagogical
approach in the proposed ESD integration model (4Cs+RP) and a similar idea has been
shared by KII-4’s view that:

“Universities must provide education with reasoning skills. They need to

help the students or learners equipped with intelligence, which is getting
closer to the level of wisdom.” (KII-4, writer)

KII-5 argued that learning for skills and knowledge of specialised areas is not sufficient
to be classed as 'educated people' because he insisted that they also need to be
qualified and professionally ethical in contributing to the betterment of society. He added
the role of HEIs for developing students’ more generic skills:

“The role of universities can be expanded by integrating activities to

improve students’ interpersonal skill, team working skills, negotiating skill,
communication and leadership skills, time and resource management skill,
project and business management skills through both in-class and extra-
curricular activities.” (KII-5, Professor)

Specialist universities, like agriculture or forestry, should integrate the sustainability

concept as suggested by KII-3. It is also consistent with KII-5’s idea to let the students
learn about ecology, biodiversity, climate change, deforestation, gender, human rights,
psychology, and conflict resolutions beyond their specialised modules. In addition, KII-5
wanted the students to be well informed by the universities' visions and missions which
should also embrace sustainability values and approaches. KII-3 and KII-5’s claims can
be interpreted that the theories and concepts in the lessons should relate to the real
world to facilitate the students’ preparation for their future application rather than
memorising facts and theories from books. Preparing the university students with
sustainability literacy or skills for the desirable future is exactly congruent with the main
concept of ESD in the UN's SDG target 4.7.

Thirdly, higher education is also perceived as a preparedness for survivability or ability

to enjoy a better quality of life. From P18’s perspective, sustainability means:

“Education should provide that knowledge and qualifications for the

students to survive well in any situations. I think that’s sustainability.” (P18,
FGD-2)

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He affirmed that one must be able to thrive for survivability and be strong enough to
overcome the potential challenges or constraints. P15 supported this idea by claiming:

“. . . if every individual can apply education completely and sustainably, no

matter where the person is or any kind of career that he/she pursues, that
person can contribute to others in his/her community and the society in one
way or another.” (P15, FGD-2)

It can be interpreted that such personal development or individual's lifelong sustainable

journey can potentially be supportive for both self and societal level sustainability (Stibbe
and Luna, 2009). On the other hand, it could also be interpreted as resilience as
highlighted by P17 (he used ‘gritty’ in the follow-up conversation for the transcript
verification process):

“The most important thing is to be resilient. Job markets will become much
more competitive due to the continual improvement in automation and AI,
so resilience is very important. Even if we cannot know everything about
distractive technology, we must know how to use them well. For example,
regardless of the Covid situation we are in (zoom) right now, this comes
along with the development. We should be resilient to handle this situation
well.” (P17, FGD-2)

P14, P17, and P18 shared similar views - HEIs should help the students to learn how to
cope with stresses and challenges from any difficult situations. Likewise, a perspective
that HEIs’ role is to prepare or strengthen competencies for individual survival and
livelihood as well as for community support, was also shared by KII-5 referring to ‘a
Myanmar model of Five Strengths’ as discussed in Chapter 3.

Lastly, the participants’ desirable graduate attributes are somewhat like the ESD
graduate attributes recommended by the UNESCO (UNESCO, 2017; QAA and Advance
HE, 2021). For example, P17 encouraged promotion of personal or social abilities such
as cultural sensitivity, morality, and mutual respect amongst the diverse ethnic
communities. Moreover, KII-2 expected education to empower the students and improve
their independent learning skills. KII-1 and KII-4 insisted on the students’ development
in critical thinking and environmental literacy. Finally, the importance of these knowledge
and skills highlighted by P14 was:

“Knowledge is more than grades and qualifications mentioned on the

papers.” (P14, FGD-2)

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Some open comments in the online survey contributing to this thematic view can be
noted as follows:

“Universities need to create a learning space for both theory and practice.”
(a respondent, online survey)

“Balanced learning on both theories and practical skills is needed for quality
education outcomes.” (a respondent, online survey)

“May I suggest learning contemporary studies and having professional

peers in one's dedicated fields!” (a respondent, online survey)

The roles of HEIs in contributing to ESD in Myanmar viewed through the lens of
preparing students with sustainability literacy and relevant competencies can be
summarised as:

• Universities should integrate ESD related knowledge and skills (or graduate
attributes) alongside specific disciplinary skills and knowledge to foster smart
citizens and leaders.
• Students should develop generic ‘life skills’ for their survivability, for their quality
of lives, and for their capabilities in contributing towards the wellbeing of their
communities or sustainable development of the country.
• Development of graduate competencies or attributes are related to the ESD
integration and the HEIs’ reconstruction processes, as discussed in the
reviewed literature.
• Suppose more citizens have developed these skills from their learning at HEIs.
In that case, it will increase the likelihood of their contribution to addressing the
sustainability issues and locally relevant sustainable development
implementations in Myanmar.
• Some of these competencies observed in the data are like those UNESCO
recommended ESD competencies.

6.3.3 HEIs as exemplar learning hubs

The third thematic view on the roles of HEIs for ESD is a learning hub, in other words,
HEIs are expected to practice as a model or prototype of a sustainable community.
According to KII-3, sustainable management should be practiced at the universities as
a role model by normalising some activities, for instance waste management. What she

136
proposed was reflected in the campus approach in the 4Cs+RP model and it can also
be considered in the ideological reconstruction in the Arnhold et al.'s (1998) model:

“It is also important that the concept of sustainable development is not only
taught in the classrooms, but it should also be integrated and practiced
across the whole university.” (KII-3, NGO staff)

KII-3 and KII-6 suggested federal education as an important aspect of foundational

learning - to understand the diverse traditions and promoting solidarity for a peaceful
society. KII-6, drawing on her personal experiences, wants to encourage a culture of
mutual learning in universities which should allow for social spaces and peer-to-peer
learning for students’ improvement and mutual understanding that could lead to more
solidarity in the nation. Likewise, KII-3 suggested promoting democratic culture through
nurturing cultural sensitivity, mutual respect, and ability to work in muti-cultural contexts.
Similarly, P15 claimed that:

“. . diversity education can help a graduate to know how he/she can

communicate with people in professional settings and to have fundamental
social knowledge of what good performance is.” (P15, FGD-2)

Regarding inclusion and diversity, KII-7 proposed an inclusive recruitment process by,
for instance, recruiting teachers and staff from different ethnic groups, religions, gender,
and sexual orientations. This could then be a practical intervention of HEIs to create a
culture of mutual understanding and peace as claimed by KII-7. Moreover, teachers and
students’ participation in the curricula development and designing teaching learning
process could be trialled according to KII-7. As discussed earlier, all these awareness,
skills, and practices could be developed through both formal and informal ways based
on the participants’ claims. In this case, P17 has affirmed his belief:

“If we can nurture such kind of education, I think, we are one step closer to
sustainable future” (P17, FGD-2).

These observations have been reflected in the country context (Chapter 2) which has
discussed how inter-ethnic conflicts and prolonged dictatorship in Myanmar has
necessitated some social skill development amongst citizens for building a peaceful
multi-cultural society.

Moreover, KII-2 elaborated the potential benefits of non-formal learning through

students’ engagement in clubs and associations, e.g., Students' Unions or
Environmental Clubs, which was also supported by Soe (2014). KII-2, based on his
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personal inspiration of Students’ Unions for their movement and learning, affirmed that
potential development of such social abilities could be improved through engaging in
those clubs or associations. Thus, it can be interpreted that learning from both formal
and informal situations are likely to support development of those discussed skills and
knowledge such as environmental management, cultural sensitivity and mutual respect,
social cohesion, and democratic practices. This was supported by KII-3’s claim that:

“. . the university can teach such concepts and normalize the practices at
the same time across the entire institution as a campus operation approach”
(KII-3, NGO staff).

To ensure this, KII-5 asserted the idea of institutional process:

"These components should be integrated in university’s mission and vision,

and these missions should be often reminded” (KII-5, Professor).

He affirmed that if these institutions can display sustainable practices, beliefs, great
attitudes and apply them, the students will learn about it through experience and
process. In other words, it can be interpreted that HEIs should be able to accommodate
or facilitate as a learning hub to fulfil the students' skill development. In fact, the whole
university approach proposed by KII-3 was far beyond the campus approach because it
can include all the activities of HEIs - curriculum, research and campus operations as
discussed by McMillin and Dyball (2009).

Based on the observations, participants’ expectation of HEI as a learning hub can be

summarised as:

• HEIs can be used as learning hubs for all: students, teachers, and staff members.
• Sustainability should be learned, tested, and practiced as part of daily
operations.
• HEIs are expected to be a learning ground and role model of mutual respect,
democratic culture, and celebrating diversity by adopting and integrating ESD in
their policies and activities.
• Learning from the experiences and learning through cooperation,
communication, and teamwork amongst the students or between the students
and the teachers, desirable sustainable literacy will potentially be developed and
spread in society.

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6.3.4 Research and innovation

As another view of ESD in the context of Myanmar, HEIs are expected to contribute to
sustainable development of the country through research or innovation. This is because
research activities are mostly implemented by universities and there are not many
independent research institutions in Myanmar. Participants in FGD-1 (teachers)
discussed the HEIs’ research activities based on the comparison of their research
experience at Myanmar universities and their new experiences of post-graduate studies
in other countries. P2 and P6 stressed that locally relevant research activities should be
prioritised, and their findings and solutions should be applied to address issues in society
rather than focusing solely on publications. Their idea was congruent with KII-3’s claim:

“Federal education necessitates to stipulate regional policies, laws and

guidelines and they will be beneficial to produce context-relevant research
through HEIs. This would be an amazing contribution. This context-relevant
research can contribute to providing facts and findings to regional
governmental departments and parliament.” (KII-3, NGO leader)

P6 recommended Myanmar HEIs undertake more collaborative research activities with

different stakeholders, particularly the private sector. And a good system of sharing
research findings and knowledge exchange was suggested by P2. However, P19 and
KII-2 made a strong critique about the poor quality of training and supervision support
for post graduate research students in Myanmar. They insisted on supporting
independent learning and quality research projects to become well qualified graduates
or researchers. Similarly, P14 assumed that there was apparently no interest in research
or research-informed decisions or activities amongst the ministries in Myanmar. He
wanted HEIs to provide the required support for the research activities. In teaching and
learning systems, KII-3 and KII-5 suggested research projects for undergraduate
students to develop their research skills and research-based thinking:

“I also think that there should be some research which are applicable for
bachelors’ degree level. These small-scale research at bachelors’ degree
level can enhance students’ interests to conduct regional and policy level
research when they pursue their masters’ degrees.” (KII-3, NGO staff)

“Universities should facilitate students to gain exposure to projects,

research experience, and experiments.” (KII-5, Professor)

Regarding the policy focused research, KII-1 said:

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 “I think HEIs should mainly focus on policy advocating research, not just
producing research papers. They should really concentrate on providing
advocacy and inputs to the policy makers. These advocacy research should
also be group works with inter-disciplinary approach instead of individual’s
effort.” (KII-1, Educational development manager)

KII-1, like P2’s claims, gave the same message to prioritise on the application of
research instead of being oriented to publishing. He wished Myanmar HEIs would
prioritise the policy advocating research projects and integrated research programmes
– looking at a particular case from different perspectives or disciplinary lens. He affirmed
that only quality research can influence the policy makers’ interests and decisions.

From the online survey, a few respondents made related suggestions: HEIs in Myanmar
need to carry out quality research to inform or advocate better policy recommendations
for the sustainable development of the country, and to train both undergraduate and post
graduate students for their research competencies and to develop qualified researchers:

“Need more research on applying knowledge and skills for sustainable

development” (a respondent, Online survey)

“Laws, policies, and regulations should be based on the results of

research.” (a respondent, online survey)

“Group wise research should be encouraged.” (a respondent, online

survey)

HEI’s contribution to ESD in Myanmar via research and innovations can be summarised:

• HEIs in Myanmar should engage with different stakeholders advancing

technologies or seeking new knowledge or strategies through research
collaborations to address the sustainability issues or promote sustainable
development in Myanmar.
• HEIs should promote quality research to inform local and national policy.
• The quality of research projects and research related competencies amongst the
faculty members and the research students should be upgraded.
• Learning about research as well as research-based learning process should be
encouraged at undergraduate level. HEIs should provide required support for
research activities.

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6.3.5 Influencing Policy

This is the last thematic view, which is also related to the former one: research and
innovation. This view has also been discussed in the reviewed literature (Fadeeva and
Mochizuki, 2010; Zizka and Varga, 2021) encouraging HEIs to engage in influencing
policy and social engagement in addition to their two main tasks: teaching and research.
Likewise, the research data in this theme suggested that HEIs need to engage in social
justice and/or environmental affairs. For instance, in the United States, HEIs are
expected to engage with different stakeholders and provide relevant recommendations,
through reliable research projects and innovative practices (Higher Education
Sustainability Act - The Campaign for Climate Literacy, no date). The UK HEIs’ network
has been actively engaging in policy advocacy by informing the government or decision
makers about sustainability related issues (EAUC, no date). KII-7 supported this idea:

"I want to see HEIs as institutions that can check and balance politics.
These institutions should be able to shape our nation’s future. I want our
HEIs to be like that and our HEIs need to be independent." (KII-7, PhD
student)

Myanmar HEIs could contribute to influencing policy related to natural resources

management and economic development issues by providing insightful research
findings as insisted by KII-1:

"The role of HEIs is for policy advocacy and to influence policy makers."
(KII-1, Education development manager)

KII-3 supported this from a federal perspective:

“Such academic works can contribute to shaping regional policies.” (KII-3,

NGO staff)

Although HEIs’ role in influencing policy received fewer references in the coding
compared to other sub-themes, there was a consistent message about the potential and
importance of relevant research to influence policy. In brief, HEIs in Myanmar could
inform the policy reform process leading to the country’s most desirable sustainable
future by providing locally relevant recommendations.

6.4 Conceptualised ESD for Myanmar HEIs

This concluding section summarises the answers to the first research question (RQ1):

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How might ESD be conceptualised in the Myanmar HEIs’ context?

In the desirable sustainable development/future of Myanmar (section 6.2), five views

emerged from the thematic analysis: political; economic; environmental; socio-cultural;
and philosophical views. A democratic government and a healthy political system
without any physical violence or civil wars have been expressed as a desirable political
future. In the economic view, fulfilment of basic needs, fair opportunities and sharing of
benefits, just distribution of power and caring the environmental health system are the
key concepts for a sustainable future. Regarding the environmental view, destructive
and unethical industries or businesses without sound sustainable environmental
management should not be allowed. Education needs to be re-enforced to ensure all
citizens care and use the resources respectfully, and learning from ancestors’
sustainable practices should be encouraged. The socio-cultural view reflects the
philosophical views regarding ethical values and social justice. It embraces values such
as inclusive decision making and appreciating diversity, mutual respect, and
collaboration, sharing power and resources in a just and fair manner, fulfilment of basic
needs, happiness and freedom of faith and cultural practices. Without these qualities,
there will likely be more conflicts and violence over natural and social environments.
According to the ethical values and moral constructs in the philosophical view,
development interventions need to be locally relevant and feasible, and should not lead
to dependency. Current generations need to be resilient to climate change and should
be able to pass this knowledge on to future generations.

These desirable sustainable development/future features of Myanmar can be

considered in a nationwide reform process with ESD in Myanmar. Regarding the role of
HEIs for ESD, more investments are needed in Myanmar HEIs in providing quality
service and facilitating students’ learning process and research activities. Moreover, the
HEIs should act as learning hubs for HEIs’ communities and the public. These might
prepare the students with desirable graduate attributes to contribute to the expected
sustainable development or future of Myanmar. The HEIs’ learning hubs and the
graduates will potentially help build more awareness and normalise sustainability
practices amongst wider communities.

On the other hand, the advancement in research and innovation contributed by the HEIs
can help inform policy and recommendations for contextually relevant development. The
graduates equipped with relevant sustainable literacy and attributes will potentially
contribute to desirable sustainable development implementations in the country. These
ideas for HEI’s contributions or engagement in ESD are much like those discussed and

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claimed for ESD in the literature (for example, Griesel, 2003; McCabe, 2010; Nomura
and Abe, 2011; ISCN, 2018b; Liu and Kitamura, 2019; Abunasser, AlAli and Al-Qahtani,
2022).

There were also interesting elements in the themes of ESD in the Myanmar HEIs’
context that were not widely highlighted in the published literature. These significant
features in Myanmar HEIs’ ESD concept could be noted as follow.

• HEIs need to invest and put efforts in policy focused research and actively
engaged in policy influencing process.
• HEIs need to learn from the alumni and the communities, including indigenous
knowledge and traditional practices.
• ESD in Myanmar context is somehow like a common international/ Western view
that would more readily link sustainability with environment or climate change
but the focus on justice, equity, etc., is a strong reflection of the Myanmar context.

Based on this conceptualisation of the factors deemed necessary for a desirable

sustainable development/future of Myanmar and the roles of HEIs in contributing to the
national level ESD, an influence diagram62 has been developed to provide a visual
summary of the relationships between these factors (see Figure 6.1).

62 I used visual paradigm (non-commercial use) to draw the influence diagrams in this thesis:
https://online.visual-paradigm.com/
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 Figure 6.1 Influence diagram of conceptualised ESD in the Myanmar HEIs' context.

6.5 Chapter summary

This chapter has discussed the observations based on the qualitative data: KIIs, FGDs,
and open comments from online survey. It has answered the first research question with
two main themes: desirable sustainable development or future (RQ1.1) and HEIs’
contribution to ESD in Myanmar context based on the research participants’
perspectives (RQ1.2). The former was viewed through five thematic lenses: economic;
environmental; socio-cultural; political; and philosophical views. Democratic government
and people power were a key focus. Social justice, maintaining good (sustainable)
cultural practices, and freedom in socio-cultural aspects were also highlighted.
Development in the economy is desirable, but it needs serious attention to
environmental and social impacts.

The later theme, i.e., HEIs’ contribution to ESD was conceptualised in another five
different sub-themes. HEIs should be supported more for quality delivery and research
interventions which can prepare graduates with relevant attributes and inform the local
and national policies for sustainable development. In addition, HEIs are expected to

144
develop as exemplary learning hubs and promote research-based learning to prepare
smart citizens who can contribute to addressing sustainability-related issues. The
observations of the analyses are congruent to what has been discussed in the reviewed
literature and some of the findings are reflected in the proposed models: 4Cs+RP model
for ESD integration and educational reconstruction model of Arnhold et al. (1998).

Some of the discussions in the second theme inform and relate to what to be discussed
in the following chapter – desirable graduate attributes from ESD perspectives.

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Chapter 7 Graduate Attributes for the Sustainable Development
of Myanmar

7.1 Introduction

This chapter follows on from exploring the conceptualised education for sustainable
development (ESD) in the context of Myanmar higher education institutions (HEIs) in the
previous chapter. The chapter addresses the second research question RQ (2):

What are the graduate attributes to be expected from integrating the conception of ESD
in Myanmar HEIs?

It has two sub-questions:

RQ2.1: What graduate attributes should be expected to contribute to the sustainable

development of Myanmar?

RQ2.2: What are the most important ESD related graduate attributes that Myanmar
HEIs need to consider?

This chapter examines two sets of graduate attributes: 1) a prompted (quantitative) set
and 2) an unprompted (qualitative) set. The former set (14 graduate attributes) was
quantitatively investigated in term of priority rankings based on their relevancy and
importance in contributing towards desirable sustainable development for Myanmar and
the latter attempted to provide a deeper understanding of the broader thematic views (7
graduate attributes). Both sets of graduate attributes primarily emerged from the
qualitative data sources: seven key informant interviews (KIIs) and two focus group
discussions (FGDs). Moreover, they were also compared with attributes developed by
different institutions. Indeed, the chapter examines these graduate attributes for their
relevancy and potential contribution to the sustainable development for Myanmar so that
they can be considered as part of ESD integration amongst Myanmar HEIs.

The chapter begins with the definition of graduate attribute used in this thesis and a brief
description of the two sets of graduate attributes and how they emerged from the
qualitative data (section 7.2). Then, the seven thematic components of graduate
attributes will be discussed first to respond to the sub question RQ 2.1 (section 7.3),
although this thematic analysis was conducted after the online survey. It is followed by
the observations on the quantitative analyses of the priority ranking of the desirable
graduate attributes and some associations with demographic data responding to RQ 2.2
(section 7.4). After that, there are observations on the priority ranking of these fourteen
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attributes by the FGD participants using Jam-boards (section 7.5), then the analyses
from these two methods are compared. The fourteen graduate attributes are viewed in
the three Hs model (section 7.6) and the chapter concludes with a summary (section
7.7).

7.2 Graduate attributes that emerged from the data

Graduate attributes, as discussed in Chapter 3, are defined in various ways. The most
discussed and used definitions in the literature (see Edwards, 1996; Hager and Holland,
2006; Svanstrom, Lozano and Rowe, 2008; McArthur, 2011; Egizii, 2015; Spronken-
Smith et al., 2015; Hill, Walkington and France, 2016; Kensington-Miller et al., 2018;
Abunasser, AlAli and Al-Qahtani, 2022) can be categorised as knowledge, skills,
attitude, and behaviours that the graduates are expected to have developed during their
studies at HEIs in addition to their specialised/disciplinary ones. This research embraces
the idea of three Hs (head, heart, and hand) (Sipos, Battisti and Grimm, 2008) and that
attributes are more than knowledge and competencies. Therefore, the term graduate
attribute, particularly from an ESD perspective in this research, is a generic term
covering non-subject discipline attributes including, but not limited to, attitude,
behaviour, values, skills, and competencies most relevant to sustainable development.

From the perspective of integrating ESD in Myanmar HEIs, the initial list of graduate
attributes emerged from the qualitative data acquired through seven Key Informant
Interviews (KIIs) and two Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) with university teachers and
students from Myanmar and were then refined through verification and an iterative
consultation process. The fourteen graduate attributes developed from this systematic
and in-depth analysis were tested using an online survey with a large number (n=417)
of respondents to understand their priority rankings in the Myanmar context. The online
survey also included open questions for additional comments and suggestions (see
Chapter 5). The data from the 417 responses to the online survey were quantitatively
analysed using SPSS software.

Then, another thematic analysis of the qualitative data was conducted using NVivo
software and the qualitative data from the open questions of the online survey were used
alongside the main sources from the KIIs and FGDs. Another set of seven graduate
attributes emerged from this thematic analysis in NVivo. These two sets of graduate
attributes, introduced in Table 7.1, will be detailed and examined both quantitively and
qualitatively in this chapter.

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One difficulty that arose was naming an attribute for a particular group of qualities as
some of its skills and abilities can be shared across two or more attributes’ names. For
example, some qualities in social abilities or personal abilities can also be found in
professionalism or leadership. Similarly, certain qualities of all other attributes can match
employability skills because all these skills or attributes are commonly discussed as
employability skills (see 7.3.2). Therefore, it is not easy to pair up these two sets of
attributes as they are not fully related. However, this comparison has been tried with the
purpose of matching the meanings of the descriptors in related groups.

Table 7.1 Comparison of two sets of graduate attributes to be studied

Fourteen Graduate Attributes from

Seven categories of Graduate Attributes
systematic and in-depth analysis
from Thematic analysis (broader view)
(specific view)

Sustainability literacy and practice Environmental literacy

Social abilities
Social abilities
Cultural sensitivity

Professionalism
Professionalism
Research knowledge and skills

Personal abilities

Personal abilities Resilience

Thinking proficiency

Entrepreneurship
Leadership and entrepreneurship skill
Management skill

General knowledge and life skill Digital literacy

Work experience

Employability skills Teaching

Language proficiency

7.3 Seven graduate attributes from thematic analysis in NVivo

As discussed earlier, the initial fourteen graduate attributes were tested out in an online
survey in which some qualitative data were collected. After that, the qualitative data from
KIIs, FGDs, and the responses in the online survey were analysed using NVivo.

148
However, the chapter begins with this broader view or a higher-level grouping of seven
ESD graduate attributes (i.e., to nest the fourteen specific attributes into the higher level
groups as per Table 7.1) in order to make comparison with those adopted by the UK
Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) and Advance HE (based on the UNESCO’s
recommended competencies) although this method followed the online survey. Amongst
the seven thematic categories emerged as relevant graduate attributes (Table 7.2),
personality and employability had the largest numbers of coded references whilst
leadership and entrepreneurship had the least. This section examines this broader view
of these thematic components as desirable graduate attributes from the perspective of
ESD integration in Myanmar HEIs.

Table 7.2 Seven categories of graduate attributes from thematic analysis (NVivo)

Theme: Expected graduate attributes for the desirable Coded

sustainable development of Myanmar References

Employability skills 77

General knowledge and life skill 18

Leadership and entrepreneurship skill 11

Personal abilities 101

Professionalism 15

Social abilities 35

Sustainability literacy and practice 11

Total coded references 268

As discussed earlier in Chapter 3, the UK Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) and

Advance Higher Education (HE) adapted and adopted the eight competencies for
sustainability recommended by the UNESCO. Following the three Hs model of Sipos,
Battisti and Grimm (2008) and the UK’s QAA and Advance HE’s categorising (QAA and
Advance HE, 2021), most of these seven thematic attributes in this set can also be sub-
grouped into cognitive (Head), psychomotor (Hand), and affective domains (Heart).
Comparing these seven graduate attributes against the UNESCO’s ESD competencies
(see Table 7.3), five out of seven attributes in the research analyses were paired up
whilst it was acknowledged that they were not fully related to their counterparts.

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 Table 7.3 Comparison of ESD graduate attributes from this research and UNESCO’s
recommended competencies

Seven categories of ESD graduate ESD Graduate attributes adapted by QAA

attributes emerged from the and Advance HE (UK) based on
analysis of the research data UNESCO's recommended competencies

Personal abilities/ professionalism Self-awareness competency

HEART
Social abilities Normative competency

Collaboration competency
Employability skills/ personal abilities

HAND
Integrated problem-solving competency

Anticipatory competency
Leadership and entrepreneurship skill
Systems thinking competency

HEAD
Strategic competency
Professionalism/ Personal abilities
Critical thinking competency

Sustainability literacy and practice

Holistic
(HHH)
General knowledge and life skill

‘General knowledge and life-skills’ and ‘sustainability literacy and practice' were
separately grouped in the research data, and they can be considered as holistic because
they can enfold all three types of qualities: Head, Heart, and Hand. The UNESCO’s ESD
competencies are apparently oriented towards the development of cognitive skills which
are likely relevant to employability or professionalism. Amongst the seven attributes of
this research, ‘personal abilities’ were covered by many coded references (101 out of
total 266) and were related to UNESCO’s critical thinking, strategic, and problem-solving
competencies. From the research participants’ view on Myanmar ESD attributes, they
expected graduates to be knowledgeable and ethically sound professionals and could
lead or contribute to the betterment of society. In addition, they desired sustainability
literacy and habitual practices which are mostly related to environmental and social
aspects. There were no specific attributes explicitly highlighting the environmental or
sustainability related knowledge and skills (or practices) in the UNESCO’s key
competencies framework but does have a cross-cutting element that all 8 competencies
should relate to knowledge of the SDG (UNESCO, 2017). However, sustainability
150
literacy and practice has come out as a separate attribute from this research data
analysis. Likewise, general knowledge and life skills appeared as another separate
attribute. Both these attributes are considered as cross-cutting or holistic themes which
in one sense matches the UNESCO’s framework. As a result, five attributes from this
research match the eight specific attributes from the UNESCO and two cross-
cutting/holistic themes from this research match that UNESCO’ cross-cutting element
which embrace all the eight competencies being guided by the knowledge of SDGs.
Nevertheless, it should be noted that this is not just how attributes are defined but how
they are arranged in a framework.

Based on the research data, the seven graduate attributes (thematic categories) are
discussed in the following sub-sections and compared with other lists of attributes from
the literature or the websites of professional bodies or agencies.

7.3.1 Personal abilities

Personal abilities refer to a set of foundational skills, awareness and attitudes which
could be regarded as an individual’s inner power or abilities, which can potentially foster
the development of other attributes. P7 from FGD-1 stressed the importance of physical
fitness and wellbeing by recommending graduates be able to take care of their health.
The ability to work in a stressful situation and have self-management skills in the job
environment were claimed by P2. In FGD-2, P15 claimed for the graduates’ knowledge
of and attitude towards human rights and respecting others’ while P17 highlighted the
importance of resilience regardless of their disciplines. Both P14 and P17 recommended
lifelong learning as an important graduate competency. Regarding learning ability and
mindset, KII-1 said:

“They need to nurture an open mindset and continue to learn especially in

professional context. They need to learn from co-workers, from their seniors
and they need social skills to succeed.” (KII-1, Education Development
Manager)

Moreover, KII-5 added required skills as follow.

“Universities should nurture students’ abilities in analytical skill and

problem-solving skill. Universities should create learning environments
where students can exercise solving complex problems in the real world.”
(KII-5, Professor)

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KII-5, 6, and 7 affirmed the empathy and spirit of learning to work for the betterment of
the society as important attributes for desired sustainability. It was also noted that fifty
references from the open responses of online survey contributed to this affective
domain. A few examples are:

“Altruism, sympathy and love, appreciating others’ achievement” (A

respondent, Online Survey)

“Activism and love justice: having the ability to apply gained knowledge and
skills to advocate for social causes, for the greater good of the community
and the society.” (A respondent, Online Survey)

“Analytical skills, critical and logical thinking skills are highly

recommended.” (A respondent, Online Survey)

“Having positive attitude or intention to make the better environment” (A

respondent, Online Survey)

“Life-long learning - capacity and opportunity to learn through career” (A

respondent, Online Survey)

“Maturity and Self-determination” (A respondent, Online Survey)

7.3.2 Employability skills

Some of the qualities from all other ESD graduate attributes in this set are apparently
related to employability skills. Social skills, problem solving skills, management skills,
and negotiation skills were discussed as desirable attributes that HEIs should develop
in their graduates. For example, P2 claimed:

“And I think that many of graduates need management skill greatly. I am

not saying that they should be able to manage others and larger scale of
administrative works. They need management skills to handle some of their
emotional issues amongst co-workers or their stress at works.” (P2, FGD-
1)

Reflecting the current digital age, P15 in FGD-2 mentioned the importance of digital
literacy. P14 supported this idea by sharing his personal experience:

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 “We did not know how to use a computer and we were only interested to
play games on computer. So, I had great problems when I started to work,
so the university graduates should know Microsoft office at least.” (P14,
FGD-2)

KII-1 has similar view, and he used the term IT (Information Technology)63.

“. . . they need to have at least basic skill in using social media well. This is
also important for both employability and self-learning. Having skill in IT is
also important.” (KII-1, Educational development manager)

These digital skills and language skills were grouped in the general knowledge and life
skills in the thematic attribute, but they can also be considered as employability skills as
acknowledged above. In another aspect of relevant employment skills, KII-7 highlighted
the importance of responsibility and accountability for one’s own work and its potential
consequences. Moreover, he expected negotiation and teamwork skills to be developed
in graduates, partly in response to the country’s challenging context.

“When we say “teamwork,” it includes the ability to negotiate, and to

compromise. These are skills needed to build an environment conducive
for politics and to address the peace issues, the ability to solve the problems
without any physical violence.” (KII-7, PhD student)

There were some comments from the online survey related to employability. Some
recommended that university students should have had some practical/work experience
before graduation. Some comments suggested the ability to apply what they have
learned at HEIs in their jobs.

“Applying his/her knowledge in the field because most learn the theories
but do not apply those and it is just a waste of time.” (A respondent, Online
survey)

Another employability related skill from the research data is teaching, which means one
should be able to train or teach co-workers and to share or transfer knowledge and skills

63 People widely use the term IT in Myanmar but sometimes they refer to basic knowledge and skills of
using some Microsoft office software, emails, social media, and exploring information via websites. In
this research, I use ‘digital literacy’ for it following the verification process with the participants.
153
in the workplace. It was used as ‘teaching’ in the fourteen sets of specific graduate
attributes.

“Ability to transfer the knowledge and skills, practice good teaching” (A

respondent, Online survey)

Communication skill, associated to teaching as well, was mentioned by another

respondent.

“. . . to help others to understand or to be able to apply something via text,

speech, or technologies.” (A respondent, Online survey)

While KII-5 encouraged the research knowledge and basic research skills, KII-7
elaborated the ability of the graduates to make use of their knowledge and skills:

“I want to use my discipline practically and we were in the similar situation.

We are pursuing PhD because we want to apply. I think, application is also
essential.” (KII-7, PhD student)

All the employability skills identified in this research can be summarised and compared
against some employability skills which are widely discussed and claimed by three other
institutions: US Department of Education, Australian Government, and Indeed (UK
Private) employment agency (see PCRN: Employability Skills, no date; What are
employability skills? | Job Jumpstart, no date; Indeed, 2023) (see Table 7.4).

Some missing boxes in the research data column can be covered by other categories
of graduate attributes for instance personal abilities and social abilities which covered a
wider range of knowledge, attitude, and skills. It should be noted and acknowledged that
these skills were matched based on the similarity of the nature of their qualities, however
it is hard to claim that they are equally related.

In fact, there were conflations of the terms such as skills, attributes, and competencies
in the literature, for instance the UNESCO’s list of competencies aims to encompass all
qualities of physical, mental, and social abilities, although it explicitly uses knowledge,
thinking skills, and ability to work or address problems. Moreover, it should be noted that
there could be similarity and differences between employability skills and ESD skills
because the former could be viewed as a part of the latter according to this research
and the reviewed literature. Therefore, descriptors were used for each specific element
in another set of fourteen graduate attributes (see Table 7.5) to ensure the clarity in the
online survey whilst they were not used for these other frameworks.

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Table 7.4 Comparison of employability skills: research data and three institutions

Employability skills US Department Australian Indeed

from this research of Education Government (UK Private)

Analytical skills systems thinking analytical skills

critical thinking
Critical thinking
skills
Interpersonal skills
good
Communication and communication/
communication/
skill/Teamwork communication teamwork
teamwork/patient
skills
motivation and
personal qualities motivation
initiative
self-management/
adaptability/
emotional
emotional control
intelligence

resilience

Digital skills technologies use

information use/
Management skill resources
management
Job related working
administrative
experience, knowledge,
skills
and skills
Problem solving,
negotiation and conflict leadership leadership
resolution skill
Accountability and reliability/
reliability
reliability dependability
Ability to apply ability to learn and
following
knowledge/skills to follow the
instructions
address practical issues instructions
Discipline related
applied academic
experiences, knowledge,
skills
and skills
Research knowledge and
skill

Ability to transfer
knowledge (teaching)

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7.3.3 Social abilities

Participants P11, P14, P15, P17, and P19 mentioned the importance of social skills.
According to them, graduates were expected to be flexible and able to work with people
from different cultural or professional backgrounds, in other words it could be interpreted
as communication, collaboration, cooperation, and teamwork related skills.

“I think we can achieve our envisioned sustainable future if we have a

culture that we can respect to different values both in social lives and in
politics.” (P17, FGD-2)

As discussed in Chapter 2, several factors such as prolonged ethnic tension, traumatic

experience in civil wars, various oppressions and violence exerted by military dictators,
and the dominance of the majority ethnic group (bamar) in terms of political power and
resource use, have led Myanmar citizens yearning for long-lasting peace and stable
political reform. The research participants expected HEIs to prepare smart citizens with
such attributes because they believe things will be smoother in addressing ongoing
issues if non-violence and mutual respect of the diverse values/cultures are widely
practiced:

“HEIs are places for diverse people across the country to come and study
together, so there would be different traditions and cultures so that they
could improve their social skills and share knowledge. I think a graduate
should be proficient in his/her specialization after learning it for 4 or 5 years
because the graduates would find employment opportunities and contribute
towards the society by collaborating with people from diverse backgrounds.
It is very important for graduates to gain social knowledge from HEIs.” (P19,
FGD-2)

This idea might be considered for the campus approach of the ESD integration model –
HEIs as learning centres or hubs. The campus operation and HEI’s management could
apply this approach suggested by P15 and P19 as it could lead to learning for mutual
respect, celebrating inclusion and diversity, and contribute to the development of
relevant social skills. KII-1 used the word ‘Emotional Quotient (EQ)’ to refer to emotional
intelligence in which he covered communication, engagement, networking, and team
building. This is supported by KII-5.

“Graduates are also expected to be good in negotiation skill and inter-

personal communication skills.” (KII-5, Professor)

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Regarding the socio-cultural view for the sustainable future of Myanmar, HEIs were
expected to be learning hubs to help cultivate solidarity and mutual respect amongst the
diverse identities based on KII-7’s personal experience.

“But when an ethnic person goes to study in Mandalay, he can eliminate

his bias of having hatred towards Bamar because he can have a very good
Bamar friend. That’s what I mean by environment.” (KII-7, PhD student)

Some supporting ideas from the online survey’s open comments can also be noted.

“Communication skills, respect, teamwork, collaboration, leadership skill”

(A respondent, Online Survey)

“Ability to work with or communicate with people from different ideologies

or perspectives” (A respondent, Online Survey)

This category of ‘social abilities’ in the broader view will be categorised as ‘social
abilities’ and ‘cultural sensitivities’ in the list of fourteen graduate attributes for the
quantitative online survey. It was manifested as communication skill and teamwork in
the employability table (see Table 7.4).

7.3.4 General knowledge and life skills

Participant P15 is the only one who discussed gender equality issue and gender
awareness as a part of graduate attributes. She discussed:

“We often hear the words called ‘lady first’ at our workplaces. It sounds
good but sometimes I wonder if people allow ladies to go first because they
think we are weak. Or why would they give us chances? So, I think
understanding gender equality matters. It can help a person to have strong
attitude and can accept diversity if the person has these knowledge and
skills.” (P15, FGD-2)

KII-1 discussed why graduates should have a good command of Myanmar language
proficiency and claimed it as an attribute. Proficiency in Myanmar language may seem
so obvious to ordinary burman citizens or outsiders (non-Myanmar), it might raise the
question about why it would need to be an explicit attribute. However, using Myanmar
language as an official one is still a debated issue in Myanmar society due to deeply
rooted ethnic conflicts as discussed in Chapter 2. On the other side, what KII-1 claimed

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was consistent with the general situation if effective communication and comprehension
were considered as necessities for sustainable development in this society. He said:

“I want our graduates to be proficient in Myanmar literature and write the

language well. Nowadays, we can see many children and youth trying to
learn English very hard, but their ability to communicate in Myanmar
language is getting worsened. We all need to speak in Myanmar in our
society, especially with people from villages. We need to speak in Myanmar
language well to explain and communicate to people from such local
communities.” (KII-1, Educational development manager)

Regarding foreign languages, a respondent in the online survey claimed that students
should learn at least one foreign language at their undergraduate level whilst another
respondent argued that learning languages should not be considered as a graduate
attribute because students can decide to specialise in it to master it based on personal
choice.

In brief, diverse aspects of social and political awareness were grouped in this attribute
as follows:

• gender awareness (P15) and sex education (online survey response)

• language proficiency, particularly English and Myanmar (KII-1)
• civic education and political awareness such as citizenship, justices, rule of law,
human right, and democratic practices (KII-7 and some responses in the online
survey)
• history and geopolitical knowledge (some online survey responses)

Although there were fewer references compared to other attributes, they were grouped
and named as a separate one because of the similarities when they were referred to.

7.3.5 Leadership and entrepreneurship skills

While slightly overlapping with the references in the employability skills, leadership and
entrepreneurship skills can be interpreted as graduates’ abilities to take leading roles in
the workplace and creating new businesses opportunities. This attribute was built on the
references from 2 sources: three participants from FGD-2 and open comments from the
online survey. P4 from teachers’ group claimed that graduates should have leadership
and entrepreneurship skills.

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 “As graduates are expected to have leadership skill, they should have
ambitions to start their own businesses one day, to become entrepreneurs.
I want them to have these thoughts.

… Besides, the teachers should foster the students' mindset that they can
start their own business, and they could be business leaders and generate
employment opportunities for others one day.” (P4, FGD-1)

Nevertheless, P8 and P10 had different perspective on it. They argued that it might not
be easy to train all students to become entrepreneurs. Finally, their discussion came to
a consensus agreement that universities should facilitate students’ development of
entrepreneurship related skills and mindset, but it does not mean to train all the
graduates to become entrepreneurs. This idea was also aligned with a few responses
in the online survey, and one said:

“Graduates should apply what they have learned from the universities and
create some employment opportunities like entrepreneurship.” (A
respondent, Online survey)

7.3.6 Professionalism

In this attribute, P3 and P11 highlighted professional ethics and good practice of
respecting ones’ professional jobs as well as others’. Their claims could be interpreted
that HEIs should nurture the students’ attitudes and their practice of valuing one’s own
discipline, showing respect to others, and contributing to the ethical betterment of the
society. There were 15 references which were briefly interpreted as integrity, honesty,
professional ethic, and respect. P3 claimed that HEIs need to teach ethical issues
related to the students’ disciplinary fields.

“For students, they should have understandings not only on their subjects
but also on the ethics regarding their disciplines.” (P3, FGD-1)

It was supported by P11.

“So, I think, professional ethic is highly important, and it is something that

university graduates should have.” (P11, FGD-2)

She also added that one should have a strong level of knowledge and competency in
his/her respective discipline.

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There were some responses in the online survey which were related to professionalism
covering:

• Integrity and honesty,

• Good manners and ethics,
• Ability to make unbiased decisions,
• Hardworking and no corruption, and
• Respecting other professions.

7.3.7 Sustainability literacy and practices

KII-3 and KII-5 discussed the sustainability literacy and practices, i.e., graduates are
expected to apply sustainability concepts, value, and practices wherever they are
working. Therefore, they should have experienced this during their degree programmes
before their employment, as claimed by KII-3 and KII-5, so that they can apply
sustainability concepts and principles in addressing any issues in their job environment.
KII-5 claimed that:

“If we want to add “sustainable development,” we must also ensure that our
students have knowledge and understanding the importance of
environmental well-being and the society.” (KII-5, Professor)

KII-3 had a hope that:

“University graduates would one day work for public service, or they would
work in private sectors. As they would become adults one day, we need to
help them nurture this mindset, sustainability concepts and values for them
to implement sustainable development wherever they are.” (KII-3, NGO
staff)

Additionally, KII-3 emphasised application of this attribute in the private sectors:

“A graduate from the university would bring the basic principles, concepts,
and issues to consider which are required for sustainable development
because these graduates can end up in legislative positions, or some other
different professions. Even if they work in a private sector as a staff of a
company in extractive industry, they will at least have understandings on
fundamental principles and basic concepts. In this way, we can already
instil a level of awareness, values, and principles for an adult through HEIs.”
(KII-3, NGO staff)
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A few references in the online survey supported the importance of environmental or
sustainable development related attitudes, knowledge, and skills. In brief, HEIs are
expected to train the students to care and respect for the natural environment through
understanding the importance of interdependence of healthy ecosystems and the
wellbeing of society. Although sustainability literacy and practices were discussed
mainly in the context of environmental aspect, peace and diversity related skills from the
social abilities could be considered as sustainability literacy given the Myanmar context.

Overall, the broader view of seven desirable graduate attributes which emerged from
the thematic analysis had a certain degree of similarity with some attributes
recommended by the UNESCO and other institutions. However, Myanmar participants’
view on ESD attributes extended far more than the employability skills and embraced a
holistic view of three Hs. Two attributes from this research: ‘Sustainability literacy and
practice’ and ‘general knowledge and life skills’ are holistic themes which match a cross-
cutting element of the UK’s QAA and UNESCO’s ESD competency framework.

7.4 Quantitative study of the graduate attributes via online survey

This section discusses the observations from investigating the set of fourteen graduate
attributes for their priority ranking, with the data collected through the online survey. As
described in Chapter 5 (Research methodology), a Jisc online survey was employed to
study how these selected attributes might be rated by a wider community of targeted
stakeholders in Myanmar. In-country citizens and those who were living abroad were
targeted as potential respondents for this survey. This quantitative investigation was
equally important to build up information and understanding to answer the second
research question, particularly to RQ2.2:

What are the most important ESD related graduate attributes that Myanmar HEIs need
to consider?

As mentioned earlier, a set of fourteen graduate attributes were generated from an initial
systematic and in-depth analysis through coding the qualitative data from KIIs and
FGDs, and a verification and iterated consultation process. This included developing
descriptors for each attribute that explained in more depth what they covered, with an
attempt to minimise the potential overlaps and variation in understanding of terms by
survey respondents. This list included environmental literacy as a specific attribute. It
should be noted that these attributes were not grouped by the 3Hs at this stage because
the main purpose at this stage was just to present them as a list for the respondents to
rank without being set in any form of framework. The confirmed list together with
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descriptors was prepared in both Myanmar and English Languages (see English version
in Table 7.5) and set out as an online survey (Appendix 3).

Table 7.5 Graduate attributes and descriptors used in the online survey

Graduate
Descriptors
Attributes
Being reflexive and open-minded for feedback; Social dealing skills e.g.,
interpersonal communication, negotiation, conflict resolution, and being
Social abilities
able to build social network; Having teamwork skill e.g., being collaborative,
adaptable, flexible, and confident to discuss, question or debate

Being knowledgeable about human rights, equality, social conflicts, different

cultures/ values/ beliefs/ traditions, psychology, and country’s context;
Cultural Having basic awareness on peace, respect rights/ freedom of minority/
sensitivity marginalised identities (e.g., LGBT, minority ethnic/religious/disable
groups); Ability to think of being inclusive, work in multi-cultural context, and
adapt to new cultural context
Being reliable (Accountability and responsibility; Having problem solving
skill and facilitation skill to address the issues; Being able to organise
Management skill
activities or projects and being competent in time management, resource
management, project, or business management
Having basic environmental knowledge (e.g., ecology, biodiversity,
symbiotic relationships, climate change, deforestation, etc.) and
sustainability concepts; Understanding basic principles of sustainability in
Environmental
environmental and resources management, and the interdependence of
literacy
human beings and ecosystems; Having value, respect, and love on the
natural environment, and Ability to think for future impact and act
environmentally sound management in their activities
Thinking Being good in reasoning, logical thinking, analytical and critical thinking, and
proficiency creative thinking leading to wisdom
Proficiency in English language skill (at least communicable), Myanmar
Language
language; Ability to use any ethnic or foreign languages depending on the
proficiency
situation and individuals’ preferences.
Having work experience in the job environment, or research field or
Work experience
communities (such as internship or volunteer) during study programme
Ability to use computer and commonly used software such as Office
software (Microsoft Office: word, excel, PowerPoint, etc.); Ability to use
Digital literacy
internet, search data and apply communication software such as Skype/
Zoom etc., including social media
Having self-awareness, moral conduct, contentment, self-esteem, altruism,
compassion, and sympathy; Being curious and open-minded to learn, being
Personal abilities
motivated to learn from work/ experience, and able to learn independently;
Being able to read and write well (e.g., proposals/ reports/ research papers)

Researching Having fundamental research knowledge and skills

Entrepreneurship Having skills and enthusiasm to create/ initiate innovative projects/business

Teaching Ability to teach or to transfer the knowledge to others

Being professionally ethical, having respect to one’s own profession and
Professionalism others; Being punctual and honest; Knowing one’s own rights as well as
being responsible
Having perseverance, grit, adaptability, and commitment; Having good
Resilience focus/ attention what one is studying or working on; Ability to overcome the
problems and hardship
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The survey used a ‘numerical scale rating’ in which each attribute was to be rated based
on a scale of minimum ‘0’ (Zero as ‘not at all important’) to maximum ‘9’ (Nine as the
most important) as discussed in Chapter 5. In other words, the respondents were invited
to rate the given graduate attributes based on their perceived priority values of being
important in contributing towards sustainable development in Myanmar. The survey was
launched and rolled out through Facebook social media and emails after being revised
based on the volunteers’ feedbacks in the testing stage. It was answered by 417
respondents in total within 39 days.

7.4.1 Ensuring reliable and valid data

As explained earlier, the online survey also collected some qualitative data which have
been covered in the thematic analysis. This section will only cover the quantitative data,
which was:

1) demographic information for the respondents such as age, gender, education

levels and their residing countries, and

2) their perceived priority values of the fourteen graduate attributes using a ten-
point numerical rating scale (from 0 to 9).

The data were quantitatively examined using Statistical Package for Social Science (IBM
Statistics SPSS-27) software and the following section presents the analyses.

This survey research followed good practice in term of ensuring reliability and validity.
They are related because reliability determines validity (Bryman, 2016). Reliability is
described by stability, internal reliability, and inter-rater reliability according to Bryman
(2016). As well as ensuring reliability into the survey design and invitation process,
Cronbach’s alpha (α) value and correlation were applied to check the reliability statistics
for internal consistency of perceived priority scores on the selected graduate attributes.
Cronbach’s α value of 0.97 (see Appendix 6) showed a high level of internal consistency
because 0.80 can be claimed to be a typical acceptance level of internal reliability
(Bryman, 2016).

The survey aimed to observe the distribution pattern of the respondents’ priority ranking
using a ten-point scale (from 0 to 9). According to Harpe (2015), it is called a ‘numerical
rating scale’, it is not a Likert scale because there was no specific definition for each
scale number apart from the two ends with explanations. This research did not intend to
use such Likert items to avoid potential problems with attributing responses to the
meaning of each scale point, for instance 1 as ‘least important’ and 2 as ‘moderately
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important’. Whilst the suitability of parametric tests for the Likert’s ordinal scales has
been differently viewed and argued (Harpe, 2015), this survey employed a ten-point
scale rating system to see the ranking profile of each attribute through the valid
perception of the respondents.

The survey aimed at stakeholders with experience/knowledge of higher education in

Myanmar. Non-probability-based (or convenience) sampling was employed due to a
large group of populations and difficulty in identifying individuals in the population
(Fricker, 2016) and because it was the most accessible approach for the researcher.
Prospective respondents were widely invited by spreading the information and web-link
to the online survey through social media networks and emails (Bryman, 2016). There
was no intention to make statistical inferences about a population from this convenience
sampling method. Rather the intention was to understand stakeholders’ perspectives on
the importance of graduate attributes as one element of ESD conceptualisation in
Myanmar. Indeed, further extended investigation with probability-based sampling will be
needed to deeply understand a particular context such as a geographic region or a
particular institution for more reliable representation.

7.4.2 Respondents’ demographic characteristics

The limited demographic data was collected to check whether this sample was likely to
be representative of the population of graduates who were the targeted stakeholders
and there was not a priori assumption to look for demographic differences. The
demographic patterns of the respondents (e.g., gender, age, education level, region of
the respondents) were checked through descriptive analysis and frequency distributions
as displayed in the following tables.

Of the 417 respondents, slightly more women (55%) participated than men (43%) (see
Table 7.6). There were 5 respondents who described themselves as ‘non-binary’ and 2
as ‘prefer not to say’. The numbers of men and women respondents are large enough
to be studied for comparing their perceptions, however the other two groups were
excluded in the gender comparison due to small numbers.

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 Table 7.6 Frequency distribution of respondents' gender groups

Gender Frequency Percent

Man 180 43.2
Woman 230 55.2
Non-binary 5 1.2
Prefer not to say 2 0.5
Total 417 100

As for the age bands, the youngest group, 18-27 years old, were the largest number of
respondents (almost 50% of total respondents) and the age group of 28-37 was the
second largest (almost 30%) (see Table 7.7). The next two age groups, 38-47 and 48
and above, have lower proportion of responses (16% and 5% respectively). Although
the original survey format included both ‘48-57’ and ‘58 and above’, they were combined
into one group as ‘48 and above’ due to the low numbers of respondents in ‘58 and
above’. The age distribution was reasonable because a larger number of younger
populations might have completed higher education compared to older ones. Besides,
the older groups in Myanmar were not comparatively active in using social media,
therefore it is less likely for them to get access to the survey invitation through the social
media and emails, whilst the younger groups are more likely to have access to internet,
social media, and digital applications.

Table 7.7 Frequency distribution of respondents' age band

Age band Frequency Percent

18 - 27 207 50
28 - 37 122 29
38 - 47 67 16
48 and above 20 5
I prefer not to say. 1 0
Total 417 100

Regarding education levels, bachelor’s degree holders were the largest group of
respondents (47%) which was followed by the undergraduate students as the second
largest proportion (19%) and the master’s degree holders as the third one (14.6%) (see
Table 7.8). The remaining groups, PhD students and doctoral degree holders,
contributed a smaller percentage, yet the numbers were large enough to be used for
non-parametric tests.

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 Table 7.8 Frequency distribution of respondents' education levels

Education level Frequency Percent

under-graduate student 81 19
graduate (bachelor's degree holder) 196 47
Master's degree student 38 9
Master's degree holder 61 15
Doctoral student 25 6
PhD or any Professional Doctorate 16 4

Total 417 100

Moreover, the survey aimed to understand if there were any differences in the
respondents’ perceptions on the priority of the graduate attributes with their current
locations that would hinder using the full sample as being representative of all graduates.
The number of respondents in different foreign countries were too small to be counted
as individual countries. Therefore, they were combined into two main regions: Asian
countries and Western or English-speaking countries. Most of the respondents were
residing in Myanmar (88% of the total), and those from Asian countries contributed 9.6%
and the Western or English-speaking countries for just 2.4% (see Table 7.9).

Table 7.9 Frequency distribution of respondents' locations

Participants' locations Frequency Percent

Myanmar 367 88

Other Asian countries 40 10

Western and English-speaking countries 10 2

Total 417 100

7.4.3 Perceived priority values of graduate attributes

As mentioned earlier, the priority of the selected fourteen graduate attributes were rated
by the respondents on a ten-point numerical scale. There was no missing data because
every question required a response before moving to the next question. It is not ‘a
yes/no/don’t know question’ but asking about their perceptions. After the data had been
transferred into the SPSS software, the responses were recoded into 1 to 10 (1= least

166
important and 10 most important). In the survey question, ‘0’ (zero) was purposively
used as the minimum value instead 1 to ensure the participants’ understanding of the
meanings for different scales and to avoid any potential misunderstandings because ‘1’
might be seen as the highest level according to the school ranking or students’ academic
achievement in education for example. This point was learnt through a volunteer’s
experience in the preliminary checking. However, they were recoded as 1 to 10 instead
of using ‘0’ to ‘9’ for the analysis because these scores were to be treated as ordinal
scale in SPSS. Thus, there were 14 (dependent) variables with values ranking from the
lowest to the highest level of priority based on their relevancy or importance for the
sustainable development or future of Myanmar.

7.4.4 Normality test and outliers

Testing the priority values of the fourteen graduate attributes rated by the 417
respondents for their distributions, normality showed that all the bar graphs were found
to be left-skewed (negative skewness), which suggested non-parametric tests should
be applied (Fox, 2018). A few outliers were not removed as it was assumed that there
was no influence upon the analysis in the test.

Also, the variance checks showed that there were 25 cases having monotones, each
with same responses to thirteen or all fourteen graduate attributes. 20 out of 25 cases
rated every attribute only ‘9’ or ‘10’ and 5 cases rated 2, 3 or 5 (in ten-point scale in
SPSS). Generally, these monotones might be removed in the parametric tests because
there is no affect in the analysing of variance considering mainly for the means. The
researcher holds the two main assumptions regarding the monotones: 1) it could be the
respondents’ carelessness for unknown reasons by giving the same number to all the
questions or 2) their serious belief that all the attributes are equally important or relevant
to the sustainable future of Myanmar.

7.4.5 Priority ranking of Graduate Attributes

The main purpose of the online survey was to consider which of the fourteen graduate
attributes were most important and to investigate whether there was any significant
variance amongst the priority values. As the data were not normally distributed,
measuring medians was appropriate (Fox, 2018). A Friedman test is usually suggested
if the following underlying assumptions are met.

• Only one group of respondents are tested for more than three or more different
occasions/ treatments (417 respondents rating 14 graduate attributes).

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 • Respondents are a random sample from the population.
• Dependent variables (priority on graduate attributes) are measured in ordinal
scale (1 to 10)
• Samples do not need to be normally distributed.

Although the survey employed convenience rather than random sampling, it was still
possible to apply the Friedman test although second assumption did not hold and the
result will be cautiously taken with noted claim (SAGE, 2017). According to an underlying
assumption of the Friedman test, the test matched this type of data according to Conover
(1999) cited in Pereira, Afonso and Medeiros (2015) - the results in each row, i.e.,
individual respondent’s rating for different graduate attributes, were mutually
independent from each other as well as ‘the observation in each row can be ranked
separately according to some criterion of interest’ (p. 2638).

The Friedman test result showed that there was a statistically significant difference in
the perceived priority values for the different graduate attributes while running Chi-
square value = 612.253, df = 13, p < 0.001. This means that there are differences
between attributes but does not indicate which ones precisely. As the data were not
normally distributed, median and mode were considered in the rank-based non-
parametric tests and the priority of graduate attributes were arranged in the order of
mean ranks64 generated by the Friedman test (see Table 7.10). This ranking gives some
indication of where the statistical differences might lie.

Generally, all the median values of fourteen graduate attributes fall between 7 and 9
showing that most respondents highly prioritised the given fourteen graduate attributes.
However, a few respondents did rate some of the attributes as ‘not at all important’ – 2
respondents to ‘social abilities’ and ‘personal abilities’, 9 for ‘environmental literacy’ and
22 respondents for ‘entrepreneurship’.

64 Mean rank is the average value of the ranks of all observations within each sample.
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 Table 7.10 Perceived priority values of graduate attributes by mean ranks and
medians65

Percentiles
Graduate Attributes 50th
25th 75th Mean Rank
N (Median)
Professionalism 417 7 9 10 9.45
Thinking proficiency 417 6 9 10 8.66
Personal abilities 417 6 8 10 8.61
Social Abilities 417 6 8 10 8.56
Management 417 6 8 10 8.35
Digital literacy 417 6 8 10 8.09
Cultural sensitivity 417 6 8 9 7.86
Resilience 417 6 8 9 7.74
Environmental literacy 417 6 8 9 7.13
Teaching 417 6 8 9 6.93
Work experience 417 5 8 9 6.50
Researching 417 5 7 9 6.05
Language proficiency 417 5 7 9 5.93
Entrepreneurship 417 5 7 8 5.13

A Friedman multiple pairwise test was undertaken to observe which attributes were
statistically different. Firstly, the post hoc Friedman test result consistently showed the
significant values (p < 0.001) suggesting that the distribution of perceived priority values
amongst the 14 graduate attributes were not the same (see Table 7.11).

Secondly, the Two-way analysis of variance by mean rank also showed significant p
values recognising that the respondents in the survey have different perceptions of their
priority of the graduate attributes (see Table 7.12). Significant p values meant that there
were one or more graduate attributes which were statistically different in their distribution
patterns of priority values from one or more other attributes. In other words, it indicated
that the priority values of all graduate attributes were not the same and they could be
observed in a ranked order.

65 The colour grading shows the differences in level of priority: the lighter colour represents less priority
and the darker means the higher priority.
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 Table 7.11 Friedman's post hoc test showing to reject null hypothesis

Hypothesis Test Summary

Null Hypothesis Test Sig.a,b Decision
The distributions of Social Abilities,
Cultural sensitivity, Management,
Environmental literacy, Thinking Related-Samples
proficiency, Language proficiency, Friedman's Two-
Reject the null
1 Work experience, Digital literacy, Way Analysis of 0
hypothesis.
Personal abilities, Researching, Variance by
Entrepreneurship, Teaching, Ranks
Professionalism and Resilience are
the same.
a. The significance level is .050.
b. Asymptotic significance is displayed.

Table 7.12 Comparison of mean ranks amongst 14 graduate attributes

Related-Samples Friedman's Two-Way Analysis of

Variance by Ranks Summary

Total N 417
Test Statistic 612.253
Degree Of Freedom 13
Asymptotic Sig. (2-sided test) 0

Thirdly, a pairwise comparison was performed with Bonferroni correction for multiple
comparisons (adjusted p values). The result showed that there were multiple pairs
having significant differences in the distribution profiles of the priority values of the
graduate attributes (see Appendix 7). It is complicated to show the differences amongst
the priority values of the graduate attributes due to there being many pairs, therefore the
similarity between attributes is shown instead in Table 7.13.

The pairwise test was applied to investigate the similarities and differences of the priority
values for the graduate attributes. Generally, all the attributes were not equally rated.
However, the median values were 5 and 7 showing that all the attributes are important.
The pairwise test shows that some attributes have similarly rated, as shown in the Table
7.13, except entrepreneurship which is different from all other attributes. Significant
differences between the graduate attributes can be seen in the diagram in the Appendix
7. In brief, majority of the respondents in the survey agreed that all the graduate
attributes as important and they can be ordered in their priority values.

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Table 7.13 The graduate attributes and its paired attributes with similar mean ranks in
the pairwise comparison

Mean Tested Graduate Paired attributes with no significant differences

Rank Attributes
(Based on adjusted p value*)

5.13 Entrepreneurship -

5.93 Language Researching, work experience, teaching

proficiency

6.05 Researching Work experience, teaching

6.50 Work experience Teaching, environmental literacy

6.93 Teaching Environmental literacy, resilience, cultural sensitivity

7.13 Environmental Resilience, cultural sensitivity, digital literacy

literacy

7.74 Resilience Cultural sensitivity, digital literacy, Management, Social

abilities, Personal abilities, Thinking proficiency

7.86 Cultural sensitivity Digital literacy, Management, Social abilities, personal

abilities, thinking proficiency

8.09 Digital literacy Management, Social abilities, personal abilities,

thinking proficiency,

8.35 Management Social abilities, personal abilities, thinking proficiency

8.56 Social abilities Personal abilities, thinking proficiency, professionalism

8.61 Personal abilities Thinking proficiency, professionalism

8.66 Thinking Professionalism

proficiency

9.45 Professionalism Thinking proficiency

*Significance values have been adjusted by the Bonferroni correction for multiple tests.

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7.4.6 Demographic parameters and priority values of graduate attributes

Another analysis was made to investigate if there were any associations between the
demographic parameters of the respondents and their priority values on the graduate
attributes in order to confirm that the sample is reasonably representative of graduates
from Myanmar. There were four main demographic data in the survey as mentioned
above: gender, age group, education level and the respondents’ countries of residence.
It should be noted again that non-parametric tests were used due to the non-normal data
distribution.

Gender and Perceived priority values on the graduate attributes

A Mann Whitney U test was applied to check if there were any associations of the two
gender groups (men and women) and their priority values on the attributes as

• Data distribution does not follow normality,

• Participants are mutually exclusive (independence of observation), and
• The variable to be measured is ordinal (perceived values are coded as ordinal
scale as mentioned earlier).

The Mann Whitney U test result suggested there were no significant association of two
gender groups (180 men and 230 women) and their priority of the twelve graduate
attributes except ‘social abilities’ and ‘thinking proficiency’ (see Table 7.14). Asymptotic
p-values were used as the sample size was large enough (>30).

Table 7.14 Mann Whitney U test showing significant association of two gender groups
and their perceived priority on 'Social abilities' and 'Thinking proficiency'

Test Statisticsa

Social Abilities Thinking proficiency

Mann-Whitney U 17151 18291.5

Wilcoxon W 43716 44856.5

Z -3.05 -2.068

Asymp. Sig. (2-tailed)b 0.002 0.039

a. Grouping Variable: Gender

b. Asymptotic Significance p-value was used for large sample size.

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In brief, Mann Whitney U test was used to check the relationship between gender and
their priority on the given attributes. The result shows that two different gender groups
(man and woman) might have different perceptions of priority ranking for ‘Social abilities’
and ‘Thinking proficiency’. Apart from these two attributes, there is no association
between gender and the priority of graduate attributes. Further studies with probabilistic
samples of population should be made to confirm such gender related associations.

Age groups and perceived priority values on graduate attributes

In the age band, there were 416 cases to be tested in four different age groups after
excluding 1 case of ‘prefer not to say’. A Kruskal-Wallis test is a rank-based non-
parametric test which is useful if there are statistically significant differences between
two or more groups of independent variables which are measured in ordinal or
continuous scales (Meyer and Seaman, 2013). It was used to test the age groups’
perceptions of priority values on the graduate attributes because the following four
assumptions were met.

• The dependent variables (priority values) were measured in ordinal scale.

• There were more than two independent variables of age groups (18-27; 28-37;
38-47; 48 and above).
• There was an independence of observations (no relationship between the
observations in each age group or between the groups, i.e., different
respondents in each group).
• Distributions of independent variable (priority values) in each age group were in
similar shape (meaning similar variability).

A Kruskal-Wallis H test, like other rank-based non-parametric tests, has a limitation of

critical p-values in the existing tables or difficulty to calculate exact p value for larger
sample sizes. Meyer and Seaman (2013) have provided critical values for H with sample
sizes of up to N=105. Thus, asymptotic p-values are useful for larger sample sizes using
approximation to the true distribution in this condition. The Kruskal-Wallis H test showed
no significant differences amongst the different age groups in their priority values on the
graduate attributes (see Appendix 8). In other words, there were no associations
between age bands and their perception of priority on the attributes.

Education level and the perceived priority values on graduate attributes

A Kruskal-Wallis test was again applied to compare the six groups of education levels
of the respondents upon their prioritisation. The result shows that there was a

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significant difference only for ‘Personal Abilities’ (see Appendix 9) but there were
no significant differences for other graduate attributes.

A pairwise Kruskal-Wallis test was applied to see the comparison of respondents’

education levels and their prioritizing patterns on that attribute (see Appendix 10).
According to the pairwise test result, there was very little significant difference - only
‘bachelor’s degree holders – master’s degree holders’ pair showed a significant
difference. The masters’ degree holders rated higher priority values on the ‘Personal
Abilities’ than the bachelor’s degree holders did in the survey.

Respondents’ regions and their priority on graduate attributes

A Kruskal-Wallis Test was again applied to determine if there were any differences in
the priority of the given graduate attributes by the respondents’ locations:

• Myanmar – Other Asian countries

• Myanmar – Western/English speaking countries, and
• Other Asian countries – Western/ English speaking countries

Similar assumptions were being held as before since the distributions were not normal,
respondents were mutually exclusive, the groups to be tested were more than two and
they were in categorical lists (regions of the respondents).

According to the test result, there were five graduate attributes having significant
association between the respondents’ residing locations (or regions) and their priority
ranking: Thinking proficiency, Language proficiency, Digital literacy, Researching, and
Entrepreneurship (see Appendix 11). Therefore, a Kruskal-Wallis pairwise test was
applied to investigate how respondents in the three different locations/regions prioritised
these five graduate attributes differently. Only ‘respondents in Myanmar -
respondents in other Asian countries’ pair showed significant differences meaning
that the respondents in other Asian countries rated higher priority values than the
respondents in Myanmar on these five graduate attributes: Thinking, Digital literacy,
Language proficiency, Researching and Entrepreneurship.

In summary, there were very little significant differences in the relationships between the
demographic data and the priority of the graduate attributes except in a few parameters
and graduate attributes comparison. Generally, all the fourteen attributes were rated
important by the respondents and further investigation was conducted, as a follow up,
to check the FGD participants’ view on the priority ranking and compare with the findings
from the online survey result.
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7.5 Prioritising the graduate attributes by FGD participants (Jam-board)

7.5.1 Rating from two dimensions: importance and impact over time

The online survey results appeared as non-normal distributions in the priority values of
all tested graduate attributes. These attributes were rated by the respondents
considering only one simple question of how a particular attribute was important or
potentially relevant in contributing to the sustainable development or future of Myanmar.
To further understand and ensure their credibility, another study was followed on to look
at these attributes from two dimensions: degree of importance and impact over time
using another online platform. For this study, the FGD participants were invited to rate
the attributes using the two dimensions.

A google Jam-board (free version)66 was used and the FGD participants were invited to
place the fourteen graduate attributes on a three-by-three matrix considering three
priority levels (Low, Medium, and High) from two dimensions – Y axis for the degree of
importance and X axis for the degree of impact over time (see Chapter 5). For example,
a participant can put an attribute in the box of High (Y) - High (X) if that attribute is
considered highly important for and high potential in the long-term impact in the
sustainable development of Myanmar. Fifteen FGD participants responded their ratings.
This approach was appropriate for participants as they could participate anonymously
at their convenient time before a given deadline.

7.5.2 Jamboard survey result

In the first visual check, it was recognised that most graduate attributes fell in the upper
right-hand corner and the left-hand side of the matrix. The frequency of the levels rated
on both dimensions were added into a Microsoft Excel sheet and each level was coded
as a score (Low = 1, Medium = 2, and High = 3). The mean scores of Importance (Y)
and Impact (X) were calculated using the following formula: the sum of total scores for
three levels were divided by 15 (the total number of respondents).

Mean of X (μx) = (3 x Freq. in High) + (2 x Freq. in Medium) + (1 x Freq. in Low) /15

Mean of Y (μy) = (3 x Freq. in High) + (2 x Freq. in Medium) + (1 x Freq. in Low) /15

66 https://workspace.google.com/intl/en_uk/products/jamboard/
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Then, they were multiplied for the priority scores (μy * μx). The graduate attributes were
ranked in descending order of their priority scores and compared using a coloured
heatwave across the frequency spectrum (See Appendix 12). It is noted that the mean
in this type of data distribution is not relevant as the data is not normally distributed.
However, it was used to check the ranking order of the graduate attributes and visualise
them in the chart of two dimensions (see Figure 7.1). Only work experience and
entrepreneurship appeared in the box of High in importance and Medium of impact
overtime whilst all other twelve attributes were seen as ‘High-High’ from both
dimensions.

Priority ranking chart of graduate attributes (two dimensions)

3.0
Thinking
Personal abilities
proficiency
Professionalism
Digital literacy Social abilities
2.5
Cultural sensitivity Management

Resilience
Researching
2.0
Work experience Teaching
Medium

Language
Importance (Y)

Entrepreneurship proficiency
1.5
Environmental…

1.0
High
Low

0.5

0.0
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5

Low Medium High

Impact over time (X)

Figure 7.1 Graduate attributes in priority ranking chart with two dimensions:
importance and potential impact for the sustainable future of Myanmar [0-1 = Low; 2-3
= Medium; 2-3= High]

Overall, from the FGD research participants’ view, all the fourteen graduate attributes
are highly important as well as potential for long-term impact in contributing to the

176
sustainable development of Myanmar. Work experience and entrepreneurship were
observed at a medium level regarding the potential impact for sustainable development.

According to the data distribution and the three level of scales, testing median and the
mean rank were considered more appropriate for the data. Therefore, the data sets
(degree of importance and impact over time) were tested for median percentiles and
mean rank using Friedman test. The emerging order of the ranks was slightly different
from the former analysis, for example environmental literacy and entrepreneurship were
moved up in the higher priority rows in the dimension of potential impact over time (see
Appendix 13.2). Thinking proficiency, social abilities, personal abilities, and
management were still in the higher priority rows in the dimension of importance (see
Appendix 13.1).

As the last step of this quantitative study, a comparison of priority rankings from the
online survey (N=417) and those of the follow up Jam-board survey with FGD
participants (N=15) was made (See Appendix 14). The highest priority attributes in the
Jisc online survey result were somewhat like those in the Jam-board one, a follow up
survey with FGD participants, although there were a few differences. Interestingly,
professionalism was ranked number 1 in the Jisc online survey whilst it was ranked 6 in
the follow-up survey when means were used for priority scoring. However, it was ranked
in 7 and 13 in the degree of importance and impact over time in the mean rank and
median test. Overall, Social abilities, thinking proficiency, and management were ranked
in the highest rows in all the tests. Moreover, environmental literacy was more highly
ranked when it was seen from the future impact dimension.

Apart from subtle differences in ranking orders, all the rankings of graduate attributes
are found to be fairly stable in both two main tests - both Jisc online survey and the
follow-up survey with FGD participants (Jamboard). Therefore, all these graduate
attributes can be considered as important and potential ones in order to contribute to the
desirable sustainable development of the country. To be more contextualised, Myanmar
HEIs should take further detailed studies for their institutional context and do more
research to understand how to develop such attributes by ESD integration process.

7.6 Fourteen graduate attributes in the three Hs model

As discussed in the literature review (Chapter 3), the graduate attributes in this thesis
cover competences and attitudes that should be expected from learning at HEIs
(Edwards, 1996) and can be beyond their specialised disciplinary related knowledge or
skills. So, they can be named as generic graduate attributes which include, but not
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limited to, desirable sets of skills and values regardless of their specialised degrees
(Spronken-Smith et al., 2015). The attributes emerged from the research data have a
certain degree of similarities to what have been discussed in the literature (like Sipos,
Battisti and Grimm, 2008; Sandri, 2014; QAA and Advance HE, 2021), but ‘research
knowledge and skills’ and ‘ability to teach others’ are additional ones in comparison with
those employability skills from some organisations like Indeed, Australian Government,
and US Department of Education (see Table 7.4). Based on the quantitative analysis
results, all the fourteen graduate attributes can be claimed as important to desirable
Myanmar’s sustainable development or future as expected in Chapter 6, and they are
contextually relevant to the context of Myanmar HEIs.

Moreover, the fourteen graduate attributes can be presented in the three Hs model (see
Figure 7.2). In fact, each graduate attribute can have a composition of different abilities
therefore labelling was done based on its significant orientation, for instance, social
abilities might have some knowledge, concepts, and thinking, but it is more oriented
towards hand (practical skills) and heart (emotional and attitudinal outlooks). In doing
so, some attributes are fallen in the intersectional area of three Hs, i.e., they can be seen
as holistic attributes: resilience, environmental literacy, cultural sensitivity, personal
abilities, and professionalism. Some other attributes are fallen in the intersectional areas
of two domains, such as social abilities and researching, while some are only under a
particular domain, for instance, thinking (Head).

HAND
HEART Teaching
Social abilities

Management

Resilience
Working experience
Environmental literacy

Cultural sensitivity Entrepreneurship

Personal abilities
Digital literacy
Professionalism
Language

Researching

Thinking proficiency

HEAD

Figure 7.2 The fourteen graduate attributes in the three Hs model.

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7.7 Chapter summary

This chapter has tried to answer the second research question – what the graduate
attributes are to be expected from integrating the conception of ESD in Myanmar HEIs.
The chapter has examined two sets of graduate attributes: seven thematic attributes
(qualitatively) as a higher level of groupings and the fourteen specific attributes
(quantitatively) being nested in the former groups.

Seven categories of graduate attributes emerged from the thematic analysis were
compared with other attributes adopted by UNESCO and some other institutions. In
general, the graduate attributes expected by Myanmar nationals were similar to those in
the literature, but it can be claimed that the pattern and coverage of the attributes that
emerged from this research are more diverse and holistic – covering many aspects of
competencies, attitudes, and behaviours.

Another set of fourteen graduate attributes sieved from the initial analytical processes
were firstly tested out with an online survey and compared against the perspectives of
the FGD participants’ perspectives across two dimensions: importance and potential
future impact. The fourteen attributes were perceived as important by the respondents,
with a few differences in the level of ranks for some attributes. Although there were
statistically significant differences amongst the priority ranking values, it was impossible
to cluster separate groups with similar values. However, they could be seen as a ranking
order based on their mean ranks. A follow-up study with the FGD participants showed
slight differences in comparison with the results from the Jisc online survey. However,
the median test and mean rank checks showed a different priority ranking order,
particularly in the dimension of ‘impact over time.’ For instance, environmental literacy
was moved up to a higher priority. Again, this follow-up test consistently proved that all
the graduate attributes were important and relevant for the sustainable development of
Myanmar.

In brief, the chapter has discussed rigorous and robust analytical processes to
understand the graduate attributes emerged from the KIIs and FGDs for their priority
and consistency with the desirable sustainable development of Myanmar, rather than
directly taking from the lists in the literature. How ESD integration could be made and
what changes might be needed in the Myanmar HEIs in order to contribute to developing
such graduate attributes is the third research question which will be discussed in the
next chapter.

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Chapter 8 Transforming Myanmar HEIs: the Role of ESD
Integration and Educational Reconstruction in Developing
Graduate Attributes for a Sustainable Future

8.1 Introduction

The previous chapters have discussed how education for sustainable development
(ESD) could be conceptualised in the context of higher education institutions (HEIs) in
Myanmar (Chapter 6) and what graduate attributes should be expected from ESD
integration (Chapter 7). As discussed in Chapter 2, the education system and reform
processes have been dysfunctional for almost three years (from 2021 to 2023) due to
the political turbulence and civil unrest. Consequently, further development of the
second phase of the National Education Strategic Plan (NESP: 2021-2030) is yet
unknown or even whether it will be revived (Brown and Hung, 2022) and higher
education development projects involving international partners, e.g., the
Transformation by Innovation in Distance Education (TIDE) project, were also stopped
(The Open University, 2021). In such a period of stasis for educational reform in
Myanmar, there is a need, as informed by the country context and the reviewed
literature, to develop new ideas, visions, and ways of informing a future transformational
process for Myanmar HEIs that will be an essential part of future development, especially
in the context of sustainable development. Thus, this chapter responds to the third
research question (RQ3):

What transformations in Myanmar HEIs’ educational policy and practices are needed to
develop the (expected) graduate attributes?

There are three key terms in this chapter: (ESD) integration, (educational)
reconstruction, and (HEIs) transformation. In addition to exploring the conceptualised
ESD and relevant graduate attributes for the Myanmar HEIs’ context, this research also
aims to explore any potential approaches for ESD integration and required changes to
be made in Myanmar HEIs’ principles/policies to develop those desirable ESD attributes
based on the research data and the two proposed models: 4Cs+RP model and
educational reconstruction model of Arnhold et al. (1998). In this thesis, reconstruction
is seen as the actions (inputs/ operations, including ESD integration) and transformation
is achieved through the process of gradual progress and outcomes (outputs/results)
arising from those actions. It has been assumed that some changes in HEIs’ principles
and practices might be necessary to enable ESD integration, and a general need to
upgrade HEI services and quality. Therefore, in this thesis, the transformation of HEIs is
viewed by both thematic lenses of ESD integration and appropriate educational
180
reconstruction. This chapter aims to identify potential trigger points for changes that
would enable Myanmar HEIs’ transformation. However, more work beyond the scope of
this thesis will be required before commencing practical implementation.

The chapter includes:

• a brief explanation of the research data and the analytical processes (section
8.2)
• a comparative study of two thematic frameworks: ESD integration and
educational reconstruction needs for Myanmar HEIs (section 8.3)
• potential approaches for ESD integration (section 8.4)
• educational reconstruction needs for Myanmar HEIs (section 8.5)
• an overview of two purposes leading to HEIs’ transformation (section 8.6), and
• a chapter summary with key findings and recommendations for further studies
and transformation of Myanmar HEIs (section 8.7).

8.2 Research data and analytical process

As previously outlined, ESD is relatively new to Myanmar HEIs. Findings from the in-
country scoping study (Chapter 4) identified a need to have a collective understanding
and conceptualisation of desirable sustainable development (SD) and ESD in Myanmar
before considering how they could be integrated into Myanmar HEIs. Given the in-
country context, it seems probable that future ESD integration will need to be a parallel
process alongside HEI reconstruction. In doing so, it is also important to understand
what needs to be changed for the reconstruction in Myanmar HEIs that might support
developing the desirable graduate attributes. The same data set of transcripts, i.e.,
seven Key Informant Interviews (KII) and two Focus Group Discussions (FGDs), and
open comments from the online survey, were used in the thematic analysis to address
RQ3. Three sub-questions were used to address RQ3 as set out in the research enquiry
framework (see Table 5.1, Chapter 5) which were informed by the models and the
reviewed literature and contributed to the analysis methods (see Table 8.1).

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 Table 8.1 Sub-questions, related models, and analytical methods to address RQ3.

Informing model/
Sub-questions Analytical method
literature

3.1 What are the key elements in the Myanmar 4Cs+RP model for
Thematic analysis of
HEIs’ context for developing ESD related ESD integration in
the qualitative data
graduate attributes? HEIs

3.2 What could be the potential changes to be Educational

made in the practices and principles of HEIs reconstruction Thematic analysis of
for their transformation in enabling ESD model (Arnhold the qualitative data
integration? et al., 1998)
3.3 How these elements, policies, and matrix coding of the
Systems
practices are inter-related in contributing to the two themes and
diagramming
development of ESD graduate attributes? influence diagram

The first question (RQ3.1) is related to and informed by the proposed model 4Cs+RP
for ESD integration oriented to an institutional focus. The second (RQ3.2) is related to
the educational reconstruction model of Arnhold et al. (1998) and tends to have a higher
education sector focus. The last question (RQ3.3) is related to an overview of the
findings for RQ3 using an influence diagram to show the connection between both first
(integration) and second sub-questions (reconstruction) - all stakeholders, processes,
and activities of HEIs influencing each other, and potentially contributing to the
development of desirable ESD graduate attributes.

As explained in Chapter 5, the inductive coding approach was employed in the first and
second cycle coding, during which the two main thematic groups emerged: ways to
integrate ESD in HEIs and reconstruction needs for HEIs’ transformation. Originally, they
were named ‘ways forward to ESD’ and ‘the dark side or changing needs of HEIs’ as
part of the initial theming phase. Then, the former theme was named as ‘ways to
integrate ESD in HEIs’ and the later became ‘reconstruction needs for HEIs’ through this
robust review process. Reviewing and naming the themes were also informed by the
research questions, the models of ESD integration and educational reconstruction
reviewed in the literature. In setting out the appropriate themes by selecting the
supporting or relevant data to a particular theme (Maguire and Delahunt, 2017), there
were some data (coded references) supporting sub-themes under the two main themes:
ESD integration and educational reconstruction needs for HEIs. One notable difference
is the inclusion of an extra sub-theme i.e., administrative and quality assurance systems
(see Table 8.2), in addition to the five reconstruction processes of Arnhold et al. (1998)
Finally, the thematic framework of the ESD integration approaches and reconstruction
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 of HEIs could be seen as the composite of the sub-themes identified in nodes 3.1 and
3.2 in Table 8.2. Amongst the sub-themes, it should note that the community approach
for ESD integration and the ideological reconstruction process have significantly more
coded references than other sub-themes.

Table 8.2 Themes and sub-themes of ESD integration and HEI reconstruction

Theme and Sub-themes References

3.1 Ways to integrate ESD in HEIs 313

Campus - a learning hub for sustainability practices 21

Community - Creating a community of learning, supporting, and collaborating 120

Culture - Cultivating desirable leadership and happy working environment 45

Curricula - embedded sustainability, locally relevant, flexible, and accessible 38

Pedagogy - appropriate teaching methods for ESD attributes 44

Research - research learning and research projects for both students and teachers 40

3.2 Reconstruction Needs for HEIs 272

Administrative and quality assurance systems 48

Curricula and materials 45

Human resources development 36

Ideological reconstruction 100

Physical reconstruction 14

Psychological reconstruction 29

8.3 Comparative study of two themes: ESD integration and HEI

reconstruction

To reiterate, ESD integration can be viewed as practices that individual HEIs should do
or follow certain desirable activities, crystalise the activities as norms, and to facilitate
the norms as cultural practices amongst the HEIs’ communities (or stakeholders).
Whereas reconstruction can be viewed as required changes in the principles or policies
in the higher education in Myanmar to enable and inform ESD integration. As this
chapter aims to discuss how education reconstruction themes could enable the ESD
integration approaches, the matrix coding of both themes (see Table 8.3) was conducted
to help visualise the overlapping coded references and potential relationships between
these the sub-themes.

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 Table 8.3 Matrix coding of two themes: ESD integration and HEI reconstruction

ESD integration

Curricula Pedagogy Research Community Culture Campus

Physical reconstruction 0 0 0 9 1 8

Psychological
1 3 2 5 9 2
reconstruction
HEI reconstruction

Ideological
3 32 7 11 5 4
reconstruction

Curricula and materials 22 3 3 7 4 1

Administrative and
quality assurance 3 5 4 6 7 2
systems
Human resources
1 5 1 18 10 2
development

Note: The darker green shades have larger number of overlapping coded references while the
lighter colours have smaller number of overlapping references between the two sub-themes.

Nearly all the sub-themes for ESD integration have some overlapping coded references
with sub-themes for educational reconstruction but there were three with significant
overlaps - with curriculum being an obvious one, also ideological reconstruction with
pedagogy, and community with human resources development (HRD). The matrix
coding in Table 8.3 shows that thirty-two references out of the total forty-four references
for the pedagogical approach and one hundred references for ideological reconstruction
shown in Table 8.2 overlapped. Similarly, eight references out of twenty-one in the
campus approach and fourteen in physical reconstructions also overlapped. And so on
for other categories. The ESD community approach had the largest match of codes to
HEI reconstruction overall, but this was spread across the themes, with five coded
references as the lowest (psychological reconstruction) and eighteen the highest (HRD).

After the robust process of coding, categorising, and reviewing the categories rigorously
in phase 4, the final phase of naming the themes were decided to refer the two proposed
models because the sub-themes match and fit them well except for an additional one –
administrative and quality assurance systems. Constas (1992) discussed reviewing the
categories to name the themes or sub-themes based on six different justification
approaches in thematic analysis: ‘external, rational, referential, empirical, technical,
participative’ (p. 259). Amongst these, referential approach was used to test the data
against these models discussed in the reviewed literature.
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8.4 Potential approaches for ESD integration

This section discusses the potential approaches for ESD integration amongst Myanmar
HEIs related to the RQ3.1:

What are the key elements in the Myanmar HEIs’ context for developing ESD related
graduate attributes?

While this research accepts the conceptualised ESD in the higher education sector of
Myanmar in which ESD has broader thematic components and is more than the
preparation of students’ competencies or graduate attributes (see Chapter 6, section
6.3). However, this section focuses more on integrating ESD in the HEIs’ activities in
order to contribute towards developing the desirable graduate attributes. As discussed
in the reviewed literature (Chapter 3) and the research methodology (Chapter 5), the
later stages in the thematic analysis were informed by the proposed ESD integration
model (4Cs+RP), which was adapted based the models of Jones, Selby and Sterling
(2010a) and Anand et al. (2015), because the research data match the elements in the
proposed model. Each element in the emerged thematic framework will be discussed in
the following sections and they are mostly consistent with what has been discussed in
the literature and more contextualised with the Myanmar HEIs’ situations. Pedagogy, an
additional element proposed in the modified ESD integration model, also matches what
has developed in the theme in this analysis.

8.4.1 Curriculum

Curriculum is the most obvious element with the largest number of overlapping
references from both themes, although the educational reconstruction theme has an
extra component i.e., material supply. In total, twenty-two coded references from thirty-
eight references in ESD integration and forty-five in reconstruction overlap. Regarding
the higher education curricula, the key findings can be summarised as follow.

• Sustainability should be integrated into the existing curricula as well as special

programmes or modules related to environmental study and sustainable
development should be offered (KII-1, KII-3, and KII-5).
• Sustainability and relevant modules should be incorporated within different and
existing degree pathways including specialist universities (KII-1 and KII-5).
• An introduction to philosophy, anthropology, ecology, geography, environmental
study, and sustainable development should be delivered for undergraduate

185
 students in their foundational years (first or second year) as part of a stand-alone
module (KII-3 and KII-4).
• Interdisciplinary studies and extra-curricular opportunities should be encouraged
(KII-1 and P15).
• Locally relevant curriculum (courses/modules) should be developed and
delivered (KII-3 and KII-6).

These participants’ recommendations were consistent with what has been discussed in
the literature review. The first one is to integrate SD into the existing modules and
develop a new diploma or degree programme related to SD (Hadgraft, Xie and Angeles,
2004) while the second one was to incorporate suitable modules into the existing degree
pathways (Holgaard et al., 2016). The third one was to teach relevant multi-disciplinary
content as an introduction to the undergraduate students as it was seen as supportive
of SD awareness (Hegarty et al., 2011). The fourth one was to encourage an
interdisciplinary approach (Sterling, 2004). The hidden curricula67 approach can be seen
in the community and cultural approaches although it was not explicitly mentioned as a
curriculum (Winter and Cotton, 2012; Anand et al., 2015).

Some quotes related to ESD integration via curricula approach and why it is needed can
be noted:

"...we don't have any sustainability study programme except the nine-month
long post-graduate diploma called development study" (KII-1, Education
development manager)

"If we can integrate such courses as compulsory component by providing

2-3 credits, these graduates would understand sustainable development no
matter which walks of life they end up at." (KII-3, NGO staff)

“Every student must learn ecology, beauty, philosophy and geography in

their first two years (freshman and sophomore).” (KII-4, writer)

In brief, the curricula approach could potentially help students to become well-rounded
graduates with both specialised knowledge and skills, and ESD graduate attributes as

67 Some knowledge, skills, or practices could be learned through experiencing in the formal and non-
formal learning settings in HEIs without a need to be taught explicitly for instance attitude (respect and
care for nature), responsibility (green practices and ethics), etc. (Perera, 2023).
186
discussed in Chapter 7, for instance environmental literacy, social abilities, thinking
abilities, personal abilities, etc. As discussed above, the participants’ view (research
data) is consistent with the literature and the curricular approach in the proposed model.

8.4.2 Cultural Approach

There were forty-five coded references for the cultural approach, overlapping references
with all sub-themes under reconstruction. The most obvious themes were ten references
to human resources development (HRD), nine references to psychology, and seven to
administrative and quality assurance systems. Moreover, the cultural approach is very
much related to community by nature as it focuses on the attitude and behaviours of
stakeholders when they do activities. In other words, culture is more aligned with values
and norms. It should be noted that the cultural approach in this thesis does not merely
refer to the certain ethnic groups’ cultural or traditional practices but rather broadly views
attitudes, values, and norms adopted and practiced by the HEI stakeholders. In fact,
Community, Campus, and Culture appeared to be interdependent because ideas from
participants cut across these different sub-themes.

To summarise diverse considerations in the cultural approach, the participants want

Myanmar HEIs to

• Adopt a good balance of theory and practice (P2 and P6) meaning a balance of
learning and practice - sustainability should be incorporated into actions within
HEIs as cultural practices or norms,
• Promote multiculturalism (P15, KII-6, and KII-7),
• Create supportive working environment through making appropriate attitude
changes in the seniors-juniors’ relations, promoting mutual respect and
collaborative learning, and removing favouritism and over-domination of
supervisors (P2, P6, P9, P10, KII-1, KII-7, KII-9, and KII-10),
• Encourage the use of feedback and negotiation as cultural practices in the
learning process, addressing the issues, or resolving the conflicts (KII-5 and an
online survey respondent) and
• Nurture lifelong learning as a cultural practice at all levels (an online survey
respondent)

The first point is somewhat related to the pedagogic and curricular approach. However,
a good balance of both theory and practical learning recommended by P2 and P6 was
considered an organisational culture to be practiced in HEIs. This idea is also echoed
by the holistic development (head, heart, and hand) of learners and is needed in
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Myanmar HEIs, as discussed in the literature review (Sivaraksa, 2005, 2011; Mahathera,
2007; Sterling, 2017; Sri Dhammananda, 2023). The second point cuts across campus
and community approaches in promoting multiculturalism in HEI communities. As
discussed before, the need to respect minorities’ identities and cultures was highlighted
for Myanmar society, for which KII-7 claimed:

“… we can recruit teachers from different backgrounds for diversity, there

would be LGBT teachers, female teachers, Muslim teachers, we can do that
intentionally. Then, selecting minority students is also a positive
reinforcement, we should select people with disability, and people from
different religious backgrounds.” (KII-7, PhD student)

Moreover, KII-7 wanted to see democratic culture as a practice:

“I want to see the decentralization in the education system, the dynamic

between ‘teachers’ and students’ interactions, the collaboration between
them in developing a curriculum and democratization of the education
system.” (KII-7, PhD student)

According to P9 and P10, students and staff should be encouraged to be confident and
able to make necessary changes (i.e., flexibility, adaptability in the graduate attributes)
and these skills should be developed through all activities like teaching or learning and
management or leadership.

“We need to have an attitude to correct something if we believe something

is wrong.” (P10, FGD-1)

P2, P6, P9, and P10 shared a similar perspective about the attitudes and behaviours of
senior academics or heads of departments in terms of practicing mutual respect in
working with their juniors who often tend to be obedient and submissive in Myanmar
culture. These claims were similarly reflected in the summary note of the pre-FGD
responses as agreed with participants at the start of FGD-1:

• to promote collaborative learning and actions,

• to encourage sharing knowledge,
• not monopolize or unduly influence the students’ studies/research,
• to encourage staff/students to be courageous to trial or change if required,
• to work in line with agreed policies but not to bend due to favouritism, and
• to promote mutual respect, openness, and honesty as cultural norms.

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KII-5 and a respondent in the online survey proposed a feedback mechanism as a good
practice in HEIs’ social system to address the issues, provide the necessary support, or
provoke a collaborative learning culture. In Myanmar HEIs, especially in many
government departments in general, there is no good channel for the staff to provide
their feedback or suggestions to their seniors, fellow staff members, the procedures, or
the systems. This is the main reason KII-5 and some participants in FGD-1 critiqued
about such top-down leadership in many aspects of administration. According to KII-6,
such attitude and behaviour changes amongst staff members of HEIs can lead by
example in influencing students’ attitudes and behaviours to develop the expected
graduate attributes through experiential learning.

Generally, the discussions from the research data are consistent with the literature –
there is a need in HEIs to make some cultural changes and desirable practices to nurture
as a norm in the HEIs’ communities (Moore, 2005; Anand et al., 2015), for instance,
considering inclusivity and respecting the diverse cultures (Moore, 2005), and such
behavioural or attitudinal changes could be promoted through experiences and practices
(Burford et al., 2013; Tummons, 2018). However, the research data has more significant
highlights on empowering the staff and students, to cultivate a norm of mutual respect
and feedback systems, a balanced learning approach of theory and practices. This
approach is relevant to contribute the desirable sustainable future of Myanmar,
particularly the socio-cultural view.

8.4.3 Community Approach

This sub-theme has the largest number of coded references amongst all other sub-
themes under ESD integration, with notable overlaps with all the reconstruction sub
themes. Generally, communities in HEIs can be viewed in three groups: students and
staff (internal), proximity communities (external), and the distance communities that can
include both national and international stakeholders (external). Students and teachers
will be focused for the internal communities of HEIs in this section. This approach needs
to consider activities and behaviours of the stakeholders in those three groups, which
could potentially support the students in developing their desirable ESD attributes.
However, the research participants did not extensively discuss the wider (external)
communities. The main points raised related to reaching the remote/distance
communities to extend their (HEIs’) educational services, facilitating their (communities’)
engagement for students’ learning process, and collaborating with relevant stakeholders
(in both proximity and distant communities) to help students’ awareness, motivation, and

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preparedness for employability. As discussed earlier, some aspects of community
approach are also related to cultural and campus approaches.

The key features of supportive community practices discussed by the participants can
be summarised as follow.

• Supporting students’ wellbeing/ fitness should be encouraged as one of the

personal developments (P7).
• HEIs should allow and encourage students’ unions (clubs or associations) for
their experiences and learning from these social experiences (KII-2).
• Enhancing students’ digital literacy and employability should be carried out by
HEIs through various means (P2, P4, P6, P10, P18, KII1, KII-5, KII-3, and KII-
6).
• Teachers should be appreciated, recognised, and supported for professional
development (P3, P6, P9, P10, P13, P15, KII-1, KII-4, KII-5, and KII-7).
• A culture of peace should be nurtured and practiced by embracing diversity of
cultural identities and valuing/caring natural environment amongst the staff in
HEI’s community (P15, KII-3, KII-4, KII-6, KII-7).
• Empowering the young/ juniors and democratic practices should be encouraged
amongst the communities of HEI (P2, P10, and KII-7).
• Attention to and community of practices for thinking, professionalism, ethics,
honesty, and respect should be cultivated (P3, P9, P13, P18, KII-4, KII-5, KII-6,
and KII-7).
• HEIs should cooperate/collaborate with relevant stakeholders in both proximity
and distant (external) communities on research, students’ internships, job-fairs,
and life-long learning (P3, P14, KII-1, KII-2).

Students and teachers (internal community)

Only P7 from FGD1 explicitly mentioned the importance of students’ wellbeing and
fitness as a fundamental requisite for other personal development, which can be
reflected by the Five Strengths in Myanmar’s traditional teaching for sustainable
development (Physical, Intellectual, Moral, Social, Economic) as discussed in the
literature review (see Chapter 3, section 3.5). In Myanmar society, health or fitness is
considered as a fundamental need in one’s life to be able to build up the rest of the
strengths.

"HEIs should prepare the students to develop healthy lifestyle habits" (P7,
FGD-1)
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In this case, it is also related to the physical reconstruction for sport facilities, and
encouraging extra-curricular activities but this sub-theme can also claim to nurture the
students’ communities to have some physical sport activities for both physical fitness
and social skills. Moreover, KII-2 claimed that students could learn from the communities
like clubs and unions for some competencies relevant to desirable graduate attributes.

HEIs were also expected to engage with wider communities and extend their educational
service to more students in remote or difficult areas by promoting digital technology. In
consequence, it could not only lead to promote students’ accessibility but also upgrade
their digital literacy and employability through this community approach.

Supporting teachers can be considered as another community approach based on the

research data. As KII-7 suggested in the cultural approach, university teachers should
be respectfully and fairly treated by recognising and appreciating their qualifications.
P13 critiqued that educated citizens were not appreciated and accommodated with
appropriate salary and benefits in Myanmar, including HEIs. Therefore, maintaining
qualified teachers through respecting and recognising their qualifications, i.e., creating
a happy working environment in the cultural approach, would likely improve their
performance.

Additionally, KII-5 claimed that human resources development is more important than
the infrastructure or material development. P3, P6, P9, P10, KII-1, KII-4, and KII-5
suggested that more trainings should be provided for Myanmar HEIs’ staff, including
teachers, for better quality performance, research competency, ethics, and life-long
learning habit. Supporting teachers’ professional development should be promoted to
foster the ESD implication as claimed by P10:

“… I agree that only B.Ed. graduates get a chance of learning about

systematic teaching methods and all the university lecturers from other
universities have never been trained on it. University lecturers might not
have received trainings on how to teach before they join as teaching staffs.”
(P10, university teacher)

According to the participants, these practices should be encouraged across the HEIs’
activities. ESD integration through a community of practice, expressing environmental
concerns, ethics, collaboration, and responsibilities, could potentially support peer
learning and experiential learning for developing graduate attributes.

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HEIs’ fostering community engagement (proximate and distance communities)

From another perspective, some participants wanted HEIs to invite and facilitate
communities’ engagement (both proximity and distance) so that students can learn in
and from the communities. P3 gave an example of student-teachers68 in Myanmar, who
had to practice teaching69 at schools to improve their teaching skills and learn from the
real experience in the community. Similarly, such learning opportunities in/from the
communities could be facilitated for the students, regardless of disciplines, to learn from
the communities’ sustainable practices, as discussed by KII-3.

“… we have diverse inhabitants and tribes in each region and geographic

location. We will also need to learn about their unique philosophy on how
their ancestors took care of their natural environment, and what their
indigenous practices are . . . . . . So, our universities should teach about
cross cutting issues to achieve sustainable development.” (KII-3, NGO
staff)

In addition, HEIs should collaborate with potential employers such as the private sector,
business groups, NGOs, different organisations, or networks to enhance the
employment opportunities of the prospective graduates as suggested by P6. She
claimed that having research and/or internship experience could potentially help
upgrade students’ employability skills. P2 discussed the gradual development process
of employability starting from a student, through intern, and finally stepping into a
professional working environment. Likewise, P4 suggested that HEIs should facilitate
appropriate employment opportunities by organising job-fairs or industry fairs, which
could potentially help students’ understanding of what skills and knowledge might be
needed in advance of graduation. P10 agreed that sharing good practice from their
alumni’s community could help inspire and motivate students and develop their
awareness of transferable skills for the workplace. These practices would likely support
their general knowledge and professionalism as well. Moreover, KII-1 also suggested

68 Students who are taking undergraduate degree in education to become teachers.

69 Student-teachers or pre-service teachers of Yangon and Sagaing University of Education in Myanmar
need to experience a scheduled practice for their teaching-skill development as a part of their required
credits during their degree programmes and it is commonly referred to ‘Block Teaching’ although it does
not apply the same as discussed in the literature.
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HEIs learn from Vocational Institutes and engage with them for creating learning
platforms for the students at both institutes.

In brief, the participants suggested collaborations with local and international

partners/stakeholders in either proximate or distance communities. Networking and
partnership, one of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with different partners
or other HEIs (Dlouha et al., 2017), including their alumni (Egizii, 2015), could be
employed for ESD integration. Based on the data, HEIs should promote a culture of
thinking, caring for nature, caring for one’s health and wellbeing, being honest or truthful,
learning and collaboration as community of practices within and across the HEIs’
communities. These attributes could be developed through some campus activities like
extra-curricular ones (Stuart et al., 2011; Soe, 2014). It should also be acknowledged
that the values and policies of distant stakeholders may influence the HEIs’ internal
communities and practices, too.

8.4.4 Campus Approach

The campus approach, which views HEIs as a learning hub/space for ESD graduate
attributes, has the least number of coded references (21 out of total 312 in the whole
theme). It has eight overlapping references from physical reconstruction and four from
ideological reconstruction as obvious ones. There were four main categories as a
summary of this approach.

• HEIs should be a learning ground for students preparing peace building through
celebrating diversity (P15, KII-6, and KII-7).
• HEIs should promote good environmental (green) practices so that students can
learn through experiences (KII-3),
• Digital technology should be installed and promoted by HEIs (P18), and
• HEIs should provide suitable facilities to students and teachers for their better
learning and performance e.g., libraires, laboratories (P12, P19, KII-3, and KII-
7).

According to P15, KII-6, and KII-7, HEIs should be a space for celebrating diverse ethnic
cultures and values. KII-6 insisted HEIs should be foundational learning grounds based
on her experience.

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 "This is the reason why I can make friends with Bamar, Shan, etc. because
I have many friends. As I lived very closely with them, I have friends in Mon,
in Rakhine etc. So, for the sake of rebuilding our national unity, we need
this foundation in education." (KII-6, NGO founder)

KII-3 claimed that universities should normalise good practice in their campus operations
and waste management as a model of community of learning and practising for students
to develop their environmental awareness and habitual practices. But she used the term
‘across the whole university’ which could alternatively be interpreted as a ‘whole-
institution approach’ (Buckler and Creech, 2014, p. 127) or holistic approach, i.e.,
encompassing all possible approaches.

"It is also important that the concept of sustainable development is not only
taught in the classrooms, but it should also be integrated and practised
across the whole university." (KII-3, NGO staff)

From another perspective, university teaching now goes far beyond the physical campus
due to the advancement in online technology and P18 suggested upgrading online
technology to facilitate distance education in Myanmar. This is also acknowledged in the
physical reconstruction process in the model of Arnhold et al. (1998) and HEIs should
have appropriate infrastructures and technological facilities to promote students’ digital
literacy as expected in the ESD graduate attributes.

In summary, ESD can be integrated through suitable physical infrastructure and facilities
of the campus so that students can learn through experiencing in sustainable waste
management like green campus approach (Lozano, Huisingh and Delgado, 2006;
Holgaard et al., 2016) and accessing to suitable libraries/laboratories, which was also a
critical need recommended in British Council (2013a) and IIE (2013). Students’
experiences and practices of learning can contribute to developing ESD graduate
attributes through using or access to these facilities.

8.4.5 Research Approach

The research approach has forty coded references, and it has relatively few coded
references across the five reconstruction sub-themes, ranging from zero for physical
reconstruction to seven for ideological reconstruction. Ideological reconstruction is the
most apparent sub-theme that overlaps with this approach. As discussed in Chapter 7,
research knowledge and skills are taken account of in employability related
competencies, and HEIs are seen as playing a crucial role in training university students

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in research knowledge and skills. A summary of the participants’ discussion for the
research approach was:

• HEIs should encourage research learning for the students to improve their
employability related competencies (P6).
• Policy informing or locally relevant research projects should be encouraged to
let the students understand the local context through research (P10, KII-1, and
KII-3).
• Supervisors should empower their students without unduly dominating
students’ learning throughout their research work (P2, P6, and P10).
• HEIs should extend their engagement with different stakeholders and
communities for their students’ research learning opportunities (P2 and P6).
• Quality of post-graduate students’ research should be upgraded. (KII-1 and KII-
3)

As acknowledged in cultural approach, P2, P6, and P10 argued that supervisors should
not unnecessarily influence students’ research works. According to P2 and P6, HEIs
should support collaborative and applied research through engaging with communities
and private sectors, which was also acknowledged in the community approach. HEIs
are expected to encourage and support relevant research projects and teach students
research skills as discussed by KII-3.

“I also think that there should be some research which are applicable for
bachelors’ degree level. These small-scale research at bachelors’ degree
level can enhance students’ interests to conduct regional and policy level
research when they pursue their masters’ degrees.” (KII-3, NGO staff)

The research approach was also supported by open comments in the online survey -
HEIs should promote research knowledge and skills as well as multi-disciplinary
research projects which contribute to sustainable development.

In summary, participants want HEIs to collaborate with communities and employers for
locally relevant research projects as claimed by Dlouha et al. (2017), to help develop
research knowledge and skills for their undergraduate students, and to help the students
understand the local context through research-based learning (Sterling, 2013). More
significant emphasis in the research data can be noted that HEIs are expected to provide
applied, policy relevant, and informing research, while preparing their students with
ethical research knowledge and skills as part of ESD attributes. Indeed, the research
approach, as proposed by Anand et al. (2015) following the recommendation of Chase
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(2009) (cited in Anand et al., 2015), is consistent with the theme of ESD integration
emerged in this analysis.

8.4.6 Pedagogic Approach

In addition to curricula content, the data also shows how teaching should be conducted
to develop expected graduate attributes. Pedagogy was also linked to all other
educational reconstructions except physical reconstruction. Significantly, it is heavily
related to ideological reconstruction showing thirty-two references out of forty-four in
pedagogy are overlapping with ideology. Based on the data, participants stressed the
need for changes in teaching approaches and methods amongst Myanmar HEIs.

Although some methods and practices were covered in the ‘C’ approaches, this relates
to existing practices, and some participants were also vocal about the need for
alternative teaching methods and practices. The summary of the pedagogic approach
can be listed as:

• Teaching methods or approaches that develop students’ social and problem-

solving skills (KII-5)
• Theory and practice should be balanced in teaching approaches, and extra-
curricular activities could be considered (P6, P15, and KII-5).
• Learning through practice and experiences should be promoted in Myanmar
HEIs (P11, P12, P19, KII-3, KII-7, online survey responses).
• Creating or facilitating opportunities for peer learning and learning from alumni’s
experiences (P4, P9, P10, KII-5, KII-6, and KII-7).
• A certain degree of freedom, learning spaces, and access to experts should be
provided (KII-5)
• Teachers’ qualifications (particularly for teaching skills) should be upgraded (P10
and P19).

Some quotes related to supporting pedagogic approach can be noted as:

“The role of universities can be expanded by integrating activities to

improve students’ interpersonal skill, team working skills, negotiating skill,
communication and leadership skills, time and resource management skill,
project and business management skills through both in-class and extra-
curricular activities.” (KII-5, Professor)

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 “I think peer to peer communication and contacting seniors can increase
the current students’ interests about their learnings indirectly.” (P9, FGD-1)

“As the students are adults, there must be less restrictions and control to
avoid treating them like young children. Universities must create
environments for students to have freedom of learning, and to have access
to real working environments and other extra-curricular activities.” (KII-5,
Professor)

Apart from integrating alternative teaching methods for developing ESD graduate
attributes and providing opportunities and freedom for students, the pedagogic approach
is also related to the available facilities, as discussed in the campus approach. To
encourage more practical learning was highlighted by five participants (both KIIs and
FGDs) and a respondent from the online survey because they see practical learning
provision as weak in current Myanmar HEIs’ teaching practices. Having more practical
learning would lead to a better balance between theory and practice, which was
suggested. Moreover, P10 said there is no appropriate training to develop pedagogic
skills for university teachers, and P19 suggested:

“I think that HEIs should ensure to nurture qualified teachers rather than so
many teachers with low qualifications.” (P19, FGD-2)

In summary, participants want a variety of alternative methods and approaches to

complement traditional lecturing to facilitate students’ learning and that is consistent with
what was claimed by some authors (like Howlett, Ferreira and Blomfield, 2016;
Rieckmann, 2018) for transformative learning. However, the feasibility of employing
different/alternative teaching approaches is likely to depend on the HEIs’ autonomy and
academic freedom of the teachers in Myanmar HEIs. Obvious view in the research data
was to have more freedom for the students and to promote teachers’ qualification.
Moreover, the data in this research agrees to Hegarty et al.'s (2011) logic, i.e., the better
the teaching methods, the higher the likelihood of developing students’ competencies.
Therefore, pedagogy, an additional element proposed in the modified model in the
literature review, is reasonable in the ESD integration approaches based on the
research data.

8.4.7 Overview of ESD integration model and themes

This section has discussed observations from the sub-themes of six potential ESD
integration approaches grounded in the qualitative data, as well as notably informed by

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the 4Cs+RP model from the literature review. Each integration approach is somewhat
related to and possibly influenced by other approaches because many coded references
overlap across the sub-themes. On the other hand, the six thematic components in the
model overlap when considering some practices. Therefore, it is impossible to
distinguish a particular set of practices of HEIs to be named as a sub-theme - it is difficult
to say, ‘this is curriculum and that is pedagogy’, or ‘this is culture and that is community’.
For instance, ‘collaborating with stakeholders’ can be viewed or interpreted in many
ways as it is:

• HEI’s fostering community engagement (community)

• Students’ learning opportunity through internship or research (pedagogy)
• A balance of theory and practice in the teaching contents to opportunities for
students to relate their knowledge to the real world or related jobs (curriculum)
• Extra-curricular activities that can provide different learning in or from the
community (pedagogy/community)
• Collaboration and learning should be practiced as a culture (culture)

Therefore, the thematic framework based on the research data can be viewed as a star-
shape diagram (Figure 3.5 in Chapter 3) in which the elements (or the sub-themes) could
overlap and thus encompass similar practices. Despite these limitations, the proposed
model (4Cs+RP) could be potentially suitable if ESD integration is to be adopted as a
holistic approach. However, it should be noted that individual HEIs in Myanmar might
need their own contextualised study before applying these approaches. The next section
will discuss what reconstructions in HEIs might be needed to support such ESD
integration.

8.5 HEI reconstruction

As this research also attempts to explore required changes in policy and practices of
HEIs to support ESD integration, this section aims to discuss the RQ3.2:

What could be the potential changes to be made in the practices and principles of HEIs
for their transformation in enabling ESD integration?

Arnhold et al. (1998) argue that educational reconstruction should not be limited to the
physical or rebuilding of infrastructure. Their Education for Reconstruction model
(discussed in Chapter 3) proposes five processes of reconstruction, where physical
reconstruction is one process along with ideological, psychological, and material and
curricular reconstruction, and human resources development. Chapter 2 has shown a
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need for higher education reform in Myanmar, as an initial reform process was stopped
in its early stage in 2021. Reconstruction of Myanmar HEIs has been necessary to
upgrade the quality of education and have better systems regardless of considering ESD
integration. As discussed earlier, this research considers ESD integration a parallel
process with HEI reconstruction. Thus, this section observes the educational
reconstruction needs of Myanmar HEIs that can enable the ESD integration while it is
being undertaken for overall higher education development. As noted earlier, there are
some overlapping references with some of the ESD integration sub-themes, but this
section will focus on the reconstruction needs in HEIs.

The sub-themes that emerged from the qualitative research data are aligned with the
educational reconstruction model proposed by Arnhold et al. (1998) except an additional
sub-theme: Administration and quality assurance (the last item in the following list). The
participants expressed dissatisfaction with the quality of HEIs’ systems and practices,
particularly raising their concerns about the administrative and quality assurance
systems. Therefore, the reconstruction needs to be considered for Myanmar HEIs
emerged as:

• Ideological
• Psychological
• Curricula and materials
• Human resource development
• Physical, and
• Administrative and quality assurance.

8.5.1 Ideological reconstruction process

Ideological reconstruction has the largest number of coded references amongst the sub-
themes under HEI reconstruction and it cut across all the sub-themes of ESD integration.
Participants’ views on the ideological reconstruction needs in Myanmar HEIs can be
summarised as follow:

• ESD concept should be embedded in the universities’ vision, mission, and

policies (as core values) to guide all the programmes, administrations, and
university operations (P15, KII-1, KII-3, KII-5, KII-7).
• All stakeholders of HEIs should be well informed all these concepts and guiding
principles (KII-3 and KII-5).
• HEIs should learn from outside (international) but need to make it locally
relevant (P15 and KII-5).
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 • Leadership and decisions should be personally unbiased, and critical reflection
and discussions from diverse views and perspective should be encouraged.
Open spaces should be encouraged to discuss or accept new idea, knowledge,
or concepts in exploring sustainable practices or development (P9, P10, and
P15).
• The teachers should use variety of alternative teaching methods for the overall
(holistic) development of students’ desirable ESD graduate attributes (P2, P6,
P4, P9, P10, P15, KII-5, KII-6, and KII-7).
• HEIs should have a philosophical concept and values of collaboration and
collaborative learning with and from different stakeholders/communities (P2, P3,
P14, KII-1, KII-2 P2, and P10).
• Democratic culture or practices should be adopted and practiced in the whole
campus operation as a cultural norm so that students could learn through
experiences (P15 and KII-7).
• Academic freedom and autonomy should be adopted to guide all the principles
mentioned earlier (P15, KII-5, KII-6, and KII-7).
• Value for diverse ethnic identities and equality should be adopted in the HEIs’
human resource management principles (KII-5 and online survey response).

From this summary, key terms can be noted as ‘core values’, ‘vision/mission/policies’,
‘guiding principles’, ‘locally relevant’, ‘leadership for empowering and learning’,
‘alternative teaching methods’, ‘philosophical values’, ‘democratic culture’, ‘academic
freedom’, and ‘respect diversity/minority’. These terms can be viewed as philosophical
values and guidance showing or leading a pathway to support ESD integration in HEIs.
These can also be reflected in the desirable sustainable future for Myanmar as
discussed in Chapter 6. There were also some discussions related to general higher
education development:

• Myanmar public HEIs should be providing services to the citizens in general but
not for the elitism (KII-7).
• University admission policies and procedures should be opened and flexible to
maximize the equal access for students who are in difficulty or have missed the
opportunities for some reasons (P15, KII-1, KII-6)
• Informing the government policies should be the HEIs’ roles and purpose (KII-1
and KII-7).

Some quotes that participants highlighted for the ideological reconstruction needs in
Myanmar HEIs are:
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 “These components should be integrated in university’s mission, and vision
and these missions should be often reminded . . ." (KII-5, Professor)

“. . . the administrative system of a university must adopt sustainable

development concept.” (KII-3, NGO staff)

“I want to see the decentralization in the education system, the dynamic

between ‘teachers’ and students’ interactions, the collaboration between
them in developing a curriculum and democratization of the education
system.” (KII-7, PhD student)

These institutionalisations, i.e., embracing the concept and values of sustainable

development, can be a foundational step of HEI’s ideological reconstruction. Then, this
institutional guidance could support different ESD integration approaches. Curricular
reconstruction should be undertaken in parallel with ideological reconstruction, as locally
relevant as well as sustainability informed curriculum should be reconstructed. In
addition, the participants wanted to change the philosophical stands and concepts in
teaching methods to encourage holistic development of graduate attributes. Enabling
teachers to apply such methods requires conceptual changes and general knowledge
about sustainable development. In this case, HEI’s pedagogical principles should be
informed or guided by the those mentioned in philosophical ideologies. For example,
teaching or supervising students in the HEIs should lead to empowering the students as
discussed in the cultural and pedagogical approaches. If HEIs can adopt the concept of
collaboration and learning, they can support many ESD integration approaches such as
community, pedagogical, cultural, and curriculum. HEIs need to have these values and
concepts ideologically embedded in their organisational principles. Universities’
autonomy and federal education system were also desired to facilitate the students’
learning to value justice and to respect diversity, according to P15, KII-5, KII-6, and KII-
7. Such ideological reconstruction could help many of the discussed approaches for
ESD integration.

Also, HRD should be undertaken alongside the ideological reconstruction. KII-5 opposed
the penalty system - transferring the under-performing staff to the universities in the
remote areas, mainly ethnic minority areas. It was also mentioned by a respondent in
the online survey and has been rooted in a Myanmar government system related to
burmanisation (as discussed in Chapter 2). Hence, such ideological related issues
should be carefully handled. HEIs should re-establish their social systems to embrace
respecting minority, inclusivity, equality, and justice in the educational reconstruction
process.
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The last point concerns the purpose, standing or role of HEIs, i.e., to influence or inform
sector wide or national policy. According to KII-1 and KII-7, the HEIs should contribute
recommendations to policy makers through contextually relevant research and
innovation. Nevertheless, KII-1 pointed out the power dynamic situation in Myanmar.
HEIs should generally extend their services to the students with some barriers to
accessing higher education by making the admission policies and systems more flexible,
as suggested by KII-1 and KII-6. In this case, inclusive-thinking and the concept of
‘education for all’ should be considered as suggested by P15. These are the ideological
reconstruction needs that Myanmar HEIs should undertake to contribute to ESD
implementation in general, although they might not be directly contributing to developing
ESD graduate attributes.

In summary, the participants wanted Myanmar HEIs to consider these concepts and
values to be embedded in the ideological reconstructions. Based on the observations in
the sub-theme, ideological reconstruction is likely to be supportive in guiding, shaping,
accommodating, and enabling the different ESD integration approaches discussed in
the former section.

8.5.2 Psychological reconstruction

A category of twenty-nine coded references related to attitude and mindset of the HEIs’
staff was named psychological reconstruction. The need for attitude changes amongst
the staff in HEIs was observed particularly for democratic culture and decentralised
administrative system, reflecting the country’s historical context as discussed in Chapter
2. Some data in the psychological reconstruction overlap with some of the ideological
reconstruction and HRD sub themes. Key findings can be summarised as:

• Staff in HEIs, including leaders and senior staff should have adopted respectful
attitudes and mindsets in senior-junior communications - particularly to
empower their juniors and students with mutual respect (P2, P9, P10, P19, KII-
1, KII-5).
• Staff in HEIs should have appropriate attitude and values to practice and
promote sustainability and they should apply them in their decisions and actions
so these attitudes could be passed on to the students through experiences and
practices (P15, KII-3, and KII-6).
• HEIs should prepare the students to have attitudes related to desirable
sustainable development such as social skill, abilities for collaboration and

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 teamwork, and caring about the natural environment (P1, P2, P9, P10, P17, and
KII-7).

There can be three layers for psychological reconstruction: leadership, staff, and
students. HEIs need to do appropriate activities to ensure this attitudinal transformation
amongst the leaders and staffs to empower and respect the juniors, to value and practice
sustainability. Then, HEIs’ standing and main educational purpose should be
reconstructed with the purpose of helping the students for their expected graduate
attributes from an ESD perspective. The data does not show how to do this, but explicitly
highlights the need for it under psychological reconstruction.

Teachers should generally respect their job and be attentive to their professional ethics,
practices, and competency development, so HEIs need to have an appropriate
supportive mechanism for it (KII-1). Moreover, HEIs should encourage their staff to have
courage to trial or make mistakes as well as facilitate their learning based on the
experiences rather than being obedient to their seniors/supervisors as suggested by
P10. These reconstruction needs are related to higher education development in general
and not specifically contributing to ESD integration approaches, although they could do
so in indirect ways.

Some quotes highlighting the psychological reconstruction needs are:

“… and we must change our attitude as needed, abandon some old

systems, seniors should accept their juniors’ advice if it’s required.” (P9,
FGD-1)

“. . . we need to help them nurture this mindset, sustainability concepts and

values for them to implement sustainable development wherever they are.”
(KII-3, NGO staff)

“Attitude change, such as mutual respect, is needed in transforming the

current system.” (A respondent, online survey)

In brief, all the attitudes and ethical mindsets such as honesty, integrity, ethics, and
sympathy could be considered as part of psychological reconstruction if they were to be
integrated into the HEI’s systems, which could potentially support developing desirable
graduate attitudes required for ESD. Indeed, psychological reconstruction in HEIs is
reflected in the desirable sustainable future of Myanmar and ESD graduate attributes
and interwoven with some concepts from ideological reconstruction. This reconstruction
can support ESD integration approaches particularly the community and culture.
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Moreover, psychological reconstruction could indirectly contribute to some other ESD
integration approaches.

8.5.3 Curricula and materials

This sub-theme shared most coded references with the curriculum approach of ESD
integration (as mentioned in 8.4.1) due to its similarity, except there is an extra element
of ‘material’ as informed by the model of Arnhold et al. (1998). This section views what
reconstruction might be needed as follows:

• More autonomy in HEIs should enable more viable conditions to develop or make
necessary changes in the curricular structure and content to make it more
appropriate and relevant to the local context (P15).
• Locally relevant curricula contributing to the regional requirement should be
reconsidered (P15, KII-3, and KII-6).
• Inter-disciplinary learning approach should be considered in re-developing
programmes (KII-1). In addition, curricula should be developed based on the
expected graduate attributes (KII-6).
• Upgrading the quality of learning materials, equipment, and facilities like
laboratories or libraries is required (P12, P19, survey respondents) and was
reflected in the ESD campus approach. These were also consistent with what
has been reported by Brown and Hung (2022).

“Universities should have facilities such as academic journals, papers, and

internet access.” (KII-5, Professor)

Based on the data, granting a certain degree of autonomy to HEIs is the most
fundamental reconstruction for better ESD integration in the curricular approach. HEIs’
curricula should be reviewed and redesigned to ensure they are relevant to the
geographical and socio-cultural context. Allowing these curriculum reconstruction
process can accommodate a space to consider ESD in different curriculum settings.
Moreover, redesigning or reconstructing the curricula might help embrace an inter-
disciplinary approach and should be based on the desirable ESD graduate attributes.
The curricula content should be reconstructed using a good balance of theory and
practice and should cover various competencies relevant to employability skills as
expected in the ESD attributes. Finally, suitable learning materials/facilities should be
considered alongside the curricular reconstruction process.

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In brief, this reconstruction theme is very important as a centralised government for
Myanmar HEIs has controlled curricula for many decades. Once the opportunity is given
to HEIs for their own curricular reconstruction, ESD integration in curricula approach can
potentially be undertaken without difficulties. Whilst the ides from curricula and materials
(reconstruction) and curriculum (ESD integration) are similar, the key take-aways in this
section are - HEI’s need to have autonomy and reconstruction of curricula should be
based on the local context and expected ESD graduate attributes. Moreover, this can
be supportive - to inform the pedagogical implications, to guide the leadership and
supervision roles in research, to encourage some community of practices and cultural
norms, and to identify the required facility and learning supports as it cut across all these
integration approaches.

8.5.4 Human resources development

Human resource development (HRD) in this HEI reconstruction theme has thirty-six
references and cuts across the sub-themes of ESD integration approaches but most
significantly with community (18 references) and culture (10 references). It is reflected
in the ideological reconstruction too. A summary of the main points for human resource
development based on the data are:

• HEIs need a well-designed professional development programme for their

teachers, updated regular assessments, and continual learning support for
sustainability literacy and other relevant qualifications to ensure effective
teaching (P9, P11, and KII-6).
• Teaching skills should be considered as a key professional skill and should be
promoted to ensure development of desirable ESD graduate attributes (P9 and
P10).
• Some practices and skills should be nurtured and trained if needed in work
related environment such as teamwork, conflict resolution using non-violent
ways, mutual respect, supervisory and leadership skills that can empower the
staff and students for their better learning and improvement (KII-7).
• HEIs need to raise ESD awareness amongst all the teachers and senior leaders
to foster their practices (KII-5).
• HEIs need to use available resources like their alumni (community) to help
inspire students and to develop their motivation and preparedness for
employability (P10).

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Policies and procedures for teachers’ professional development and their teaching skills
are the key areas that need to be reconstructed (or constructed if it is not yet there).
Sustainability related awareness and practices amongst staff are to be encouraged and
guided by the principles. Using available human resources, e.g., alumni, can be
employed to support different ESD integration approaches, especially community and
culture.

There were also some points discussed from a general purpose:

• Staff recruitment should be carefully considered and based on motivation and

interests in addition to academic qualifications, and diversity and inclusion should
be adopted as key principles (P19 and KII-7).
• HEIs need a better HR policy and mechanism to ensure a happy working
environment, as discussed in the cultural approach, and to maintain qualified
teachers, and to motivate for improved performance (P13, KII-5, and KII-7).

A few quotes supporting this sub-theme of human resources development are:

“It is important to upgrade the university teachers' skills for their teaching
skills and their teaching-learning process should be matched with Myanmar
students. Teachers' trainings are needed for a better model.” (A
respondent, online survey)

“Most of us have expertise in our own specific subjects. So, teachers can
only apply according to their talents without any supervisions, guidance,
and trainings: teachers only get to do self-study to improve their teaching
methodologies. I think there’s no capacity building for us.” (P10, FGD-1)

“We need to support more on human resources rather than the

infrastructure. We need to train our teachers and staff to possess qualities
and attitudes which we want to see in our students.” (KII-5, Professor)

Although there were a few numbers of coded reference in this sub-theme, the data
explicitly show the need for reconstruction in HRD for Myanmar HEIs and is consistent
with Arnhold et al.'s (1998) reconstruction model. Most of the references supported the
ESD integration to develop desirable graduate attributes, whilst those for a more general
purpose might lead to favourable conditions for ESD integration.

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8.5.5 Physical reconstruction

This theme had the least coded references (14 out of 272) amongst the six sub-themes
of educational reconstruction for Myanmar HEIs. Unlike other sub-themes, it cut across
only three ESD integration approaches: community, culture, and campus. Physical
reconstruction has been reviewed as a need in the literature and there were also in this
sub-theme. Participants’ view on physical reconstruction needs for ESD integration can
be summarised as follow.

• HEIs need to provide suitable facilities and spaces to promote wellbeing and
fitness for their students (P7).
• HEIs need to extend their services to reach the students who have some barriers
and make admission procedures flexible (P18, KII-1, KII-5, and KII-6)
• Some physical properties and facilities like libraries and laboratories need to be
reconstructed properly to enhance students’ access and utilisation (P12, P19,
KII-6).
• HEIs need to upgrade the digital technology particularly for online teaching and
learning service for distance education (P18 and KII-1).
• Some facilities and operation systems like waste management and green
practices should be installed and operated (KII-3).

Physical reconstruction can support the campus approach such as supporting health
and fitness, learning facilities, accessibility, and green practices. In addition, it can be
reflected in the community approach particularly to extend their educational services to
a wider community of students. Although accessibility in education is often framed in
terms of access for students with disabilities, a broader meaning has been taken in this
thesis to refer to students who may face a range of barriers to higher education. To
overcome physical, social, and economic barriers, colleges and universities should be
established in different geographical locations, particularly for students in remote areas
as suggested by KII-3 and KII-6. In addition, P18 wanted quality improvements in the
Universities of Distance Education (UDE) in Myanmar:

"The distance education especially in our remote area is terrible. We attend

only one or two months as intensive training before taking the exams. So,
two weeks of classes is the maximum for us, it's an intensive training." (P18,
FGD-2)

Moreover, KII-1, KII-5, and KII-6 shared a common idea of flexible admission procedures
to help students’ accessibility by integrating merit-based considerations rather than

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relying on the current score-based competition only. KII-1 wanted the universities to
consider a bridging programme for the students from vocational institutes if needed.
Likewise, KII-6 made a plea for a second-chance education system for students who
had to give up their education due to the political crisis or socio-economic barriers. She
wanted the international communities to consider it:

"But what can we do to help them with their education? Can we offer them
online education? How can we count credits for them? International
Universities should pay attention to this." (KII-6, NGO founder)

Regarding students’ accessibility, it can be interpreted that HEIs should facilitate,

expand, extend, or upgrade their educational service or activities to reach the
communities in need. This is consistent with what has been discussed in the country
context. Therefore, HEIs might need to seek communities’ engagement, particularly in
proximity. However, regarding ESD graduate attributes, this can be considered as an
overall support for students’ accessibility and higher education development because
poor accessibility would potentially reduce the likelihood of students’ learning or even
preventing them registering at university in the first place.

General higher education development was also observed within the physical
reconstruction:

• More budget should be used for the reconstruction of HEIs for both staff benefits
and facilities (KII-2 and KII-7).
• More HEIs should be established in different geographical locations or upgraded
and extended online-based distance education should be promoted to ensure
students in remote areas can access higher education (P18 and KII-7) as
discussed in the community approach.

“Due to the change in social network and social media, we could access to
globally critical issues on social media.” (KII-1, Education development
manager)

“... we should not limit our infrastructure to buildings, but we need to address
the issues such as asset, facility, and other material growth for our faculty
members.” (KII-7, PhD student)

The physical reconstruction will likely enable the campus approach for ESD integration
and a pedagogic approach. The data are consistent with the literature and the
reconstruction model of Arnhold et al. (1998).
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8.5.6 Administration and quality assurance systems

This sub-theme, contributed by forty-eight coded references, is an additional element

that emerged from the research data and that is not presented within the education for
reconstruction model of Arnhold et al. (1998). It mainly discusses decentralised
administration and quality assurance systems of Myanmar HEIs while cutting across the
sub-themes of ESD integration. There are only two main points being supportive of ESD
integration:

• Appropriate teaching-learning model should be tested and decided for wider

application amongst Myanmar HEIs (P9).
• There should have spaces and freedom for the students’ unions and clubs to act
as a check and balance of the HEIs’ administration and activities (KII-2).

However, there were more references related to general purposes:

• A federal education system and autonomous HEIs should be established to

enable the HEIs to have more decision-making power in their governance and
management, in developing and delivering the locally relevant curriculums and
courses, and in fostering academic freedom (P15, KII-1, KII-2, KII-3, KII-5, KII-6,
and KII-7).
• A good feedback mechanism and better human resource management system
should be restructured in the administrative system to help promote social justice
and respect for the diversity of ethnic minorities (KII-5 and respondent of online
survey).
• Better quality teaching as well as reliable quality assurance systems are needed
in Myanmar HEIs (P2, P15, KII-1, and KII-6).
• HEIs should collaborate with an agency for quality accreditation for the degree
they are awarding (P15 and P16).

Some quotes supporting the administrative and quality assurance systems are:

“So, apart from providing the fundamental costs to the HEIs for salaries,
maintenance costs, all the other aspects should be self-governed. There
should be charters for each HEI.” (KII-2, Former MP)

“We might also need to have university autonomy which allows universities
to have self-determination.” (KII-5, Professor)

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 “HEIs should have autonomy and academic freedom to administer the
locally relevant curricula and instruction based on the cultural context.” (A
respondent, online survey)

In summary, this sub-theme is more relevant to overall ESD integration rather than ESD
to develop graduate attributes. However, these administrative systems could be
supportive of other reconstruction as well as ESD integration processes. The data
covered all principles: administration, autonomy, academic freedom, and management
systems. These reconstructions might be necessary to support other reconstructions
and ESD integration. Quality assurance and accreditation systems still need to be put in
place for Myanmar, and thus this is also an important need in HEI reconstruction.

8.5.7 Overview of educational reconstruction for HEIs

In general, the data have identified the needs for reconstruction of Myanmar HEIs in
different aspects for their overall development and better-quality higher education, and
many of these needs could potentially support and inform ESD integration. Although
there are some overlapping references and similar ideas when looking at the same data
pool through two different thematic lenses, some key areas can be listed for the required
educational reconstruction. In brief, Myanmar HEIs need:

• to have autonomy to make their own decisions, develop locally relevant

curricula, and adopt ESD related values, policies, and practices,
• to have well-designed administrative principles and policies - to upgrade the
quality of teaching and learning, whilst providing a decent working environment
and supporting ESD practices,
• to develop suitable HR policies and procedures, embracing the diversity and
minority groups, as well as ensuring improved staff performance to contribute to
community and cultural approaches for sustainability awareness and practices,
• to re-construct and impose their ideological drive into the policy and missions
that should embrace ESD in shaping all HEIs’ practices, particularly the curricula
content and pedagogical methods, and academic freedom,
• to provide relevant supports to all staff for their psychological wellbeing and
appropriate attitude required for the ESD integration approaches,
• to re-design the curricula by embedding ESD perspective, locally relevant
contents, and a balance of learning process to ensure the holistic development
of graduate attributes, and

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 • to reconstruct and rebuild, as required, to provide teaching and learning facilities
as well as staff and students’ wellbeing for happy and supportive teaching-
learning environment.

As noted earlier, the data reflect the literature review and the model of education for
reconstruction by Arnhold et al. (1998). However, the model could be improved in the
context of Myanmar HEIs by incorporating administrative and quality assurance
systems.

8.6 Overview of two purposes leading to HEIs’ transformation

This thematic analysis reveals that these two purposes of ESD integration and HEI
reconstruction can be viewed in parallel, the former as practices and the latter as
changes to be made in principles/ policies/ procedures. As discussed above, HEIs’
transformation is seen through two thematic lenes: reconstruction of HEIs’ principles or
policies that will enable or inform the ESD integration practices to produce a desirable
transformation which is attributes for a sustainable future of Myanmar. In other words,
these required changes in principles (reconstructions) would potentially inform and
accommodate the HEIs’ practices (ESD integration).

Simply put, the principles for HEI reconstruction should inform and accommodate the
ESD integration approaches in HEIs, which in turn will support the development of ESD
graduate attributes, which are likely to contribute to the desired sustainable future for
Myanmar.

8.6.1 Inner transformation Versus External influence

After having discussed both views, a question appeared of how to start them in practice
- external influence matters when starting internal change or internal change should be
initiated regardless of the external influences. KII-5 claimed that HEIs can start reforming
from within for ESD integration. According to him, inner transformation is important.
However, KII-2 has a contradictory perspective of systems change. He argued that the
change does not start internally from within the HEIs, but rather it could be influenced
by the communities and other external factors like the government’s policies and
strategies. KII-6 also sees the role of civil society to actively engage in advocating the
government for such required changes to be made. According to the data, the HEIs’
reconstruction processes in this discussion are predominantly oriented to internal
changes, although it is acknowledged that external changes might come first in the given
historical background.

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Thus, the question remains to be answered whether any small-scale changes in different
elements (ESD practices) could be initiated in the beginning stage or not, without much
requirement of external influence, for the institutional transformation. While this research
was being conducted, Myanmar HEIs have come across an unprecedented situation
because of the 2021 coup. Some academics and activist students, who joined Civil
Disobedience Movement (CDM), together with like-minded stakeholders, took a
courageous step of establishing parallel HEIs against the ones under the military coup
as a part of the Spring Revolution and CDM. Although it is hard to be critiqued as good
or bad, it can be acknowledged that inner transformation has been started from many
HEIs in a revolutionary process.

8.6.2 Recommended changes for policy, principles, and practices

Based on the analyses, the scoping study, and the reviewed literature, the following
recommendations, changes to be made in both principles (or policy) and encouraged
ESD practices, are made for the transformation of Myanmar HEIs which will potentially
contribute to the development of desirable ESD graduate attributes for the
conceptualised sustainable future for Myanmar (see Table 8.4). The first column is the
summarised recommendations for the changes needed and the second column is
potential ESD integration practices that should be informed and supported by the
principles and policies changes.

Table 8.4 Recommended changes in principles or policies enabling ESD practices for
transformation of Myanmar HEIs

Policy or principles ESD Practices

Ideology

• HEIs need to have a certain • HEIs should conduct potential activities to

degree of autonomy in leading ensure their stakeholders are well
and deciding to develop informed about their vision, missions,
contextually relevant academic values as well as sustainable
Programmes or activities for development knowledge.
ESD. • All academic programmes, operations
• Sustainability should be (curriculum and pedagogical practices),
embedded in the HEIs’ vision, and decisions should be guided or
missions, and policies. informed by the conceptualised ESD.
• Curriculum development should be based
on the desirable graduate attributes.

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 Policy or principles ESD Practices

• A certain degree of academic • Relevant alternative teaching methods or

freedom needs to be granted to approaches should be encouraged.
HEI teachers. • HEIs should collaborate with different
• HEIs should be leading as a stakeholders from both national and
learning hub for promoting/ international communities (including
cultivating peace and alumni) to create extensive learning and
sustainable environmental employment opportunities for their
practices. students.
• Collaborative culture should be • Collaboration or teamwork should be
valued and embedded in HEIs’ encouraged in teaching-learning-
policies. assessment, and in developing the
curriculums if possible.
• HEIs should provide learning spaces for
cultural exchange and lead the practice of
non-violence, respecting diversity, caring
natural environment, and sustainability
practices within HEI community as an
exemplar campus or community.

Administrative principles and

systems
• HEIs should facilitate an active learning
• HEIs need to develop their own
community in which mutual respect,
charters considering (federal)
friendly feedbacks, collaboration, and
democratic Myanmar.
openness in exploring new ideas and
• Reliable and feasible quality
exchanging knowledge are encouraged.
assurance and accreditation
• Students should be provided a certain
system need to be
degree of freedom in selecting their
appropriately developed.
modules in degree pathway.
• (Federal) democratic values
• HEIs should monitor their services,
should be reflected in the
progress, and learn from the experiences,
administrative policies and
to ensure the learning process leading to
procedures.
ESD graduate attributes.
• Students’ clubs and associations should
be encouraged for their extra-curricular
experiences to develop some skills
contributing to ESD attributes.

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 Policy or principles ESD Practices

Human resources development

• HEIs need to develop their own • HEIs should create supportive or

Human Resource and nurturing working environment through
Administrative policies and providing sufficient facility and benefits as
related systems. well as cultivating some desirable
• HR policies should be guided practices to become as norms or culture.
by the values and concepts of • Staff recruitment, students’ selection, and
ESD (such as respect and all decisions or management related to
recognitions, and academic social affair should be carefully handled to
freedom, diversity, and ensure promotion of multicultures,
inclusion). respecting and inclusion of ethnic
• Teachers’ professional identities and minorities.
development and qualification • Assessment and management for
framework should be developed teachers’ professional development
and documented as a should be intensively prioritized to ensure
comprehensive guiding their performance in fostering the
principle. development of desirable graduate
attributes.

Psychology

• HEIs’ leadership style needs to • Democratic practices, empowerment,

be changed/ reconstructed to mutual respect, and collaborative learning
embrace mutual respect and should be encouraged and practiced in all
empowerment. types of leadership including research
• Respect and care for the supervision, and teachings in the HEIs.
natural environment should be • HEIs’ operations and decisions should
a core policy guideline to have inform and contribute to the development
amongst the staff members of of attitude and mindset for the students
HEIs. regarding the sustainability concerns and
responses through formal and informal
learning processes.

Curricular reconstruction

• HEIs need to re-design and • ESD should be integrated into the

revise their curricula in curriculums.

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 Policy or principles ESD Practices

relevancy of local context and • A special module should be offered as

ESD perspective. Institute-wide course (credit/audit).
• HEIs should develop locally • Hidden curricula can be considered
relevant degree programmes through teachers’ ESD awareness and
and the curriculums should attitude.
support various teaching • ESD degree/diploma programme on
methods. sustainable development should be
developed and delivered.
• Research-based teaching and learning
should be encouraged.

Physical infrastructure and facilities

• HEIs need sufficient budget/

• HEIs should provide sufficient quantities
fund for the required assets and and qualities of facilities and services
facilities. (e.g., library, laboratory, sports), to ensure
• HEIs need to build some the effective learning process and
infrastructures to support the wellbeing of the students.
stakeholders’ wellbeing, • Internet service and online technology
supportive learning, and should be used to enhance the
sustainable practices. teaching/learning/assessment as well as
to extend their services to the students in
the remote/needy areas.
• HEIs should provide their teachers
suitable infrastructure and facilities.
• HEIs should have suitable facilities for
sustainable practices (for green campus).

The analysis is also visualised through an influence diagram showing all the key
thematic components and links influencing/supporting each other (see Figure 8.1).
Although ideological reconstruction influences all to some extent, it is not explicitly
mentioned in the diagram. It should also be noted that many activities and processes in
the system of HEI differently play important roles. They all need to function well to have
the best outcome, and it is not just to rely on a single factor, e.g., reformed curriculum.
However, the activities or changes in some blobs might have relatively stronger

215
influence than other relations, and they are shaded with thicker arrows based on the
data and interpretation of the analysis.

In Figure 8.1, HEIs’ autonomy likely influences their vision and policies, their
administration systems, and freedom to collaborate with relevant stakeholders in
different communities. Amongst these three (first order) elements influenced by HEIs’
autonomy, there might have relatively stronger influence over the vision/mission and
collaboration with stakeholders. Likewise, HEIs’ vision and policy might strongly
influence curriculum, academic freedom, psychological reconstruction, HRD, and
administrative and quality assurance systems. Psychological reconstruction and HRD
can have reciprocal influencing patterns – the former informed the later and the later
support the former. Development of ESD graduate attributes can also influence the
overall ESD of HEIs because graduate attributes are a part of it from the conceptualised
ESD as discussed in Chapter 6 and the literature review although target 4.7 in
Sustainable Development Goal has been widely discussed and viewed as ESD. In short,
ideological changes play a role in many parts of the system and HEIs’ autonomy is
considered a fundamental enabler, as in the diagram. Alongside these changes at
institutional level or higher level, teachers’ professional development and creating
supportive working environment for them would play important role in developing ESD
graduate attributes.

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Figure 8.1 Influence diagram for Myanmar HEIs' transformation through a combination
of educational reconstruction and ESD integration leading to the development of ESD
graduate attributes.

8.7 Chapter summary

This chapter has discussed the key findings of the thematic analysis which respond to
the third research question – to explore the potential changes to be made in the policy
and practices in the reconstructions of Myanmar HEIs enabling potential approaches for
ESD integration. The sub-themes of ESD integration matched with the elements in the
adapted 4Cs+RP model proposed in the literature review whilst those of educational
reconstruction partly matched with the model of Arnhold et al. (1998) except for an
additional theme in the research data: administrative and quality assurance systems.

The observations have shown that sub-themes in each main theme have some
overlapping references showing inter-relatedness while the two main themes have some
relations as well. Amongst the potential ESD integration approaches, the largest
references were contributed to the community and the least to the campus. Based on
the data, all these approaches were considered as potentially supporting the
development of desirable ESD graduate attributes. In HEI reconstruction, the largest

217
coded references were notedly found in ideological reconstruction and the participants
significantly stressed it in almost every aspect of HEIs and ESD integration. Like
campus, physical reconstruction was the least number of supporting references for ESD
integration whilst it was claimed as critical area to be undertaken. Reconstruction can
be considered as cross-cutting theme as well as supportive of ESD integration in
general, but they could also support other reconstruction sub-themes simultaneously;
for instance, ideological reconstruction might play a key role in all other reconstructions.

Based on the thematic analysis, it could be hypothesised that HEI reconstruction

processes will likely accommodate or inform the ESD integration approaches (as
discussed in the model and emerged thematic framework) which could support
developing the expected ESD graduate attributes (in Chapter 7) that would contribute to
the desirable sustainable future for Myanmar (as conceptualised in Chapter 6).

This chapter has responded to the third research question with key findings grounded in
the data, reflected in the reviewed models, and provided a potential conceptual map of
ESD integration and educational reconstruction for Myanmar HEIs. And, such a
conceptual map/framework, which covers desirable sustainable development, relevant
graduate attributes, potential ESD integration, and required changes in educational
reconstruction leading to Myanmar HEIs’ transformations, presented by this research
has been deeply contextualised based on the data provided by Myanmar participants,
the relevant stakeholders. The following chapter will help to summarise the whole thesis,
contribution to knowledge of ESD integration in higher education, the researcher’s
personal reflective learning, and further recommended studies.

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Chapter 9 Conclusion

9.1 Introduction

Integrating education for sustainable development (ESD) in higher education institutions

(HEIs) in the context of Southeast Asian countries is not widely documented in the
literature. Although there are plenty of published papers on the role of HEIs in ESD
implementation by scholars from different continents, there is no explicit mention for the
higher education sector in the UNESCO’s roadmap ‘ESD for 2030’ (UNESCO, 2020).
This doctoral research contributes to the knowledge body of conceptualisation of ESD
and explores the potential concepts and models of ESD integration in, and the
reconstruction process of, HEIs in Myanmar, a Southeast Asian country with poor
environmental record and political and socio-economic crisis. Generally, the two models
proposed in the literature review are found to be relevant for future application for
Myanmar and could have wider applicability to countries with similar contexts and
backgrounds, as discussed in this chapter.

This research has shown when conceptualising ESD for Myanmar, there is a greater
emphasis on cultural and philosophical aspects than is evidenced in Myanmar's
Sustainable Development Plan (MSDP) or the UN's Sustainable Development Goals
(SDGs). Cultural sensitivity as well as environmental literacy and personal relationship
skills featured more strongly in the desirable graduate attributes identified through this
grounded and more contextualised research approach compared to more non-grounded
sets of attributes such as UNESCO's ESD competencies framework. The research has
also shown how two existing models based on ESD integration (Jones, Selby and
Sterling, 2010a; Anand et al., 2015) and educational reconstruction (Arnhold et al., 1998)
can be adapted/developed to make them more applicable to Myanmar.

This chapter summarises the main research findings, offers concluding remarks
including wider applicability and contribution to knowledge as well as suggestions for
future research. The former chapters have explained and discussed why this research
was important, how it was designed and conducted, and what the key findings are. This
chapter

• provides a summary of this thesis (section 9.2),

• discusses key learnings and findings arising from the study (section 9.3),
• recommends for policy and practices (section 9.4),
• displays knowledge contributions (section 9.5),
• describes research limitations (section 9.6),
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 • outlines recommendations for further research (section 9.7),
• notes the researcher’s personal reflections on his PhD experiences and
concludes with final remarks (section 9.8).

9.2 A summary of this thesis

This thesis has nine chapters. Chapter 1 introduced the origin of ESD as a concept, how
the ESD movement has evolved, why ESD has been an important agenda for HEIs, the
background of this doctoral research, and the purpose of this study. Chapter 2 described
the socio-political and environmental context of Myanmar and the situation of HEIs and
their engagement in sustainable development or sustainability issues. Chapter 3
reviewed and discussed the literature on ESD implementation and conceptualisation in
the global context, the arguments about graduate attributes from an ESD perspective,
and highlighted models for understanding ESD integration and higher education
reconstruction. Due to the paucity of publications on Myanmar’s higher education,
including the grey literature, an in-country scoping study was conducted and reported in
Chapter 4. This scoping study showed that there was limited understanding of and
implementation of ESD in HEIs in Myanmar but did provide background information on
how ESD could be conceptualised, what relevant attributes graduates might have and
how HEIs might promote ESD.

Based on these chapters, the research has looked at three research questions:

1) How might ESD be conceptualised in the Myanmar HEIs context?

2) What graduate attributes are expected from integrating this conception of ESD
in Myanmar HEIs?
3) What transformations in Myanmar HEIs’ educational policy and practices are
needed to develop these graduate attributes?

An initial research design involving case studies of two Myanmar universities through in-
country investigations was replaced by online interviews, focus groups and surveys
following Covid-19 in 2020 and the 2021 military coup in Myanmar. The mixed research
methods used, the detailed research data collection, and the analytical procedures
employed have been explained in Chapter 5. After that, Chapters 6, 7, and 8 discussed
the three main research questions based on the findings and observations arising from
the analyses. This chapter, Chapter 9, reviews these research questions and other
elements of the research.

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9.3 Key findings for the research questions

Research Question (1) How might ESD be conceptualised in the Myanmar HEIs
context?

There are two elements to this question: how sustainable development is conceptualised
in Myanmar itself and how ESD is conceptualised in its HEIs in the Myanmar’s political,
socio-economic, and environmental context. The way the research participants viewed
sustainable development (SD) and ESD, how they are viewed from Myanmar and Asian
cultural context will be discussed in comparison with the literature and the recent
government’s frameworks like Myanmar Sustainable Development Plan (MSDP) and
National Education Strategic Plan (NESP).

As discussed in the literature review (in Chapter 3), sustainable development can be
viewed as a desirable condition (Gray, 2010) or ‘a concept, a goal, and a strategy’
(Moore, 2005, p. 32). The earliest definition of sustainable development (SD) appeared
in ‘Our Common Future’ report (Brundtland et al., 1987) set a balance of wellbeing and
prosperity for both present and future generations. Sustainable development mostly
emerged from environmental concerns due to the impacts of human activities (Du
Pisani, 2006; Glavič and Lukman, 2007), and many of the UN’s 17 SDGs attempt to
address environmental issues. For example, SDG 6 (Clean water and sanitation), SDG
7 (Affordable and clean energy), SDG11 (Sustainable cities and communities), SDG12
(Responsible consumption and production), SDG13 (Climate action), SDG14 (Life below
water), and SDG15 (Life on land). At the same time other SDGs address peace, health,
and prosperity related issues and it is the interactions and influences between the
different SDGs that are meant to provide the balance required by the Brundtland
definition. The three pillars in the MSDP: ‘Peace and Stability, Prosperity and
Partnership, People and Planet’ (Ministry of Planning and Finance, 2018) encompass
five goals covering national reconciliation and peace, economic development,
employment and private sector business development, human resources development,
and natural resources management. These goals in the MSDP appear more oriented to
political reform and economic development because both human resource development
and natural resources management are viewed from an economic development
perspective with more private sector involvement. However, there were some strategies
related to healthy ecosystems and biodiversity conservation.

The findings arising from the participants in this research (see 6.2 in Chapter 6) shows
that a desirable sustainable future or development for Myanmar can be seen through
five thematic lenses: political, socio-cultural, economic, environmental, and
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philosophical views, lenses that seemingly equate to the three pillars of the MSDP.
These five thematic lenses are also interlinked. For instance, economic development is
desirable, but environmentally friendly business development should be considered, and
strong environmental policy and management plans must be established, according to
the data. Environmental conservation activities and programmes should include local
communities’ livelihood and economy. Social justice, respect for nature, ecosystems,
traditional beliefs and practices, gender, diversity of ethnicity and faiths, fair distribution
of resources and national development were intensively discussed and prioritised in
shaping the desirable sustainable future for Myanmar. Sustainability in this research
reflects the literature (i.e., environment, economy, and society), but with a greater
emphasis on culture and philosophy that does not come through in the SDGs and
MSDP. Although the MSDP is a well-structured plan, it is lacking a grounded
conceptualisation of the desirable sustainable development for Myanmar. However, this
research does provide pointers as to how ESD might be conceptualised in Myanmar
through the adoption of its findings as well as the process used to elicit the views of a
group of key stakeholders - graduates.

A fundamental finding in this research is consistent with what has been discussed in the
literature – the universities should extend their engagement in social transformation and
policy advocacy as an additional mission to their teaching and research (Fadeeva and
Mochizuki, 2010). Indeed, HEIs should consider the whole-institution approach to
integrate ESD whereby HEIs need to think about how ESD features in all they do. The
principles of guiding concepts are the SDGs and interpretations of ESD as most, but not
wholly, exemplified by the eight competencies of the UNESCO’s ESD learning
outcomes. Although there were many HEIs’ engagements in the ESD movement around
the world, it was rarely discussed about the required graduate attributes for their specific
country’s context. This doctoral research highlighted the importance of conceptualising
ESD for a particular country’s context so that locally relevant graduate attributes
considered for the desirable sustainable development can be investigated and set out.

ESD for the context of Myanmar’s HEIs, according to the findings in this research, can
be viewed by five different thematic lenses: preparing ESD graduate attributes for the
students, serving as exemplar learning hubs for the communities, research and
innovation, engaging in influencing policy, and investing in the higher education (see 6.3
in Chapter 6). It showed that ESD is more than preparation for graduates’ appropriate
competencies for sustainable development as reflected in the literature. More
importantly, ESD is not a single project related to sustainable development, but it is
rather spotlighting ‘socially engaged HEIs’ doing more than their traditional activities of
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teaching and research. Thus, ESD can be considered in many different activities that
HEIs could do as a holistic approach which can directly contribute to developing the ESD
graduate attributes as well as the envisioned sustainable development of the country.

Research Question (2) What graduate attributes are to be expected from integrating this
conception of ESD in Myanmar HEIs?

Although research findings in this thesis revealed that ESD is more than graduate
attributes, a prime focus of this research was to explore what graduate attributes are to
be expected and prioritised in the context of higher education in Myanmar. Preparing
graduates with appropriate competencies or attributes was discussed from different
perspectives, for instance graduates should be prepared for their critical thinking and
problem solving skills (Shephard et al., 2015), for their employability (Hill, Walkington
and France, 2016; Khan, Malik and Janjua, 2019; Wong et al., 2022), and for their
attitude and competencies to contribute to the wellbeing and prosperity of their societies
(Sterling, 2004; Paten et al., 2005; Tilbury, 2011; Shephard et al., 2015; Tierney, 2016;
Dlouha et al., 2017; Filho et al., 2018; Gul et al., 2019; Vargas et al., 2019).

The UNESCO’s ESD competencies framework, which is broadly framed for all levels of
education, was adopted by the UK HE and QAA with subtle adaptations for higher
education (QAA and Advance HE, 2021). This research argues that contextualised
graduate attributes should be considered, rather than adopting the top-down list of
recommendations influenced by western scholars’ views, which seems to be the case
for the UNESCO competencies. As discussed in the first research question,
sustainability is a contested term and can be viewed from different perspectives, so SD
and ESD can be viewed differently in Asian or Southeast Asian contexts like some
authors reminded (Sivaraksa, 1994; Landorf, Doscher and Rocco, 2008; Van Zeijl-
Rozema et al., 2008; Nomura and Abe, 2011; Jackson, 2017; Merrill, 2018). Thus, the
relevant graduate attributes for a country with its own unique historical and cultural
backgrounds must be explored through rigorous research and continuous conversations
with multi-stakeholders. Moreover, it is important to ensure that the graduate attributes
are aligned with the envisioned desirable future for that country rather than taking a set
of global, non-grounded attributes.

There is general agreement in the literature with the claim by Rieckmann (2012) that
knowledge and skills alone are not sufficient to address the complex socio-economic,
political, and climate and environmental issues. However, different terminology is used
to classify attributes with, e.g., UNESCO using Cognitive domain, Socio-emotional
domain, and Behavioural domain, and QAA using ways of knowing, being and doing.
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These two classifications are aligned with the three Hs model (for example, Sipos,
Battisti and Grimm, 2008; UNESCO, 2017; QAA and Advance HE, 2021) which is
familiar to an Asian cultural context including Myanmar (for example Sivaraksa (2005)
claimed that threefold training – ‘Sila, Samadhi, and Pannya’ are the fundamental model
of education from Buddhist perspective). The graduate attributes that emerged from this
research also cover all three pillars of Hs: HEAD, HEART, and HAND, but also
emphasise the interrelationships between them such that they collectively contribute to
a holistic development of the learner. While the UNESCO guidelines talk about this
holism, they do not explicitly show the contextualised connections between attributes
that this research has been able to do.

Comparison of the graduate attributes from the research findings and those in the
literature revealed certain degree of similarities in terms of thinking abilities, social
abilities, personal abilities, and employability related skills. Interestingly, the comparison
with UNESCO’s ESD competency framework shows that there is no explicit mention of
sustainability literacy or environmental literacy in the key competencies themselves,
instead the eight competencies are set in the broader framework of the 17 SDGs. In
contrast, the seven thematic components of graduate attributes (unprompted/qualitative
set) from this research (see 7.3 in Chapter 7) include ‘general knowledge and life skills’
and ‘sustainability literacy and practice’ as holistic (HHH) attributes not tied to either
Head, Heart, or Hand. This is not to say that a general or specific approach to holism is
better or worse but to note that the outcomes in the UNESCO framework are apparently
ambitious without any specification for which levels they were aimed at, for instance
secondary or higher education level, nor as to how they might be interpreted. For
example, in table 1.2.1 for SDG 1 (End poverty in all its forms everywhere), the following
learning outcome was stated:

‘The learner is able to propose solutions to address systemic problems

related to poverty’ (UNESCO, 2017, p. 12).

This outcome is complicated and challenging even for global leaders and scholars to
address and might be too broad and ambitious for the learners in Myanmar when it is
even difficult for them to understand their country’s context and address the ongoing
political and socio-economic crisis.

The second set of fourteen graduate attributes, generated from the qualitative data
through systematic processes and in-depth consultations (see 7.4 in Chapter 7), were
assessed for their priority ranking through an online survey. All fourteen attributes are
important based on the 417 survey respondents’ views. These attributes emerged from
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Myanmar participants (KIIs and FGDs) and have been robustly checked and observed
with wider communities’ perspectives (online survey). They can be considered
contextually relevant to Myanmar HEIs for future ESD integration. Different statistical
tests were run to check the rankings. The future use of the list of attributes might benefit
from fine-tuning by combining similar attributes and reducing the overall number.

Overall, these attributes (prompted/quantitative ones) can be observed as important and

relevant to be considered for ESD integration. These 14 attributes are also aligned with
the three Hs model but as with the seven attributes noted above it has also been possible
to map out the interrelationships between the attributes that can more readily indicate
the holistic nature of them. Except for teaching, language proficiency, research
knowledge and skills, working experiences, and entrepreneurship, the respondents in
online survey rated as highly important all other nine graduate attributes: thinking
proficiency, social abilities, personal abilities, management skills, resilience,
professionalism, cultural sensitivity, digital literacy, and environmental literacy. The fact
that environmental literacy features prominently once again perhaps indicates that the
research participants believed this to be essential for a sustainable future but could also
be because they were unaware of the SDGs as a guiding framework.

On the other hand, the other attributes indicate that they do see the personal and
collective development of graduates to be focussed on relationships more than
outcomes, which may be consequence of the socio-cultural history of Myanmar.
Moreover, the findings beg the question as to what sustainable literacy actually covers
in the participants’ views. As explained in the methodology (Chapter 5) and discussion
about the results for research question 2 (Chapter 7), these graduate attributes were
derived from the grounded research data, and so they can be used as a preliminary set
of attributes for Myanmar HEIs although it is acknowledged that they are not definitive
and may not be representative to all the HEIs in Myanmar.

While many HEIs in developed countries claim for digital skills, teamwork skills, problem
solving, and critical think skills, the attributes from this research importantly highlighted
cultural sensitivity, environmental literacy, and some personal abilities related to
HEART. These graduate attributes are also aligned with the desirable sustainable
development for Myanmar discussed in the Research Question 1 therefore this research
claims that they are relevant with contextualised ESD. Moreover, this kind of bottom-up
approach to identify locally relevant graduate attributes could be further extended by
individual HEIs and respective governments with similar concerns.

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Research Question (3) What transformations in Myanmar HEIs’ educational policy and
practices are needed to develop these graduate attributes?

As highlighted in Chapter 2 (country context), HEIs in Myanmar need reconstruction as

the nation-wide education reform process was disrupted by the coup in 2021 before ESD
integration was properly initiated. The two models discussed in the literature review – a
proposed ESD integration model (4Cs+RP) adapted from the models of (Jones, Selby
and Sterling, 2010a; Anand et al., 2015) and the educational reconstruction model of
Arnhold et al. (1998) - were consistent with the results of qualitative analyses except an
additional theme (Administration and quality assurance) emerged from the research
data in the educational reconstruction.

Although the 4C model and 4Cs+R model are published in the literature as being whole
institution approaches, many HEIs across the world predominantly employ a curricular
and green campus approach. That is why pedagogy, how SD is taught rather than what
is taught about ESD, is proposed as an explicit element in the ESD integration model
and as based on some literature (Walker, 2002; Brundiers, Wiek and Redman, 2010;
Lozano et al., 2017). The analyses from this research were consistent with this proposed
addition to the model as many research participants emphasised the required changes
in teaching, learning, and assessment methods being practiced in many HEIs in
Myanmar.

Arnhold et al.'s (1998) model was also found to be relevant to the context of Myanmar
based on both reviewed literature work and the outcomes from thematic analysis.
However, ‘administration and quality assurance’ is an additional element identified in the
research data, which is consistent with what has been discussed in Chapter 2 – that all
HEIs in Myanmar need to change their authoritative leadership styles and rigidly
centralised administrative systems (British Council, 2013a; Oo, 2013; Esson and Wang,
2018). Although NESP (2015-2020) had a mandate to establish a National Institute for
Higher Education Development (NIHED) and an independent institution for Higher
Education Quality Assurance Agency (HEQAA), these lacked any link to ESD
integration. With these mandates uncertain in the current situation, new proposals may
be needed in future. If so, these two models have been found to be relevant to HE reform
and ESD integration in Myanmar. They may also be useful to some HEIs in the member
states of ASEAN if ESD integration and educational reconstruction is needed.

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9.4 Recommendations for policy and practices

9.4.1 Recommendations for Myanmar’s higher education stakeholders

Considering both proposed models (ESD integration and educational reconstruction)

this research provided recommended changes in the policy and practices for Myanmar
HEIs (see Table 8.4). Ideological reconstruction was a key area to be considered in the
HE sector of Myanmar, as it can inform individual HEIs in terms of their standings,
missions, and policies to integrate ESD in all different activities such as curricula,
teaching and assessment methods, collaborating with different stakeholders, campus
management, and learning with and from communities. Moreover, this ideological
reconstruction at a national level might need to be informed by federal democratic
values. Decentralised systems should be prioritised for the HE sector to grant
reasonable autonomy to individual HEIs.

At a more local level, HEIs could accommodate students’ freedom, facilitate active
learning communities, and nurture good practices of mutual-respect and celebrate
diversity and inclusion to develop expected graduate attributes amongst their students.
Policy related to human resources development should be developed by each HEI under
their own charters. HE sector could provide additional support for professional
development of HEIs’ leaders and staffs. Individual HEIs should implement their human
resources recruitment and development as expected in desirable SD and ESD, because
it can lead to the development of some attributes amongst the students, particularly
cultural sensitivity, social abilities, and personal abilities. Mutual respect amongst
individuals regardless of their backgrounds, and respect and care for the natural
environment, should be key policy guidelines suggested by this research. This can
shape psychological reconstruction process and HEIs could integrate these into their
decisions and actions to promote sustainability related awareness and mindsets.

At national level the HE sector could provide policy guidelines to consider locally relevant
curricula content but individual HEIs should have their freedom to design and deliver
relevant learning contents being informed by the conceptualised ESD. The HE sector
should have an appropriate budget to support HEIs for their infrastructure and campus
facilities so that green campus activities and students’ health care could be managed
well. In addition, opportunities for students’ digital skills, research-based learning and
work experiences could be developed.

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9.4.2 Potential application of this research

HEIs in Myanmar at the time of writing this thesis are still difficult and complicated. Since
the coup in February 2021, many university teachers and students have been protesting
the military coup through a civil disobedient movement (CDM). It is estimated that
between 35% and 50% of all basic and higher education teachers joined the CDM,
according to Proserpio and Fiori (2022). Still, the exact number or ratio of HEIs’ teachers
is unknown. The military coup, self-named the State Administration Council (SAC), is
trying to operate the universities with some students who enrolled and some teachers
who did not join the CDM. In parallel, CDM teachers and other students have formed
interim university councils and established their online universities, for instance, Spring
Normal University70, Spring University Myanmar71, and Kachin State Comprehensive
University. More studies should be made to understand how these newly established
(interim) HEIs have been initiated and developed and how they might move on and
evolve in such a hostile political context in Myanmar. From an activist or revolutionary
perspective, it might be differently iterated that Myanmar HEIs do need ‘deconstruction’
rather than ‘reconstruction’ because the research participants made strong criticisms on
the current policies, systems, and practices. This aspect should be further investigated
to see changes in these emerging HEIs and their future impacts.

This research commenced in 2019 to contribute to higher education reform considering

the country's sustainable development. However, some of these findings and learnings
might be potentially applicable to those interim universities acknowledging the ongoing
conflicts. It might also be considered for implementation once a favourable condition is
given for nationwide education reforms. The conceptual models grounded in the data
could be used when setting the vision or developing the strategies for the future model
of higher education by the National Unity Government (NUG), the contemporary/exile
government formed shortly after the coup.

9.4.3 Recommendations for HEIs in the Southeast Asia region

At a broader level, the research context shares a story of similarity with those HEIs in
the Southeast Asia region, particularly in conflict zones or under the control of

70 https://www.springnormaluniversity.org/
71 https://www.springuniversitymm.com/

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dictatorship governments, or ESD is still embryonic to them. Those HEIs in the region
could apply some of these concepts and approaches in the thematic analyses by
reconsidering, revising, and re-integrating ESD with appropriate adaptation and
modification. The conceptualisation of ESD in a particular country context is under
published with no existing publications in the higher education context of Myanmar. This
study makes a critical contribution to ESD implementation research within higher
education communities, particularly in Asia and Southeast Asia.

In conclusion, this research has primarily contributed some insights and

recommendations to higher education stakeholders in the region regarding ESD
implementation as follow:

• ESD should be conceptualised in a particular country’s context rather than

following the broader perspective of internationalised version so that locally
relevant outcomes and implementations could be designed.
• Required changes in policies and principles should be made to accommodate
ESD integration in different activities of HEIs. That can enhance developing the
students’ expected graduate attributes considered for desirable sustainable
future or development of a country.
• UNESCO’s recommended ESD competencies and learning outcomes may be
too ambitious and unrealistic for some contexts. So, developing and identifying
locally relevant graduate attributes to be used within a contextualised ESD
should be carried out through conversations with different stakeholders,
including understanding the scope of and definitions for the attributes. This
approach is also an important contribution to the literature because developing
ESD graduate attributes through a bottom-up approach has been rarely
published.
• Whilst many authors are suggesting ‘a whole-institution approach’ and
interdisciplinary approach to ESD (McMillin and Dyball, 2009; Jones, Selby and
Sterling, 2010b; Kohl et al., 2022), existing models of ESD integration for HEIs
have not captured all the necessary components. Thus, this research
recommends the revised ‘4Cs+RP’ model for ESD integration amongst HEIs.
• The adapted model of educational reconstruction can be recommended for HEIs’
transformation process in countries with similar backgrounds. There were many
recommendations in the published literature, including the UNESCO’s roadmap
for 2030, regarding the strategies and approaches to make transformative
learning and embedding sustainability knowledge and skills into the curriculum,
but this type of comprehensive model, which is adapted from Arnhold et al.'s
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 (1998) model, was not found in the ESD literature. In fact, reconstruction of HEIs
was rarely discussed in Western or developed countries although some policy
advancement and governments’ supports were encouraged by the UNESCO.
However, reconstruction in ideology, psychology, and human resources are
essential themes that most Western HEIs might overlook and reconstruction
processes in those areas need more emphasis.

9.5 Knowledge contribution

Defining Sustainable Development for a particular country can be informed by the global
agreements, such as the SDGs, but also needs to reflect the historical backgrounds and
cultural roots of its citizens. This thesis has used consultative processes, albeit with
three groups of citizens, that could be used with other groups and in other countries.
Through the findings of the consultative and co-creative approach, the following key
contributions to knowledge have been made:

Knowledge contribution 1: Adding ‘P’ to the ‘4Cs+R model’

Regarding ESD integration, a whole-institution approach has been widely discussed

amongst the scholars and HEIs. However, the existing literature has left a few questions
to be answered - what elements are foregrounded in the institutions and what activities
that HEIs should focus on. Although teaching, learning, and assessments were
extensively discussed as important matter in the HE sector, it is not explicitly included in
the models in the reviewed literature. The findings of this research have shown that
pedagogy should be considered in the existing models proposed by Jones, Selby and
Sterling (2010a) and Anand et al. (2015) rather than being implicitly included in
curriculum in order to contribute to developing the expected ESD graduate attributes
amongst the students. Thus, this research made this adapted (4Cs+RP) model to be
considered in ESD integration at institutional level of HEIs in different countries.

Knowledge contribution 2: Co-creating ESD graduate attributes

Amongst the discussed ESD graduate attributes in the published literature, a set of eight
competencies recommended by the UNESCO is the most prominent. SDGs were
developed through bottom-up approach as many people from many countries involved
in it and it took time to develop it. However, ESD competencies were developed based
on a few experts’ views and only a few people involved in the process. Moreover, it has
been broadly defined and recommended for all different types and levels of education.

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The ESD graduate attributes in this research are grounded in the Myanmar context and
have been developed through consultative process with graduates rather than those
considered to be experienced experts in their field (how to develop the graduate
attributes). Moreover, the interrelationships between the attributes are as important as
the attributes themselves – some of them feature in more than one of the three Hs. So,
these attributes are very much tied together with all being important in contributing to a
holistic set that brings the 3Hs together (what the ESD graduate attributes are and how
they look like).

For the UNESCO’s attributes, this research does not agree that having those eight
competencies alone is sufficient to provide motivation towards sustainable development
or sustainability although they are important competencies that graduates should have
developed from learning at HEIs. The approach in this research brought out
environmental literacy as a specific competency whereas it is implicit in the UNESCO’s
set via the SDGs (which only last to 2030) and this research findings put more emphasis
on ‘sustainable’ in sustainable development. This set of contextualised graduate
attributes can be a foundational consideration for Myanmar HEIs before reforming higher
education and implementing ESD. Furthermore, this doctoral research also claims that
locally relevant graduate attributes should be developed in a co-creative process for a
particular country rather than simply adopting internationalised ones.

Knowledge contribution 3: A framework for implementing ESD in Higher

Education in countries needing or undergoing major reforms

This research showed that the analyses are consistent with the elements in the
educational reconstruction model proposed by Arnhold et al. (1998) except the
Administration and Quality Assurance which emerged from the data. Reforming or
reconstructing higher education will need certain degree of changes in policies,
principles, and administrative systems, especially for those countries with prolonged civil
wars or under the authoritative dictatorships. However, Arnhold et al.'s (1998)
reconstruction process did not consider the required changes to be made in the
administration and quality assurance, so this research also recommends an adapted
model of educational reconstruction for the countries with prolonged political crisis or
major needs in national reform. This is different from the 4Cs+RP model in which P was
proposed based on the reviewed literature that informed the analytical process and
confirmed the consistency of the data. In contrast, the additional element in the
educational reconstruction model emerged from the data.

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These two models are complementary to each other and can be useful in the ESD
implementation. Based on this research learning, a framework for ESD implementation
has been developed and proposed for those countries needing major reforms (see
Figure 9.1). The reconstruction processes enable the specific conceptualisation of what
ESD is at the higher education sector level that can enhance the integration of ESD in
individual institutions which then contributes to how sustainable development is
envisioned. Indeed, the envisioned sustainable development concept can guide the way
how to reconstruct the higher education sector in the given context.

Envisioned sustainable development ESD integration in the individual HEIs

for a country activities and practices

Curriculum
Environmental Contributing Campus
Economic Community
Socio-cultural Culture
Political Pedagogy
Philosophical Research

Guiding Enhancing

Curricular and materials

Physical Investment in higher education
Psychological ESD Graduate Attributes
Ideological HEIs as Learning Hubs
Human resources Research and Innovation
Enabling
Administration and quality assurance Policy informing/advocacy

Reconstruction processes for the Conceptualised ESD for the Higher

Higher Education sector Education sector

Figure 9.1 A framework of ESD implementation for countries with major reform needs

The data in this research, which is grounded in the context of Myanmar, can be different
from other developed countries with stability and freedom like the United Kingdom. It
should be noted that educational reconstruction and ESD integration can go in parallel
in the countries with prolonged history of political crisis and instability context whilst other
HEIs in the stable countries may not emphasise on the reconstruction.
Recommendations and models proposed and practiced by the HEIs in the developed
countries with higher degree of stability and freedom might be useful to HEIs in some
developing countries to some extent. However, this study has provided these learnings
especially for those countries with reconstruction needs, limited freedom, and instability.
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9.6 Research limitations

There were some limitations in addition to some challenges and constraints to

conducting this research in such a difficult context of pandemic lockdown and political
crisis in the country to be studied. Limitations are mainly related to the targeted research
participants and methodological aspects.

1) The ESD conceptualisation studied in this research was developed from a

certain group of research participants, which is not necessarily representative of
the larger society of Myanmar nationals. As most of the key informants in this
research have experience in the development or non-governmental organisation
(NGO) sector, the data might be oriented to a particular view with high similarities
in concepts or values. However, justification for inviting these participants was
explained due to the nature of this research enquiry and the feasibility of the
given context.
2) While acknowledging both the strengths and limitations of online (virtual)
interviews and focus group discussions, it would be instructive to explore the
same questions using a different mode of data collection. Face-to-face interviews
or focus groups might generate a degree of energy dynamic, stimulating the
facilitation or interviewing process and potentially producing slightly varied
discussions and outcomes. To ensure collecting enough data to answer the
research questions and securely collect the data in the politically sensitive
period, the researcher used alternative methods like self-recorded audio files or
self-responded written files for answering the specified research questions.
Although these methods cannot support interactive discussion between the
researcher and participants or amongst participants, they could be applied for
extensive data collection for wider coverage or where the research participants
have limited internet access to participate in synchronous online interviews or
discussions.
3) For the online survey of priority ranking of the specific graduate attributes, a
respondent made a good suggestion regarding language proficiency which was
too broad for them to rate. It should rather be separated into specific languages:
Myanmar, English, another foreign language any ethnic language. So, it could
be too broad and ambiguous for many respondents to rate ‘language
proficiency’, although the survey intended to check if the graduates should be
able to use one to three languages, mainly Myanmar and English.
4) The online survey could not employ probabilistic sampling; therefore, the
quantitative enquiry in this research could not support well-representative

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 inferences with hypothetical tests to understand relationships between the
priority of attributes and some demographic factors such as ethnic groups,
specific geographic location (e.g., states or regions), and disciplines or
professional fields. It has been able to check the priority rankings of the given
attributes as an overview.
5) If time had allowed a second round of FGDs with the same participants would
have been conducted to deepen discussions and to explore more ideas of
potential triggers for policy and practices to be changed that will support ESD
integration and university transformation. Similarly, systems diagramming should
be further expanded through rigorous discussions with wider communities or
stakeholders to visualise the models and mappings in a participatory approach.
6) Finally, it should be noted that the researcher’s professional background,
personal identity, and personal interests in the role of higher education and
sustainable development might have brought a certain degree of bias in the
research scope, questions, choosing available data subjects, and even in the
analytical process and interpretation.

9.7 Recommendations for further research

Recommendations for further research are made through reflection on the limitations
and experiences of this research.

1) While acknowledging the difficulty in developing a nationally accepted

conceptualised ESD model, further studies with wider communities and multiple
stakeholders should be conducted to deepen understanding and to tune what
has been found in this study. For example, this research did not include farmers,
other labourers and professionals from different industries and religious sectors.
However, a wider inclusion of participants from divergent backgrounds should
be further investigated to check and compare with this result.
2) An extensive online survey should reach a wider set of communities and
stakeholders through various social agents and networks to justify and assure
better representation.
3) Using probabilistic sampling, hypothetical testing should be made to study the
association, priority ranking, and opinions on this set of graduate attributes from
diverse demographic data of the respondents, for instance, geographic
backgrounds (states/regions or townships), ethnic backgrounds, disciplines or
professions, and specific roles (e.g., teachers, students, employees, or
employers).

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 4) An in-depth study on a particular university should be undertaken to develop
more specific graduate attributes from their disciplinary perspective or based on
the geographical, socioeconomic, and environmental context.
5) The current knowledge could be expanded if a group of researchers with diverse
backgrounds conducted similar research, particularly for the first and third
research questions to understand the conceptualisation of ESD in the context of
Myanmar HEIs and potential integration and HEI reconstructions.
6) A more thorough study should be conducted to understand different
competencies in the three H model and to see if they are complementary or
contradictory to each other.
7) A comparative study of ESD integration or implementation and related graduate
attributes amongst HEIs in the Mekong River basin or Association for South-East
Asia Nations (ASEAN) member states would support knowledge exchange and
expand regional understanding.

9.8 Personal reflections as a researcher

9.8.1 Motivation and personal improvement

As introduced in Chapter 1, I took up this opportunity to conduct doctoral research based

on my positives and 12 years of professional experiences in development-related fields
in Myanmar (e.g., environmental conservation, natural resources management, and
peacebuilding rent stakeholders such as youth, university students, community leaders,
teachers, and student-teachers through non-formal education activities and
collaboration with formal HEIs). I had an interest to understand the relationship between
HEIs and sustainable development which was rarely studied and under-reported.
Moreover, there was a lack of proper understanding of the roles of Myanmar HEI for
ESD in terms of both concept and approaches for implementation.

The announcement for this doctoral studentship, which was associated with the
Transformation by Innovation in Distance Education (TIDE) project and supported by
the Global Challenge Research Fund (GCRF) (as noted in Chapter 1), resonated with
my sense that I wanted to deepen my understanding of these two elements in the
Myanmar context. In addition, this research was not only contextually relevant but also
timely and critical for Myanmar because the national education reform was on track
during the former civilian government of Myanmar at that time. This was an external
motivator for me to take this doctoral research on.

235
As an internal motive, I had three main expected outcomes for my personal development
before I picked this path. These expectations were:

• to improve my ways of thinking,

• to upgrade my research knowledge and skills, and
• to expand my knowledge through extensive reading.

Indeed, I have improved my thinking through reading, discussions with my supervisors

and their feedback and comments, personal reflection, and reasoning. In addition,
sharing my learning, thoughts, and ideas with different stakeholders in both formal
webinars/conferences and informal conversations. Getting their feedbacks, comments,
and questions were supportive in widening my worldview. Moreover, meditation practice
could help my thinking improve in such a tough time.

My research has focused on studying concepts and applied interpretive approaches

needed to observe how people use, define, or interpret some conceptual terms. In
addition, learning about systems thinking and diagramming has been an add-on.
Qualitative enquiry is relatively new to me, particularly in the academic approach,
although I have limited knowledge and experience in my previous social work. This
doctoral research experience greatly supported my way of thinking and expanded the
horizon of my understanding of the research.

I have been familiar with quantitative research using statistical analysis. Still, the mixed
methods approach of this research, particularly qualitative analysis, has significantly
contributed to upgrading my research knowledge and skills. On top of that, the online
survey data in this research allowed me to learn and apply non-parametric tests.
Preparing the research data collection and data management plan through the
assessment and approval of Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC) was a
valuable experience to ensure quality, safety, and ethical conducts in the research. The
researcher development framework/ skills development audit was useful to see if my
strengths and needs to be improved. Writing a PhD thesis, different from my previous
experience of an M.Sc. thesis, was an invaluable academic training ground for me as I
had to draft, redraft, and write many final versions. In contrast, I had to read, observe,
and reason based on the supervisors’ feedback and comments. Keeping logbooks and
checklists reminders to ensure everything is right and at the right place were good
practices in skill development. Flexibility was crucial for my personal experience as a
researcher as I have gone through unexpected and unprecedented challenges
throughout the journey.

236
As mentioned above, I had to read several research articles and some books, and I
enjoyed it. Key learnings for me as a takeaway are to search for what is needed and
important, read them with critical and analytical views, and use only the most important
and supportive arguments or claims in discussion (in writing). For the last one, I have
moderately improved in it.

9.8.2 Surviving and thriving in the context of Covid-19 and the Coup

Personal motivation and interest play a critical role in most doctoral research studies
(Tarvid, 2014; Wiegerová, 2016) and support my resilience when facing unexpected
challenges. As mentioned earlier, the original plans developed over four months had to
be abandoned and a new enquiry approach had to be redesigned and planned again. A
new project to project, face-to-face focus groups for Myanmar university teachers and
students in Thailand and neighbouring countries, were cancelled because Thailand
became the list for the UK’s Covid-19 alert. Finally, an alternative data collection plan
had to be chosen - all the interviews, focus groups, and surveys were surveys
conducted. Consequently, more time was needed to apply an online data collection
method which was only considered.

These unexpected conditions have brought me considerable additional work for the data
collection plan and ethical approval process and put me into a deep depression due to
the horrific and devastating war crimes in my home country, making me worried about
my family and friends’ safety. Nevertheless, my belief that education plays a critical role
in our society and our desirable future has not changed. Meditating, walking, reading,
drawing, photographing flowers, watching movies, and supporting Myanmar students
via online coaching and mentoring were the main therapeutic actions I used to self-heal
in those challenging times. I also received a few counselling sessions from National
Health Service (UK) for my wellbeing. Learning from the Covid-19 experiences and the
revolution against the coup gave me some energy to move forward and overcome
challenges. Ultimately, all the data collection processes were smoothly completed
through the internet and digital technology and extensive support from my friends and
social networks.

Further, there were challenges in transitioning from a practitioner to a researcher. The

key challenges for me were:

• There was a time gap of 12 years between my master’s degree and this PhD
study as I have immersed myself in development work for a decade. It was
challenging for me to return to an academic way of thinking, reading, and
237
 writing. However, as mentioned earlier, these skills have developed through
continuous practice and feedback/comments from my supervisors.
• Although my first two degrees (agricultural science and natural resources
management) and professional work experiences supported doing this inter-
disciplinary research, there was a certain degree of limitation in
understanding the higher education context, as I did not work in that sector.

Despite considerable challenges and constraints, my motivation and commitment to

what I believe is a critical area for my country’s development has enabled me to continue
through this research process.

9.8.3 Final remark

Based on my professional experience as a sustainable development practitioner, I have

immersed myself in this research for four years to deepen my understanding of these
research questions for the transformations of Myanmar HEIs. Listening to these relevant
stakeholders through whom such a clear picture was constructed to deliver a conceptual
model of potential ESD integration approaches and required changes for Myanmar
HEIs. My remark, which has been demonstrated as a significant part of this thesis and
in the given title, is that recommended changes in the reconstruction process for the
HEIs’ transformation should be taken on to accommodate the integration of ESD, which
has been conceptualised in the context of Myanmar.

With strong interest and commitment, my endeavour to investigate this important

research went far beyond the purpose of getting a PhD degree. Still, rather I have put
myself into the study, and this research has, in turn, become a part of my life and my
world. Learning from the voices of university teachers and students, from the key
informants with different professional backgrounds, and the wider community’s ranking
on the given attributes and their open comments in the online survey has given me a
deeper understanding of the real context. As a citizen of Myanmar, I hope that my work
can be drawn upon in future whenever there can be proper reform of Myanmar’s HEIs.

238
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Appendices

Appendix 1 HREC approval letter for scoping study

Dear Bo

This message confirms that the research protocol for the following research project, as
submitted for ethics review, has been given a favourable opinion on behalf of The Open
University Human Research Ethics Committee.

Project title: Scoping the context of Education for Sustainable Development

(ESD) in Myanmar

HREC approval date: 19/11/2019

As part of your favourable opinion, it is essential that you are aware of and comply with
the following:

You are responsible for notifying the HREC immediately of any information received by
you, or of which you become aware which would cast doubt on, or alter, information in
your original application, in order to ensure your continued safety and the good conduct
of the research.

It is essential that you contact the HREC with any proposed amendments to your
research, for example - a change in location or participants. HREC agreement needs to
be in place before any changes are implemented, except only in cases of emergency
when the welfare of the participant or researcher is or may be affected.

Your HREC reference number has to be included in any publicity or correspondence

related to your research, e.g., when seeking participants or advertising your research,
so it has been agreed by the HREC and adheres to OU ethics review processes.

Researchers should have discussed any project-related risks with their Line Manager
and/or Supervisor, to ensure that all the relevant checks have been made and
permissions are in place, prior to a project commencing, for example compliance with IT
security and Data protection regulations.

Researchers need to have read and adhere to relevant OU policies and guidance, in
particular the Ethics Principles for Research with Human Participants and the Code of
Practice for Research - http://www.open.ac.uk/research/governance/policies

266
The Open University's research ethics review procedures are fully compliant with most
research council, professional organisations, and grant awarding bodies research ethics
guidelines. Where required, this message is evidence of OU HREC support and can be
included in an external research ethics review application. The HREC should be sent a
copy of any external applications, and their outcome, so we have a full ethics review
record.

At the end of your project, you are required to assess your research for ethics related
issues and/or any major changes. Where these have occurred you will need to provide
the Committee with a HREC final report to reflect how these were dealt with using the
template on the research ethics website
- http://www.open.ac.uk/research/governance/ethics/human/review-process/final-
report (HREC Final Report form)

Sent on behalf of the Human Research Ethics Committee

Dr Claire Hewson Professor Louise Westmarland Dr Duncan

Banks

Chair Deputy Chair Deputy

Chair

Human Research Ethics Committee - Research, Enterprise, and Scholarship (RES)

The Open University, Walton Hall, Milton Keynes, MK7 6AA

Email: [email protected] Tel: 01908 654849

http://www.open.ac.uk/research/governance/ethics/human

267
Appendix 2 Semi-structured questionnaires used in the scoping study

Semi-structured Questionnaires (Scoping Study)

Research Title : Scoping the context for Education for Sustainable Development (ESD)
in Myanmar

Researcher : Bo Lwin (Post Graduate Research Student, STEM, The Open

University)

Semi-structured Interview Questions (for University Teachers/ Faculty)

It is aimed to meet and interview some university teachers/faculty members from TIDE
project partners and Yangon University of Education and Sagging University of
Education. (Approximately 8-10 people).

1) Do you know about Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) and Education for
Sustainable Development (ESD)?
2) What do you think the role of Higher Education (HE) in supporting Sustainable
Development in Myanmar?
3) What factors might enable the academic staff in HE to integrate or implement
sustainability in the courses and programmes that they teach?
4) What factors might act as barriers or constraints for the academic staff integrate
or implement sustainability in the courses and programmes that they teach?
5) What aspect of research into ESD in HE would you be most interested in learning
about?

Guided Questions for Focus Group Discussion (for university students)

It is intended to have 2-4 FGDs with university students (Yangon, Mandalay, Yezin and
Loikaw). Approximately about 10 to 15 students per FGD. Group facilitation tools such
as small group discussion and presentation on flipcharts shall be mainly used. No video
or audio recording shall be applied.

1) Do you know about Sustainable Development Goal (SDG)?

2) What knowledge and skills do you expect to get from your university? (In addition
to your majored disciplinary related knowledge and skills)

268
 3) What do you dislike most about your university education that you think it is very
important to change or to improve?
4) What the key factors that may bring about the successful achievement by the
students on sustainable learning outcomes or graduate attributes (except your
own working-hard)?
5) How do you think the role of university education and SDGs?
6) What would you want to see your university do about ESD?
7) What aspect of research into ESD in HE would you be most interested in learning
about?

Researcher:

Mr Bo Lwin (Post Graduate Research Student)

Department of Engineering and Innovation

Faculty of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM)

The Open University

Room No s0004, Venables Building (B), Walton Hall,

Milton Keynes MK7 6AA, England, UK

Ph: +44 (0)1908659264 or +44(0)7916962019

Email: [email protected] or [email protected]

269
Appendix 3 Jisc Online Survey Form

Recommending Graduate Attributes for Sustainable

Future of Myanmar

Page 1: Introduction

Mingalarbar!

Welcome to the online survey of 'recommending the most relevant graduate attributes for the
sustainable development of Myanmar'. If you are studying at a university in Myanmar (and over
18 years old) or if you have studied at any university in Myanmar, you are warmly invited to take
part in this survey. It will approximately take 5-8 minutes to complete, and the data will be used
for my PhD thesis.

The given list of attributes was generated from the focused discussions and interviews conducted
in May-June 2021. You are invited to recommend the most relevant attributes for the sustainable
future of Myanmar by scoring (from 0 to 9).

This research has been approved by the Open University's Human Research Ethics Committee
(HREC/3767/Lwin). It is totally anonymous and your voluntary consent to participate. I will
follow the GDPR and the Open University's data protection policies. The data will be processed
and stored securely, and the results will be used for the next step of research enquiry. It is your
voluntary consent once you click 'Yes' to complete the survey and you cannot withdraw your data
once you have finished it. You are encouraged to take 5-8 min to complete the survey at one
sitting as you cannot save the progress to continue the next time. If you have any questions
relating to the survey, please do not hesitate to contact me ([email protected]).

Thank you so much for your time. Your contribution will be very valuable for the reconstruction
process of Higher Education in Myanmar.

မင်္ဂလာြေါြင်ဗျ

'ရရရှည်တည်တြံရသာပမန်မာအနာင်္တ်အတက်ဘွဲ့ရတစ်ရယာက်၏ရှသငရ
် ှ ိုက်ရသာအရည်အရသေး
မျာေးကို ရရေးြျယ်ရ ာက်ြြံရြေးဖို' ပြြုလိုြ်တ ယြိုစစ်တမ်ေးမှာ မတ်ရဆရ သရဘာ ာေးအပမင်ရတကို
ြေါေင်ရပဖဆိုရြေးဖို ဖတ်ရြေါ် ကကြုဆလ
ို ိုက်ြေါတယ်။ မတ်ရဆဟာ ပမန်မာနင
ို မ
်ံ ှာရှတ တကကသိုလ်
တစ်ြိုြိုမှာ ြညာသင်ရနသူ (အသက် ၁၈ နှစ်ပြည်ပြေးသူ) သမဟို
ို တ် ပမန်မာတကကသလ
ို ်တစ်ြြ
ို ိုက
ရကျာင်ေးပြေးဘွဲ့ရြသူ ပဖစ်မယ်ဆိုရင် ယြိုစစ်တမ်ေးမှာြေါေင်ရပဖဆိုရြေးဖိုရနေးရ ေးစာဖတ်ရြေါ်လိုြေါတယ်။

270
၅-၈ မနစ်ြနက် ကာပမငန
် င
ို ပ် ြေး ရရှလာမယ် အြျက်အလက်ရတကို ကျွနရ
် တာ်ရလလာရနတ PhD
သိုရတသနမှာ အသြံိုေးပြြုဖို ပဖစ်ြေါတယ်။

ယြိုစစ်တမ်ေးဟာ ရှည်တည်တဖ
ြံ ြံွဲ့ ပဖြုေးမယ် ပမန်မာအနာင်္တ်အတက်တကကသလ
ို ်ရတရ အြန်ေးကဏ္ဍကို
ရလလာတ သိုရတသနပဖစ်ပြေး ရမလနဇန်လရတမှာ ပြြုလိုြ်ြတ အင်တာဗျ ေးရတ၊ အိုြ်စင
ို ယ်
စကာေးေိုငေး် ရတကရန ဘွဲ့ရတစ်ဥေးမှာ ရှသငရ
် ှ ိုက်တအရည်အရသေး ၁၄ ြျက်ကို ရဖာ် တ
ို ် ာေး
တာပဖစ်ြေါတယ်။ မတ်ရဆအရနန Sustainable Future of Myanmar အတက် ရရေးကကေးမယ် သိုမဟိုတ်
ဆရလျာ်မှုအရှဆြံိုေးပဖစ်မယ် ဘွဲ့ ရအရည် အရသေးရတကို ရရေးြျယ်ရ ာက်ြြံရြေး ရမှာ ပဖစ်ြေါတယ်။

ယြို သိုရတသနကို The Open University (UK) ရ Human Research Ethics Committee က
လူကျငေ
် တ်န ရလျာ်ညစာရလေးစာေးလိုက်နာမှုအတက် ကကြုတင်စစစ် ာေးပြေး စာအမှတ်
(HREC/3767/Lwin) န သိုရတသန ပြြုလိုြ်ြင် ပြြု ာေးပြေးပဖစ်ြေါတယ်။ ယြိုစစ်တမ်ေးမှာ
ြေါေင်ရပဖဆိုသက
ူ ို မည်သူမည်ေေါပဖစ်ရကကာင်ေး ရြေါ်လင် ရစမယ် အြျက်လက်မျြုေး ရကာက်ြြံပြင်ေးမရှဘ
လ ြုွဲ့ ေှက်ရပဖဆိုပြင်ေးြြံိုစြံ ပဖစ်ပြေး မမသရဘာဆနဒပဖင် သရဘာ တူြေါေင်ပြင်ေးြပဖစ်ြေါတယ်။ ရပဖဆိုရန်
ဆနဒရှြေါက ရအာက်မှာရြေး ာေးတ Yes ကိုနြ်
ှ ပြင်ေးပဖင် မမ၏ သရဘာတူညြျက်ကို အတည်ပြြုရြေး
ရမှာပဖစ်ပြေး အဆြံိုေးသတ်ရပဖဆိုမှုပြေးရင်ရတာ (Finish ကိုနြ်
ှ လိုက်ရသာ်) ရပဖဆိုြသည်မျာေးကို
ပြန်လည်ရိုတ်သမ်ေးြငရ
် မှ
ှ ာ မဟိုတ်ရကကာင်ေးလည်ေး ကကြုတင်အသရြေးလိုြေါတယ်။ ရပဖဆိုမှု
တစ်ြိုငေး် တစ်စကို သမ်ေးဆည်ေး ာေးလိုမရတာရကကာင် မတ်ရဆအရနန ၅-၈ မနစ်ြန် အြျန်ရြေးပြေး
တစ် ိုငတ
် ည်ေးရပဖဆိုမှုပြြုလိုြ်ရြေးဖို တိုကတ
် န်ေးလိုြေါတယ်။ စစ်တမ်ေးနြေါတ်သက်လို သြျင်တာ
ရှမယ်ဆိုရင် [email protected] ကိုဆက်သယ်ရမေးပမန်ေးနင
ို ြ
် ေါတယ်။

တန်ဖိုေးရှလှတအြျန် အတက် အ ူေးြအသမှတ်ပြြုရကျေးဇူေးတင်ရှြေါတယ်ြင်ဗျ။ မတ်ရဆရြေါေင်

အာေးပဖည်မှုဟာ ပမန်မာနင
ို င
် ရ
ြံ အဆငပ် မငြ
် ညာရရေးကဏ္ဍ ပြြုပြင်ရပြာင်ေးလရရေးအတက် အမျာေးကကေး
တန်ဖိုေးရှစာ အရ ာက်ကူပြြုမှာပဖစ်ြေါတယ်။

1.I am happy to complete the survey. Required

Yes

271
Page 2: Your information

2.What is your gender? Required

Man

Woman

Non-binary

Prefer not to say

3.What is your age band? Required

18 – 27

28 – 37

38 – 47

48 – 57

58+

I prefer not to say

4.What education level describes you most? Required

Under-graduate student

Graduate (bachelor’s degree holder)

Master’s degree student

Master’s degree holder

Doctoral student

PhD degree holder or any Professional Doctorate

5.In which country are you now? Required

272
Page 3: Explanation on scoring

Please have a look at each graduate attribute and its descriptors in both Myanmar and English.
Then you need to rate that attribute by giving a score to indicate its relative importance (from
minimum 0 to maximum 9) from the perspective of contributing to the sustainable future of
Myanmar. For example, if you think a particular attribute is not related to or has no potential
value at all in contributing towards the sustainable development of Myanmar, you can score it by
giving '0' (zero) and if you think that attribute is very essential or most relevant or it has very
high potential value in contributing towards the sustainable future of Myanmar, you can score it
by the maximum number '9'. You can rate an attribute by giving any score in the range of 0 to 9
based on its relative importance.

Please note that all these given attributes might be important for a university graduate in general,
but the purpose of this survey is to understand the degree of their relevance in contributing to the
sustainable future of Myanmar. You can change your answers before you click 'Finish’, but you
need to answer all the questions. Once you click 'Finish', you cannot change your answer and
cannot withdraw your response.

‘ပမန်မာနင
ို င
် ၏
ြံ ရရရှည်တည်တရသာ
ြံ ဖြံွဲ့ ပဖြုေးရရေးအတက် ဘွဲ့ရမျာေးတင်ရှသငသ
် ည် အရည်အရသေးမျာေး’
ကို ပမန်မာလိုန English လိုရှငေး် ပြ ာေးြေါတယ်။ တစ်ြျက်စဖတ်ရှုရလလာရြေးရစြျင်ြေါတယ်။
ဖတ်ရှုပြေးတအြေါ အဒအြျက် (attribute) က ပမန်မာနင
ို င
် ရ
ြံ ရရရှည်တည်တရသာ
ြံ ဖြံွဲ့ ပဖြုေးရရေးအတက်
ဆရလျာ်မှုရှြြံိုကို ကကည်ပြေး အရရေးကကေးမှုအလိုက် အနည်ေးဆြံိုေးအမှတ် 0 (သိုည) ကရန အမျာေးဆြံိုေး 9 (၉
မှတ်) အ အမှတ်တစ်ြိုရြေးရမှာ ပဖစ်ြေါတယ်။ ဥြမာ attribute တစ်ြိုကို မတ်ရဆက
ပမန်မာအနာင်္တ်အတက် အရရေးမကကေးဘူေး၊ မဆရလျာ် ဘူေး၊ ဘာမှမသက်ဆိုငဘ
် ူေး လို င်ရင် သိုည (0)
ရြေးလိုရပြေး အကယ်၍ ဒအြျက်ဟာ အလန်အရရေးကကေး တယ်၊ သက်ဆိုငတ
် ယ်၊
ဆရလျာ်မှုအရှဆြံိုေးပဖစ်တယ်လိုယူဆရင် အမျာေးဆြံိုေး ၉ မှတ် (9) အ ရြေးလိုရြေါ တယ်။ 0 ကရန 9 အ
ကကာေး ကအမှတ်ရတကို မတ်ရဆအရနန အရရေးကကေးသလို၊ မကကေးသလို ြျန်ဆပြေး အမှတတ
် စ်ြို
ရြေးလိုက်ရမှာပဖစ်ြေါတယ်။

သတပြြုရစြျင်တာကရတာ အြိုရြေး ာေးတ attributes ရတဟာ ဘွဲ့ရတစ်ရယာက်မှာ ရှသငရ

် ှ က
ို ်တ
အရည်အရသေးရတြျည်ေးြပဖစ်နင
ို ရ
် ြမယ် အြိုပြြုလိုြတ
် စစ်တမ်ေးမှာရတာ ပမန်မာနင
ို င
် ရ
ြံ
ရရရှည်တည်တြံ ရသာ ဖြံွဲ့ ပဖြုေးတိုေးတက်မှု သိုမဟိုတ် ရရရှည်အဆင်ရပြမယ် ပမန်မာအနာင်္တ်အတက်
အဆရလျာ်ဆြံိုေး အရရေးအကကေးဆြံိုေး attribute ကို နာေးလည်နင
ို ဖ
် ို ရလလာတာြပဖစ်ြေါတယ်။

273
Page 4: Recommending graduate attributes by scoring

6. 1) Social abilities: Being reflexive and open-minded for feedbacks; Social dealing skill such
as interpersonal communication skill, negotiation skill, conflict resolution skills, and being able
to build social network; Being good in teamwork such as being collaborative, adaptable, flexible,
and confident to discuss, question or debate

လူမှုရရေးဆိုငရ
် ာကျွမ်ေးကျင်မမ
ှု မကယ
ို ်မမပြန်လည်ဆင်ပြင်တတ်ပြေး ရြေးလာသည် ရေဖန်၊ မှတ်ြျက်၊
အကကြံပြြုြျက်မျာေးကို စတ်ရင
ှ ေး် လင်ေးစာ လက်ြြံကကြုဆို တတ်ပြင်ေး။ ရြေါင်ေးသင်ေးဆက်ဆြံရရေး
ရကာင်ေးမန်ပြင်ေး၊ ဥြမာ လူမှုဆက်ဆြံရရေးရကာင်ေးပြင်ေး၊ ညြုနှုင်ေး ရဆေးရနေး တတ်ပြင်ေး၊ ြဋြကခမျာေးကို
ကိုငတ
် ယ်ရပဖရှငေး် တတ် ပြင်ေး၊ လှုမှုကန်ယက်တည်ရဆာက် တတ်ပြင်ေး။ အသင်ေးအဖွဲ့ ပဖငအ
် လိုြလ
် ိုြ်
တတ်ပြင်ေး၊ ဥြမာ ြူေးရြေါင်ေး ရဆာင်ရက်တတ်၊ လိုက်ရလျာညရ စာပြြုမူဆက်ဆြံတတ်၊ ရြျာရပြာင်ေး
စာ အလိုကသ
် င် စမြံ တတ်ပြင်ေး နှင် ရဆေးရနေးရန်၊ ပငင်ေးြိုနရ
် န်၊ ရမေးြန်ေး ိုတ်ရန် မမကိုယ်မမ ယြံိုကကည်မှု၊
သတတ ရှပြင်ေး။ Required

Please don't select more than 1 answer(s) per row. Please select exactly 1 answer.

9
0 (not
(essential/
relevant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
most
at all)
relevant)
Social
Abilities

7. 2) Cultural sensitivity: Being knowledgeable about human rights, equality issues, social
conflicts, different cultures, values, beliefs, perspectives, faith, tradition, psychology, and
country’s context or political situation; Having basic awareness on peace, respecting the rights
and freedom of minority or marginalised identities (e.g., LGBT or minority ethnic or religious
groups or disable groups); Ability to think of being inclusive, to work in multi-cultural context,
and being adaptable to different cultural context စြံိုလင်ကပြာေးသည်ယဥ်ရကျေးမှုမျာေး နှင် အလိုက်
သင် ရြ်တည်စမြံနင
ို မ
် ှုလူအြငအ
် ရရေး၊ တန်ေးတူရည်တူရှရရေး၊ လူမှုြဋြကခမျာေး၊ ယဥ်ရကျေးမှုအမျြုေးမျြုေး၊
တန်ဖိုေး ာေးမှုအဖြံိုဖြံို၊ ကိုေးကယ်ယြံိုကကည်မှု အသယ်သယ်၊ ကပြာေး ရသာ အပမင် ရှု ရ ာငမ
် ျာေး ၊ လူစတ်
သရဘာသဘာေ၊ စဥ်လာ ြံိုေးတမ်ေးမျာေး၊ နင
ို င
် ြံ အရပြအရန နှင် နင
ို င
် ရ
ြံ ရေး အြင်ေးအကျင်ေးမျာေးနှင်
ြတ်သက်၍လည်ေး ဗဟို သိုတရှ ပြင်ေး။ ပငမ်ေးြျမ်ေးရရေးသရဘာသဘာေကို သနာေးလည် ပြင်ေး နှင် လူနည်ေးစို
သိုမဟိုတ် အကျဥ်ဖယ်ြြံ အိုြစ
် ိုတိုရ လတ်လြ်ြင် န ရြိုငြ
် ငရ
် တကို ရလေးစာေးတတ် တအသ ရှပြင်ေး
(ဥြမာ LGBT၊ လူနည်ေးစိုပဖစ်ရသာ တိုငေး် ရင်ေးသာေးမျြုေးနယ်စို မျာေး၊ လူနည်ေးစို ကိုေးကယ် သည်
ဘာသာတရာေး အိုြ်စို၊ မသန်စမ်ေးသူမျာေး)။ အာေးလြံိုေးြေါေင်ရအာင်စဥ်စာေးတတ်ပြင်ေး၊ ကပြာေးစြံိုလင်ရသာ
ယဥ်ရကျေးမှုမျာေး ရှသည် အရပြ အရနတင် လိုြ်ကိုငရ
် ဆာင်ရက်တတ်ပြင်ေး၊ မတူပြာေးနာေးသည်
ယဥ်ရကျေးမှု မျာေး နှင် လိုက်ဖက် ညရအာင် ပြြုပြင်စမြံတတ်ပြင်ေး။ Required

Please don't select more than 1 answer(s) per row. Please select exactly 1 answer.

274
 9
0 (not
(essential/
relevant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
most
at all)
relevant)
Social
Abilities

8. 3) Management: Being reliable (Accountability and responsibility) Having problem solving

skill and facilitation skill to address the issues; Being able to organise activities or projects and
being competent in time management, resource management and project or business management

စမြံြနြ
် နင
ို မ
် ှုအာေးကိုေး ိုက်ပြင်ေး၊ တာေန်ြြံနင
ို ပ် ြင်ေး၊ တာေန်ယူနင
ို ပ် ြင်ေး။ ပြဿနာမျာေးကို
ကိုငတ
် ယ်ရပဖရှငေး် တတ်ပြင်ေး။ လိုြ်ငန်ေးမျာေး၊ စမြံြျက်မျာေးကို အရကာင်အ ည်ရဖာ်
ရဆာင်ရက်နင
ို ပ် ြင်ေး။ အြျန်၊ အရင်ေး အပမစ်၊ စမြံကန်ေးအစမျာေး နှင် လိုြ်ငန်ေးမျာေးကို ရကာင်ေးမန်စာ
စမြံြနြ
် တတ်ပြင်ေး။ Required

Please don't select more than 1 answer(s) per row. Please select exactly 1 answer.

9
0 (not
(essential/
relevant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
most
at all)
relevant)
Social
Abilities

9. 4) Environmental literacy: Having basic environmental knowledge (such as ecology,

biodiversity, symbiotic relationships, climate change, deforestation, etc.) and sustainability
concepts - understanding basic principles of sustainability in environmental and natural resources
management, and the interdependence of human beings and ecosystems; Having value, respect,
and love on the natural environment; Ability to think for the future impact and act
environmentally sound management in their activities

သဘာေြတ်ေန်ေးကျင် န်ေးသမ်ေးရရေး တတ်ကျွမ်ေးမှု ြတ်ေန်ေးကျင် န်ေးသမ်ေးရရေးဆိုငရ

် ာ အရပြြြံ
ဗဟိုသိုတမျာေးရှပြင်ေး (ဥြမာ ရင်္ဟရဗဒ၊ ဇေမျြုေးကမျာေး၊ နှစ်ဖက်အပြန်အလှနအ
် ကျြုေးပြြုရသာ
ဆက်နယ် ြတ်သက်မှု ြြံိုစြံ မျာေး၊ ရာသဥတို ရပြာင်ေးလည်ေးရဖေါက်ပြန် ပြင်ေး၊ သစ်ရတာ ပြြုန်ေးတေးပြင်ေး
စသည်) နှင် ရရရှည် တည်တြံပြင်ေး ဆိုငရ
် ာ သရဘာတရာေးမျာေးကိုသရှနာေးလည်မှု (ဥြမာ သဘာေ
သယြံဇာတ နှင် သဘာေြတ်ေန်ကျင်စမြံြနြ
် ရရေးတင် ရရရှည်တည်တမှု
ြံ ဆိုငရ
် ာ
အရပြြြံသရဘာတရာေးမျာေး ကို သနာေးလည်ပြင်ေး၊ လူ နှင် ရင်္ဟစနစ် တ၏
ို အပြန်အလှန်
အမှပြြုရနသည် အညမည သရဘာတရာေးမျာေးကို သ နာေးလည်ပြင်ေး)။ သဘာေြတ်ေန်ေးကျင် အရြေါ်
ြျစ်ပမတ်နေးို စတ်၊ ရလေးစာေးတန်ဖိုေး ာေးစတ်ရှပြင်ေး။ ရရရှည်အကျြုေးသက်ရရာက်မှုကို ရှု ရမ ာ်စဥ်ေးစာေးရြေး
တတ်ပြင်ေး နှင် လိုြ်ငန်ေးမျာေး ရဆာင်ရက် ရာတင် သဘာေြတ်ေန်ေးကျင်ကို ည်သင်ေးစဥ်စာေးပြေး
ြိုက်မှု မရှ ရစရန် သိုမဟိုတ် ြိုကမ
် ှုအနည်ေးဆြံိုေးပဖစ်ရအာင် စမြံရဆာင်ရက်တတ်ပြင်ေး။ Required

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Abilities

10. 5) Thinking proficiency: Being good in reasoning, logical thinking, analytical and critical
thinking, and creative thinking leading to wisdom

စဥ်ေးစာေးရတေးရြေါ် နင
ို မ
် ှုဆင်ပြင်နင
ို စ
် မ်ေး၊ ရကကာင်ေးကျြုေးဆက်စြ်ရတေးရြေါ် နင
ို စ
် မ်ေး၊ ြပြမ်ေးစတ်ပဖာ
ရတေးရြေါ် နင
ို စ
် မ်ေး၊ ရကကာင်ေးကျြုေးရေဖန်ဆန်ေးစစ်နင
ို စ
် မ်ေး၊ ဆန်ေးသစ်တ င် စဥ်စာေးရဖာ် တ
ို ်နင
ို ်
စမ်ေးမျာေးပဖင် ဥာဏ်အရမ ာ် အပမင် သို ဥေးတည်သည် စဥ်ေးစာေးရတေးရြေါ် နင
ို စ
် မ်ေးမျာေးရှပြင်ေး။ Required

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9
0 (not
(essential/
relevant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
most
at all)
relevant)
Social
Abilities

11. 6) Language proficiency: Proficiency in English language skill (at least

communicable); Proficiency in Myanmar language as it is widely used; Ability to use any ethnic
languages or foreign languages depending on the situation and individuals’ preferences.

ဘာသာစကာေးတတ်ကျွမ်ေးမှုအင်္ဂလြ်ဘသာစကာေးကို ဆက်သယ် ရပြာဆိုနင

ို သ
် ည်အ တတ်ကျွမ်ေး
ပြင်ေး။ ပမန်မာဘာသာစကာေးကိုလည်ေး နင
ို င
် အ
ြံ ေှမ်ေးသြံိုေးသပဖင် ကျွမ်ေးကျင်စာ အသြံိုေးပြြုနင
ို ပ် ြင်ေး။
အရပြအရနအရ၊ မမစတ်ေင်စာေးမှုရြေါ်မူတည်၍ တိုငေး် ရင်ေးသာေးဘာသာစကာေး ပဖစ်ရစ အပြာေး နင
ို င
် ပြံ ြာေး
ဘာသာစကာေး တစ်ြိုြို ကိုပဖစ်ရစ တတ်ကျွမ်ေး ာေးပြင်ေး။ Required

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9
0 (not
(essential/
relevant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
most
at all)
relevant)
Social
Abilities

12. 7) Work experience: Having work experience in the job environment, or research field or
communities (such as internship or volunteer) during student life

လိုြ်ငန်ေးအရတွဲ့အကကြံြုရှပြင်ေးရကျင်ေးသာေးဘေမှာကတည်ေးက လိုြ်ငန်ေးြင်ပဖစ်ရစ၊ သိုရတသနလိုြ်ငန်ေး

နယ်ြယ် ပဖစ်ရစ၊ ရြ်ရာလူ ို အတင်ေးပဖစ်ရစ အလိုြ်လြ
ို ်ဖူေးရသာ အရတအ
ွဲ့ ကကြံြုရှပြင်ေး (ဥြမာ
အလိုြ်သင် အစအစဥ် သိုမဟိုတ် ရစတနာ ေန် မ်ေးလိုြ်အာေးရြေး အရတွဲ့ အကကြံြု) Required

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most
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relevant)
Social
Abilities

13. 8) Digital literacy: Ability to use computer and commonly used software such as Office
software (Microsoft Office: word, excel, PowerPoint etc.,); Ability to use internet, search data
and apply communication software such as Skype/ Zoom etc., including social media

ကန်ြျ တာတတ်ကျွမ်ေးမှုကန်ြျ တာ နှင် ရြံိုေးလိုြ်ငန်ေးမျာေး၌ တင်တင်ကျယ်ကျယ်သြံိုေးရနကကရသာ

ရဆာဖ်ေမျာေး ကို အသြံိုေးပြြုတတ်ပြင်ေး (ဥြမာ မက
ို ်ြရို ရဆာဖ် စာစစာရို က်၊ စာရင်ေးဇယာေး နှင် ြေါေေါြြုင)် ။
အင်တာနက် အသြံိုေးပြြုတတ်ပြင်ေး၊ လိုအြ်ရသာ သတင်ေးအြျက်လက်ကို ရှာရဖတတ်ပြင်ေး၊
ဆက်သယ်ရရေး နည်ေးြညာမျာေး အသြံိုေး ပြြုတတ်ပြင်ေး (ဥြမာ skype/ zoom) Required

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9
0 (not
(essential/
relevant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
most
at all)
relevant)
Social
Abilities

14. 9) Personal abilities: Having self-awareness, moral conduct, contentment, self-esteem,

altruism, compassion, and sympathy; Being curious and open-minded to learn, being motivated
to learn from work/ experience, and able to learn independently; Being literate and able to read
and write well (such as proposals, reports, or research papers)

ကိုယ်စမ်ေးကိုယစ
် ရှမှုမမကိုယ်မမသနာေးလည်ပြင်ေး၊ ကိုယ်ကျငရ
် ကာင်ေးပြင်ေး၊ ရရာငရ
် တတ်ပြင်ေး၊
မမကိုယမ
် မ အသမှတ်ပြြုလက်ြတ
ြံ တ်ပြင်ေး၊ အမျာေးအကျြုေးသည်ြိုေးလိုပြင်ေး၊ ကရိုဏာ ာေးတတ်ပြင်ေး၊
ကိုယ်ြျင်ေးစာစတ်ရှ ပြင်ေး။ စူေးစမ်ေးသင်ယူလိုစတ်ရှပြင်ေး၊ သင်ယူရန်အသငရ
် ှပြင်ေး၊ လိုြ်ငန်ေးြင်နင
ှ ်
အရတွဲ့အကကြံြုမျာေးမှ သင်ယူရန် နေးို ကကာေးတက်ကကမှုရှပြင်ေး၊ အမှြိုကင်ေးစာ (မမဖာသာ) သင်ယူနင
ို စ
် မ်ေး
ရှပြင်ေး။ စာရြတတ်ရပမာက်မှုရှပြင်ေး၊ ရကာင်ေးစာရရေးနင
ို ဖ
် တ်နင
ို ပ် ြင်ေး (ဥြမာ လိုြ်ငန်ေးဆိုငရ
် ာ၊
ဘာသာရြ်ဆိုငရ
် ာ အဆပို ြြုလာမျာေး၊ အစရင်ြြံစာမျာေး၊ သိုရတသနစာတမ်ေးမျာေး)။ Required

Please don't select more than 1 answer(s) per row. Please select exactly 1 answer.

9
0 (not
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relevant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
most
at all)
relevant)
Social
Abilities

15. 10) Researching: Having fundamental research knowledge and skills

277
သိုရတသနနှငရ
် င်ေးနှေး ကျွမ်ေးေင်မှု သိုရတသနဆိုငရ
် ာအရပြြြံဗဟိုသတ
ို နှင် ကျွမ်ေးကျင်မမ
ှု ျာေး
ရှပြင်ေး။ Required

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9
0 (not
(essential/
relevant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
most
at all)
relevant)
Social
Abilities

16. 11) Entrepreneurship: Having skills and enthusiasm to create or initiate innovative projects
or business

စန်ဥေးတ င်နင
ို မ
် ှု ဆန်ေးသစ်ရသာလိုြင
် န်ေးမျာေး နှင် စမြံကန်ေးမျာေးကို ကနဥေးအစပြြုဖန်တေးရန်
စတ်အာေး က် သန်မှု နှငက
် ျွမ်ေးကျင်မှုမျာေးရှပြင်ေး။ Required

Please don't select more than 1 answer(s) per row. Please select exactly 1 answer.

9
0 (not
(essential/
relevant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
most
at all)
relevant)
Social
Abilities

17. 12) Teaching: Ability to teach or to transfer the knowledge to others

သင်ကကာေးရြေးနင
ို မ
် ှုအပြာေးသူမျာေး (လိုြ်ရဖာ်ရဆာင်ဖက်မျာေး) ကို သင်ကကာေးရြေးနင
ို ပ် ြင်ေး၊
အသြညာမျာေးကို ပဖနရ
် ေတတ်ပြင်ေး။ Required

Please don't select more than 1 answer(s) per row. Please select exactly 1 answer.

9
0 (not
(essential/
relevant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
most
at all)
relevant)
Social
Abilities

18. 13) Professionalism: Being professionally ethical, having respect to one’s own profession and
others; Being punctual and honest; Knowing one’s own rights as well as being responsible

ကျငေ
် တ်နင
ှ ြ
် ညာကိုအရလေးအနက်ပြြုမှု ြညာရှငဆ
် န်စာကျငေ
် တ်ရစာင် န်ေးတတ်ပြင်ေး၊ မမ၏
ြညာရြ် နှင် လိုြ်ငန်ေး ကို ရလေးစာေး သကသို အပြာေးရသာ ြညာရြ်မျာေးနှင် လိုြ်ငန်ေးမျာေးကလ
ို ည်ေး
ရလေးစာေးတတ် ပြင်ေး။ အြျန်ကိုရလေးစာေးတတ်ပြင်ေး နှင် ရို ေးရပဖာငပ် ြင်ေး။ မမ၏အြငအ
် ရရေးကသ
ို ပြေး
ယူရမည် မမ၏တာေန် ကိုလည်ေး ရကျပြန် ရအာင် ရဆာင်ရက် တတ်ပြင်ေး။ Required

278
Please don't select more than 1 answer(s) per row. Please select exactly 1 answer.

9
0 (not
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relevant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
most
at all)
relevant)
Social
Abilities

19. 14) Resilience: Having perseverance, grit, adaptability, and commitment; Having good focus/
attention what one is studying or working on; Ability to overcome the problems and hardship

စတ်ဓေါတ်ြိုငက
် ျည်မှုဇလြံိုလေရယရှပြင်ေး၊ စတ်ဓေါတ်ြိုငက
် ျည်ပြင်ေး၊ အလိုက်အ ိုက်ပြြုပြင် နင
ို ပ် ြင်ေး နှင်
ရည်သန် ာေးသည်ြန်ေးတိုငရ
် ရာက်ရအာင်ရဆာင်ရက်ရာတင် မဆိုတမ
် နစ်အာေး ိုတ်တတ်ပြင်ေး။
ရလလာ ရနသည် သိုမဟိုတ် လိုြ်ရဆာင်ရနသည် အကကာင်ေးအရာတစ်ြိုြို အရြေါ်တင် စတ်နစ
ှ က
် ာ
အာရြံိုစူေးစိုက် နင
ို ပ် ြင်ေး။ ပြဿနာမျာေး၊ အကကြ်အတည်ေးမျာေးကို ရင်ဆိုငရ
် ကျာ်လာေးနင
ို ပ် ြင်ေး။ Required

Please don't select more than 1 answer(s) per row. Please select exactly 1 answer.

9
0 (not
(essential/
relevant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
most
at all)
relevant)
Social
Abilities

20. If you want to add one more attribute that you think it is important in contributing for the
sustainable future of Myanmar, and if it is missing in the above 14 items, please mention in the
following box.

အကယ်၍ မတ်ရဆအရနန attribute တစ်ြိုြိုကို ြ်မြံပဖည်စက်ရြေးြျင်တယ်၊ အဒ attribute က

အရရေးကကေးပြေး အ က်ကရဖာ်ပြြတ attributes ၁၄ ြို မှာ မြေါရသေးဘူေးဆိုရင် ရအာက်မှာ ပဖညစ
် က်
အကကြံပြြုရြေးနင
ို ြ
် ေါတယ်။

21.If you have any comments or suggestions regarding with graduate attributes for the sustainable
development or future of Myanmar, please mention below. ပမန်မာနင ို င
် ရ
ြံ
ရရရှည်တည်တြံရသာဖြံွဲ့ ပဖြုေးရရေးအတက် ဘွဲ့ရတစ်ရယာက်မှာ ရှသငတ
် အရည်အရသေးရတနြတ်သက်
ပြေး မှတ်ြျက်၊ အကကြံပြြုြျက်ရြေးြျင်တာရှရင် ရအာက်မှာရရေးသာေးရဖေါ် ပြနင
ို ြ
် ေါတယ်။

279
Page 5: Final page

This is the end of the survey and thank you so much for your contribution.

ရပဖဆိုမှုအဆြံိုေးသတ်ြြေါပြ။ မတ်ရဆရြေါေင်အာေးပဖည်မှုကို အ ူေးြရကျေးဇူေးတင်ရှြေါတယ်။

280
Appendix 4 HREC approval letter for data collection of this research project

Dear Bo Bo,

This message confirms that the research protocol for the following research project, as
submitted for ethics review, has been given a favourable opinion on behalf of The
Open University Human Research Ethics Committee.

Project title: Integrating Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) in the

reconstruction of Higher Education Institutes (HEI) in Myanmar

HREC approval date: 14/12/2020

As part of your favourable opinion, it is essential that you are aware of and comply with
the following:

1. You are responsible for notifying the HREC immediately of any information
received by you, or of which you become aware which would cast doubt on, or
alter, information in your original application, in order to ensure your continued
safety and the good conduct of the research.

2. It is essential that you contact the HREC with any proposed amendments to
your research, for example - a change in location or participants. HREC
agreement needs to be in place before any changes are implemented, except
only in cases of emergency when the welfare of the participant or researcher is
or may be affected.

3. Your HREC reference number has to be included in any publicity or

correspondence related to your research, e.g., when seeking participants or
advertising your research, so it is clear that it has been agreed by the HREC
and adheres to OU ethics review processes.

4. Researchers should have discussed any project-related risks with their Line
Manager and/or Supervisor, to ensure that all the relevant checks have been
made and permissions are in place, prior to a project commencing, for example
compliance with IT security and Data protection regulations.

5. Researchers need to have read and adhere to relevant OU policies and

guidance, in particular the Ethics Principles for Research with Human
Participants and the Code of Practice for Research -
http://www.open.ac.uk/research/governance/policies

6. The Open University's research ethics review procedures are fully compliant
with the majority of research council, professional organisations and grant
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 awarding bodies research ethics guidelines. Where required, this message is
evidence of OU HREC support and can be included in an external research
ethics review application. The HREC should be sent a copy of any external
applications, and their outcome, so we have a full ethics review record.

7. At the end of your project, you are required to submit a final report to
HREC. The purpose of the final report is to ensure OU research is being
carried out as agreed; assess how any additional ethics-related issues have
been dealt with if they have arisen; and to inform the development of the ethics
review process to ensure a continued high level of review. The final report
template can be found on the Human Research Ethics website.

Sent on behalf of the Human Research Ethics Committee

Dr Claire Hewson Dr Duncan Banks Dr Alison Fox

Chair Deputy Chair Deputy Chair

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Appendix 5 Questionnaire guidelines for semi-structured interviews and
focus group discussions

(Both data collection will be remotely conducted via internet)

Research Topic : Integrating Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) in

the reconstruction of Higher Education Institutes (HEI) in Myanmar

Research Student : Bo Bo Lwin, PhD student ([email protected]), School of

Engineering and Innovation, Faculty of Science, Technology, Engineering and
Mathematics (STEM)

HREC Reference : HREC/3767/Lwin

A. Key Informant Interviews (KII)

The following questionnaires will be used for the Key Informant Interviews and the brief
introducing and trust building will have been done for 10-15 min a few days prior to the
interview date. The following key questions will be mainly used as framing the
interview.

1) How do selected Myanmar HEIs define ESD in their own context?

• What are the key areas do you think important for Myanmar if sustainable
development is aimed at the future prospect of the nation?
• What do you see the key areas of sustainable development that Myanmar
should give attention and what are the intersection/overlapping areas that the
universities might be able to contribute?
• What do you want to say Higher Education for Sustainable Development in
Myanmar context?

2) What could be the role of Myanmar HEIs for supporting the integration of ESD more
widely in HE?

• How do you see the role of universities in Myanmar in contributing towards the
sustainable development of the country?
• What should universities contribute? How could they contribute?

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 • What are the key challenges and opportunities to integrate ESD in your
university (the selected HEI)?

3) How do selected HEIs define graduate attributes (GA), and do they have any ESD
related GAs?

• How do you define graduate attributes from your own perspective?

• Does your university have official documents publicly shown as the graduate
attributes?
• If yes, what are the generic qualifications (knowledge, skills and behaviour) that
your university currently claims for graduate attributes? Are they contributed to
the sustainable development of Myanmar?
• If no, what kinds of core attributes do you think it should be considered by your
university (the selected HEI) in the dimension of contributing towards the
sustainable development of Myanmar?

B. Focus Group Discussion (FGD)

The following questionnaires will be appropriately used in the group discussion with
students and teachers. Firstly, discussion will cover the ESD conceptualisation and
agreement on the graduate attributes for Myanmar context. Then the discussion will
take deep brainstorming and exploring to understand the complex systems of HEIs in
Myanmar and the relationships amongst the different elements/ entities, process,
emergence, functions, factors in different forms of effective flow and circulation
feedbacks which is seen as final contribution towards the development of graduate
attributes.

1) What are the key elements and processes in HEIs’ context for developing ESD
related graduate?

• Research will use probing questions and cross-check questions to make sure
the discussion is alive as well as focused.
• Facilitation on listing down the points, confirming with the participants,
diagramming all the discussion points shall be applied.
• Systems diagramming will be the output of the first part of the discussion.

2) How important are these identified elements and processes to each other in
contributing to the development of ESD graduate attributes?

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 • What are the key areas of the elements/entities, process, practices, functions,
or flow that do you think they are important in contributing towards the
development of ESD related graduate attributes?
• Do you see any other points that should be added more to complete the whole
diagram of the systems?

3) What could be the potential leverage points in the system for the transformation of
HEIs to develop ESD related GA?

• What do you see as alternative in adapting the existing system to ensure the
desirable graduate attributes as quality output?
• What additional inputs or support or influence do you think that might be
potentially transform the system in order to contribute towards the GA
development?
• What are the challenges or barriers to make the required changes?
• How could this transformation be achieved?

This PhD research on Integrating Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) in the
reconstruction of Higher Education Institutes (HEI) in Myanmar has been reviewed by,
and received a favourable opinion, from the OU Human Research Ethics Committee -
HREC reference number: HREC/3767/Lwin. http://www.open.ac.uk/research/ethics/

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Appendix 6 Reliability statistics and inter-item correlation amongst the
ranked graduate attributes (online survey data)

A6.1 Reliability statistics showing high level of internal consistence amongst the
attributes
Reliability Statistics
Cronbach's Alpha
Cronbach's N of
Based on
Alpha Items
Standardized Items
0.974 0.974 14

A6.2 Inter-item Correlation matrix for the fourteen graduate attributes

Inter-Item Correlation Matrix

Thin Tea Res
Soc Cul Mgt Env Lan exp Dig Per Res Entr Prof
k ch il
Social Abilities 1.00 0.80 0.82 0.71 0.78 0.68 0.62 0.69 0.78 0.69 0.69 0.66 0.74 0.74
Cultural sensitivity 0.80 1.00 0.77 0.72 0.74 0.64 0.59 0.70 0.72 0.66 0.66 0.63 0.73 0.68
Management 0.82 0.77 1.00 0.75 0.82 0.72 0.66 0.73 0.80 0.74 0.74 0.74 0.80 0.78
Environmental
0.71 0.72 0.75 1.00 0.76 0.65 0.57 0.70 0.75 0.70 0.66 0.67 0.73 0.74
literacy
Thinking proficiency 0.78 0.74 0.82 0.76 1.00 0.76 0.64 0.73 0.83 0.73 0.75 0.70 0.81 0.79

Language proficiency 0.68 0.64 0.72 0.65 0.76 1.00 0.64 0.78 0.75 0.76 0.78 0.67 0.69 0.72

Work experience 0.62 0.59 0.66 0.57 0.64 0.64 1.00 0.70 0.72 0.71 0.66 0.67 0.67 0.64
Digital literacy 0.69 0.70 0.73 0.70 0.73 0.78 0.70 1.00 0.78 0.76 0.73 0.70 0.74 0.73
Personal abilities 0.78 0.72 0.80 0.75 0.83 0.75 0.72 0.78 1.00 0.78 0.78 0.75 0.82 0.83
Researching 0.69 0.66 0.74 0.70 0.73 0.76 0.71 0.76 0.78 1.00 0.78 0.72 0.74 0.72
Entrepreneurship 0.69 0.66 0.74 0.66 0.75 0.78 0.66 0.73 0.78 0.78 1.00 0.73 0.74 0.74
Teaching 0.66 0.63 0.74 0.67 0.70 0.67 0.67 0.70 0.75 0.72 0.73 1.00 0.80 0.79
Professionalism 0.74 0.73 0.80 0.73 0.81 0.69 0.67 0.74 0.82 0.74 0.74 0.80 1.00 0.85
Resilience 0.74 0.68 0.78 0.74 0.79 0.72 0.64 0.73 0.83 0.72 0.74 0.79 0.85 1.00

286
Appendix 7 Pairwise comparison of ranked specific fourteen graduate
attributes (Jisc Online Survey)

Pairwise comparison of the graduate attributes showing their similarity and difference
in term of mean rank values before and after Bonferroni correction [red lines showing
no significant differences; blue showing significant difference)

Note: There were some attributes sharing similar mean ranks. The blue lines in the figure
represent the significant differences between the two graduate attributes in term of mean
ranks after Bonferroni correction and the red lines represent significant differences
before Bonferroni correction. Those attribute pairs with no connecting lines shows no
significant differences with Bonferroni’s corrected p values i.e., they have closer values
of the mean ranks. The result shows that these attributes are not equally rated, and they
can be ranked in order while all of them were noted as important to contribute to the
desirable sustainable development of Myanmar.

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Appendix 8 Kruskal-Wallis H test result showing no significant differences
amongst different age groups for their priority of all fourteen graduate
attributes.

Kruskal-Wallis H* df Asymp. Sig.

Social Abilities 3.932 3 0.269

Cultural sensitivity 3.048 3 0.384

Management 4.102 3 0.251

Environmental literacy 2.306 3 0.511

Thinking proficiency 0.938 3 0.816

Language proficiency 2.718 3 0.437

Work experience 3.482 3 0.323

Digital literacy 1.809 3 0.613

Personal abilities 0.795 3 0.851

Researching 1.355 3 0.716

Entrepreneurship 1.636 3 0.651

Teaching 6.171 3 0.104

Professionalism 1.144 3 0.767

Resilience 1.229 3 0.746

*Grouping variables: Age bands

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Appendix 9 Kruskal-Wallis H values for priority ranking of graduate
attributes by the respondents' education levels

Kruskal-Wallis H* df Asymp. Sig.

Social Abilities 5.454 5 0.363

Cultural sensitivity 3.953 5 0.556

Management 6.251 5 0.283

Environmental literacy 7.335 5 0.197

Thinking proficiency 7.543 5 0.183

Language proficiency 6.480 5 0.262

Work experience 1.641 5 0.896

Digital literacy 5.094 5 0.404

Personal abilities 12.376 5 0.030

Researching 8.662 5 0.123

Entrepreneurship 7.714 5 0.173

Teaching 3.382 5 0.641

Professionalism 6.174 5 0.290

Resilience 8.463 5 0.133

*Grouping Variables: Education Levels

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Appendix 10 Pairwise test of education levels and their priority ranking of
personal abilities.

Pairwise Comparisons of Education level

Test Std. Test Adj.
Sample 1-Sample 2 Std. Error Sig.
Statistic Statistic Sig.a
bachelor's degree holder-under-
6.70 15.63 0.43 0.67 1.00
graduate student
bachelor's degree holder-master’s
-13.02 20.97 -0.62 0.54 1.00
degree student
bachelor's degree holder-PhD or
-23.03 30.76 -0.75 0.45 1.00
Professional Doctorate
bachelor's degree holder-Doctoral
-37.57 25.13 -1.50 0.14 1.00
student
bachelor's degree holder-master’s
-57.47 17.35 -3.31 0.00 0.01
degree holder
under-graduate student-master’s
-6.32 23.26 -0.27 0.79 1.00
degree student
under-graduate student-PhD or
-16.33 32.37 -0.51 0.61 1.00
Professional Doctorate
under-graduate student-Doctoral
-30.87 27.07 -1.14 0.25 1.00
student
under-graduate student-master’s
-50.78 20.06 -2.53 0.01 0.17
degree holder
Master's degree student-PhD or
-10.01 35.26 -0.28 0.78 1.00
Professional Doctorate
Master's degree student-Doctoral
-24.55 30.47 -0.81 0.42 1.00
student
Master's degree student-master’s
-44.46 24.45 -1.82 0.07 1.00
degree holder
PhD or Professional Doctorate-Doctoral
14.54 37.88 0.38 0.70 1.00
student
PhD or Professional Doctorate-master’s
34.44 33.23 1.04 0.30 1.00
degree holder
Doctoral student-master’s degree
19.90 28.10 0.71 0.48 1.00
holder
Each row tests the null hypothesis that the Sample 1 and Sample 2 distributions are the same.
Asymptotic significances (2-sided tests) are displayed. The significance level is .050.
a. Significance values have been adjusted by the Bonferroni correction for multiple tests.

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Appendix 11 Kruskal-Wallis test of respondents' locations and priority of
attributes

Kruskal-Wallis H* df Asymp. Sig.

Social Abilities 1.743 2 0.418

Cultural sensitivity 2.220 2 0.329

Management 3.611 2 0.164

Environmental literacy 5.188 2 0.075

Thinking proficiency 6.947 2 0.031

Language proficiency 6.291 2 0.043

Work experience 5.942 2 0.051

Digital literacy 7.517 2 0.023

Personal abilities 2.511 2 0.285

Researching 9.191 2 0.010

Entrepreneurship 9.425 2 0.009

Teaching 5.197 2 0.074

Professionalism 3.627 2 0.163

Resilience 3.763 2 0.152

*Grouping variable: Regions of the respondents

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Appendix 12 The priority ranking order of the graduate attributes based on
the FGD participants' rating from two dimensions.

Frequencies in Frequencies in Mean Mean Priority

Graduate Attributes Important (Y) Impact (X) score of score of Score
H M L H M L Y (μy) X (μx) (μy*μx)
Thinking proficiency 13 2 0 12 2 1 2.9 2.7 7.8
Social abilities 11 4 0 11 3 1 2.7 2.7 7.3
Personal abilities 10 5 0 11 4 0 2.7 2.7 7.3
Management 11 2 2 10 4 1 2.6 2.6 6.8
Resilience 9 5 1 10 4 1 2.5 2.6 6.6
Professionalism 9 4 2 10 4 1 2.5 2.6 6.4
Digital literacy 8 6 1 7 8 0 2.5 2.5 6.1
Teaching 8 7 0 6 7 2 2.5 2.3 5.7
Language proficiency 7 8 0 5 9 1 2.5 2.3 5.6
Cultural sensitivity 5 7 3 6 8 1 2.1 2.3 5.0
Researching 6 5 4 7 5 3 2.1 2.3 4.8
Environmental
literacy 6 6 3 3 11 1 2.2 2.1 4.7
Work experience 3 6 6 7 4 4 1.8 2.2 4.0
Entrepreneurship 4 5 6 5 5 5 1.9 2.0 3.7

(H = High, M=Medium, L=Low)

Note: The table shows the descending order of priority rankings for the fourteen
graduate attributes rated by 15 research participants from two FGDs. The colours in this
table were generated by algorithm to help visualise the results – darker red means higher
value (priority) and the greener ones shows the lower value (priority). The last column
(Priority score) shows the degree of values with gradient shades - the darker the colour,
the higher its priority value.

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Appendix 13 Ranking tables for attributes from two dimensions

Appendix 13.1 Ranking of attributes from importance dimension (FGD participants).

Percentiles
Mean
Graduate Attributes N 50th
Rank
25th (Median) 75th
thinking proficiency 15 3.00 3.00 3.00 10.1
social abilities 15 2.00 3.00 3.00 9.3
personal abilities 15 2.00 3.00 3.00 9.0
management 15 2.00 3.00 3.00 8.7
teaching 15 2.00 3.00 3.00 8.2
resilience 15 2.00 3.00 3.00 8.2
professionalism 15 2.00 3.00 3.00 8.1
digital literacy 15 2.00 3.00 3.00 7.8
language proficiency 15 2.00 2.00 3.00 7.7
environmental literacy 15 2.00 2.00 3.00 6.4
research knowledge and skills 15 1.00 2.00 3.00 6.2
cultural sensitivity 15 2.00 2.00 3.00 6.0
entrepreneurship 15 1.00 2.00 3.00 4.8
work experience 15 1.00 2.00 2.00 4.3

Appendix 13.2 Ranking of attributes from potential impact dimension (FGD

participants).

Percentiles
Mean
Graduate Attributes N 50th Rank
25th (Median) 75th
social abilities 15 2.00 3.00 3.00 9.60
cultural sensitivity 15 2.00 2.00 3.00 9.47
management 15 2.00 3.00 3.00 9.23
environmental literacy 15 2.00 2.00 2.00 8.60
thinking proficiency 15 3.00 3.00 3.00 8.57
language proficiency 15 2.00 2.00 3.00 8.50
work experience 15 1.00 2.00 3.00 7.63
digital literacy 15 2.00 2.00 3.00 6.97
personal abilities 15 2.00 3.00 3.00 6.53
research knowledge and skills 15 2.00 2.00 3.00 6.43
entrepreneurship 15 1.00 2.00 3.00 6.43
teaching 15 2.00 2.00 3.00 6.13
professionalism 15 2.00 3.00 3.00 5.50
resilience 15 2.00 3.00 3.00 5.40

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Appendix 14 Comparison of tables showing ranking order of graduate
attributes in four different tests

Online Survey (N=417) Mean score of follow-up survey (N=15)

Rank Graduate attributes Mean Rank Rank Graduate attributes Priority score

1 Professionalism 9.5 1 Thinking proficiency 7.8

2 Thinking proficiency 8.7 2 Social abilities 7.3

3 Personal abilities 8.6 3 Personal abilities 7.3

4 Social Abilities 8.6 4 Management 6.8

5 Management 8.4 5 Resilience 6.6

6 Digital literacy 8.1 6 Professionalism 6.4

7 Cultural sensitivity 7.9 7 Digital literacy 6.1

8 Resilience 7.7 8 Teaching 5.7

9 Environmental literacy 7.1 9 Language proficiency 5.6

10 Teaching 6.9 10 Cultural sensitivity 5

11 Work experience 6.5 11 Researching 4.8

12 Researching 6.1 12 Environmental literacy 4.7

13 Language proficiency 5.9 13 Work experience 4

14 Entrepreneurship 5.1 14 Entrepreneurship 3.7

Follow up survey - Importance (N=15) Follow up survey - Impact (N=15)

Rank Graduate attributes Mean Rank Rank Graduate attributes Mean Rank

1 thinking proficiency 10.1 1 social abilities 9.6

2 social abilities 9.3 2 cultural sensitivity 9.5
3 personal abilities 9 3 management 9.2
4 management 8.7 4 environmental literacy 8.6
5 teaching 8.2 5 thinking proficiency 8.6
6 resilience 8.2 6 language proficiency 8.5
7 professionalism 8.1 7 work experience 7.6
8 digital literacy 7.8 8 digital literacy 7
9 language proficiency 7.7 9 personal abilities 6.5
10 environmental literacy 6.4 10 research 6.4
11 research 6.2 11 entrepreneurship 6.4
12 cultural sensitivity 6 12 teaching 6.1
13 entrepreneurship 4.8 13 professionalism 5.5
14 work experience 4.3 14 resilience 5.4

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Appendix 15 An example of draft concept map during coding and
categorising in NVivo

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