The Influence of Green Education on Sustainable Mindset in Business English Class

Sustainability and environmental issues are crucial to address because the present and future generations are dealing with long-term consequences. Thus, educational institutions need to reinforce environmental awareness and a sustainable mindset in young generations. The researchers applied green education in English for Business Presentations (EBP) classes in this study; students were entailed to think critically about specific issues in the environment and sustainability. The objective of this study was to instill and sustain students’ sustainable mindset in Business English through environmental awareness. To answer the research question of whether green education successfully influences students’ mindset and behavior toward environmental and sustainability awareness, the researchers employed a qualitative method to investigate students’ perspectives on environmental awareness and sustainability before and after receiving green education. Three hundred undergraduate students participated in this study at BINUS University in Indonesia. The EBP instructors designed a lesson in which the goal was to present green business ideas. The class activities required the students to analyze challenges and yield innovative solutions for their
environment. The findings indicate that green education influenced students’ sustainability mindset. This study revealed that green education in business English classes integrated ethics, entrepreneurship, environmental studies, systems thinking, self-awareness, and the dimensional contexts of critical thinking as knowledge, values, and competency. In conclusion, all students obtained exposure to environmental issues by instilling green education in business English classes; they are also expected to establish green and sustainable businesses.