An interesting challenge with teaching about the problems in the world is that you don’t want it to get too depressing. Listing off a bunch of problems doesn’t really do much to help anyone but it can be pretty miserable. We need ways that the world can get better. We need hopeful teaching, that emphasizes that we can address problems.
Glass Half Full Or Half Empty
Sabrina Helm has a commentary in the Journal of Sustainable Marketing that looks at the teaching of marketing given climate change is impacting the world. I must confess that it didn’t always reflect my views. I suspect that the author is more negative about the role that business can play than I am. I think we can all agree there are a lot of problems but I’m not as keen to write off everything that a lot of marketers are currently doing.
The author is also more a fan of Degrowth than I am. She thinks we need to teach a new form of marketing that doesn’t emphasis selling stuff. I agree change is necessary but let’s not abandon what we have learned. I think selling solar solutions is a good thing to be doing. The energy transition requires literally “selling (more) green stuff” which she isn’t a fan of. Still, more green stuff often seems good to me. Selling solar panels doesn’t seem to me the same as selling more bad stuff, e.g., coal, even if selling more is in both marketer’s job descriptions.
Electricity Lights Up Our Lives
After all, electricity is a great thing. We need more access to it in the world; there are plenty of people who are struggling for lack of energy. We just need better forms of electricity. Is solar perfect given mining etc…? Of course not, but if someone is suffering through a dangerous heatwave, having electricity to remedy this is a good thing. I’m a big fan of refrigeration too.
Does this mean technology is going to save us if we just put our feet up and wait? No, but technological innovation is a wonderful thing. I personally would encourage my students to think of better approaches and try and sell these. As such, I suspect that we don’t agree on what marketers should be doing.
Hopeful Teaching
Where we do agree is the idea that we should practice hopeful teaching. (Pedagogies of hope in the slightly forced language that academics use). The author’s advice is very useful on that point. According to Helm:
Applying pedagogies of hope in the classroom requires:
Helm (2025) page 257
- 1. imagining a different and desired future;
- 2. focusing on problem-solving (rather than despair);
- 3. stressing embeddedness in community (it is not just individuals fighting for change);
- 4. building trust that others are working towards the same goals as we; and
- 5. moving towards actions (actions that raise awareness and actions that express dissent or disruption of the status quo).
I might clarify that actions to my mind that disrupting the status quo means looking for better ways to do things, and yes sometimes being willing to annoy people. That said, it doesn’t include throwing paint at Van Gogh’s Sunflowers. (Why Van Gogh? If you can’t stand a painting surely it must be a Klimt you object to; only tacky people love lots of gold).
For more on teaching see Teaching About Climate Change and Do Computers Distract Us? Of Course They Do.
Read: Sabrina Helm (2025). Radically Hopeful: Climate-Conscious Pedagogy for Marketing Educators. Journal of Sustainable Marketing, 6(2), pp.250-264.
