Exploring virtue ethical stewardship for transformative learning in a university's business leadership programmes

This research introduces a new concept termed virtue ethical stewardship (VES) and explores the pragmatic dimension of transformative learning (TL) in terms of VES. It is defined as developing the character of doing good when discharging responsibility. While the character is the habit of being: the combination of traits, values and virtues (Crossan et al., 2013), doing good is the aligned motive, intention and belief.

The idea that students have the potential to construct new meaning for their learning experiences suggests the transformative possibilities of the university’s education. Therefore, university education can be a social phenomenon that transforms students to agents of action and responsibility who address the societal concerns about the questionable moral behaviour of some leaders.

Thus, the VES transformative learning framework is developed to offer a new way to develop leaders as stewards that are more ethical in the future than that currently displayed by some leaders.

The study identifies four main self-aware interconnected influential conditions for VES transformative learning and two conditions requiring attention. Conditions are acknowledged using a constructed moral status’ table to suggest stewards’ status about VES and the requirement for enhancement.

The methodologies used are phenomenological, underpinned by critical realist view. This led to a narrative method with a two-stage approach for field texts collection and two-phase method of interpretation and analysis.