Recharting the history of economic thought: Approaches to and student experiences of the introduction of pluralist teaching in an undergraduate economics curriculum

Abstract

This paper outlines an innovative redesign of a course on the history of economic thought, which acted as a vehicle for exposing students to different theoretical traditions and engaging them in critical reflections on neoclassical economics. It also presents findings from a research project conducted with economics students at the University of Northampton, UK, that aimed to understand their experiences of the redesign. We reflect on the pedagogical challenges highlighted by students and its implications for (re)designing the economics curriculum. Our findings challenge arguments commonly deployed against the introduction of pluralist teaching, including that there is no appetite for this in the broader student population; that students would fail to engage with such an approach; that they fear a negative impact on employability, and that alternative economic approaches should only be introduced at an advanced level.