Heterodoxy in the classroom: the case of community economic development

Purpose - The article seeks to identify and examine HPE concepts and ideas that help teach community economic development to college students. Design/methodology/approach - The paper's discussion is situated within a descriptive account of the learning context, content and structure of a course on community economic development. Selected course readings are analyzed to identify heterodox concepts and to illustrate how they assist in helping students think critically about community economic development. Findings - The course readings prove fruitful ground for the identification and examination of a range of heterodox concepts and ideas used to help students to think critically about community economic development issues. Research limitations/implications - Although successful in examining the contributing roles of heterodoxy in teaching community economic development, the study relied on only one course syllabus. Practical implications - The article offers a practical way to gauge the use of heterodoxy in the classroom. It provides a case study example of how courses could be adopted to teach heterodox economic concepts and ideas. Originality/value - The article presents a case study of the use of heterodoxy to help students think creatively and critically, and as such, provides an exemplar for other professors to adopt a similar approach.