Title: Exploring pluralist pedagogies in economics: new empirical evidence

Authors: Martina Cioni; Maria Alessandra Rossi

Addresses: Department of Economics and Statistics, University of Siena, Piazza San Francesco, 7 53100 Siena, Italy ' Department of Economics, University G. D'Annunzio of Chieti-Pescara, Viale Pindaro 44, 65127 Pescara, Italy; Centre for a Digital Society, European University Institute, Via Boccaccio 121, 50133 Firenze, Italy

Abstract: It has been argued by many that a pluralist pedagogy may have positive effects on students' cognitive development. Empirical evidence in this regard is scant and related to only one possible variant of pluralism in economic education: that emphasising the need to explicitly contrast competing perspectives. In this paper, we investigate the effects of exposure to a different variant of pluralism, embedded in the well-known CORE project/textbook, on students' transition away from dualistic thinking - the first stage of cognitive development (Perry, 1970). We find that this variant of pluralism may help only the subset of students with higher academic performance, an interest in current events, and a more sophisticated cultural background to move towards higher-order thinking. For the majority of students, exposure to competing views and controversy may be the key to move beyond dualistic thinking.

Keywords: pluralism; economics education; Perry scheme; dualism.

DOI: 10.1504/IJPEE.2026.152982

International Journal of Pluralism and Economics Education, 2026 Vol.16 No.1, pp.71 - 89

Received: 13 Dec 2024
Accepted: 10 Sep 2025
Published online: 17 Apr 2026 *

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