Building skills, building homes : community sustainability, straw bale construction, and indigenous perspectives

View/ Open
Date
2005-11-15Author
Vandale, Carol A.
Type
ThesisDegree Level
MastersMetadata
Show full item recordAbstract
This narrative inquiry explores how the Building Skills, Building Homes Project, which was undertaken in Saskatchewan, Canada from April – November 2003, exemplified a learning strategy for self-sustainable community development through the straw bale construction of two buildings. Being self-sustainable involves searching for an interconnected way of living with our environment. Finding a strategy that connects what is ecologically sound, such as straw bale construction, with current modes of living, is a complex process that necessitates new kinds of community education relationships. A retrospective analysis of the author’s experience with the project and a conversational interview with one of the participants of the Building Skills, Building Homes Project will illustrate the adult learning that happens between learners working together on a joint project, which facilitates a growing awareness of what self-sustainable living entails.
The research question framing this study is: What links can community educators make using the Building Skills, Building Homes Project as an example of ecological community sustainability?
Degree
Master of Continuing Education (M.C.Ed.)Department
Educational FoundationsProgram
Educational FoundationsSupervisor
Collins, MichaelCommittee
Wason-Ellam, Linda; Oliphant, Lynn; Julien, RichardCopyright Date
November 2005Subject
alternative energy
workplace learning
affordable housing
aboriginal education
work skills
ecology - indigenous
cultural development
sustainable development
community development
ecological education
environmental education
community education