An investigation into environmental policy: The discourse of environmental management and its effect on educational practice at the Saskatchewan Power Corporation.

摘要

This study provides a genealogical analysis of how a managerial framework affects or implicates educational practice at the Saskatchewan Power Corporation (SaskPower).;The investigation is based principally on the transcript text produced through interviews with decision-makers at SaskPower, as well as others with an interest in the environment and environmental education from non-governmental organizations, governmental agencies and the University of Regina.;Emerging from the transcript text of those interviewed at SaskPower is a discourse of environmental management, characterized by a shared understanding of the need for individual people to take action on behalf of the environment, whether as employees or as consumers of electricity. This discourse is also characterized by an unquestioned faith in new technologies and management practices to minimize the environmental impacts associated with electrical generation. Among those interviewed at SaskPower, it was indicated that a public educational program is needed to inform people about the environmental, cost and reliability concerns associated with a short list of energy options for the future supply of electricity in Saskatchewan. This approach to education is characterized in particular by a utilitarian decision-making process that considers potential energy options, with relatively little emphasis on questions about energy consumption and conservation.;Among those interviewed from non-governmental organizations, governmental agencies and the University of Regina, however, a critical environmental discourse was identified with a focus on the need for SaskPower to take a more serious approach to energy conservation. Further, an alternative discourse was identified with an emphasis on preserving the land itself in contrast to a discourse based on its economic potential. In this investigation, a future research path is considered then that would explore a more collaborative and inclusive approach to public environmental education.;The purpose is to investigate the underlying beliefs and assumptions associated with the concept of environmental responsibility as set within a managerial framework, particularly as this implicates the corporation's approach to public environmental education. Michel Foucault's archaeology is applied in a broad sense to an understanding of the beliefs and assumptions shared among decision-makers in managing the environmental issues associated with the generation and delivery of electricity.