EDUCATING BUILDING PROFESSIONALS FOR THE FUTURE IN THE GLOBALISED WORLD

The andragogy of constructivism theory for learning beyond the classroom is founded on the teaching principle of extending an adult learner’s constructed knowledge and skills, which have been neatly packaged and acquired in the classroom (Hildebrand 2008), to then be applied into practice to process the learnt in an authentic and meaningful way through a contextualised experience informed through real-world perspectives. The ‘real-world’ is considered the place where the application of theory is put into practice. It is rare and unique to have a real-world setting be transformed into a learning place. The Nowanup Bush University (NBU) project is the first Bush University concept to be developed in Australia. This paper presents the contextual design framework, by firstly, defining the aspirational brief for the spatial and scholarchip concept of a NBU through the significance of the current existing six Nowanup learning circles (Karta-Wongkin-Jini), each is 1 km in diameter and were scribed onto the land through the replanting of native bush. The significance of these six learning circles is that they each represent the six Nyungar seasons and serves as a physical demarcation of a place. Moreover, they are a visually unobtrusive and unenclosed space that defines a gathering and meeting place for on-country learning – a breaking down of walls. This notion of breaking down of walls is both physical and metaphorical. It is a meeting ground without walls as barriers, of elders (teachers) and learners, of indigenous and non-indigenous peoples. This paper presents the current work-in-progress of the NBU project, and further, identifies the achievements and outcomes of the NBU project to-date and provides an anticipated long-term projection of outcomes for the design of a new university typology in Australia. The NBU seeks to extend beyond the traditional boundaries of what constitutes a university, and the findings seek to provide universities, academics and industry with a unique perspective on a model of collaboration that promotes design, culture and Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) – principled on innovation, technology and sustainability. 42nd AUBEA Conference 2018: Educating Building Professionals for the Future in the Globalised World 17.