| The purpose of this study was to describe how low-income and first-generation community college students perceive the notion of social and educational sustainability. The study focused on research participants' understanding of (a) the meaning of social sustainability and its importance in developing human agency; (b) the notion of integration or harmony as contributing to a future that is sustainable; and (c) the role and function of education and learning that can lead toward a sustainable future. The students' stories were personal and thoughtful, thereby contributing to sustainability scholars' understanding of social and educational sustainability and its' significance in the lives of the poor. These students connected to sustainability on a variety of levels acknowledging their intellectual capacity to learn such concepts regardless of their familial, socially, educationally, and financially challenging distractions. |
