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permaculture - Re: [permaculture] Teaching a pc design course

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  • From: Scott Pittman <pci@permaculture-inst.org>
  • To: permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [permaculture] Teaching a pc design course
  • Date: Tue, 29 Aug 2006 15:58:27 -0600

I have to agree with both Keith and Toby on the points they have made on teaching permaculture. In addition it seems to me that there are those who are really teachers and those who are not, no matter what they do. I started teaching in 1985 prematurely as it turns out but with great passion to fill in my knowledge gaps, I still cringe at my temerity!

What I have learned over the years is that virtually all of us who have gone through years of formal education have had one or two outstanding teachers. Those individuals who reached into our minds, hearts, and souls to spark a belief in ourselves as smart, handsome, and desireable human beings. For many of us that spark has been nurtured into the flame of our present life. Those outstanding teachers were dedicated to the service of education as a revelatory process that transports us from the mudane to the ecstatic possibilities of this life.

It was the art of pedagogy, from the Greek "to lead", that caught my attention in Bill Mollison's classes on permaculture. While his knowledge was encyclopedic, his methodology of presenting that knowledge was what captured the worlds attention. I have watched many people teach permaculture and have found few that can light up a room with "aha" moments like Mr Mollison. As a teacher myself I follow as closely as possible in Bill's pedagogical footsteps hoping that some of his success as a teacher rubs off. I think that this is why Bill promoted people teaching with him and attending other teachers courses as auditors or apprentices. I was fortunate to teach with Bill over a period of six years around the world and the experience was invaluable from a learning standpoint.

I, like Keith and Toby encourage graduates of the permaculture certification course to attend other courses and I don't charge a teaching fee for those who attend my course after receiving their design certificate. They are expected to cover any expenses incurred by their attendance. I am often surprised by students who come to my course stating that they didn't get the same information in a previous course that was presented in my course. It is surprising since I cover the basic material that Bill Mollison and other of his students cover. If this material, in substance, isn't being covered then I must doubt the validity of the certificate that came from such a course and its teacher. Unfortunately as time passes I encounter this problem more and more and therein lies the dilemma of what should I/we do about it. More recently I have made a resolution to call the teachers and talk to them directly about my concerns, but it is an extremely difficult position to put oneself into if ones authority is based on experience or senority alone. Another way to address the problem would be for the Permaculture Institute to publish a list of "Institute Approved" teachers that would be based on a list being generated by a group of peer teachers who are willing to stand by their choices. This year I hope to attend more courses given by my peers just to learn new tricks of the trade. However it is done I can't agree any more that attrition alone will take care of the incompetent teachers. Bill was a great believer in the "attrition model", and it worked when we all knew each others names, but today our numbers are too large and there has been too many generations of teachers since Bill trained the first teachers. Bill's methodology of teacher training was the "sink or swim" school which works as long as someone is standing by to rescue the sinkers or to improve the technique of those who prefer to float.

As far as an approving body to certify teachers the only one I know of is the PC Institute of Tasmania and to my knowledge they have only approved a couple of U.S. teachers, I'm not one of them, and have not approved many of the top Australian teachers that are among some of the best teachers anywhere. The approval process of the Tasmanian Institute seems whimsical at best and certainly doesn't seem to serve the interests of the permaculture movement at large. It seems that there has been a development of regional authority around the world and that few groups feel a need for permission from Australia any longer, which seems very permacultural to me.

Scott Pittman
Director-Permaculture Institute
Faculty Member-Ecoversity





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