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  • From: "Naomi & Rick Coleman" <peds@tpg.com.au>
  • To: "askpv" <askpv@ozemail.com.au>, <permed@nor.com.au>, "Robin Clayfield" <robin@earthcare.com.au>, "Lorraine & Rene" <vanraders@north.net.au>, "Morag & Evan" <syzygy@squirrel.com.au>, "Ian Lillington" <wgv@terra.net.au>, "David Holmgren" <holmgren@netconnect.com.au>, "Ross & Jenny" <rossmars@yahoo.com>, "Jan Penklis" <justgardening@optusnet.com.au>, "Leigh Astill" <lvastill@kiwilink.co.nz>, "Robina McCurdy" <robina@win.co.nz>, "Will Hooker" <will_hooker@yahoo.com>, "Penny Livingston" <pinc@svn.net>, "Rosemary Morrow" <rowe@lisp.com.au>, "Garry Williams" <sts@nobbys.net.au>, "Steve Hart" <steveh@wave.co.nz>, "Scott" <pci@permaculture-inst.org>, <pacedge@magna.com.au>, <wgv@camtech.net.au>
  • Cc: "Permaculture Mailing List Processor" <listproc@lambada.oit.unc.edu>, "Permaculture Mailing List Australia" <perma@eepo.com.au>, "Permaculture Magazine" <maddy@permaculture.co.uk>, "Permaculture" <permaculture@franklin.oit.unc.edu>, "Jack Rowe" <jackrowe@compuserve.com>, "La'akea Permaculture Gardens" <laakea@ilhawaii.net>
  • Subject: Re: Call for impartial Democratic International Permaculture Teaching registration body [guild].
  • Date: Fri, 6 Oct 2000 12:44:28 +1000

Rick and I support the concept of an independent, international panel elected by permaculture certificate holders.
 
The danger of an overseeing body of teachers selecting teachers is that it is open to conflict of interest, as was evident in South Australia's model.
 
It does concern us that many models are being proposed before negotiation or clarification with the Institute, as it implies that such clarification is not the first priority.
 
It might be useful to have a period of reflection time to digest these proposals before going any further into discussion. The seeds have been sown, let's give them time to grow!
 
Enjoy your spring planting,
 
Naomi and Rick Coleman
 
-----Original Message-----
From: askpv <askpv@ozemail.com.au>
To: permed@nor.com.au <permed@nor.com.au>; Robin Clayfield <robin@earthcare.com.au>; Lorraine & Rene <vanraders@north.net.au>; Morag & Evan <syzygy@squirrel.com.au>; Ian Lillington <wgv@terra.net.au>; David Holmgren <holmgren@netconnect.com.au>; Ross & Jenny <rossmars@yahoo.com>; Naomi & Rick <peds@tpg.com.au>; Jan Penklis <justgardening@optusnet.com.au>; Leigh Astill <lvastill@kiwilink.co.nz>; Robina McCurdy <robina@win.co.nz>; Will Hooker <will_hooker@yahoo.com>; Penny Livingston <pinc@svn.net>; Rosemary Morrow <rowe@lisp.com.au>; Garry Williams <sts@nobbys.net.au>; Steve Hart <steveh@wave.co.nz>; April <askpv@ozemail.com.au>; Scott <pci@permaculture-inst.org>; pacedge@magna.com.au <pacedge@magna.com.au>; wgv@camtech.net.au <wgv@camtech.net.au>
Cc: Permaculture Mailing List Processor <listproc@lambada.oit.unc.edu>; Permaculture Mailing List Australia <perma@eepo.com.au>; Permaculture Magazine <maddy@permaculture.co.uk>; Permaculture <permaculture@franklin.oit.unc.edu>; Jack Rowe <jackrowe@compuserve.com>; La'akea Permaculture Gardens <laakea@ilhawaii.net>
Date: Thursday, 5 October 2000 11:46
Subject: Call for impartial Democratic International Permaculture Teaching registration body [guild].

[please excuse any cross postings]
 
I feel that the organisation is now too big for separate bodies.  We are now in a global era and after years on the internet, we need these issues approached globally.
 
We need an international body for some special issues such as registering teachers and issuing certificates.  and the current situation is only going to get more global.  Lets take my current situation.  I have students in 20 countries, to whom should they themselves apply in order to become teachers? To whom should we at permaculture visions apply? we are based in Australia but have most of our students overseas. Rosemary Morrow's situation where the teachers in Vietnam should pay $30 (which is a horrendous amount for them) is intolerable.
 
I would much prefer to see an international organisation issue certificates and registration at a very low price so that people in countries with a weak dollar can afford them.  there should also be a means by which other teachers can fund teachers for poorer countries.  This can factored into the cost for each country or be a fund that they can contribute to.  It would be easy to set up on the internet (we would simply pay according to our dollar, otherwise it would cost too much to send international money anyway.)  In fact, apart from the one-off  registration, we could have password protected net-certificates that are revised and re-issued as required and there would be minimal cost in downloading it and printing them out.  Teachers can post student graduate names themselves, no administration costs there would be borne by the central body.  I am sure many of you have even more useful input and ideas.
 
If we had one organisation purely for certificates and registration it may be able to avoid some of these politics, it would be governed by equal representation from many countries and could be fair and impartial.
 
If enough people agree we can easily set up such an organisation on the net and call for nominations from each country as representatives,
it is very possible - we only have to want to do it.
The next step would simply be to set up a proper discussion list, i just did one for IPC7, so i can easily do it for this project.  We can nut out the requirements,
I do not propose that we write a new curriculum, i am happy with inclusion of content from guidelines and the manual.  I am simply proposing that we take the global view.
 
I am proposing that we establish a fair, democratic, professional and accessible international teacher register.
 
April
Permaculture Visions International.
-----Original Message-----
From: Scott Pittman [mailto:pci@permaculture-inst.org]
Sent: Wednesday, 4 October 2000 1:26
To: To:
Cc: Penny Livingston
Subject: Fwd: Re: Pc Teachers


Date: Fri, 29 Sep 2000 11:21:12 -0600
To: <permed@nor.com.au>
From: Scott Pittman <pci@permaculture-inst.org>
Subject: Re: Pc Teachers

Since it is difficult for me to enter this thread without a background in Australian certification law, I'll take a shot at presenting what we conceive to be important to the Permaculture Institute (USA).

We founded the PCI in 1997 after a discussion with Bill about the lack of sufficient networking capabilities of the PCI in Australia.  It seemed that the Aus. Institute had its hands full with Asia and Africa and that North and South America could best be served within the continent.  Our goal was to set up a group of standards for teachers and designers and those who conformed to those standards would be listed by the Institute as approved.  We would provide some continuity by issuing certificates, and diplomas to those who were on our list.  In order to decide who was on the list we would ask for documentation of work and clients, or students whom we could contact to find out their perceptions of a teacher or designer's competence and effectiveness.  In order to review this information we would need a group of peers to help the Institute evaluate the results.  This peer group would be paid for their time and any decisions could be appealed to this peer group for further review.  It's obvious that we would need to raise funds in order to do this without the usual burn out and half assed efforts.

What was the motivation for all of this?  It came out of a concern that the Permaculture Design Certification Course was slowly becoming eroded as to content.  I saw today that Skye is teaching the course in seven days!  How is this possible while covering the essential material.  I also was disturbed that more and more teachers were using the course as a forum to promote their own mystical beliefs, ie Devic work,  crystal management of your garden, Feng Shui (sp) patterning, healing the inner ...... (fill in the blank), and any number of other new age isms.  While all of this may have a significant role to play in ones personal life I have always thought that by introducing cultural mores, metaphysical practices and political belief systems into the permaculture course one risked alienating those whose culture had different takes on what is holy and what is profane.  This has been an ongoing debate in both North and South America as well as the other countries where I have taught.  To my mind the basic course as developed and taught by Bill was not only a major break through in the science of design but was a pedagogic work of brilliance.  I have brazenly stolen many of Bill's teaching methodologies as well as his curriculum to great effect, while at the same time I have cleaned up some of his "factual statements", and added my own anecdotes, and subjects that I thought were crucial based on new scientific research ie the estrogen analog debate.

I have been put into the category of a "conservative permaculture teacher" and, I suppose, I wear that label with some pride.  I have stuck to the essential order and content of the course outline I received in my first course in 1985.  As I have written to Robyn it is my belief that not only is information transmitted during a permaculture course but a paradigm shift takes place among the participants that somehow transforms and directs them in a total new direction.  I see hope replace fear and action replacing apathy.  I'm not sure why this happens but I am certain that it does happen and that it is core to the learning process that takes place during the course.  As a result of this I have been very careful not to tinker too much with the curriculum. I still do the talent show, I still teach ethics and pattern, I still cover island ecologies, and meteorology.  I am shocked when I see five day and seven day certification courses that must, by limitation of time, leave out major portions of the course.  I have students who are taking the course from me for the second time who didn't get patterning in their first course!  This is shocking to me, it's like teaching anatomy and leaving out the heart.

A second concern was that while self policing had worked within permaculture when we were a small organization and most of us knew each other at some level we were now too dispersed and big for self policing to work effectively.  The entrepreneurial snakes of the world had discovered the commercial possibilities of permaculture and, not having the ethical concerns of many, were using the word "permaculture" to self promote and promote dubious products.  The only way to really control this behavior seemed to be to have an organization that had the resources to challenge these practices through a professional organization which had the power through its bylaws to expel people from the organization.  This is a common practice here among architects, doctors, engineers, and other professionals.  If indeed permaculture is the property of the graduates then they have the right and responsibility to guard the integrity of that property.  It is certainly legally possible in U.S. jurisprudence.

The institute also intends to certify and promote good internship programs, again in response to the many internship programs which are really thinly disguised free labor camps, where little to no learning takes place.  Since we receive requests weekly from excited and open hearted young people who want to learn and experience true earth care we should have a place to send them that is ethical and full of integrity.

Finally we are in the process of establishing  a grant pool.  Too often small projects around the world die from lack of funds.  These projects are often times the most exciting and most critical agents of change in a region but the participants don't have a clue of where to go for funding or, if they did, how to write a grant.  Since most of us who travel and teach know about these projects it behooves us to find funding sources for them.  The foundation world is also very much into helping with large pools of funds toward a particular outcome, ie sustainability, and letting a single organization track many projects rather than the foundation having to deal with each small grant and then tracking it.  Who better to track permaculture projects than the permaculture institutes?

I realize this is a big bite but I know it is doable, the problem, is it perceived as needed by the pc community?  I'm getting mixed messages from those I have contacted and often times I think it has something to do with the "franchise mentality" of many pc practitioners, that is, "this is my territory and how dare you trespass".  This attitude is often held by those who are doing absolutely nothing in the territory but just want a lock on the door to keep anyone else from doing anything. 

I have just completed a rough month with Bill M. in which I have had to defend my integrity to an old friend.  After spending over six years teaching with Bill this was a sad and bitter experience which, while trying my friendship, didn't lessen my respect and admiration of the work Bill has accomplished.  I came away from this experience with the understanding that Bill has changed, either through his long illness,  his new marital situation or both.  I have realized that Bill is not permaculture but it's primary advocate and that if we are to continue the work we have to do it ourselves.  Bill has indeed retired and our job is to continue the work in the same spirit which Bill once inspired.  It is no longer appropriate to defer to Bill if we feel that his decisions are not in the best interest of the movement.  If we are to get our house in order it is imperative that we communicate and cooperate to develop an international network that protects our work and encourages its growth.

Scott Pittman 

 



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