permaculture

[<permed@nor.com.au>]

Russ Grayson wrote:
>It has been pointed out to me by qualified adult education teachers that
>such a 'content  driven' curriculum is educationally unsound.
>
>The modern approach is the 'competency based' curricula in which the
>competencies (skills) necessary are identified first and the curricula then
>drawn up to pass on those skills. Students demonstrate their knowledge of
>the skills.
I have undertaken this exercise in developing a CBT (competency based 
training) curriculum for the PDC with view to eventual formal 
accreditation with VETAB (state accreditation authority) - more about 
this below. I found it a very useful exercise as a teacher to identify 
the skills the course was aiming to equip students with, topic by topic, 
skill by skill, and then develop ways in which this could be acheived and 
assessed.
>This, however, offers a needed challenge to permaculture teachers in
>identifying the skills that a PDC should impart. And this in turn leads to
>the question: a design course for what situation and circumstances?

>I live in a large city, so my answer would be that any design course taught
>here should be relevant to contemporary urban life in a global city...  and
>that means something different to what appears in the Designer's Manual. Not
>completely different, but with more time spent on some things, less time on
>others and not teaching some of the book's contents while adding other
>subject areas.
This is exactly what Bill encouraged us to do back in the 1980's - 
develop special curricula for different climatic and cultural situations 
- the Pc Inst (Bill) developed a PDC Course Handbook for Arid Zones and 
urged us to do likewise for urban PC, aboriginal courses etc as PDC 
equivalents or post PDC short courses - this stimulated my development of 
specialist post PDC training for Eco-village & Sustainable Community 
Development, Pc for Third World & Indigenous Peoples Course etc. When I'm 
invited to teach out of my own climate and culture I teach a very 
different PDC and adapt teaching/facilitation methods and content to meet 
the needs of the group/place I'm in.

>I guess what I am saying is that we need not a single curriculum, but a
>number of curricula. Then we could offer choice to intending students,
>confident that they would all receive certain training (such as the
>permaculture ethics and principles) in common but would have a course that
>more closely met their needs.

Perhaps a curricula core and 'framework' for essential themes to adapt to 
local conditions.

I also see providing formally accredited course/s as part of this 
diversity of course types & curricula, meeting different needs. 

>I know there is merit in the Institute's notion of having a common
>curriculum, but I continue to believe that a common core of subjects with a
>range of other choices attached would get beyond the present rural focus of
>the PDC curriculum.
>
>...Russ Grayson

Re-accreditation:

The main reason I want to see a formally accredited course available here 
in Australia is that there's government funding available for training 
for long term unemployed and for Aboriginal communities - this funding is 
only available for accredited courses (this is largely about quality 
assurance). Since the government brought in these restrictions I have had 
quite a few unemployed youth programmes and Aboriginal communities 
contact me about Pc courses, had funds, wanted a PDC but couldn't get it 
happening due to lack of accreditation. 

Accreditation thus is a way to give those that can't afford to pay the 
opportunity to access this training, and I consider these groups amongst 
those who can most benefit from the empowerment and tools for 
self-reliance that PC offers. I am prepared to wade through the labarynth 
of red tape to get there, as having worked with these groups in the past 
I have seen it make such a huge difference to not only individuals, but 
whole communities. 

There also is a need for a longer more structured course such as a 'real' 
Certificate Level IV course conducted over 2 semesters (450 hours), with 
a PDC-plus core, wide range of electives and lots of hands-on experience, 
work experience placements etc - a Pc equivalent to Certificates in 
Horticulture, builders certificate or any other serious trade course. Our 
local technical college (TAFE) offers a Cert.IV in Organic Farming, 
people are constantly asking when there'll be a PC equivalent that goes 
further than farming and horticulture. 
NB People on government benefits get fees paid and receive study 
allowance for courses leading to professional qualifications - minimum 
certificate level - it gets them off the unemployment figures and doesn't 
cost the government any more as students get less$$ than the dole (the 
balance pays the fees)

Developing a 'competency based' curriculum is the easy part, being able 
to register and teach is another story. To accredit a course and teach it 
one has to be a Registered Training Organisation (RTO) with the 
accreditation authority which is quite some process and costs. An RTO has 
to teach in a facility that fulfills all building and planning 
regulations for public access etc and that's what I've been doing here at 
Djanbung Gardens PEC. The bricks and mortar is in place and now we are in 
the process of incorporating Erda Institute Inc as a non-profit 
association. The reason for this is that I feel strongly that the 
'ownership' (I consider it more an issue of custodianship) of such 
courses should not be in the hands of an individual (e.g. myself) but of 
permaculture teachers and practitioners of integrity with a solid track 
record through a transparent democratically managed organisation.

Robyn Francis 



Djanbung Gardens Permaculture Education Centre
home to: 
Permaculture Education
ERDA Institute Trust
Nimbin Eco-Village Project Office
Robyn Francis - permaculture designer & educator
PO Box 379, Nimbin NSW 2480 Australia
Ph 02-6689 1755 Fax 02-6689 1225
permed@nor.com.au  www.earthwise.org.au