permaculture

[Adam Donnison <adam@saki.com.au>]

I too am disturbed by this thread.  There are a number of issues
that really have me worried. There seems to me to be an awful
number of people, and a large concentration of them within the
Permaculture movement, that feel that formal education is the
holy grail and we should all be qualified teachers in order to
educate others.  This is patently ridiculous.  Formal education
offers something only to those who can afford it and are of
the mindset that can accept that sort of structure.  It is this
description of educated vs. ignorant that results from this
thinking.  Much like the platitudes of "the poor will always
be with us" and the suggestion that starving people somehow
have chosen to starve, I find this disturbing.

We learn by different methods, at different times, under different
conditions. But mostly we learn by doing, and we learn by observation
and helping others.

Think about this - how did you learn to speak?  Was it
by someone "educating" you, or was it more as a process of being
surrounded by words and a desire to be understood?  It was probably
the latter, with a little of the former to tidy up the rough edges.

I'm not saying that "education" is a bad thing, what I am saying
is that by saying that we, the "educated", need to take on the
mission of teaching them, the "ignorant" will result in the
same sort of problems that colonialism embodies.   It is nothing
more than mere arrogance.

Adam

Graham wrote:
> The more I see this header 'Re: [permaculture] Educating the ignorant' 
> the more deeply disturbed I feel by it.
>
> The more I look into myself the more I realise how deeply ignorant and 
> uneducated I am.
>
> Carrie Shepard wrote:
>
>
> > <<<The first step might be to abandon the mindsets that you have a role as
> > an 'educator' or that the people you propose to interact with are
> > 'ignorant'.>>>
> >
> >
> > Isn't this the age-old 'snag' of applying one's values to the rest of the
> > world?   I'm just now reading Out of Africa and Dennison gives a lot of
> > stories of how differently the natives think about things than the english,
> > and also how they respect her opinion on some things.  
> >
> > I happen to be a follower of the way, and believe the poor will always be
> > with us.  Progress as a value/goal for society is one of those humanistic
> > lies I think, though I'd love for everyone to live comfortably and have
> > enough food and clothing, there will always be those who have free will to
> > NOT receive those basic promises.
> >
> > Blessings,
> >
> > Carrie


--
Adam Donnison                                  email: adam@saki.com.au
Saki Computer Services Pty. Ltd.
93 Kallista-Emerald Road                        phone: +61 3 9752 1512
THE PATCH  VIC 3792    AUSTRALIA                fax:   +61 3 9752 1098