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permaculture - [permaculture] re. "Is permaculture easy?"

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Subject: permaculture

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  • From: SArjuna@aol.com
  • To: permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [permaculture] re. "Is permaculture easy?"
  • Date: Sun, 22 Jul 2007 18:24:01 EDT


Steve said:
".... I suppose I ought
to stud my presentations with "don't try this at home, kids" and "this
stuff is really hard even though I make it look simple," but that seems
insulting.

It surprises me that anyone thinks becoming proficient or making a
living at anything is easy. Getting good at anything, whether
permaculture, the guitar, math, or ping-pong, takes a lot of work, takes
making every mistake in the book, and takes dedication and
self-sacrifice. Whether the learning experience is an enjoyable ride or
a merciless pounding by a harsh teacher I think depends mostly on the
personality of the student, so it's possible that the teacher or the
subject is not to blame."

What is the point of teaching anything at all unless you suppose that
the students will then be able to do it themselves?  Perhaps even surpass
what
the teacher has done.
Part of the very raison d'etre of a good teacher is to make it
unnecessary for the student to make all the mistakes that the teacher (and
others the
teacher knows of) have made.  
     If one doesn't think the students can learn to do a good job, why
teach?  Teaching does not mean showing how well you can do something, but
sharing
your knowledge and experience in an "infectious" way.
Sharon's most recent posting over at Casaubon's just happens to quite
relevant to this discussion. (See: http://casaubonsbook.blogspot.com/)
She
talks about how the Peak Oil situation is making it necessary for us to
aquire
new skills in various areas that are new to us. That can feel overwhelming,
she says, but points out that we don't have to do a perfect job at a new
skill in order to obtain very useful results. We should even be able to
share
with our children enough of what we have learned, she thinks, so that they
will
be able to develop proficiency that far surpasses ours.
Even walking and talking are't easy to learn, as is clear watching
anyone learning to do it. Yet we have all learned it in not too much time.
Our
incentive to learn the new skills we'll need in upcoming times will be
similar, it seems to me. It'll sure help if our teachers presume we can do
it!
Regards,
Shivani in WI



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  • [permaculture] re. "Is permaculture easy?", SArjuna, 07/22/2007

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