permaculture

["steveread" <steveread@free.fr>]

www.permaculturefrance.com


Nicely put Claudia, I've mainly taught 10 courses ove rthe last 15 years, yes 
they compressed, neurons start over-heating etc but over theyears I've found 
that students are starting at a "higher and higher" level, lots of the 
material is already out there and people are familiar with it. this I feel 
has made teaching 10 day formats easier. Also tehre are far more films and 
other multi-media stuff we can use now, for eg there is the film of Sebb 
Holzer with his wonderful high altitude aquaculture gardening, people can 
watch a digger making a pond etc. For years "all" I had were Bills films.

Having said that we have decided to promote a minimum 14 day format which 
swings around a middle weekend which is designed to be low input/design 
project/site visit/relax time. we are also initiating a 6 weekend format for 
those with time constraints. I agree that full-immersion events have great 
depth.

In terms of lecture format many will agree that hands-on is best but then 
there can be constraints to do with the course venue etc. During the recent 
Dharmahouse pdc in Sth France students built a small scale "site", complete 
with building, aquaculture, garden, water system, swales etc etc. This 
practical work is after lunch to offset the digestive torpor. So much 
learning is done in the design project groups we set up that these are a 
major part of the courses with feedback sessions the following morning which 
I will lead into the days topics. In the evening after eating we stick on a 
film, again themed to the days topics. At some point during the day we'll 
have practical peoplecare sessions which mainly involves people getting hold 
of each other and caring, Seitai, spinal uncoiling, ayervedic foot massage, 
whatever. Hands-on peoplecare and earthcare, ha! get them coming and going 
:-), Get them out their heads and into the real world, me too.

Its not perfect and every course for me is a big evolution, use the best and 
improve the rest as they say.

SteveR



  
Kenavo, 


Steve

Directeur de     l  'Université Populaire de Permaculture
Biographie     (SteveR) http://permacultureinstitute.pbwiki.com/

 
2008-05-0920:54:20 

Re: [permaculture] 9-day PDC??
Hi Toby,
I understand what you are saying here.  Ten hours is really a lot of  
time to ask people to pay attention.
I got overloaded during my first PDC and took an afternoon off for a  
swim in the pond.
The material can be overwhelming even with the regular 14 day format.

I wonder what the psychological effect is though of spreading out the  
classes.
Once a month seems stretched to me.  Connecting the dots from session  
to session would be harder than in a more compressed format.

The pattern I use has both some stretching and some bunching.  And  
there is time in-between for participants to mull over the material  
and relate it to their own living experience.
There is also the opportunity for more questioning, explanation and  
discussion between sessions.  Since I am mostly focused on the course  
during the intense part I am available to the class all week long.   
There was e-mail and information passed through the group during these  
in between times.

I like the traditional format.  I think sharing meals together and the  
social experience of hanging out  has a value we can't measure.
There is more happening in a PDC than book learning, although many  
teachers I have talked with discount that aspect.
How to function in community seems like one of the harder practices to  
develop, partly because of our history as Americans.
I appreciate your perspective and as usual I am thinking about this a  
lot.  This might be my last 9 unit course if it sets a bad precedent  
for others.

I can't help thinking of the infamous Bill Mollison PDC where  (I was  
told) he parked a chair in front of the ocean and talked for 2 days  
straight.  That was a PDC.
I have serious questions about the all lecture format.  Particularly  
for folks who have no experience getting dirty.  Bill is Bill and now  
we have to figure out how to assist that body of knowledge to be carry  
forward.

Thanks for your patience and understanding,
Claudia


On May 8, 2008, at 7:16 PM, Toby Hemenway wrote:
> A bit belatedly, my thoughts on a 9-day PDC:
>
> I guest-taught at a 10-day PDC once, and then Doug Bullock and I  
> taught
> one in Washington State. All those involved in teaching both courses
> decided "Never again." Sure, we did 10-hour days and had well over the
> 72 hours. But we were able to cover much less material than a 12 or 14
> day course allows (since those are always 10-hour days, too). By the
> book, the PDC covers 72 hours. In reality, any 12 or more day course
> covers about double that, and even those feel rushed and I can never
> cover the material I really feel is essential. The 10-day course  
> struck
> me as inadequate; it was greatly impoverished compared to 12-14 days,
> and the students clearly didn't get the same experience that the usual
> course offers. Design projects were rushed and not up to the usual
> caliber. So my own take is that although you can fit 72 hours of class
> into a shorter format, it is nowhere near as effective as the full  
> PDC.
> Yes, 72 hours is the "legal" number of hours in a PDC, and you could
> theoretically cram it into 9, 8 or even 7 days. But shrinking the  
> course
> to only include 72 hours really only covers about half the material  
> that
> the usual course covers. I won't ever teach a 10-day course again; I
> think it's an inadequate substitute for the traditional PDC.
>
> If people cannot attend the traditional 12 or 14 day intensive, then  
> the
> weekend format is a great alternative. I've taught or helped at  
> numerous
> 6-weekend courses, spread out over 3 to 6 months or longer, and many
> extremely busy professional people have been able to attend. They
> clearly get the full design course experience. So IMO there's no  
> need to
> shrink the course below 12 days.
>
> Toby
> http://patternliteracy.com
>
>
>
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