Subject: Re: [permaculture] Teaching a pc design course
Date: Tue, 29 Aug 2006 15:58:27 -0600
I have to agree with both Keith and Toby on the points they have made on
teaching permaculture. In addition it seems to me that there are those
who are really teachers and those who are not, no matter what they do.
I started teaching in 1985 prematurely as it turns out but with great
passion to fill in my knowledge gaps, I still cringe at my temerity!
What I have learned over the years is that virtually all of us who have
gone through years of formal education have had one or two outstanding
teachers. Those individuals who reached into our minds, hearts, and
souls to spark a belief in ourselves as smart, handsome, and desireable
human beings. For many of us that spark has been nurtured into the
flame of our present life. Those outstanding teachers were dedicated to
the service of education as a revelatory process that transports us from
the mudane to the ecstatic possibilities of this life.
It was the art of pedagogy, from the Greek "to lead", that caught my
attention in Bill Mollison's classes on permaculture. While his
knowledge was encyclopedic, his methodology of presenting that knowledge
was what captured the worlds attention. I have watched many people
teach permaculture and have found few that can light up a room with
"aha" moments like Mr Mollison. As a teacher myself I follow as closely
as possible in Bill's pedagogical footsteps hoping that some of his
success as a teacher rubs off. I think that this is why Bill promoted
people teaching with him and attending other teachers courses as
auditors or apprentices. I was fortunate to teach with Bill over a
period of six years around the world and the experience was invaluable
from a learning standpoint.
I, like Keith and Toby encourage graduates of the permaculture
certification course to attend other courses and I don't charge a
teaching fee for those who attend my course after receiving their design
certificate. They are expected to cover any expenses incurred by their
attendance. I am often surprised by students who come to my course
stating that they didn't get the same information in a previous course
that was presented in my course. It is surprising since I cover the
basic material that Bill Mollison and other of his students cover. If
this material, in substance, isn't being covered then I must doubt the
validity of the certificate that came from such a course and its
teacher. Unfortunately as time passes I encounter this problem more and
more and therein lies the dilemma of what should I/we do about it. More
recently I have made a resolution to call the teachers and talk to them
directly about my concerns, but it is an extremely difficult position to
put oneself into if ones authority is based on experience or senority
alone. Another way to address the problem would be for the Permaculture
Institute to publish a list of "Institute Approved" teachers that would
be based on a list being generated by a group of peer teachers who are
willing to stand by their choices. This year I hope to attend more
courses given by my peers just to learn new tricks of the trade.
However it is done I can't agree any more that attrition alone will take
care of the incompetent teachers. Bill was a great believer in the
"attrition model", and it worked when we all knew each others names, but
today our numbers are too large and there has been too many generations
of teachers since Bill trained the first teachers. Bill's methodology
of teacher training was the "sink or swim" school which works as long as
someone is standing by to rescue the sinkers or to improve the technique
of those who prefer to float.
As far as an approving body to certify teachers the only one I know of
is the PC Institute of Tasmania and to my knowledge they have only
approved a couple of U.S. teachers, I'm not one of them, and have not
approved many of the top Australian teachers that are among some of the
best teachers anywhere. The approval process of the Tasmanian Institute
seems whimsical at best and certainly doesn't seem to serve the
interests of the permaculture movement at large. It seems that there
has been a development of regional authority around the world and that
few groups feel a need for permission from Australia any longer, which
seems very permacultural to me.
Scott Pittman
Director-Permaculture Institute
Faculty Member-Ecoversity
Re: [permaculture] Teaching a pc design course,
Scott Pittman, 08/29/2006