Analysis
There are several things that have recently appeared in my life that all seem to be very connected through this project, with more opportunities appearing all the time. I'd like to look more closely at these to see where the best place to put my energy at this point will be, and also to see clearly if and how they form beneficial relationships.
Things to look at are:
Things to look at are:
One of my willow tunnels
Outdoor classroom work in primary schools -
I think this is very relevant to be included in this project as it creates a link between bringing aspects of permaculture to children in schools, and creating a dependable income stream, linking this back to project 6.
I began this work in February of this year as short term work for a friend, creating living willow structures and Earth looms in schools (with livingwillowlincoln.co.uk). After talking with many headteachers around the country I have had many conversations about the lack of ability or motivation for many teachers to be involved with outdoor activities with the school children, such as gardening or nature awareness. Some schools are lucky enough to have forest school teachers as a part of their staff, but for those who haven't there is often very little progress in leading children in this area, and most often the head teachers are very eager to improve on this. Visiting schools throughout the Spring, time and time again I saw greenhouses, polytunnels and raised beds with nothing growing or sprouting, most of the time totally overgrown and neglected. When I asked teachers about this they often said that their lack of time, passion and knowledge of what to do in the garden was very limited, and they would be very happy for someone to come in and take over.
Of course this was not always the case, and some schools that I have visited over the past few months (and there have been many) have completely blown me away. One in Devon had an earth roof classroom and a 3 acre nature conservation area, along with man-made pond with a cave hand decorated with shells and crystals by the children, which they sailed around in a small boat, also handmade by the children. They had cameras in the birds nests which live fed into the children's classrooms to record the birds lives. I've been documenting the best of the schools and keeping pictures for inspiration.
I also had several conversations with headteachers who showed me outdoor spaces and asked my opinion on what they can do to enhance this to inspire more outdoor learning for the children. I feel that I can offer more than just willow structures and Earth looms, and have begun looking into how I can most effectively reach school children and bring the ethics and practice of permaculture into their school environments, which is where it links in really well with this project.
Co-teaching opportunities on family permaculture courses -
There are two courses coming up in July and August 2014 that I've arranged to be involved with - on the first I am going to be there as a support teacher, and on the second I will be leading the children's activities.
Further teacher training opportunities -
I attended a permaculture Training of Teachers course with Designed Visions in Lincolnshire, UK in June 2014. I want to begin implementing the learning from this as soon as possible, to fully ingrain it into my work. I am also seriously considering beginning a Forest schools training course, as I am in Britain now and think it could be really relevant to my future of leading nature based activities, both in schools and private courses.
European children and permaculture network -
I was contacted several weeks ago about participating in a European network of permaculture educators specialising in creating an on-line database of lesson plans for teaching permaculture to children. I have agreed to devoting some time to this once it gets allocated funding and gets started. In the meantime I want to do this anyway, as I see it as a great way to be able to access lesson plans wherever I am in the world, and to support other teachers to do the same.
Diploma coming to an end -
Now that I am on my final projects I will soon be able to host and certify full permaculture design courses. It has always been my intention to connect my love for travelling with teaching permaculture courses around the world, and part of my action learning pathway for this diploma to be a part of a collective of teachers working together in this. I would like to consider this whilst designing my course plans.
I think this is very relevant to be included in this project as it creates a link between bringing aspects of permaculture to children in schools, and creating a dependable income stream, linking this back to project 6.
I began this work in February of this year as short term work for a friend, creating living willow structures and Earth looms in schools (with livingwillowlincoln.co.uk). After talking with many headteachers around the country I have had many conversations about the lack of ability or motivation for many teachers to be involved with outdoor activities with the school children, such as gardening or nature awareness. Some schools are lucky enough to have forest school teachers as a part of their staff, but for those who haven't there is often very little progress in leading children in this area, and most often the head teachers are very eager to improve on this. Visiting schools throughout the Spring, time and time again I saw greenhouses, polytunnels and raised beds with nothing growing or sprouting, most of the time totally overgrown and neglected. When I asked teachers about this they often said that their lack of time, passion and knowledge of what to do in the garden was very limited, and they would be very happy for someone to come in and take over.
Of course this was not always the case, and some schools that I have visited over the past few months (and there have been many) have completely blown me away. One in Devon had an earth roof classroom and a 3 acre nature conservation area, along with man-made pond with a cave hand decorated with shells and crystals by the children, which they sailed around in a small boat, also handmade by the children. They had cameras in the birds nests which live fed into the children's classrooms to record the birds lives. I've been documenting the best of the schools and keeping pictures for inspiration.
I also had several conversations with headteachers who showed me outdoor spaces and asked my opinion on what they can do to enhance this to inspire more outdoor learning for the children. I feel that I can offer more than just willow structures and Earth looms, and have begun looking into how I can most effectively reach school children and bring the ethics and practice of permaculture into their school environments, which is where it links in really well with this project.
Co-teaching opportunities on family permaculture courses -
There are two courses coming up in July and August 2014 that I've arranged to be involved with - on the first I am going to be there as a support teacher, and on the second I will be leading the children's activities.
Further teacher training opportunities -
I attended a permaculture Training of Teachers course with Designed Visions in Lincolnshire, UK in June 2014. I want to begin implementing the learning from this as soon as possible, to fully ingrain it into my work. I am also seriously considering beginning a Forest schools training course, as I am in Britain now and think it could be really relevant to my future of leading nature based activities, both in schools and private courses.
European children and permaculture network -
I was contacted several weeks ago about participating in a European network of permaculture educators specialising in creating an on-line database of lesson plans for teaching permaculture to children. I have agreed to devoting some time to this once it gets allocated funding and gets started. In the meantime I want to do this anyway, as I see it as a great way to be able to access lesson plans wherever I am in the world, and to support other teachers to do the same.
Diploma coming to an end -
Now that I am on my final projects I will soon be able to host and certify full permaculture design courses. It has always been my intention to connect my love for travelling with teaching permaculture courses around the world, and part of my action learning pathway for this diploma to be a part of a collective of teachers working together in this. I would like to consider this whilst designing my course plans.
Identifying the needs of each element
I thought I would look at the needs of each of the elements I have included within this project so far. .
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Lesson plan/course plan design
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Uploading lesson plans to internet
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Working within schools
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More training - permaculture TOT
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More training - forest schools
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Holistic development;
How can I develop this project (and my learning) to it's fullest potential?
To make the most of this project and to create the most positive effect on my surroundings, I would like to look at how I can best integrate this learning in as many areas as possible.
As Bill Mollison says, 'Yield is limited only by the imagination of the designer'
So I have looked at this through the process of zoning.
As Bill Mollison says, 'Yield is limited only by the imagination of the designer'
So I have looked at this through the process of zoning.
How my ideas fit within different zones
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Identifying yields in different areas of my life and surroundings
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What yields can I gain and where?
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Zone 0 (My self) -
Zone 2 (My local community) -
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Zone 1 (My immediate family) -
Zone 3 (My wider community/worldwide) -
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The interconnectedness of elements
From this map I can see that there are strong links showing that each element I am considering for this project support one another in several ways. I notice that the elements of training or education for myself are supporting other parts of the design through equipping me with more ideas, inspiration, techniques and confidence, but that I don't see the connections that show these trainings are being supported by the other elements. This shows me that I will need to input more personal energy to see these through.
Stacking functions within elements
From the map above I can see several functions coming out of each element. So I've listed them more clearly below.
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Designing lesson/course plans for childrens' permaculture
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Working in schools
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Uploading lesson plans
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Teacher training courses
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Finishing my diploma
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So. What to do now.. Using the influence and wisdom of the things I've looked at in my roots phase, I am going to apply this to developing a balanced course outline that covers all of these areas. As well as developing child centred activities and also family togetherness activities, the things that can bring positive change in families after they return home. (multi beneficial outcome, for me too!)
Below you can see some of the notes I made to help with this section.
Below you can see some of the notes I made to help with this section.
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Here is an input output analysis of working in childhood education
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continue onto the next page, the design
