Advanced Teacher Training in Youth and Child Permaculture Education http://www.motherearthschool.com/permaculture.shtml
*72-hour PDC or 12+ hour 'Intro to PC' are prerequisite for the full course, PDC required for receiving an advanced teacher training certificate. CEC's and college credits are available for this course through Lewis & Clark College. Please download the form here. Permaculture is the conscious creation of a regenerative system that reflects the inherent balance, stability, and harmony of nature. Education should be the same. This course applies permaculture principles and design to popular and alternative educational models. It offers a wide range of learners and teachers an opportunity to explore new possibilities and practice new skills. It supports the shift towards regenerative learning and living, and the recognition that each are inextricably connected in the practice of life.This course is designed for parents and teachers of children ranging in age from early childhood to high school who desire to integrate permaculture ethics & principles into their school, classroom, community, curriculum and/or teaching design. Depending on the constellation of the course participants, some of the time we will be working together as a large group, and other times we may hold break-out groups focused on early childhood, grade school, middle and high school. Many hands-on and experiential aspects will be integrated into the course, modeling and practicing these and related topics:
This course illuminates ways that permaculture can be applied to all aspects of teaching and specifically hones in on: nature as teacher, school gardens, food forests, storytelling, diversity awareness, community building, nature crafts & making classroom supplies, classroom management, movement/games and designing nature into your curriculum. This course is very hands-on ~ we teach using many different learning styles as a way to model doing this for children. Each day begins with a morning circle designed for different age groups, interactive lectures, activities and workshops. The last day of the course is a 'Skill Share for Children' during which we open our site to the public and groups of students will present an activity to children of a variety of ages as a final project for the course. You will receive instructor and peer evaluations and will be issued a certificate by Learning Gardens Institute. You must have a Permaculture Design Certificate in order to receive the Advanced Teacher Training Certificate. All others will receive a certificate of completion. About the Teachers:Patty Parks-Wasserman is a permaculture diplomat, founder and director of the Institute of Permaculture Education for Children . She has designed permaculture programs for schools and taught permaculture and nature skills to children and youth for 10 years in public, private, homeschooling and non-formal educational environments for toddlers through 12th grade. By observing student enthusiasm and witnessing the change they inspire in their homes and communities, she believes that children and their educators are able to effect large-scale change on global issues. She has worked as the environmental specialist at an International Baccalaureate charter school in Albuquerque, NM, where she developed a multidisciplinary Food Forest curriculum with grade 7-12 teachers. This work will enable the Albuquerque area to become more self reliant, make schoolwork relevant and therefore more meaningful, and infuse fun into the curriculum for the students as they experience a sense of purpose and empowerment. She is currently teaching middle school science at a local public school. Matthew Bibeau, MSEd, is the Development Director of Mother Earth School and has worked in the field of garden-based education since 2005. A graduate of Portland State University’s Leadership in Ecology, Culture & Learning program, Matt’s work has also focused on the development and implementation of school gardens and garden-based learning programs in Portland Public Schools, as well as the development of three urban farm sites, Jean’s Farm, Learning Gardens Laboratory and Tryon Life Community Farm. Trained in permaculture design by Toby Hemenway (2006) and in permaculture teaching by Tom Ward and Jude Hobbs (2008), Matt has been generating momentum as a permaculture educator, co-coordinating Toby's PDC and co-teaching TLC Farm's PDC from 2009-2011. He serves as an active board member of the Learning Gardens Institute, sits on the board of the Oregon Sustainable Agriculture Land Trust and is a veteran coordinator of the City Repair Project's Village Building Convergence (2006-2012). He is currently the Lead Director of Mother Earth School. Kelly Hogan has focused her life's work on caregiving in various forms. During her college years studying psychology, she earned her living by caring for adults with severe mental and physical disabilities. She remained in this field for the next 12 years before shifting her focus to the fresh perspective of working with children. She received her Waldorf teaching certificate from the Micha-el Institute in Portland, OR and has been teaching since 2005. She moved to the intentional community at Tryon Life Community Farm in 2007 where she began to work as the assistant kindergarten teacher for Mother Earth Kindergarten - the first 'official' all-outdoor kindergarten in the United States. For the next 7 years, she co-founded Mother Earth School and was the preschool teacher there. It was at the farm where she also became exposed to Permaculture. After receiving her Permaculture Design Certificate in 2009, she realized that Mother Earth School needed to integrate permaculture and wilderness skills with Waldorf teaching methods in order to create an educational movement that serves the needs of children in today's world. She has been pursuing training in Rite of Passage, neurodevelopment, Jon Young's 8 Shields mentoring philosophy, and wilderness survival & traditional skills, focusing on tracking and bird language as a means of 'reading the stories' of the forest. She is also working with Theater of the Oppressed as a means of exploring social equity and cultural accessibility in private schools. Enrollment & Logistics:
Enrollment Process:When you are ready to enroll, please mail a check for $480, [plus $120 if you are also registering for the Intro to PC weekend] made payable to: Mother Earth School and mail to ~ Mother Earth School Permaculture Teacher Training (specify: Taos or Portland) Please include your contact information with your check and also send an email toinfo@motherearthschool.com confirming that a check is on the way. You will receive a confirmation email and then be added to our Permaculture Teacher Training email list to be notified of updates and logistical details once your payment has been received. That is also the address to email with any follow-up inquiries and clarifying questions. $100 of your payment is a non-refundable deposit to hold your space in the course. The remaining balance is refundable up until 30 days before the course begins in the case that you have an unexpected change of plans. Within 30 days of the start of the course, no money is refundable, but your payment can be applied to register for the next year's training. To pay online, please click on this payment button, adding an additional 3% to payments made online to cover the Paypal service charges we incur. Please make a note on the description line that you are registering for the Advanced Teacher Training and specify the location of the course (either Taos or Portland). Taos course details:The Location:Lettuce Grow Farm is a 2.25 acre family operated farm and educational center in El Prado, outside of beautiful Taos, NM. The physical address is 1010 Francis Rd. El Prado, NM 87529. Taos does not have its own airport that operates regular flights, but does have some smaller airports in the region, including Los Alamos County Airport (LAM) and Santa Fe Municipal Airport (SAF), which are both within a 2 hour drive of El Prado. The largest airport in the region is the Albuquerque Airport (ALB) which is approximately 3 hours from El Prado. There are shuttles that will bring you from the airport directly to the location of our course for approximately $60 each way. Advance reservations are necessary. Accommodations & Transportation:On-site tent camping is available at Lettuce Grow Farm at a cost of $10 per night. You will need to provide your own tent, bedding, personal items and food for dinner. There is a 15-person limit, so please make reservations by emailing info@lettucegrowfarm.com. You will have access to kitchen & bathroom facilities (both indoor and outdoor showers) and food storage. Shuttles to town will be coordinated for those who do not have cars in order to purchase groceries and participate in evening outings. Other resources for lodging include local hotels, Airbnb and Couchsurfers. Please note that if you plan to stay in the area but not on-site, there is not access to the site through local public transportation, so a car or bike rental is recommended. Optional breakfasts ($5 per day) and lunches ($10 per day) will be available to all Taos course participants. All meals are vegan and gluten-free. Please email Julie to reserve meals:info@lettucegrowfarm.com. What to BringCourse reading and references will be provided online before the course begins. There are not prerequisite reading assignments, but review of some of the information in the course packet before the course begins may be helpful. Each student will receive a printed version of our course syllabus upon arrival at the orientation evening. Additional resources (such as sample curriculums) will be available online for free or in print for an additional fee. Please bring writing implements and a notebook or paper for notetaking. The weather in Taos at the end of June averages in the low 40 degrees (F) at night and in the mid 80 degrees (F) during the day. Desert temperatures vary greatly from the middle of the night to the heat of the day, so please bring a variety of clothing including t-shirts, long sleeve shirts, sweaters, warm socks and a jacket. Sunscreen and sunhat are advised, as we anticipate (but cannot promise!) sunshine. Please do bring rain gear in case of rain. Contact Information:Please contact Julie Shedko: info@lettucegrowfarm.com with any additional site-specific questions about Lettuce Grow Farm, and to make reservations for food and/or camping there. For questions about registration for the Taos course, please email Kelly Hogan:info@motherearthschool.com. Summertown, TN course details |
