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Permaculture teacher ettiquite
>Does anyone else have thoughts on what type of example a
>Permaculture designer/instructor should set by the way s/he lives their life?)
Loren
I have met a number of permaculture teachers, including Bill Mollison
and have read much more of the writings of those teachers outside
my area, I have come to personally decide that as a permaculture
teacher I want to stay at the grass roots level so that
the exchange of information is unhampered by heirarchy.
I have had a very successful teaching program and have been
close to burnout several times. (more successful than the
wildest expectations)
I think humility is the easiest form of mutual exhange.
I aim for exchange as I am convinced you cannot
know everything in permaculture.
Humility is rare and it is so easy to get excited about
being famous. The conference was full of famous
permaculture teachers, they are not able to connect with
the grass roots - their edge is quickly lost.
My family and I have decided to
publish all my work with a pseudoname (female or assexual name)
Fame can be a damaging side-effect in permaculture, leaving you
distant from friends, or
open to abuse, People except you to be a purist, perfect in every
aspect of your work/lifestyle.
Also
people can no longer treat you as a fellow human-being
but as a threat (she judges me etc),
as someone out to convert them!, or abuse in the form of people
trying to get all the contents of your brain into theirs in minimal time.
Some people even sit in judgement upon you - 'Look, her
children love to eat lollies!!! She is using a non-biodegradable computer"
Dealing with the public has always been draining for me as I care
intensely about the people I interact with. and it only takes one
to remind me that those I am careful with are not naturally careful
back.
I see the different effects of this on Mollison and David L.
one is weary, the other pessimistic.
I don't think I'll teaching permaculture as a teacher for very much longer
so maybe my model is not sustainable - so don't think
that it is ideal.
I think I prefer to quietly lead by example
and before people jump in and attack me on this,
There are many different people, different ways of learning
and we all have to find a way that is sustainable.
A good teacher in permaculture I think, is one who does not
seek students but they seek her/him.
April