Teachers Meeting March 2011

The third meeting of the education working group took place in and around the picturesque village of Malham in the Yorkshire Dales. The following work streams were addressed:

1. Web Strategy
Debbie Jones updated the group on the work done to enable teachers to share resources via this website.

2. Quality Development
Looby Macnamara summarised the latest results from the PDC follow-up survey

3. Marketing
The Marketing group reported that they have experienced difficulty finding the time or resources to move this work forward.

4. Schools & Youth
Rod Cunningham ran a workshop on developing materials for teaching permaculture for young people (and that tie into the national curriculum) and formulating strategies for engagement with schools. The workshop was well attended and moved forward in a number of significant areas.

5. Core Curriculum
Aranya led a workshop on the development of a core curriculum for the PDC. Write-up to follow...

6. Teaching Pathway/Apprenticeship
Hedvig Murray and Nigel McKean presented their draft teaching apprenticeship pathway design. This was based on a survey of teachers that was conducted at the convergence, and will form part of their diploma portfolios. After presenting the design, they ran a workshop to move the design forward. A final draft will be prepared and then submitted to the board for consideration. It is hoped that it will eventually form Association policy and guidance for new teachers.

Other sessions looked at a common session plan template for sharing sessions, teaching material exchange, education futures and more.

The weekend was rounded off with a walk through some of the Yorkshire Dales' most dramatic limestone scenery and some well-earned refreshment.

Thanks go to all those who gave up time to contribute to the working group.