Transformative Holistic Teaching methods

Participant group

8 day course in Transformative Holistic Teaching methods

An applied and active learning opportunity inspired by permaculture, using whole systems thinking coupled with reflective learning and action!

dates tbd, likely to be July 2020

At Carraig Dúlra Permaculture farm, County Wicklow, Ireland

Who is it for?

Complete beginners looking to start teaching Permaculture
More experienced teachers looking to expand or reinvigorate their practise,
Anyone who wants to expand their informal adult and community education teaching and facilitation toolkit,
Teachers in formal settings looking to bring in deeper and more holistic learning.

With tutors Suzie Cahn, Hannah Mole and guest tutors from our PDC.

What’s so special about this course?

The course is fully integrated with elements of Carraig Dúlra’s Permaculture Design Course. You will be actively learning alongside experienced teachers and facilitators 'live' on the PDC, in a small 'guild' learning group, with supported evening sessions with tutors Suzie and Hannah. You'll experience the inside track of running a PDC and at the same time developing your own teaching styleand practise to use in any context.

This means that it will be a completely unique, once-off opportunity to start your teaching/facilitation journey or to develop your skills in a very engaged ‘live’ setting.

We are designing a dynamic space for each participant to develop their own unique style of teaching. We’ll be using the approach that we have honed through bringing our own diverse past learning and applying it to the Permaculture Design Certificate Course that we’ve been offering at Carraig Dúlra over the past 5 years. Our combined teaching experience spans standard permaculture formats, formal and informal community education, further education college courses and individual mentoring.

The Carraig Dúlra PDC has people care and a deep understanding of diverse learner needs at its core. Our style nurtures and uses our innate ecological intelligence and brings nature’s design into play to enhance our teaching and facilitation. This approach takes into account both individual learning journeys and a collaborative group culture using active and reflective learning and a designed immersive learning environment. This allows for high levels of peer to peer collaboration between educators, and learners alike. We also explore how to create informal immersive learning environments, and includes lots of games and fun or ‘edutainment’ (education and entertainment).

During the course you will learn through a diversity of methods: observation, reflection and analysis, practise, peer to peer work, supportive guidance, and mentorship from experienced teachers.

You can expect it to be lively, interactive, learner led, community based, innovative and fun!

What you’ll do on the course:

See and learn from the diverse teaching and learning styles of our PDC tutor team.
Experience the ‘behind the scene’s of a PDC, join planning and review meetings
Design sessions, solo and with a co-tutor,
Practise presenting and facilitating in a variety of settings,
Give and receive feedback,
Evaluate different settings,
Reflect on and evaluate your own practise, explore intentions, goals, and emerging style as an educator and design your pathways forward,
Avail of one to one mentoring with experienced tutors,
Listen deeply,
Bust some fears!
Access opportunities for further ‘shadow teaching’ and mentorship,
Visit Carraig Dulra a 10 year old Permaculture research and learning centre,
Challenge and empower yourself, build self-confidence and have fun!

As we are fully integrating this with the PDC there are a maximum of 6 places available on this course.

What topics are covered on the course?

While we are using Permaculture design to design the teaching, the course is very suitable for teachers and facilitators in various disciplines. We welcome educators from all spheres. We won’t be covering any PDC content or topics other than what you get to sit in on during the PDC itself, so if your Permaculture knowledge is somewhat faded or non-existent you might want to brush up a little before coming to the course.

Topics covered

Philosophy and Ethics of teaching
Authentic teaching
Teaching and Learning Styles
Teaching approaches
Ecological intelligent teaching methodology inspired by permaculture
Creating positive learning environments
Fear busting
Presentation Skills
Evaluations and Feedback
Session planning
Course design
Teaching tools
Working with natural systems - Reviewing and tweaking in-course
Community building
‘Edutainment’ - Games, energisers and fun in teaching
Running practicals
Working with different sized groups
Collaboration and team-work between teachers
Participation and consent
Economics of teaching
Venue logistics and variables

And more….

How much does it cost?

Your investment for the entire course is €540. Deposit option and Payment plans are available.

This includes:

8 full-on days of dynamic learning,
All food, local, organic, vegan, plentiful and delicious!
Free Camping onsite,
Course Workbook,
Course Certificate,
Opportunities for further shadow teaching and collaborations with Suzie and Hannah.