Various post IPC courses will be provided by international Permaculture practitioners during Dec. 9 – 12/13, 2024, depending individual course length. Courses will be listed here. Registration for these courses will still be open during the convergence, meaning you can pay the fee during the convergence.
Course #1: Post-IPC Permaculture Teacher Training for Empowering Educators of Youth & Children
Description:
One size does not fit all when it comes to how we teach our youth and children. The methods for integrating permaculture into their learning experience are equally unique to their age and developmental phases, as well as their lived experience and educational setting.
Join Matt and Monica as they offer an informative and embodied learning experience for educators of youth and children, relevant from preschool through high school. Similar to how the permaculture design course incorporates a breadth of topics that reinforce the patterns of the natural world and methods of design, this training draws its strength from addressing a wide range of ages and settings.
Even though educators will often work with a specific age range, our philosophy is that there are valuable lessons in understanding and being able to teach to a multitude of ages and developmental phases and this kind of whole-system knowledge and experience will strengthen your understanding and effectiveness as a permaculture educator.
For example, some teachers of high school-aged youth might consider the approaches for working with kindergarten-aged children to be irrelevant, but this couldn’t be farther from the truth! We will draw invaluable insight from approaches designed for younger learners to enliven the educational experience of middle and high schoolers.
One of the key takeaways of this training is the re-discovery of the inner child in all of us. This is the part of us that was most playful and inquisitive, the part that saw the wonders of the world all around us. As our adult lives required a shifting towards greater responsibility, many of us were pressured to squelch the innate spark of our playful inner child. In rekindling this spark, we will enliven and enhance our roles as teachers and mentors.
Another takeaway will be the development of a Permaculture Activity or a Personal Action Plan. You will be provided guidance and time during the training to consider your own goals and objectives. Drawing from the playful and supportive dynamic of the training, this flexible-format output will help propel you in your own teaching and learning journey as a contributor to the growing field of permaculture education for youth & children.
Course Content:
Instructors will model learning sessions and activities for a range of ages, and provide useful methods and approaches for a range of educational settings ranging from forested farms and sprawling schoolyards to inner cities where access to greenspace is often a primary constraint.
Topics will include:
- The Role of Permaculture in Education
- The Theory and Practice of Embodying Permaculture
- Re-awakening our Inner Child
- Inspiration through Exploration
- Teaching to Multiple Intelligences and Alter-Abilities
- Permaculture-informed Class Management
- School Gardens as Permaculture Classrooms
- The Art of Questioning (and not needing to know all the answers!)
- Bringing Learning to the Land with a Farm School
- Creative Approaches to Developing Curriculum & Content
- Challenges & Opportunities of Densely Urban Permaculture Education
Course Activities include:
- Presentations
- Dialogue
- Activity modeling
- Sensory awareness games
- Group work and the development of a Permaculture Activity of Personal Action Plan.
About the Instructors:
*Matt Bibeau, MSEd
Matt is an international permaculture educator based out of Portland, Oregon, USA. He is a lover of nature and finds great joy in connecting youth to the wonders of the natural world. Permaculture helped Matt channel his passion and enthusiasm into garden-based and nature-based education.
Matt completed his PDC with Toby Hemenway in 2006 and Teacher Training with Jude Hobbs in 2008. He holds an undergraduate degree in environmental science and a Master’s Degree in Sustainability Education with a focus on applying permaculture to school gardens and urban educational farms. Matt has taught both college and community-based permaculture courses for adults, has worked in both the public and private school settings in the USA for ages ranging from preschool through high school, and travels to Japan annually to offer programs and training for a wide range of ages.
Matt’s employment background includes tenures with the City Repair Project (2005-2020), Mother Earth School (2009-2015), and the Institute of Permaculture Education for Children (2011-2019). He co-organized advanced permaculture training for youth educators from 2010-2019 and Urban Permaculture Design courses from 2014-2021.
Matt currently lives and works at Jean’s Urban Forest Farm, an educational farm that hosts a full-time grade school as well as seasonal workshops and courses for adults. He also runs a permaculture installation and consultation business, PDX Permaculture, and serves on the Board of Directors of the Oregon Sustainable Agriculture Land Trust and the Permaculture Institute of North America.
Watch an interview with Matt HERE. / Watch an overview of past training HERE.
*Monica Ibacache
A native of Chile, Monica is a New York City based public speaker, community organizer, sustainability educator, and ecological designer since 2007. An avid gardener as a small child with her grandparents in Chile, she rekindled her passion for growing food as an adult while living in southeast Alaska.
Monica has advanced certifications in Permaculture Design and Teaching, and she currently serves as the president of the Permaculture Institute of North America (PINA) and sits on the boards of the Abundant Earth Foundation and the Northeast Biogas Initiative Advisory Council. She is the founder and executive director of the non-profit Beyond Organic Design and previously served on the Board of Directors for the Institute of Permaculture for Children (IPEC), the NYC Indoor Gardening Society (IGSA), IPCC International Permaculture Convergence Council.
Monica is committed to improving food systems while advancing social and environmental justice globally. She has dedicated her life to working with diverse and marginalized communities in education and local development in the U.S. and abroad.
Monica teaches Oregon State and Cornell University’s online permaculture courses. She is a lifetime fellow in the U.S. Grassroots Accelerator for Women Environmental Leaders through Women’s Earth Alliance and Sierra Club, and she sits on the New York Climate Education Hub Advisory Committee.
Listen to an interview with Monica HERE. Watch an interview with Monica about teaching permaculture to youth HERE.
More information: ipc15tw@earthpassengers.org
SEE YOU IN TAIWAN!
