"Teaching Permaculture Teachers", a training for those who want to teach based on the participatory learning methods of Rosemary Morrow. May 9 - 14 at Vale de Lama in Southern Portugal.

Here is a post I wrote about Rosemary...:

“Sometimes a person enters your life and completely changes the way you look at the world”.

That’s what happened when I took a permaculture teachers training course with Rosemary (“Rowe”) Morrow in Austria in 2011. I came to the course with the idea that the way to be a good teacher was “chalk and talk”: standing in front of the classroom and doling out information. That was the only model of education that I was really familiar with in a formal setting.

Over the course of six days, she slowly but surely dismantled this way of thinking. During the daily sessions of practicing different teacher techniques, she would be there to give me specific challenges to help me let go of this burden, explaining that the collective wisdom of the group of participants is usually more than that of just the teacher; that the role of the teacher should be one of a facilitator, ensuring the flow of knowledge between the participants; that formal education as we know it is overrated and ineffective; and that a teacher doesn’t need to know everything, and can say “I don’t know” when they don’t know!

I feel fortunate to have been able to get to know her through various collaborations, including a two year diploma apprenticeship with her and the Blue Mountains Permaculture Institute, and co-teaching five courses. During this time, I’ve come to realise that she is truly one of the most remarkable people on the planet.