Education vs Learning Rant & Weekend Planting Guide
By Jami Scholl | August 4, 2011 | 6:07 pm | Comments (2) | 
Lily Sun Illuminating Dusk.
This morning I woke to cooler temperatures – what a nice surprise, and what nice weather for planting! Obligations kept me in a windowless room for a segment of the morning where I sat in a substitute teacher training session. I was thinkingthat being a “sub” for a day or two a week at the high school level would be very useful in rounding out my experience in teaching, but I am now having second thoughts. And I voiced them to the lady in charge as I was walking out, bike helmet in hand.
“I am having second thoughts about doing this,” I said, “Not only would it be impossible for me to get my younger kids to school before high school begins, but the school day has been extended an hour and we are encouraged to come early and stay late without pay. Therefore the pay rate of $60 per day becomes nearly the same wage as a McDonald’s employee. I really wanted this experience. That rate of pay for someone highly educated?”
“Let me know what you decide,” she said with a smile on her face. She’s a very nice lady, truly.
If a school system has superintendent of this and that in and out of the room saying how important are all of the substitute teachers, how valued we are, how important is the role we fulfil and yet pay the equivalent rate as a fast food employee… what is the real message being conveyed here? Extrapolating outward into the realm of the garden, is it no wonder that garden and environmental education is not valued? (Not everything of value is quantifiable – aka “assessment,” yet this is where the $’s are attached.) What are our kids getting “educated” to do? It certainly doesn’t seem like they are learning to take care of themselves on the most basic and fundamental levels whether for food production or thinking “outside the box” in CREATING A LIFE and LIVELIHOOD rather than working a job! And does “education” equate to “learning”? For you homeschoolers out there, you know what I am talking about!
Learning takes place all the time. And how does FAILURE relate to learning? Assessment negates the acceptability of failure. I believe that failure is truly a failing if nothing is learned. Failure happens in the garden all the time – its called LIFE! Thomas Edison has some great quotes in regard to failure… here are a few of them:
“I am not discouraged, because every wrong attempt discarded is another step forward.”
“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”
“Many of life’s failures are men who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.”
And here is one which reminds me of farm-gardening:
“Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.”
For me I like learning about food (soil-to-table including the cultural and security issues) neurobiology, art & photography, writing, health issues, entrepreneurship, politics and city planning, music and education… that is, until recently. (Just kidding, sort of.) My mission is to prepare you for a future that is uncertain, concentrating mostly on the realm of food from the perspective of a Permaculture designer.
Good teachers meet the student where they are in regards to knowledge, abilities and learning styles. This year my venue has been this blog, a few of my products, and speaking engagements regarding the potager and Permaculture & Sustainability. Soon it will expand to classes, more publications and the Garden the City 2012 Project. I am happy to announce that I have an article in the latest Permaculture Activist magazine addressing the topic of aesthetics in the garden. Garden the City 2012: Painting with Edibles is continuing to become reality and will bring that article to life in the Bloomington Entertainment and Arts District. More exciting news will be forthcoming as the project moves forward!
For now I will leave you, my dear reader, a planting list (zone 6) for the weekend:
Corn salad/mache
Endive
Leaf lettuce
Mustard
Peas
Radish
Spinach
For Cold Frame or Hoop House:
Corn salad/mache
Lettuce
Turnip
Winter onion
Scallion
Garlic
Homesteading/Orchard tip: 1 Gallon of water per week for every newly planted fruit tree, and ½ gallon minimum for newly planted berries.
Should you have any tips, reminders or thoughts of your own about the topic of failure or gardens, please share in the comments section below!
Happy Gardening!
jami
Comments (2) | | Categories: Community Food Security,Gardens,Homesteading,Permaculture,Planting List,Urban Agriculture | Tags: Education, Empowerment, Food Security, Gardens, Permaculture, Planting List, Urban Agriculture
Diana Webb says ...
I agree, sub-teachers don’t get the pay that they deserve. The school system should just hire regular teachers if they need them…at the teachers pay, not fast food pay. Makes you wonder what they are using our tax dollars for.
Posted at 12:01 pm on August 5, 2011
Jami Scholl says ...
Attendance at school board meetings will inform you of where your money is going. The generation that are now grandparents are giving up prime opportunity and power to share their wealth of wisdom to influence positive changes for these children – our next leaders. I will add that subs are necessary for these reasons: teacher illness, teachers to take care of their own families, in-service training, cooperation & planning between the teachers in order to give the children the best education possible. Thanks for writing, Mom!
Posted at 2:03 pm on August 5, 2011