Meet the Spuds

Agri Aware, the Agricultural Awareness Trust for food and farming in Ireland, has almost 2,000 schools have registered for it's Meet the Spuds potato-growing challenge to celebrate the United Nations designated International Year of the Potato. More than 100,000 pupils are busy digging, sowing and watering as they compete for over €10,000 in educational funds. Since the initiative’s launch in February, hundreds of schools have submitted pictures and letters testifying the educational benefits of the challenge and showcasing their hard work.

The Thiagi Group

The Thiagi Group website is a useful source of ideas and resources for those interested in using games and similar activities for enhanced learning and participation.

Facilitating learning for social change

The 'Facilitatiing learning for social change (FLASC)' initiative was established with the aim of facilitating more effective learning for social change through a better understanding and integration of theory, experience and practice of reflection and learning. Activitites included a dialogue which took place through e-fora and an international workshop in the Spring of 2006. The workshop report aims to show how we need to share learning and build knowledge collectively, in order to enrich society everywhere, for the benefit of all. It covers the workshop background and process and goes on to look at key outcomes of the event as well as how to move forward from such an initiative.

You can download a copy of the workshop report here.

What is a Community of Practice?

'Communities of practice are formed by people who engage in a process of collective learning in a shared domain of human endeavor: a tribe learning to survive, a band of artists seeking new forms of expression, a group of engineers working on similar problems, a clique of pupils defining their identity in the school, a network of surgeons exploring novel techniques, a gathering of first-time managers helping each other cope.'

Communities of Practice: The Organisational Frontier by Etienne Wenger is a good introduction

This blog posting also highlights some important aspects of communities of practice.

For other interesting views about communities of practice, click here.

The importance of the Third Place

Ray Oldenburg in his book The Great Good Place demonstrates why informal public gathering places are essential to community and public life. He argues that bars, coffee shops, general stores, and other "third places" (in contrast to the first and second places of home and work), are central to local democracy and community vitality. By exploring how these places work and what roles they serve, Oldenburg offers placemaking tools and insight for individuals and communities everywhere.

According to the Carnegie Trust Oldenburg identifies eight characteristics of ‘third’ spaces that are particularly relevant to the needs of activists from dispersed rural communities:

1. Neutral Ground: In conurbations, there is a critical mass of humanity who share interests and therefore who can choose to meet up. If rural areas are to benefit from the rich and varied association of inventive and entrepreneurial people, there needs to be neutral ground where they can meet up: somewhere where individuals can come and meet up with like minded participants.
2. Leveller: Acceptance and participation is not dependant on an individual’s status at work (such as professional community development worker) or in society (parish or community council chair or landowner). There are no formal criteria for membership.
3. Conversation is the Main Activity: and humour is valued. Where the past experience of many participants will be of lectures or seminars where they are talked at, in third spaces conversation is spirited, engrossing and there is a sense of genuine inquiry.
4. Accessibility & Accommodation: Third places are easy to access and are accommodating to those who come along. They keep long hours and conversation may continue into the early hours. Activity is not rigidly structured.
5. The Regulars: A cadre of regulars who attract newcomers and who give the space ‘mood’ and set the tone of conviviality. Eden Foundation is particularly good at this – mixing and matching individuals who they imagine will get on and have interests in common.
6. A Low Profile: Third places are without pretence and are comfortable and homely. Much conversation happens around a large table, accompanied by good food.
7. The Mood is Playful: Word-play, wit, frivolity are normally present. Food and music seem to be an important ingredient as is a sense of place.
8. A Home Away from Home: Home like, easy, warm, a feeling of ‘rootedness’

The cutting Edge

The Eden Project in Cornwall, a Rural Action Research Partner of the Carnegie Trust, is in the process of creating a new informal learning space, the Edge, for some of the great voices of the age – artists, writers, scientists and musicians - to work with communities and families and share the best ideas they have for improving their lives and environments, now and in the future.

The Edge woud seem to meet the criteria that Oldenburg highlights for informal 'third place' learning spaces

People's Learning and Action

The Institute for People's Education and Action seeks to identify, support, and facilitate community-based, learner-led education as a strategic tool for community organizing and democratic social change. It has some useful links to Grundtvig Folk Schools, Latin American Popular Education, Study Circle learning and much more. They also have a useful set of resources including links to other People's and Communal based learning networks, an extensive bibliography and educational resources and toolkits. Very useful indeed.

Training for transformation

The Partners Training for Transformation, who have been hiding out in Ireland, are an independent agency dedicated to personal, group, organisational and societal transformation through community development work. Partners have been largely involved in cross-border and cross-cultural contexts and have developed considerable international networks. They have recently brought out the publication Partners Intercultural Companion to Training for Transformation: Exercises, Processes, Resources, and Reflections for Intercultural Work. This new resource written by Maureen Sheehy, Frank Naughton, and Collette O'Reagan is a compilation of exercises, processes, resources and reflections used by facilitators over several years. It draws mainly from the experience of PARTNERS’ work in Ireland, Wales, England, Scotland and in a European Grundtvig Learning experience.

Building on our strengths

The Carnegie Trust has joined with the International Association of Community Development (IACD) to examine projects that have built on local strengths and assets to achieve rural regeneration worldwide and hopefully develop a dialogue on sharing ideas and lessons learned. Read more here.

How does learning happen?

Following my recent bout of teaching on participation and partnerships, which was all too brief and was always going to be a shallow treatment, and some extended reflection it dawned on me that I had neglected one important area. While we discussed and debated many of the reasons for participation and partnerships and why it is important to strengthen such processes for effective rural development, I had failed to mention why participatory approaches are relevant to the ways that people learn, especially adult learners.

There is a massive amount of information available online about adult learning, theories of learning and learning styles. I won't go into this in detail but it is important to have a good understanding and how participatory approaches facilitate learning. Firstly there are a variety of theories of learning which include the behaviourist, cognitive and constructivist approach. There is no universal theory of learning so it is useful to have a grasp of these. Rural development is largely in the business of teaching adults and there are special characteristics of adult learners that need to be considered. These include: wealth of personal experience; a desire to obtain knowledge they can use in the context of their real lives; enjoy interaction and sharing experiences and learning from this usually in a safe environment. Adults too learn in a variety of ways. Much educational research supports the idea of four main steps in the way adults learn. This is now known as the Experiential Learning Cycle and involving Experience: Reflection: Thinking: and Action which leads to gradual transformation in the learner. But adults are individuals and we all have our own learning preferences or Learning Styles. Basically learners can be divided into four categories; Pragmatists: Reflectors: Theorists: and Activists but it is more likely that we fall into more than one category or style and that a number of contexts and factors influence this.

What is my point? The most important point is to appreciate that there are a variety of ways in which people learn and that this must be taken into account when you are training or running workshops. And that running such trainings and workshops in a participatory and flexible way is the most appropriate approach to achieve effective learning.

If you are interested in this area of teaching and learning I would recommend Peter Taylor's book 'How to Design a Training Course; A Guide to Participatory Curriculum Development. Extracts of this book are available online.

Lack of participatory spaces for reflection on rural development practice

The lack of non-threatening and participatory forums for serious reflection on the values, attitudes and behaviours necessary for rural development was, for me anyway, one of the most important gaps identified during my interaction with postgraduate students on the QUB Rural Development masters degree recently. Such spaces appear to be largely absent in the university environment but it also appears that the opportunity for reflective practice in the field is minimal as well. At least from the feedback I was able to get from my small group. This left me wondering how rural development practitioners and community development workers are equipped with the necessary skills and knowledge that will be necessary to 'take forward the practice of rural community development over the next 10 years'. Is it assumed that practitioners will just learn on-the-job? Are these skills and attitudes not important enough to 'teach and learn' in a university or organisational context? Can they be taught? Can they be taught in an academic setting? These are all questions that we discussed during the session and largely agreed that they could and should be taught in universities and were essential to creating rural development organisations and workers who value reflective practice. Local rural development organisations certainly see this as a priority. The Rural Community Network (RCN) have undertaken consultations that have identified the skills and knowledge that are necessary for effective rural development practice. We covered much of this in our sessions on participation and partnership. In its latest Policy Link (Issue 1, November 2007), the RCN asks,

'will the Rural Development Programme lead to greater equality and good relations'

While political will, leadership and an appropriate policy framework are essential in realising this, it will be the everyday reflective practice and appropriate skills and knowledge of rural development practitioners at grassroots level that are certainly going to be essential if such equality is to be realised. What I would like to know is where such values, skills and knowledge and capacity building is taking place? Who is going to undertake 'real' monitoring and evaluation of such intangibles? And How?

Power, Process and Participation

This publication dates back to 1995 and strangely I didn't come across it until a few weeks ago when I was preparing for some postgraduate classes in rural development at Queens and the Rural College. I still found it very useful as an introductory text for students of participation and participatory processes. Before describing a good range of participatory tools that might be considered for facilitating environmental and social change there is an interesting section of 'issues' related to participation. This section covers a range of topics that any participatory practitioner needs to consider at the outset of a participatory process such as the ends and means of participation and the uneven relations of power among participants. There is also a useful six step checklist for those considering using a participatory process.

Social commitment of knowledge

'The Global University Network for Innovation (GUNI) invites the academic community worldwide to participate in the 4th International Barcelona Conference on Higher Education to explore the role of higher education as a key element for human and social development and to rethink and propose new routes for the interchange of values between higher education institutions and society. '

Reinventing higher education: toward participatory and sustainable development

There is growing debate within higher education circles about the relevance of capacity building and enhancement with in universities and colleges in the face of globalisation. Among topics at the top of the agenda are the needs for new forms of learning, new institutional forms that support the attainment of sustainable development. Much of what is relevant to this debate will be discussed at this forthcoming UNESCO conference in Bangkok.

By the way, we are currently in the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development.

Why is the conference such a bad place for learning?

The Development's Futures 2007 conference has come and gone and as hoped it proved an excellent forum to find out about the who and what of international development in Ireland.

Firstly, I would like to take this opportunity to thank the NUI Galway and conference organisers for an excellent and informative weekend. I thoroughly enjoyed the sessions and the opportunity to meet new colleagues. It also provided an opportunity to explore Galway city in more detail, especially the excellent Crane Bar (more below).

Secondly, I would like to point out that the chosen title for this particular posting is not a comment specifically on the Development's Futures conference itself. More my own personal feelings about conferences in general and the need for more analytical and participatory spaces to explore the types of issues and challenges that conferences often reveal.

Enough of that, back to Development's Futures. Participants at the conference were fortunate to have the opportunity to witness two fine speakers of international repute; Mr Palagummi Sainath and Mr Michael Edwards, both of whom had many important and relevant things to say; Mr Sainath about the dramatic negative impacts of current development models on the livelihoods and wellbeing of the poor, and Mr Edwards about the need for new approaches to and institutional forms of learning in the pursuit of better and fairer development models. Both speeches were well delivered and thought-provoking. The content of the parallel sessions was also excellent and I certainly learned much, especially about current initiatives in areas related to development education in Third Level Institutes ( TLIs) in Ireland.

Unfortunately (like most conferences) there were limited opportunities to meet other practitioners. However, overall the conference was exceptionally well organised and we were looked after extremely well.

However, having coming away from the event, certainly much the better for having participated, I could not help but reflect that conferences in general are poor places for effective learning. To me they seem to miss and avoid opportunities for improved analysis and dialogue and hence learning. And by that I mean 'conventional' conferences in general (in the same way that Dennis O'Hearn feels that Universities in general are poor places for learning). I think this conclusion is especially important in relation to conferences that deal with international development as opposed to other academic disciplines or subjects. With the livelihoods of the world's poor at stake it is critical that we get the analysis, debate and dialogue just right so that we move forward with improved learning and primed for real and positive action for transformation.

I fully understand and appreciate how difficult and challenging these events are to organise to the satisfaction of all participants. As far as I am aware this is the only national gathering of its kind that addresses international development. So when almost 200 development practitioners attend it provides an excellent opportunity for in-depth analysis and dialogue on issues that might lead to new and improved forms of learning. Personally, I felt that there was insufficient time and space created to explore many of the topics and issues in real and effective detail and was often frustrated as a result of this. I could have done without so many sessions (or at least more streamlined presentations). I am not sure the best way around these problems but I couldn't help thinking that opportunities had gone-a-begging. For all I know (which is limited!) there are other appropriate and relevant avenues for practitioners to inform policy and practice which I am not aware of.

Unfortunately I was only able to attend the sessions related to Education & Learning and Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development. I was left wondering how experiences and lessons learned by practitioners in these fields might be shared on a more regular basis. If anyone has information about any networks, conferences, meetings or other activities related to these topics I would be keen to know how I might participate.

For those particularly interested in exploring more relevant approaches and paradigms to education and learning for sustainable development especially at Third Level, there are two interesting international meetings coming up. UNESCO is hosting a conference titled, Reinventing Higher Education: Toward Participatory and Sustainable Development, later this month. Early next year the Global University Network for Innovation (GUNI) is hosting the 4th International Conference on Higher Education.

For anyone interested in participation, participatory approaches & methods and participatory learning in general there is a comprehensive list of resources available here.

Anyway just a few thoughts and suggestions on what was a thoroughly enjoying and rewarding weekend.

Please read the other 13 entries below on other aspects of the Development's Futures conference.

Thus Spoke Michael Edwards

Being at the back of a packed O' hEocha lecture theatre it was at times hard to keep up with Michael Edwards as he talked passionately and with conviction on Global social transformation and the co-creation of Development's Futures. It was certainly worth the effort though as he actively engaged the audience on his vision(s) of multiple pathways and multiple conclusions for development. Commencing with the post-September 11 'throwback attitude' of the 'Can Do school' (including our very own Bono and Geldof and their colleague Jeffrey Sachs) and their counterparts at the opposite end of the spectrum, the 'Can't Do school' (lead by none other than William Easterly), Michael finally settled down to address 'what should we do?', or as he called it, the Should Do school. An acceptance of there being no blueprint or magic bullet for 'development' being the basis of this school of thought (multiple pathways, multiple visions, all valid in an a contested context). One that is not in sync with many of the technocratic and elitist approaches somewhat still prevalent in some international development circles. In calling for the need to nurture new 'institutional forms of learning' to support the Should Do school, Michael cited the examples of new democratic spaces being opened up in Brazil and the International Community of Women Living with Aids coalition. I would also like to add to this the new participatory spaces being opened up within higher learning institutes (HLIs) by initiatives such as the Learning and Teaching for Transformation (LTT) group, housed at IDS, which are attempting to create new forms of collaborative and social learning that challenge institutional resistance and technocratic and elitist approaches to learning and development practice.

A full transcript of Michael Edwards keynote address can be found here.

Development Education Resources and Methodologies - Centres

This session commenced with a presentation by Deidre O'Rourke with the promise 'to practice what we preach, in a workshop type activity, we will show how PLM works!'. Sadly no such workshop type activity eventuated maybe a result of the layout of the lecture hall or limitations of time. However, Deidre did elaborate on an interesting approach to participatory learning approaches in her presentation, Development education and participative learning methodologies (PLM) at Third Level. Deidre and her colleague's biggest challenge seems to be how to integrate PLM into large student group settings. By large group settings here we are talking about 200 students! Certainly a challenge indeed. Deidre highlighted something that I have come across many times when I talk to teachers or lecturers and that is the 'resistance of students to participatory methods and approaches'. But is it really 'student resistance'? Very often I have found that such student resistance can be easily and quickly overcome but then again I am often dealing with much smaller groups. Having said that I am more inclined to think that it is more the resistance of Third Level Institutes (TLIs) to participatory and collaborative forms of learning that is the problem (see Why is the university a bad place for learning?). Coupled with this is an educational system which from day one militates against any substantial forms of collaborative and critical learning. So until TLIs stop placing emphasis on knowledge banking and regurgitation, with appraisal and assessment based around this, then of course students are not going to see much value in the types of learning that PLM try to encourage. Deidre also highlighted another interesting issue in the general student body. That of using the terminology that is expected by the lecturer. Kind of mirrors the behaviour of many development practitioners who are equally guilty of using the terminology expected by the donor!

It was great to listen to Deidre and the efforts she and her colleagues are making. The challenge is considerable and one that is being taken up elsewhere. As I have posted on many times before the Learning and Teaching for Transformation (LTT) initiative is trying to address similar challenges and constraints that Deidre is facing at Third Level. They have collated a number of experiences and case studies, from the global north and south, that demonstrate how these challenges can be overcome but more importantly how innovative and novel collaborative and participatory approaches can improve student and TLI learning (emphasis on the latter). It would be great to hear from other lecturers at Third level in Ireland trying to grapple with similar issues regarding PLM.

Research Partnerships

Tom Crowley's presentation, Degrees of freedom: applied development research in Ethiopa through a south-north partnership programme, highlighted the impact of a joint MSc Rural Development programme offered by UCC and Mekelle University. Apparently this is the first programme of its kind in Ireland which I found surprising. It is certainly an interesting partnership, built on a strong history of collaboration. The programme certainly appears to be responding to an identified need and one which seems to be diversifying as there is a growing trend in students coming from NGO sectors. The programme combines a mixture of distance education methods and face-to-face sessions. The partnership hopes to develop this further into web-based learning.

It is great to see such partnerships developing. I often wonder why there are not more such partnerships developed between Irish universities and counterparts overseas (maybe with Minister Kitt's recent announcement there will be). I also believe that distance education modes of delivery for courses such as rural development are areas where Irish universities can compete with their counterparts in the UK (such as Wye, now Imperial College), Europe and Australia.

From the research perspective such partnerships can be very productive and add significantly to the capacity building and enhancement component. In fact both go hand-in-hand as Tom pointed out, although his presentation focused on the capacity building component. I have been involved in such research partnerships myself and have seen the incredible synergies that can be obtained by bringing national, regional and international resources and staff to bear on important problems. The TaroGen Project I believe is an excellent example of such a research partnership which explored and found sustainable solutions to a critical agriculture problem facing the Pacific region. While addressing this problem it also made important strides in building capacity in respective countries and contributed to the development of relevant postgraduate courses at the regional University of the South Pacific.

Mary Manandhar described an interesting participatory PEER research approach that was used in her work with partners to research and strengthen advocacy and action for maternal survival in Zambia. I imagine such an approach would be of interest to many other practitioners.

Development Education Resources and Methodologies - Schools

I enjoyed the four presentations during this last session on Sunday morning. Unfortunately, I missed the Strategic Landscapes: Research and Education Strategy presentation by Austin Gormley, Irish Aid earlier in the morning so probably missed much of the overarching framework and strategy for development education in Ireland, something which I am still learning about.

Timothy Murphy's presentation, Open Spaces for Dialogue and Enquiry (OSDE): Toward Enhanced Democratic Practices explored the potential of OSDE as a tool for engaged discussion and action about democratic policies and practices in the educational system of the south of Ireland. Thanks to Timothy for bringing this methodology to my attention. I wasn't aware of such an initiative but it would appear to have much to offer as a methodological tool for improving learning and teaching about local and global issues. Incidentally, the OSDE website has an extensive range of resources available for download.

The second presentation in this session was Mella Cusack. Mella's presentation, The 3 Ds: Curriculum Development, Teacher Professional Development and Development Education, reported on the outcomes of the joint Citizenship Studies Project between Trocraire/City of Dublin Vocational Education Committee Curriculum Development Unit. This is another interesting initiative aimed at supporting and improving the development of citizenship education at secondary level in Ireland. Part of this initiative is aimed at producing a 45 hour Transition Unit examining the coverage of development issues in the media in the hope that students will enagage in better analysis and action. Mella quite rightly highlighted that any such initiatives and developments, such as curricula development, requires as much commitment to capacity enhancement and continuing professional development for teachers in schools.

Next up was Patsy Toland, from Self Help Development. Patsy described an interesting collaboration between Self Help and Christian Brothers schools to support development education approaches that emphasise student participation, local and global awareness and an action agenda. The prgramme has been well received and is undergoing expansion with additional partners and schools coming on board in 2007/2008. Patsy higlhighgeted some interesting points including the need for a coordinated strategic approach by NGOs with long term aims. Like the previous presenter Patsy highlighted the critical need for capacity enhancement of teachers. This programme highlighted interesting links between schools and local communities that provided spaces for all to discuss issues related poverty, gender and sustainable environments.

The final speaker in this session was Julia Franz from the University of Erlangen-Nuremburg. Julia presented on an intergenerational learning approach for sustainability which posed the question - can this kind of learning which takes place in families take place in educational institutes? Julia described a process that involved people ranging in ages from 4 to 90 years old! One such activity involved groups working together to explore issues surrounding energy and sustainability which involved a visit to a hydroelectric plant, a global networking game, story telling and investigations of local energy use. The activity culminated with the preparation of an exhibition based around the issues the explored and debated. Julia reported intense interaction between the different groups, the diversity of interests of different groups and the problems that this presented in terms of facilitation.

Certainly some interesting work going on in the area of development education in Ireland.

I would be grateful to know if there are any networks or initiatives in existence that attempt to coordinate and monitor the development education activities underway in Ireland.

Why is the university such a bad place for learning?

Given my interest in alternative learning and learning for transformation I was very much drawn to Denis O'Hearn's inaugural address as the new Professor of Social and Economic Change at Queen's University Belfast. In fact, when I came across an email notice highlighting the lecture I was excited to learn that there was someone within Queen's willing to challenge the role and effectiveness of higher learning institutes (HLIs) as places of learning. And so I set off on the bus from Cookstown for what was an interesting, stimulating an all too short presentation. After briefly covering many of the institutional constraints (elitism, hierarchical structures, social control) that contribute to poor learning within universities Professor O'Hearn moved on to describe a couple of alternative education models. Models that had as their main goal the nurturing and empowering of citizens capable of effecting change and transformation for a better society as opposed to the goals of most HLIs of producing citizens simply for the market and jobs. Some of the examples provided were very interesting and included the Highlander Folk Schools initially established by Myles Horton (for more information check-out the Highlander Research and Education Centre website) and a schooling system in Chiapas based on the Zapatista education system. Finally, Professor O'Hearn described an education programme that was evolved by prisoners in Long Kesh during the troubles. This programme went on to equip many prisoners with the necessary and relevant skills to become leaders and mobilisers for development in their own communities upon release. All case studies described effective bottom-up and participative approaches as useful models for achieving effective education for transformation and which overcome many of the pitfalls in conventional approaches.

Unfortunately the lecture finished all too early and there was no time for discussion (or is it a case of tradition in 'inaugural addresses' not allowing for this?) and I was left with may thoughts and unanswered questions but it was good to know that there is at least one person at QUB embracing alternative approaches to learning.

Having worked at HLIs and encountered many of the limitations and constraints highlighted by Professor O'Hearn I have been involved in programmes that include university students in collaborative and participatory learning with academics, researchers but most importantly the communities where they will work. I have seen first hand the dramatic changes that such collaborative learning can make to those students who eventually become rural development workers and agents of social change. So I suppose the question I wanted to ask most was whether there are any initiatives that involve QUB students (not just from the sociology discipline) as collaborative learners in such programmes.

I also wanted to take the opportunity to highlight the work that the Learning and Teaching for Transformation (LTT) initiative, which I have posted on many times before, is involved in. The programmes Professor O'Hearn described appear to have much in common with the LTT. The LTT has documented many examples, from the global south and north, that demonstrate the impact on social change that alternative, more collaborative and participatory educational approaches can have. The LTT has many useful models that HLIs like QUB could use to improve student learning. And then there is the Community Knowledge Initiative (CKI) at NUI Galway which on paper would appear to be involved in exploring more collaborative and community-based approaches education and learning but unfortunately I do not know much about that programme. If there is anyone reading this and involved in the CKI, maybe they can shed some light on their work.

At the end of the night, I was left with much to think about. I was delighted to know more about Professor OHearn's work. If there are others involved in similar programmes maybe they can share their experiences.

Readers of this post might be interested in my other posting 'Why is the conference such a bad place for learning?