Educational Perspectives in Agroecology: Steps on a Dual Learning Ladder toward Responsible Action1

NACTA Journal, Mar 2007 by Lieblein, Geir, Breland, Tor Arvid, �stergaard, Edvin, Salomonsson, Lennart, Francis, Charles

Abstract

The Nordic Agroecology MSc program educates professionals to deal with complex challenges facing agriculture and food systems today and in the future. We strive for understanding multifunctionality, complexity, and uncertainty of performance of agroecosystems. Cognitive processes are seen as steps in an external learning ladder, where we break from the classical concept of always starting at the bottom rung for a one-way climb toward more advanced learning. Our students start in the middle, exploring real-life cases on farms and in food systems, and move up and down the ladder. They step down to train in routine skills and memorize factual and theoretical knowledge needed to deal with the real-life challenges, or step up for visioning and implementing improvements. We envision a corresponding ladder that describes internal, personal reflection on the course activities. This requires emotional involvement, clarification of ethics and personal values, and reflection on experiences. While the external ladder goes upwards toward more complex cognitive processes, the internal ladder goes downwards for a deepening of individual reflection as a practicing, assimilating, connecting, creating, and acting person. The focus on the agroecosystem phenomenon as experienced and linked to theory is balanced by the process of becoming an agroecologist. The dual learning ladder enables students to improve their understanding of agriculture and the wider food system and to practice reflection as basis for personal growth.

Introduction

Current challenges in agricultural colleges and universities include attracting quality students and providing relevant educational experiences that will strengthen their motivations and prepare them for a complex future. University programs in agriculture traditionally have focused on acquiring knowledge about agricultural production and food processing, plus the attendant marketing and policy issues. Theory is an essential part of education. However, experience from the Nordic Agroecology MSc program has shown that getting theoretical knowledge is only part of preparing students to enter agricultural professions. Focus of education needs to go beyond production, to include study of the functions of an intact rural landscape and the importance of people, families, and community, as emphasized by the National Research Council (2003). Graduates in agroecology need to function with autonomy, use team skills, and operate with authority and confidence in making decisions in this broad arena. In this paper, we explore the elements of a learning process and present a metaphor of a dual learning ladder lead that leads to responsible and directed action.

Rationale

Agriculture and food systems today are much more complex than a simple food chain that goes from place of production to table of the consumer. Farming areas function as a source of food and raw materials, but sustaining the food supply requires attention to ecological and social dimensions in addition to production and economics. Multifunctional rural landscapes are recognized for the important ecosystem services or functions on which humanity depends (Daily, 1997). Local food systems have potential to cycle resources back into these landscapes, promote direct sales that increase value in the local economy, contribute to long-term food security, maintain the cultural landscape, and reduce the distance between farmer and consumer. Francis et al. (2003a) defined agroecology as the ecology of food systems, providing a broad context in which to study production, processing, marketing, and food consumption. It is important to explore the complexity of food systems and push students beyond the current knowledge and experience base in the university, immersing them in a program that emphasizes competencies and desired learning outcomes to prepare them as agroecologists (liebleinetal.,2005).

Bowden and Marton (1998) argue that focus should be on the capacity to become engaged in action. They conclude that this capacity comes from an ability to view the world in multiple ways and to evaluate different courses of action. Beyond learning skills, principles, and facts about agriculture, students need to learn the process of integrating disparate sources of information, how to apply these in the context of the farm and food system, and to develop their own ability to participate in responsible change (Lieblein et al., 2005).

To prepare for a complex and uncertain future, students need an education that will not go quickly out of date. Bowden and Masters (1993) insist that a generic knowledge is most valuable, and they refer to the student abilities developed by integrating knowledge from disciplines with other practical experience. It is within this context that we examine the relationship between a purely cognitive and a more personal dimension in education. In this paper, each of the elements of learning is discussed and their interrelationships are explored in a logical sequence of designing a just-in-time education (Salomonsson et al., 2005). Although design of the Nordic program has been based primarily on empirical experience in teaching MSc and PhD courses over the past decade (Lieblein et al., 1999; Francis et al., 2003b), the philosophy of the course organization and learning methods are based on the principles of democracy and action education as conceived by Dewey (1916) nearly a century ago.