Janet Millington, co-author of best selling book that first introduced Permaculture into schools – OUTDOOR CLASSROOM. Janet talks about Zoning as applied to the classroom.
Carolyn and Janet created lots of curriculum material for teachers. In this interview, Janet noted “teachers were given so much stuff about school gardens. But they were they were boring”. As a result, Janet wanted teachers to “have it beside their bed. I wanted them to have it so they knew which page they were up to because there was a picture on every page.”
Following the publication of the book, Carolyn and Janet were invited to Europe to work with the children in permaculture. Then, the book was published in other languages and the biggest sales are now in Chinese.
Permaculture Zoning in Schools
“Zone one in the classroom is intensely supervised. Zone two just outside on the veranda.” Janet trailled this at Eumundi Primary School where the teacher observes from the the classroom. “Every time the kids walk past, they could see something, you know, like the leaves are going yellow or something’s eating our basil. Then zone three, teacher initiated learning. Zone four was learning adventures, anything related to the classroom, a playground, shelter, a stage and [here] it’s child initiated learning. So, that was trying to to negate that.. bare bitumen yard so that there would be areas that they could go and do things in. Likewise, the next zone is child initiated and directed. So, it’s making trails, forest areas, cubby houses, you know, all that sort of stuff. You’re releasing slowly the responsibility of the direction.
Zones One, two, and a bit of three is is teacher dominated really. But for the other zones children can say ‘I’ll take that from one, two, and three, and I’ll use it in four and and five when I’m allowed’.
Knowing where to start and how to guide children through learning experiences appropriate for their stage of development and prior experiences is a way to begin whole school planning for the outdoor adventure and and learning. And that’s that’s what we did in Eumundi when we when we first started. Each grade had their own speciality. I the early years, they study seeds and leaves and trees . And then some of the the larger concepts such as climate. patterns in nature and water came to the later grades.
Patterns in Nature – Beyond the Classroom
Janet said “I was living up in Cairns near the Atherton tablelands. A little two-teacher school invited me up to see their garden and do a little lesson. Oh, well, you know, I said ‘I’ll do the day’. But they said, “Oh, no. We’ve got kids from, you know, like infant school and primary.” I said, “Yeah, I can manage that.” And they added, “Oh, we might have some parents there, too.” I said, “They won’t get bored either.” So, I did the whole day showing patterns. And how it fitted in with things. From little kids to adults and they all got something out of it. They loved it. It was one of the best days of my teaching career.
Honestly, was just it all came together, you know, teaching and and permaculture. It was just was just a dream. It was just wonderful. I know. It’s nice when you get fulfilled. “
You can get your copy of OUTDOOR CLASSROM HANDBOOK at BOOKTOPIA.