The ‘snowball effect’ at Networking and Skills training

Thursday, June 30, 2016

It starts with a single educator sharing a recent success …

Such as digging up rock from a nearby supermarket excavation and repurposing it into a site for learning about the local geology.

Then the questions from other educators start rolling in …

How was the rock spotted? How was it donated? How was it is used?

Inspiration ensues and the snowball grows. From one simple suggestion, an avalanche of ideas is born and the room is full of the noise of 21 animated kitchen garden educators sharing insights and ideas.

The lasting impression of the recent Networking and Skills session in Adelaide can be summed up by the term ‘snowball effect’. With every idea or issue raised came a learned collection of solutions and perspectives, which in turn rolled into further discussions and ideas.

Networking and Skills is the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Foundation’s face-to-face professional development workshop designed for skilled educators who have loads of experience delivering kitchen and garden classes.

The Foundation’s Support Coordinator, Gaby Banay, recently led a session at Braeview Primary School, where attendees across South Australia came together for the day to discuss ideas, discover upcoming opportunities, and form strategies for the future.

To kick off the day each educator shared a recent challenge and success from their kitchen garden program and in no time the whiteboard was filled with powerful stories of achievements and hurdles to overcome.

In this simple exercise the superpower of the workshop is revealed, as attendees learn from the experiences of others. The Adelaide educators discovered that many had experienced the same problem of gum tree roots stealing precious nutrients from their veggie gardens, which became a useful lesson for others in what not to do when planning your next plot.

As the participants separated into groups and spread themselves between the kitchen and garden, even more specialised experiences emerged. The sprawling garden at Braeview PS, grown over many years of trial and error, provided each attendee with an opportunity to talk with and learn from Braeview’s devoted Garden Specialist, Jane Lamprey.

Back inside, ideas and gems of inspiration filled the room, with educators sharing everything from their plans for entering the Royal Adelaide Show to their ideas for embedding clear communication between teachers, Principals and management. A strong sense of community support blossomed throughout the day.

Each educator left the workshop with some prized goods – seeds shared in the spirit of plant diversity and wicking beds made by the Braeview students – but also with lasting impressions, and lasting relationships, that will help each and every educator to continue the kitchen garden program vision in South Australia.

The Foundation is currently running Networking and Skills workshops around the country, we'd love to see you at one of these upcoming hands-on sessions:

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