Permaculture Education Standards K-12

The Permaculture Education Standards

Some standards could easily fall into two or more sections, but are not repeated in each section for brevity and clarity sake. These standards represent an end goal for each academic time period; teachers are expected to preview concepts and skills before the students are expected to understand, apply, analyze, or critique them. These standards are clear objectives but do not represent the breadth of information that can and should be covered in each academic time period, rather the standards cover the student behaviors and experiences expected from the educational program.

The Purpose of Permaculture Education Standards

Teachers need standards to guide and align their lessons and assessments - administrators need them as well to adequately support, critique, and guide teachers. Standards are the lynchpin and measuring rod for a given subject. By iterating a subject out over time, it allows a subject to be thoroughly taught and deeply understood and at the same time communicated and taught within the zone of proximal development. For permaculture, it is no different: educators want clear standards and lesson plans aligned to cognitive and behavioral abilities and expectations that match the developmental stage of that age group.

Elementary

(Identification, Comprehension, & Basic Skill Acquisition)

1. Comprehension

1.1 Students are able to identify and define core concepts: the 3 Ethics and the definition of permaculture

1.2 Students are able to identify and describe permaculture in context

2. Knowledge

2.1 Students are able to share multiple examples of permaculture in action

2.2 Students are able to identify and list multiple regenerative solutions for local energy, food, water, and waste management needs

2.3 Students are able to identify their bioregion and watershed

2.4 Students are able to identify 10–20+ local native plants, 5–10+ native pollinators, 5–10+ local fungi, and 10–20+ local animals as well as their roles and interactions in their bioregional ecosystem

2.5 Students are able to identify 20–40+ annual and perennial garden and food forest plants

2.6 Students are able to identify, create a representation of, and explain the water cycle, the carbon cycle, the solar cycle, and the bioregional seasonal conditions

3. Design

3.1 Students are able to design a simple garden on paper

3.2 Students are able to design a simple home site on paper, including regenerative solutions for energy, food, water, waste, and shelter

3.3 Students are able to identify, create, and comprehend simple maps and designs

4. Regenerative Skills

4.1 Students are able to grow a diversity of plants from seed

4.2 Students are able to harvest and preserve seed for the next season

4.3 Students are able to harvest and prepare food they have grown or helped grow in a

variety of ways, forming several complete meals from their garden or food forest

4.4 Students are able to assist in setting up and managing a garden

4.5 Students are able to preserve food in a variety of ways (canning, drying, pickling, etc.)

4.6 Students are able to make vermicompost (using worms) to process food waste

5. Social Skills

5.1 Students are able to identify, define, and share examples of compassion, empathy, and people care

5.2 Students have participated in service, connecting natural principles to social principles

5.3 Students are able to model nonviolent communication and restorative justice skills in everyday settings

6. Self Smart Skills

6.1 Students are able to write out their holistic goals

6.2 Students are able to meditate for 5-10 minutes at a time

6.3 Students are able to do rudimentary exercise and stretching, primarily through physical play, dance, and games as well as yoga, qigong, tai chi, and jogging

6.4 Students are able to develop healthy and balanced meal ideas based on bioregionally and homestead or school garden sourced foods

Middle School

(Identification, Comprehension, Application, Analysis, Synthesis, Intermediate Skill Acquisition, & Service)

1. Comprehension & Analysis

1.1 Students are able to identify, define, apply, and synthesize key concepts: the 3 Ethics, permaculture principles, social permaculture principles, and the definition of permaculture

1.2 Students are able to present and teach a variety of permaculture skills and concepts to others using multimedia, public speaking, social media, and other modalities

2. Knowledge

2.1 Students are able to identify and map their bioregion and watershed

2.2 Students are able to identify 20–50+ local native plants, 10–20+ native pollinators, 10–20+ local fungi, and 10–30+ local animals, their roles and interactions within the ecosystem as well as any related indigenous history and uses

2.3 Students are able to identify 50–100+ annual and perennial garden and food forest plants and their native origins and uses

2.4 Students are able to identify, grow, harvest, and cook edible and medicinal mushrooms in an outdoor setting (shiitake, oyster, reishi, etc.)

2.5 Students are able to identify, create a detailed representation of, and teach the water cycle, the mineral cycle, the carbon cycle, and the global annual seasonal cycle in relation to the sun

2.6 Students are able to identify and describe the different components of soil, the soil food web, and photosynthesis in relation to the soil food web

3. Design

3.1 Students are able to create a basic permaculture design for a home site

3.2 Students are able to design, set up, and manage a small garden or garden plot

4. Regenerative Skills

4.1 Students are able to problem solve using permaculture and explain why and how

4.2 Students are able to grow a broad diversity of plants from seed, cuttings, and tubers

4.3 Students are able to harvest and preserve a broad diversity of seed for long-term storage, forming their own seed bank

4.4 Students are able to prepare and preserve food they have grown or helped grow in a variety of ways, forming a diversity of meals and preserves that are shared, consumed with the class, taken home, or sold

4.5 Students are able to make both thermophilic (hot) compost and vermicompost (using worms) to process food waste

4.6 Students are able to cultivate aquatic plants and animals in a small controlled environment and observe and assist in cultivating aquatic plants and animals in a larger context

5. Social Skills

5.1 Students have participated in several permaculture service projects each year, pairing the social principles of permaculture with natural principles — providing a minimum of 15 hours of community service

5.2 Students are able to identify, define, share, plan, promote, and participate in actions of compassion, empathy, and people care

5.3 Students are able to model nonviolent communication and restorative justice skills in everyday and  conflict mediation settings

6. Self Smart Skills

6.1 Students are able to write out their holistic goals

6.2 Students are able to meditate for 15–20 minutes at a time

6.3 Students are able to do regular exercise and stretching, like yoga, qigong, tai chi, calisthenics, jogging, and other forms of physical fitness activities, like dance, sports, and/or martial arts

6.4 Students are able to develop healthy and balanced meal ideas based on bioregionally and homestead or school garden sourced foods

High School

(Identification, Comprehension, Application, Deep Analysis, Synthesis, Creation, Critique, Advanced Skill Acquisition, Community Building, & Service)

1. Comprehension, Analysis, & Critical Thinking

1.1 Students are able to identify, define, apply, and synthesize permaculture concepts and practices as well as all permaculture ethics and principles and use them critically and creatively

1.2 Students are able to problem solve using permaculture and explain why and how in a presentation, through teaching, social media, and other modalities

1.3 Students are able to present and teach a variety of the skills and concepts to others using multimedia, public speaking, social media, and other modalities

1.4 Students are able to use permaculture as a lens to problem solve in a diversity of novel and real-life scenarios ranging from ecosystemic to social, local to global

2. Knowledge

2.1 Students are able to identify and map their bioregion and watershed digitally and on paper using topographic mapping, keyline geometry, and map and graphic editing programs

2.2 Students are able to identify 50–100+ local native plants, 15–30+ native pollinators, 15–40+ local fungi, and 15–40+ local animals, their roles and interactions in the local ecosystem as well as any related indigenous history and uses

2.3 Students are able to identify 100–200+ annual and perennial garden and food forest plants and their native origins and uses

2.4 Students are able to identify, grow, harvest, process, preserve, and cook edible and medicinal mushrooms in both outdoor and indoor settings

2.5 Students are able to identify, create detailed representations of, and teach the water cycle, the mineral cycle, the carbon cycle, and the global annual seasonal cycle in relation to the sun especially in relation to climate change and desertification

2.6 Students are able to identify, describe, and present the different components of soil, the soil food web, photosynthesis in relation to the soil food web, and ways to improve soil and soil food web interactions

2.7 Students are able to identify, describe, illustrate, and present the various interactions

and function of trees and forests in relation ecosystems, natural cycles, precipitation, watersheds, soil, fungi, climate change, wildfires, and all biodiversity

3. Design

3.1 Students are able to identify, map, and analyze their bioregion and watershed using keyline geometry and patterning

3.2 Students are able to create an advanced permaculture design for a home site — one that addresses water, waste, food, soil building, energy, and shelter

3.3 Students are able to design, set up, and manage a small outdoor garden, indoor garden, greenhouse garden, and larger outdoor garden

4. Regenerative Skills

4.1 Students are able to grow and teach others how to grow a broad diversity of plants from seed, cutting, and tuber

4.2 Students are able to harvest and preserve a broad diversity of seed for long-term storage, expanding and replenishing their own seed bank

4.3 Students are able to prepare and preserve food they have grown or helped grow in a variety of ways, forming a diversity of meals and preserves that are shared, consumed with the class, taken home, or sold

4.4 Students are able to make and apply thermophilic (hot) compost and vermicompost (using worms) to process food waste as well as compost teas and extracts

4.5 Students are able to use a microscope to identify soil food web organisms and determine soil, compost, compost extract, and compost tea quality

4.6 Students are able to cultivate fresh, salt, and brackish water aquatic plants and animals in a small controlled environment as well as in a larger context

4.7 Students are able to design and install water harvesting and water management earthworks and water storage systems

4.8 Students are able to filter water in a variety of ways, including sand and charcoal filters, reedbeds and lagoons, mycoremediation, and phytoremediation to clean graywater and blackwater

4.9 Students are able to calculate the volume of precipitation, evaporation, moving water, and bodies of water

4.10 Students are able to design, install, and have experience repairing and maintaining a diversity of earthworks, ponds, and dams

4.11 Students are able to design, build, and have experience repairing and maintaining building structures using natural building methods

4.12 Students are able to identify and describe permaculture principles in business plans as well as design, present, and critique regenerative business plans

4.13 Students are able to design renewable energy solutions on a home scale, and have experience installing and maintaining /repairing renewable energy systems

4.14 Students have participated in regular acts of large-scale land restoration

4.15 Students have participated in regular acts of water and riparian restoration

5. Social & Self Skills

5.1 Students have participated in, planned, and helped manage many acts of service connecting natural principles to social principles — providing a minimum of 30 hours of community service

5.2 Students are able to identify, define, share, plan, promote, and participate in actions of compassion, empathy, and people care

5.3 Students are able to model nonviolent communication and restorative justice skills in everyday and conflict mediation settings

6. Self Smart Skills

6.1 Students are able to write out a life plan based on their holistic goals

6.2 Students are able to meditate for 20–50 minutes at a time

6.3 Students are able to maintain their physical health using exercise and stretching, like yoga, qigong, tai chi, calisthenics, jogging, and other forms of physical fitness activities, dance, sports, and/or martial arts

6.4 Students are able to develop healthy and balanced meal plans based on bioregionally

and homestead or school garden sourced foods

Career Paths

College/University/Trade Schools/Internships

Since colleges, universities, internships, and trade schools have a wide range and broad diversity within them, I have not included standards for this level of education. Instead these are general objectives and experiences related to a balanced professional educational experience that extends and builds upon the standards previously stated.

Learning Objectives & Experiences

• In-depth learning and hands-on, community-scale and commercial-scale projects collaboratively planned, designed, and managed
• Immersion in professional contexts with experts
• Professional regenerative skill training and knowledge acquisition
• Professional community building skill training and event production
• Professional social & self smart skills