Horty Kim

An opportunity has been presented and I am keen to give it a shot , I have copied the following from some criteria required to access a Teaching and Learning Fund…

“Otago Polytechnic seeks to be the top performing Polytechnic in terms of educational quality. To achieve this requires us to have teaching and learning priorities which are truly effective in facilitating student learning. This fund seeks to encourage staff to try new approaches in their teaching area.”

So I am blogging this info and some of my ideas so Leigh can comment and see if I am on the right track.I was thinking of a summer school primarily focused on horticulture subjects but maybe not limited if there was synergy or ” Cross school/programme area collaborations are encouraged and may be given priority if applicants exceed the available funding.” For example, it would be neat if someone with knowledge could deliver a unit similar to this one on the NQF - (perhaps there is a unit on traditional maori uses for NZ native plants?)

The Horticulture Summer School could include some of the units we have developed on the wiki with a view of a lot of the theory work being self directed.Some of the units may include the following which are unit standards.The links represent units that already exist on the wiki but we would need to find suitable unit standards for the others and develop them onto the wiki.I have selected units that I perceive would be of interest to:

Intending full time students

People interested in honing their gardening skills

Pre - apprentice program

Up - skilling people already working in horticulture

I am hoping that the summer school would fit into the project priorities for 2008 in a number of ways:

Enhancing student retention thru a positive vetting system.

Enhancing student success thru completing part of the full time program.

Improving the experience of new learners with a dynamic mix of interesting yet manageable goals.

Making Otago Polytechnic a more inclusive environment for learners by including some content that has some Maori protocol(this would have to be approved and welcomed ,not appropriated just to fulfill this requirement).

Educating for sustainable practice would be fulfilled thru our inclusion of the permaculture unit which for the converted is self explanatory.

Improving student access through flexibility of delivery would be where our wiki comes into play as well we are utilizing resources like classrooms,the tunnel house,the permaculture garden and human resources during a time that is not normally producing-say January?

Enhancing learning through assessment is a doable thing because most of the base learning would be unit based - but at the same time if someone would like to attend and not be assessed this should be OK?

Embedding core skills in the curriculum…hmmmm I am not exactly sure what this means but certainly our participants would be going away with core theoretical and practical skills.How can I word this betta?

I do have some more homework to do which would involve getting advice/support from the HITO,and other providers that are involved with apprentices.Like would the Dunedin Botanic Garden/4 trades deem a summer school as a positve step for their potential apprentices in that if they get a sumer school taster and stick with it they are likely to stick with a three year commitment?

The following units spring to mind but are only suggestions as this point:

Plant Names Demystified

How to Stay Safe at Work

I Just Bought a Chainsaw So How do I take Care of It?

Propagation (perhaps the following unit)

Introduction to Permaculture (maybe this one)

Hydroponics ( and possibly this one)