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Peer-to-Peer Educational Techniques for Farm Law Issues: Best Practices and Lessons Learned

Chloe Johnson

Summary

This presentation will share the wins we’ve enjoyed and mistakes we’ve made instituting peer learning environments for very complex agricultural education topics. Farm Commons employs small-group sessions in almost all of our farm law curricula. By focusing on peer learning and providing adequate support when needed, we’ve seen powerful cohorts form, supportive connections develop and novel solutions to farm law issues be shared in farming communities. This model has helped us grow farmer-leaders who are currently teaching their own communities about farm law, creating a network and educational reach we would never be able to achieve alone.

We benefit from this technique organizationally by hearing firsthand stories of farmers dealing with employment law, zoning, or food law regulations. These stories, in turn, help direct our research and project planning. When we prioritize this kind of sharing over traditional educational techniques, we help foster farmers’ creativity. Peer-to-peer learning allows for brainstorming that leads to farmers finding their own solutions to the legal challenges they face.

Farm Commons strives to dismantle the idea of our staff as experts serving a population with a knowledge deficit. We balance sharing the knowledge we have cultivated with building up power and confidence in our audience. In this way, our educational forums become places to show our audience how to use the law to create resilience in their businesses.

Details

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