Life Update & Context
I am writing the Learning Review in a time of arriving on our home place, thousands of plans, being a full-time mother and being pregnant in the 8th months with our second child, available is a relatively limited amount of time to produce the OP.
According to these circumstances I need to learn to focus. Focus on the most relevant things in our lives and setting priorities.
So in this OP, I tried to keep the topics as simple as possible and complex as necessary. I try to focus on the most relevant insights of my last cycle.
I am reflecting on my last cycle/phase in November 2019 and will complete my cycle at the end of the year.
It is also the end of my time with just one child. The second baby will bring a new dynamic in our life and with this new dynamic my last year the capstone year can start.
Project Integration - Reflection on current projects and how the project reported in this OP affects my pathway
At the moment I am working on two projects:
1. The Learning Review of my second Action Learning Cycle (documented in this OP)
- The Learning Review is a Project and OP that reflects on my second Action Learning Cycle. I hope to gain valuable insights from the past cycle that I can creatively weave into my future pathway. Now as our projects get more important a glance backward can help to identify patterns, best practices, challenges, and opportunities. With some new insights from this Learning Review, I will freeze my pathway for certain months (going into baby pause) to then strategically design my LIPD and my last Action Learning Cycle.
2. The business design for our herb project (not documented so far)
- My partner and I are currently working on our herb business plan for 2020. In the last weeks, we found a clear focus for our business that we need to develop now. I will surely write about our business design within my next Ops during my next Action Learning Cycle.
Our Herb Field from Above
Permaculture Principles I used to create this Learning Review
To create this Learning Review I honestly used very little permaculture principles, patterns or tools.
But I applied the principle „From Pattern to Detail“ as I first created a draft concept for this Learning Review and then worked on the details. That is very useful because with a rough pattern Output Packet I can decide how many details I want to implement before I submit it for Pro-Review.
I also tried to integrate the most Feedback I received from my Main Advisors OP4 and draft-review of OP5. Because of lack in time, I was not able to integrate everything perfectly, but at least the most important points. Accepting Feedback is part of the permaculture principle „Apply Self-Regulation and Accept Feedback“
And lastly, I wanted to „Obtain a Yield“ from this Learning Review.
By harvesting all my un/learnings and experiences I made during this Action Learning Cycle I now prepared to enter the next cycle.
OP Design (Optional)
For this OP I created my own design steps, as it seemed easier for me.
Here is my Design Process for OP5:
1. Define goals for OP5
2. Create Concept for OP 5
→ choose a Project Design
→ use the Learning Review Template for a first structure of my OP
→ adapt it to my Project Design Process
3. Collect information and write texts for the Core Report
4. Experiment with the Design of Mahara pages
5. Add my text & graphics to Mahara
6. Write the Commentary and Upload it to Mahara
7. Check for gaps:
→ in content and complete them
→ is the Report conclusive
→ is the report in general not interrupted
5. Create the Title Page and Supporting Evidence
6. Review: Anything missing?
→ Wait for Peer-Review Feedback
→ Wait for Main Advisor „Draft Feedback“
OP-Goals (Optional)
My first step of the OP design was to define goals for OP5. I am just realizing that I actually defined goals for the Project Learning Review and not for the OP itself. A goal for the OP itself could be: "Have a clear structure of the pages in Mahara". Or "Integrate at least three different media".
The following shows my goals I outlined in the beginning:
→ deep reflection of my second learning cycle, including OP, Pathway, Project
→ use permaculture tools to reflect about my progress and development
→ integrate Feedback from my last Learning Review
→ reflection of my un/learnings, skill-flexes, tools /methods I used
→ What are my new intentions for my Learning Pathway? Glance into the LIPD
Incooperation of Feedback (Optional)
Especially I paid attention to the Feedback of my last Learning Review. Read here the document on how I incorporated Feedback in this Project and OP.
I also integrated some Feedback from OP4 and also the Draft-Review of my Main Advisor. A document that includes both of the Feedback can be found here.
In OP4 I started at the beginning of the Project and OP-work to read previous Feedback. That is also how I did it in this OP. This way I was able to think about possibilities on how to integrate the Feedback in a possible, creative or easy way. I want to continue with this practice as it is very effective!