Building agricultural literacy and supporting our young people to be ready for the jobs of the future

This experience has been profound for our students. It has facilitated critical thinking, in-depth discussions and provided a platform for our students to develop and refine their thoughts and thinking on issues affecting society today. The Hackathon generated ideas and language our students rarely use to express themselves. The clarity and conviction in their arguments was impressive. The entire process has stirred their creative juices and fostered dedication to finish both the Koala and the Archibull to a very high standard. They have spent all their spare time collaborating and working hard to ensure the projects are ready for submission. The sense of pride in their work is wonderful to see. I highly recommend the opportunity to participate in The Archibull Prize and Kreative Koalas.

Claudia Munday Teacher Penrith Valley LC

At Picture You in Agriculture we are committed to adding value to everyone we serve.

We support agriculture by future proofing the sector through

Building agricultural literacy
Inspiring pride in the contribution of farmers and rural and regional communities to Australia’s economic wellbeing, our social fabric and the the sector’s commitment to achieving climate positive agriculture
Succession planning. Identifying and developing emerging leaders in the sector and leveraging their capacity as role models to attract young people into agriculture

Agricultural literacy revolves around the ability to think critically and make value judgments about the impact of agriculture as an economic and environmental activity and the concurrent societal and political pressures that result from those judgments. An agriculturally literate person should be able to analyse and evaluate “trade-offs” to individuals and to society resulting from agricultural enterprises. The nature of the decisions and value judgments drive the agricultural content. Understanding of agriculture is demonstrated by the ability to enter into conversations about and make decisions in response to choices facing society. Source

Learn more about the sustainability circle here

We support the teachers we work with to empower their students to be critical and creative thinkers who are life long learners working together to be engaged and active participants in the communities they live, work and play in

As part of Picture You in Agriculture’s support of schools undertaking The Archibull Prize and Kreative Koalas in 2020, a series of workshops was rolled out in October for teachers and students.

First cab off the rank was the wonderful Kris Beazley, principal at the Centre of Excellence in Agricultural Education -Richmond Agricultural College, who held one day hack-a-thons in design thinking and imagineering.

“The aim of the hack-a-thon was to draw together the students’ prior learnings and understandings about the project parameters, their area of research, understanding of effective communication and project planning. Students developed ideas and concepts through a process of imagineering, clustering, consideration and feedback, and then these tested ideas formed a milestone map and resourcing and task allocation plan for their projects,” Kris says.

Four teams participated in the hack-a-thon, three involved with The Archibull Prize and one with Kreative Koalas. Setting the project tone for their Archies were Stage 4 students from Nepean Creative and Performing Arts who are studying sustainable fashion, Stage 4 students from Granville Boys who are studying water management in the Sydney catchment and Stage 4 and 5 students from the Penrith Valley Learning Centre who are studying land use challenges of the Hawkesbury-Nepean River. Kreative Koala participants were the Stage 3 students from the Penrith Valley Learning Centre who are supporting koalas in the rural fringes of north-west Sydney.

“Our students embarked on an intense day of imagineering and prototyping that was tailored to our Archibull theme, zero textiles waste. Design thinking principles united with structured negotiations, constructive feedback and testing group ideas, and project parameters were rigorously explored, discussed and revisited. The result was a synthesised group production target and achievable project goals. We thank the Archibull Hackathon team for their passion, innovation and interest in the development of our project and our minds.”

Mrs Rowston, Nepean Creative and Performing Arts

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And what does their Archie look like

Students enjoyed the opportunity to contribute to their projects and to problem solve as part of a group. When asked what were three things they learned during the day, their responses included:

“collaboration – merging ideas – be willing to change and compromise”
“how to communicate effectively – listen/respect and use others ideas – easily collaborate”
“communication – teamwork – realistic ideas”

Kris believes the hack-a-thons developed a sense of collective commitment to the Archibull and Kreative Koalas projects.