Farmers as Learners: Evolving Identity, Disposition and Mastery through Diverse Social Practices

This paper reports a study (Allan 2002) that explores the questions of how farmers learn, how they construct knowledge, and how learning informs their practice. It seeks to identify how they gain new ideas, make changes, and develop to new levels of expertise. Six central South Island (N.Z.) farmers were selected purposively as case studies. The range of case profiles provides for comparison and contrast of the relative importance of formal qualifications, differences between sheep/beef farmers and dairy farmers, levels of expertise, age and experiences. The self-rating of the farmers enables a comparison of lower and higher performers, identifying characteristics which enable insight into why some farmers consistently lead new practice and why some are reluctant followers. The farmers are identified as social learners, although working independently, in relative geographical and social isolation and learning through participation in the practice of farming. This practice includes a constellation of communities of practice, which may be resource-rich or resource-poor with mastery developed through evolving identity, disposition and knowledge.