Action learning for achieving effective soil extension outcomes

David Hardwick1 1 Soil Land Food, PO Box 881 Albury NSW 2640

To overcome the challenges of providing meaningful soils information to landholders and farmers the use of
Action Learning-based activities within a decision support management framework has led to effective
extension outcomes with a range of farmer and Landcare groups in NSW and Queensland. The Day in the
life of a soil Role Play activity and the 7 Soil Psychology Steps framework have led to successful
engagement by landholders in soil topics.

Introduction

There are a number of challenges when providing extension and education about soils. One is the fact that
soils can be a highly technical and involved subject. This fact can sometimes lead extension professionals
and soil specialists into the trap of providing soils information using technical jargon that may not be
understandable to non-scientists and farmers. Also, participants at soil field days often do not have the
background, foundation scientific knowledge that presenters have. This can further reduce effective delivery
and assimilation of soils information.

Another challenge to effective soils knowledge dissemination is the fact that many key soil processes occur
at scales beyond the human senses. For example, soil chemical properties can often only be measured using
laboratory equipment. Soil biological properties, especially soil microbiological properties, are also difficult
to comprehend because they are not always something we can observe directly. A final major challenge of
soils extension is the fact that soil management is a complex topic of ecology with many factors, processes
and relationships occurring at different times and at different scales. This of course makes it difficult to have
simple, black and white answers to many questions of soil management. Understanding the foundation
principles of soil science and action learning (ongoing observation and adaptation) are keys to successful soil
management in agriculture.

The traditional approach to soils extension for landholders and farmers, like many other areas of agricultural
science extension, is for an expert to deliver soils information to the learners. The learners in this process
usually receive the information passively and are often expected to not only retain complex scientific
concepts, but are expected to start implementing management change based on the information. This is the
classic Transfer of Technology approach that has only been moderately effective in assisting farmers and
landholders to build new understandings of, and to engage in, innovation based on new science and
technology. The traditional model has not always led to practical skills being developed by participants.

Advances in extension methods in the last few decades have led to various techniques to improve the
assimilation of new knowledge. Mentoring, systems frameworks and peer group learning are three examples
of techniques that have been used to help improve the extension process in recent times. Recent extension
tools such as those used in the grazing industry (the MLA/Queensland Government's Grazing Land
Management and the Grazing BMP programs are two examples) provide structured management frameworks
within which extension activities can be delivered in a coherent manner. Such frameworks provide a support
process for participants and can lead to good knowledge transfer and skills building. Because the extension
activities are delivered in a way that fits into a practical management system, participants can put the
information into context as part of their overall property management. This further adds to its relevance and
increases skills building.

Mentoring and peer group learning approaches to extension have the advantage of ensuring that participants
knowledge is valued and shared. In the case of soils, a group of farmers at a soils field day may have over
100-200 years of collective soils knowledge. This knowledge is practical and empirical, and so the challenge
for good soils extension is to combine this empirical knowledge with modern soil science principles. The
combination of practical soil knowledge underpinned by strong scientific first principles results in a greater
capacity for landholders to effectively make good management decisions in regards to soils.
The Soil Health phenomenon

Healthy Soils, used in this paper to describe soils whose condition are within reasonable physical, chemical
and biological parameters for landscape function and agricultural productivity, is probably the most
prominent topic of soils that landholders and farmers in Australia are currently engaged with. In particular,
soil biological fertility is one area of soils that has become increasingly important to landholders and farmers
over the past decade. This increase in interest is probably concurrent with the scientific realisation that soil
organic matter and soil biological fertility are as important as soil chemistry, which for so long has been the
main focus of much soil science and extension. This new focus on the importance of soil biological fertility
has led to hundreds of workshops being run around Australia over the last decade with the aim of teaching
farmers and landholders about soil biology and soil health.

The information delivery method of many of these Soil Biology field days has mostly been the ubiquitous
Powerpoint presentation. Feedback from, discussions with and observations of, people who have attended
soil biology field days over a number of years has resulted in the conclusion that, in many cases, effective
extension of soil biology information does not occur when Powerpoint presentations are the main method of
communication. The well-used phrase death by Powerpoint comes to mind when thinking about many of
the soil biology extension activities that have been conducted in the last few years.

These types of workshops often result in participants being introduced to a whole new technical vocabulary
(the worlds of soil biochemistry, microbiology and entomology) and meeting a lot of new creatures (soil
microbes and soil organisms) which they often cannot observe practically in the paddock. Participants can
come away from these days feeling that the world of soil biology is so complex that it is unmanageable! On
top of these issues presenters, especially those who are anti-chemistry or who are working for a
biologically-based company, may not relate biology to chemistry and so leave participants with the feeling
that you either believe in soil biology or in soil chemistry, but not both. Unfortunately, the delivery of many
of these soil biology and soil health extension activities have often resulted in less than ideal learning
outcomes. In many cases the classic problems of soils extension, as highlighted in the introduction above,
have resulted. Furthermore, as many soil health extension activities do not make the connection between the
topic and the practical business of land and farm management, these activities are not always relevant to
participants for their day-to-day issues.

Using A day in the life of a soil role play

One method to overcome the above issues when trying to provide soil science information, and especially
soil biology information, to farmers is to use role play games as a method to present information. Using role
play is a well known and effective teaching method for both adults and children. It provides the opportunity
for learners to experience the topic from the first person in an action-based, non-passive way. This is action
learning and it allows learners to participate in and to feel the soil concepts. This often results in a real shift
in understanding.

Motivated by NSW Soil Conservation Service Officers with whom I had previously had some interaction,
and who regularly used props in their extension work, I first started to use role play to teach soil biology
topics about 8 years ago and immediately found that this was a highly effective method of introducing the
complex topic of soil biology. Role play usually requires participation of each participant and it provides a
number of key outcomes on top of effectively passing on soil biology information.

Because such activities are informal and participatory, role play usually creates a relaxed atmosphere in the
learning group. They break down the barrier between the teacher and the learners, helping greatly with
learning. Role play usually also results in humour being expressed as the role play unfolds. This not only
helps relax participants but it builds group trust. Group trust is critical for the peer-to-peer learning that
comes out during well facilitated soils workshops. Landholders and farmers often have vast experience in
soil management and when people feel trust in the group they are more confident to share knowledge and
experiences. This adds greatly to the learning for all participants.

Once a facilitator is experienced in using role play as a tool this activity becomes a very flexible method of
soils extension. If during a role play participants show a keen interest in a particular topic then the facilitator
can switch to that topic and take the role play along a new direction. So, for example, if the role play is
focussing on the soil carbon cycle and biological nitrogen fixation becomes a key point of immediate
interest, the role play can be steered along the biological nitrogen fixation story to cover any questions before
coming back to the carbon topic. This type of flexibility is impossible with a structured, passive Powerpoint-
based presentation. Role play is a much better tool for matching information to the needs of any learning
group and for adapting the activity to meet the needs of a specific group.

Using role play, soil biology topics are no longer a mysterious, hidden aspect of soil management as the role
play technique allows everyone to explore it down to a microscopic and molecular level. In addition, role
play allows participants to clearly see the interactions between soil chemistry and soil biology, often a major
deficiency at soil biology and soil health workshops. Also, because a role play activity allows the facilitator
to bring in a person (usually a farmer) to the activity, it allows the effects on soils of real life management
tasks such as fertiliser use or tillage to be investigated. This ensures that the relevance of soil health to
practical land management can be communicated.

Role play activities can be done anywhere and with almost any number of participants. In a farm shed with
no power, out in the paddock, at a soil pit site or in a large hall with over 80 people in attendance, role play is
effective in all these situations. Indeed, I have successfully conducted the activity internationally to
participants for whom English is not their first language. Ideally, more than 8 people are needed but with less
than this the basic approach can still be used to achieve soils extension.

The key requirements when using role play include having the basic props to ensure it can be done
effectively. Role play cards (which can be hand written on paper 10 minutes before), including a plant, a
farmer and a range key soil organisms and microbes, along with a cube of topsoil and roots, a couple of
buckets, rocks, a bag of lollies and some local organic matter (such as plant residues, bark or manure) are all
that is needed. Role play is very effective in a variety settings, either indoor or outdoor, but is especially
useful at a soil pit site where participants can correlate their role play activities to a living soil ecosystem that
they can observe. Importantly the location needs to have adequate room for participants to move around as
the play unfolds. A final key requirement is to be well prepared. The facilitator needs to have a good
knowledge of their extension topic and be prepared to address topics that may be relevant to the participants.

The basic process to effectively delivering a soil role play activity is to gather the participants into a
comfortable location on chairs. A role-play card is then handed out to each participant which they can look at
and reflect on. The activity then commences by the presenter holding up a cube of topsoil with a plant
growing in it. A facilitated discussion about what makes up a soil and what processes occur in a topsoil then
commences. After a few minutes the facilitator can then start the role play by calling out the participant with
the Plant role-play card. They sit in front of the group and begin to photosynthesize creating sugars
(Minties are used to represent photosynthates). One by one other participants are called up to interact with
the plant and each other as part of the soil ecosystem and various sweets are used to represent terkey
nutrients and their cycles. Examples of key soil processes that can be acted out through this activity include
biological nitrogen fixation and mineralisation whereby participants acting as protozoa eat participants acting
as bacteria, after which they then excrete some of their nutrients (lollies), thus demonstrating a key nutrient
cycling process. The role play can also be used to demonstrate the various disease suppression processes that
can occur in soils such as anti-biosis and competitive exclusion as some participants act as pathogens and
others beneficial soil organisms.

The result of many role play workshops with many landholders across Australia has been the development of
the Day in the Life of a Soil role play activity that has been adapted and used widely across many
Landcare groups, as well as at a number of Catchment Management Authority and landholder field days. It
has been used with Little River, Central Tablelands, Dunedoo-Coolah and Watershed Landcare Groups as
part of the successful Establishing the Link: Soil Health through Land Management in the Central West
project in 2012. Other Landcare groups in northern and southern Queensland, northern NSW and southern
NSW have also participated in these role play workshops. It is currently being used as part of a major soils
extension project being delivered by Terrain NRM in the Wet Tropics of North Queensland and is a key
activity in a Thinking Topsoil extension project in central NSW in 2014.

Simon Hamlet, formerly a Technical Officer with DAFF Qld, developed a Resource Kit based on the role
play activity for school teachers in Qld. This is used to help children learn more about the life in the soil and
how important it is for all of us. This activity was also jointly delivered by Simon and myself to children and
adults as part of the Queensland State Landcare conference in August 2013.

The 7 Soil Psychology Steps a decision support system framework

As mentioned in the introduction, the last decade has seen the grazing industry develop a number of effective
management support frameworks through which innovation, science and new information have been
delivered to graziers to help them adopt better management practices for both farm business management
and sustainable land management. The Australian Cane Industry has developed a similar framework for the
management of soil fertility and nutrients in that industry called the 6 Easy Steps. These frameworks are
also essentially decision support systems and allow a landholder or farmer to make decisions about their
farm business, including soil and land management in a practical and relevant way.

Decision support systems help with any soils extension process as they allow an extension activity to be
located in the context of the overall management system of a property or farm business. This makes any
extension information more likely to be assimilated by participants and any innovations more likely to be
integrated into daily activities.

In the case of soils knowledge, the last decade has seen not only a rise in interest in soil health and soil
biology, but landholders have been bombarded with a wide range of new soil biology products which have
led to an increase in confusion as to what products will help improve soil health. There are a wide range of
farm practices and farm inputs which can assist with building and maintaining agricultural soil fertility but
the additional element of soil biology and the wide range of new biology products has tended to create some
doubt as to what strategies are best.

During a soils extension project with central west NSW Landcare groups in 2012, the landholders requested
a framework be developed to assist them in making better soil management decisions. Through a
collaborative approach, the 7 Soil Psychology Steps was developed. This framework allows key soils
management skills to be delivered during extension projects. Crucially, it also provides landholders with a
decision support system to ensure soil management decisions can be made in a rational and holistic way with
management resources being directed to address key soil issues in the correct sequence. The 7 Soil
Psychology steps are: 1 - Determining a soils' overall fertility, 2 - Assessing a soil's health & key properties,
3 - Determining general enterprise & productivity goals, 4 - Setting long term soil condition targets, 5 -
Managing any soil constraints, 6 - Identifying & managing the nutrients that are limiting production, 7 -
Monitoring soil & enterprise productivity

Conclusion

Sustainable management of soils in Australia's agricultural landscapes requires landholders engaging with
and understanding their soils. The end result of any extension process should be an increased understanding
of soils as well as practical skills being developed that can help landholders manage their soils. Role play and
Action Learning based activities such as A day in the life of a soil role-play activity delivered in a
management framework, such as the 7 Soil Psychology Steps, are two ways to achieve this.

These tools have been used across a variety of agricultural areas in Australia and feedback on the
approaches, both formal evaluation as well as informal feedback, has been very positive from a number of
events delivered over the last few years in Queensland and NSW. An example of a formal evaluation from
participants in these activities includes a summary of a recent activity delivered to landholders in the
Richmond area of western Sydney. This evaluation was conducted by Angela Maier, Land Services Officer
Greater Sydney Local Land Services, and a summary has been attached with this paper as one example of
evidence of the effectiveness of the discussed activities.