Marie Appelstrand
Senior lecturer
Defining Peer-to-peer Learning - from an Old Art of Practice to a New Mode of Forest Owner Extension?
Author
Summary, in English
This paper explores the concept of peer-to-peer learning (P2PL) in the context of North-European small-scale forest owners. The aim is to develop a framework for initiating new and evaluating already existing forest owners’ P2PL communities.
Design: Previous studies of peer-learning are used to determine and justify eight dimensions for forest owners’ P2PL. To demonstrate and test the operability of the dimensions, two potential forest owners’
peer-learning cases are described. The Finnish case focuses on forest owner clubs based on group interview data and the coordinator’s interview, and in the Swedish case an ongoing study circle was observed and its participants interviewed.
Findings: The eight P2PL dimensions defined are: initiation, reinforcement, content profile, participant profile, schedule, role of professionals, responsibility and role continuity. Of the described cases, Finnish forest owner clubs rely heavily on the expertise of the invited forest professionals, while owners themselves have a stronger role in Swedish study circles. Practical Implications: The two studied cases and the fictional example demonstrate how the framework defined can be used when assessing real life cases. The framework allows describing consistently P2PL, when designing new practices or implementing step-by-step changes to modify existing P2PL practices.
Value: The framework gives new insights into the research of forest owner extension, which has had an increasing interest towards P2PL approach, but where its conceptualisation has remained vague.
However, since the domain of the study is novel, further research with various case examples is needed to develop both the theoretical framework and real life practices.
Design: Previous studies of peer-learning are used to determine and justify eight dimensions for forest owners’ P2PL. To demonstrate and test the operability of the dimensions, two potential forest owners’
peer-learning cases are described. The Finnish case focuses on forest owner clubs based on group interview data and the coordinator’s interview, and in the Swedish case an ongoing study circle was observed and its participants interviewed.
Findings: The eight P2PL dimensions defined are: initiation, reinforcement, content profile, participant profile, schedule, role of professionals, responsibility and role continuity. Of the described cases, Finnish forest owner clubs rely heavily on the expertise of the invited forest professionals, while owners themselves have a stronger role in Swedish study circles. Practical Implications: The two studied cases and the fictional example demonstrate how the framework defined can be used when assessing real life cases. The framework allows describing consistently P2PL, when designing new practices or implementing step-by-step changes to modify existing P2PL practices.
Value: The framework gives new insights into the research of forest owner extension, which has had an increasing interest towards P2PL approach, but where its conceptualisation has remained vague.
However, since the domain of the study is novel, further research with various case examples is needed to develop both the theoretical framework and real life practices.
Department/s
- Department of Business Law
Publishing year
2014
Language
English
Pages
1-15
Publication/Series
The Journal of Agricultural Education and Extension
Issue
Online: 04 Aug 2014
Document type
Journal article
Publisher
Routledge
Topic
- Law
Keywords
- Adult education
- Extension
- Family forest owners
- Forest owner club
- Land owner community
- Study circle Correspondence
Status
Published
Project
- Mapping the Peer-to-Peer Model for Enhancing Adult Learning among Land Owners
ISBN/ISSN/Other
- ISSN: 1389-224X