The Kellogg Rural Leadership Programme has been a key part of developing leaders in the Food and Fibre Sector since 1979. Over a six month period, cohorts of 24 people take part in three in-person stays based around leadership, industry, wider sector contexts and leadership application. As part of their programme each person also undertakes an individual research project in an area of interest and value that will contribute to developing their leadership outcomes and aspirations.
Many may not be aware but we are really lucky to have open access to the diverse range of final reports from the research undertaken by graduates of Kellogg’s. I aim to highlight some more of these reports in future blogs as there is so much great work being produced that doesn’t always get the chance to be extended to other areas of the sector.
At The Whole Story, accessibility and inclusion is really important to us. This week marks Neurodiversity Celebration Week and to play our part in shedding a light on the experiences of neurodiverse people in our sector, we are taking a look at a report produced by Kylie Brewer in 2019 as part of her Kellogg’s Rural Leadership Programme. Her research, titled ‘Do extension practices in New Zealand cater for farmers with dyslexia?’, aimed to gain a better understanding of what dyslexia is and what the current extension practices are used in New Zealand by the two main industry bodies (Beef and Lamb, and DairyNZ). She used this information to develop recommendations so that the food and fibre sector can best support farmers with dyslexia and help them to reach their full farming potential.
what is Dyslexia?
The Dyslexia Foundation of New Zealand states that dyslexia affects one in ten New Zealanders. Dyslexia can be best described as a learning difference that may cause unexpected difficulties in gaining certain literacy and numeracy skills. Like other aspects of neurodiversity, dyslexia occurs on a spectrum and the abilities and difficulties experienced due to dyslexia varies from person to person.
There are many signs of dyslexia. A few examples of the common signs of dyslexia includes:
- A large gap between written and oral capabilities
- Letters or numbers are reversed or confused such as b/d p/q n/u and 13/31
- Poor handwriting, punctuation and grammar
- Frequent misspelling of words and mixing up of words that sound similar (recession/reception) in speech or written work
- Being slower to process and needing repeated exposures to retain learning
While dyslexia can bring significant challenges for people, it can also bring many strengths such as:
- Big picture thinking
- Out of the box thinking
- Innovation
- Problem solving
- High empathy
- High level conceptualisation
- Enhanced visual/spatial understanding
This is not an exhaustive list of the common signs and strengths of dyslexia, and more information can be found at https://dfnz.org.nz/what-is-dyslexia/
why is acknowledging dyslexia important in the rural sector?
As Kylie summarises in her report, farming has often been seen as a career for those who were never any good academically at school. People were often labelled as being ‘dumb’ and ridiculed for leaving school early and going farming. This is a narrative that has a strong prevalence in our society, but what if we just haven’t been looking at the reasons why this happens and have instead been judging what people are doing to do what is best for them? I’ll admit that in the past I also haven’t always understood why people left school at an early age to go farming, but it is all about context, right? You don’t know what you don’t know, and acknowledging factors like the role of dyslexia really makes you look at things in a different light.
We all know of people who have left school or uni to go and work on the land, and many of them have absolutely thrived. The opportunity to be hands-on and practical, while needing to do little reading or writing, has made a significant difference in their lives. However, we know that farming is something that has moved more and more into the business realm and requires significant focus on compliance, farm planning, learning through extension, and other activities that have a strong emphasis on reading and writing.
Like Kylie, thinking about dyslexia and farming has really made me wonder more about some key questions like:
Have we been leaving people behind? Instead of people not wanting to do farm planning, compliance and engage with extension, have we been creating too many barriers for people to be able to undertake these activities in a way that works for them?
Have we sufficiently focused on catering our support and resources to the various ways in which farmers learn and work? Or are we trying to make people fit the ‘box’ of how we think things should be done?
Have we been having conversations in the rural profession around how we engage and assist farmers with dyslexia and other challenges? Are our rural professionals equipped with knowledge and understanding that can guide their ability to deliver extension and consultancy more effectively for a wider range of people?
Have we sought to hear from farmers who have challenges with reading and writing and really understand what they need and what we can do to provide that support?
Insights from farmers with dyslexia
Kylie interviewed two farmers who offered excellent insights into their experiences with dyslexia and farming, which are highly worth reading and reflecting on:
One farmer stated that he can sit and struggle with spelling and writing but is good at maths and science. He can have a picture and a plan in his head, and go ahead and build it. Where he can he will avoid too much writing. Spellcheck helps but acknowledges that it doesn’t always work as the words look right but are often wrong.
One farmer won FMG Young Farmer of the Year and found he clashed with some of the major sponsors regarding professional development opportunities related to his win. For example, Kellogg Rural Leadership Programme would be a great opportunity but not one that suited him as a dyslexic and would prefer to be able to do a research project on farm using trials and practical application. He also wants to see changes in the amount of theory in the contest as it hinders dyslexics and others with learning difficulties, and likely puts them off entering.
NZ Young Farmers should acknowledge that there are dyslexia and literacy issues within its members and the farmer states that there should be concessions to help those who need to improve their literacy skills. Primary ITO would be a great partner for this. He also stressed the need to look at how those with learning difficulties can still have a crack at Young Farmer of the Year, and make it more accessible.
One farmer stated that having people who can write neatly and do the paperwork, such as a partner, has been a huge help, and having a good accountant has also been really beneficial.
High praise was offered for B+LNZ single page fact sheets and posters
The biggest asset for dyslexic farmers is a smart phone, which allows them to take photos on farm and at workshops. It also allows the use of other tools that can assist in getting across what they’re trying to say.
There is still a huge amount of judgement and stigma in New Zealand about dyslexia, and there is a need to remove the stigma as well as highlight clever dyslexics in the agricultural sector.
Both farmers saw their dyslexia as a positive thing and wish for others to understand that having dyslexia brings many benefits to people and the wider sector.
Recommendations for the sector
Do current extension practices in New Zealand cater for farmers with dyslexia? What were Kylies’ conclusion?
Kylie concluded her report with many recommendations for how the agricultural sector can assist farmers with dyslexia. She stressed that dyslexic’s are talented and gifted people, and that we need to acknowledge and support them to help them become better farmers, but to also utilise their other strengths that dyslexia has given them. Her full list of recommendations can be found in her report but the broad conclusions were to:
Reduce the stigma of dyslexia in the agricultural industry by having ambassadors for dyslexia, and mentors to assist other farmers with dyslexia.
Develop workshops for rural professionals to educate them about the basics of dyslexia, and how they may be able to better assist their dyslexic clients.
Conduct research to determine the extent of dyslexia within the agricultural sector.
Develop additional extension resources in dyslexic fonts to make them easier to read.
Develop more podcasts and videos on popular extension topics which don’t require farmers to have to read to gain the information.
Encourage Regional Councils to provide assistance with compliance paperwork such as drop in days or help desk staff to help dyslexic farmers to complete paperwork required.
There is so much more we can, and should, be doing to ensure that we aren’t leaving people behind. We need to not only acknowledge the challenges in the sector but look to create steps in the right direction to help a wider range of people and serve their needs. We won’t get there overnight but it is important to start and keep going. It is also important to celebrate and really spread the knowledge of what people are doing to increase accessibility in the sector. The tools are only as good as their adoption so spreading the word is a crucial part of creating the impact we seek.
continued commitments to accessibility
Shout out to Shout out to Beef and Lamb New Zealand for reiterating their commitment to accessibility with their online accessibility tool to make people’s experiences of their website even better!
The accessibility tool is something you may have seen on other websites but can give many options to make accessing information more user-friendly and focused like use of a screen reader, dyslexia-friendly fonts, bigger text, wider spacing between text and lines, and more! Check it out for yourself and have a play. It’s a great insight into seeing how other access needs can be catered for, or getting a view into what others access needs look like.
Just like how we talk to farmers about the idea of continual improvement, the importance of planning and staying on the journey, our commitment to accessibility in rural communication, extension and consultancy is no different. A key part of B+LNZ accessibility strategy is to produce multimedia resources. This is a great way to prioritise the various learning styles of visual, aural/auditory, reading/writing and kinesthetic. They do this through:
- Podcasts – which have been made shorter and adapted them for different literacy levels.
- Videos – also made shorter and included timestamps so users can jump to sections of interest.
- Online learning modules – providing a great alternative to attending an in-person event.
- Text message services (lucerne management, Pasture Pests, Facial Eczema alerts) which enable getting brief, relevant information direct into farmers’ hands.
Awesome work B+LNZ!!