Musings on learning

I have just spent the day at a local agricultural show, where the announcer for the grand parade of beef cattle (a retired auctioneer) spoke more about the local butchers than farmers! It has got me thinking what these shows achieve: competition, social cohesion in rural areas, entertainment and some education amongst other things, but also perhaps what they do not achieve. For those with no connection with agriculture, do they really learn where their food comes from or how it is produced? There is a desperate need for the public to better understand agriculture but is anyone presenting a coherent ‘farm to fork’ narrative that the public can engage with?

As the summer draws to a close and the university academic year begins again, I have also been reflecting on education generally as well as the specific changes in our sector. For the vets amongst you, on entering veterinary education you learned anatomy, physiology, animal management, pathology, pharmacology etc. and then applied much of that knowledge in clinical situations. Even in the more integrated ‘case-based learning’ veterinary programmes we now have, the same basic principles apply. Furthermore, much of what we learn as vets, at least as undergraduates, is dictated by others, in a large part by the RCVS Day One Competencies.