Friday, April 20, 2012

Functions Of Adult Education


1. Help the farmers to identify their needs by involving them in the programme.

2. Teach the farmers about the technology so as to bring the desired learning.

3. Help them to decide and plan for carrying out various activities under the programme.

4. Create a situation that will motivate the farmers to have desire to learn. Motivation is one of the important factors which is responsible for effective teaching and learning.

5. Make the farmers perceive how they can satisfy basic needs through learning. Human basic needs are: desire for security, new experience, affection or response and recognition. Convince the farmers how the programme will help them to achieve these basic needs.

6. Use the most effective extension methods and techniques to achieve the desired learning. Learning is the process by which a farmer through his own activity becomes changed in his behaviour. The farmers have learnt when there are changes in their knowledge, skill and attitude on any technology. The extension worker should also bring out the changes in farmer's interest and understanding about the technology.

7. Help the farmer to evaluate certain benefits derived by him by the adoption of the technology and this will help him to convince him about the merits of the technology. 

Factors Influencing Learning Situation


1. Have teaching objectives clearly in mind, that are significant to the learners, that are attainable through the educational process within the mental, economical, physical and time limitations of learners and make these clear to them.

2. Have a thorough knowledge of significant subject matter related to the learner's needs.

3. Be personable, enthusiastic and interested in the subject matter and the welfare of the learners.

4. Be able to communicate effectively with the learners.

5. Use democratic instructional methods and approaches.

6. Encourage learners' participation in the learning situation. This requires more physical presence.

7. Be prepared, prompt and courteous in every teaching situation. This requires more physical presence.

8. Get a good example of educational leadership and effective teaching.

9. Arrange and manage the situation so as to prevent and minimise distractions within and outside the learning situation.
10. Have a suitable equipment and supplies ready for easy use with a minimum of distraction of the learners' attention from the subject.
11. Be skillful in the use of every item of teaching material and equipment-chalk board, visual equipment, reading materials etc.
12. Always prepare and use a carefully developed teaching plan.
13. Take care of light, location, space, furniture arrangements and teaching and reading materials. 

Adult Learning Principles


ADULT LEARNING PRINCIPLES
1. The adults must want to learn.
2. Adults will learn only when they feel a need to learn.
3. Adults learn by doing.
4. Adult learning centres on problems and problems must be liable.
5. Adults learn best in an informal environment.
6. Experience affects adult learning.
7. Adults favour a variety of learning methods.
8. Adults want guidance but not grade.
9. Learning is facilitated when the new behaviour is satisfying the felt need.
10. Learning must be meaningful.
11. Learning is facilitated when two or more senses are used at a time.
12. Learning is effective when the learners participate actively.
13. Learning is facilitated when there is repetition.
14. Learning is facilitated when the learners are ready to learn.
15. Learning is effective when the teacher uses praise and rewards.
16. Teaching must be consistent to learner's ability.
17. Learning is facilitated when the learners know the progress of learning.
18. Learning is increased by knowledge of results (the end product of learning).


METHODS FOR ADULT LEARNING


Human behaviour is goal oriented and rural people are no exception to this general rule. If the extension worker helps them in reaching the goals decided by them then they would hear him readily. There are large number of goals or needs to rural people. They have basic needs or physiological needs, such as security, affection, prestige and desire for self fulfillment.

The extension worker has to understand the wants and incentives of rural people. He should relate all these needs with his teaching and show the people that the usage of latest technologies would satisfy their needs. It is necessary to clarify their needs. It is necessary to add the innovations which would help in satisfying them. For example farmer may need money for sending his son for higher education. This may be an increase for farmer to adopt the innovation to increase yields. So in the first step it is necessary to motivate him for learning, then he has to be convinced of the relevance of technology to his own interest and finally seek for his co-operation.

Adults are more sensitive to success and failure than children. Therefore in adult education care should be taken. An adult will pick up things more easily if he sees any relationship to his occupation. If he is convinced he will try to learn more quickly. The learning is also related to his vocational interest. Adults have greater sense of responsibility than children. Therefore, they should be given some responsibility for their own learning. There are stronger and more permanent sentiments. The sentiments towards his family, his friends and a stronger desire for learning are some of the sentiments which will help the extension worker.

Motivation and its needs


MOTIVATION
Motivation is the process of initiating a conscious and purposeful action. Motive means an urge, or combination of urge to induce conscious or purposeful action. It is goal directed.

Definition
(h) The goal directed, need satisfying behaviour is called motivation.
(i) It is a process of initiating a conscious and purposeful action.
(j) Motive means an urge or combination of urges to induce conscious or purposeful action.

Needs which motivate Human Beings
(i) Organic needs or physiological motives
Man is constructed in such a way that he requires certain things in order that he may keep living. He is also so constituted that these needs initiate activity that will eventually satisfy them. These are all basic organic needs which demand periodic or continued satisfaction. These needs are called appetites. (Eg.): breathing air, appetite of thirst, appetite for sleep or rest etc.

(ii) Wants
People have unique personal wants.
(eg.) Likes and dislikes for specific food; play etc.

(iii) Emotions as motives
Under the influence of fear, anger etc., people may do many things that they would not do normally. (eg.) Parents use fear to direct the behaviour of children. Organisations use fear to produce a desired form of behaviour.

(iv) Feelings and attitudes as motives
An individual's experience activity is evaluated by him as pleasant or unpleasant. When the experience is pleasant, individual has an attitude of approach to that experience and if it is unpleasant, his attitude is withdrawal.

(v) Social motives
Most people have a strong desire to achieve social approval. For this, they try to improve their personality through clothes, possession of things, knowledge, skills etc.

(vi) Others
Habit: Somebody's settled practice, especially something, that cannot easily be given up. Established habit becomes almost automatic and requires only a stimules to set it in action.

Techniques and importance of Motivation


Techniques of motivation
(1) Need based approach
The approach should be need based so that it could satisfy five categories of need by knowing the level of motivation and patterns of motivation among them. The five categories of needs are (i) physiological need, (ii) desire for security, (iii) desire for recognition, (iv) desire for new experiences and (v) organic needs.

(2) Training to set a realistic level of aspirations
Any attempt to revise the expectations of farmer's should be done with full understanding of their socio-economic status.
(Eg.) (i) Creating an aspiration in a farmer who doesn't have any land of his own for possession of one or two acres.
(ii) A person who attains 30 tonnes/acre of yield could be made to aspire for 40 tonnes/acre.
Such a realistic level of aspiration would ensure slow and steady progress.

(3) Participation
The involvement of farmers in the programmes of agricultural change acts as booster of motivation not only for the immediate participants but also for others.

(4) Use of audio visuals
The proper selection, combination and use of various audio visuals for the appropriate purpose will act as lubricants of motivation.

Importance of Motivation in Extension
(1) For mobilising the villagers and extension workers.
(2) Knowledge of biological drive/need helps the extension worker to realise the problems of the people. It helps in sympathetic handling.
(3) Knowledge of psychological and social drives helps the extension worker to formulate programmes and make effective approaches in changing their attitude.
(4) Knowledge of other motivating forces help avoiding conflicts or tensions.
Need is what one desires. It is lack of something. Need is the difference between "What is" and what "Ought to be".

Classification of Needs
i) The desire for security: Economic, social, psychological and spiritual security. Man wants protection for his physical being food, clothing and shelter. It may also mean an adequate reserve of wealth to secure more material things in the future. The wish for security may also be satisfied by spiritual beliefs. In fact, in history whole cultures have put emphasis on security. The Great Wall of China, the Maginet Line, the Tower of Babel, the innumerable forts and fortresses in several countries are striking examples.
  
ii) The desire for affection or response: Companionship gregariousness, and social mindedness, the need for a feeling of belonging.

iii) The desire for recognition: status, prestige, achievement and being looked upto. Each individual feels the need to be considered important by his fellowmen.

iv) The desire for new experience: adventure, new interests, new ideas, new friends and new ways of doing things. Some people primarily want the thrill of something new, something different.

v) Organic needs: Organic needs like sex, hunger and thirstiness are also very important for human beings.

The above five categories represent all the powerful motivating forces stated in general.

Importance of Motivation in Extension
Motivation is necessary for mobilising the village people. Most of the development programmes could not bring the desired results because there was no motivation. Both the extension workers and rural people are to be motivated to achieve the results.

Motivation brings need based approach. It is possible for the extension workers to motivate the people to satisfy the five categories of needs. If there is a desire for security, the farmers can be motivated to adopt new practices by convincing them that the new practice will increase their income and enhance their security. If they have a desire for new experience, the extension teaching is oriented towards impairing new skills. Similarly other desires can be met with.

Motivation helps for the better involvement of farmers in development programmes.The role of audio-visuals in motivating farmers needs no emphasis. The proper selection, combination and use of various audio-visuals for the appropriate purpose will act as lubricants for motivation.

Various studies conducted in India indicate that economic motivation is much predominant followed by innovativeness. Among the economic motives also providing better food, clothing and educating for one's children seem to be the dominant movies.

Emotions and its charecteristics


We experience in our life various feelings of anger, fear, disgust, repulsion, etc. Emotions largely determine human behaviour and extension workers should learn how to utilise them for the purpose of education of rural people.

The definition for emotions are:
Jersild: Emotions denote a state of being moved stirred up or aroused in some way. Emotions involve feelings, impulses and physical and physiological reactions. These feelings, impulses, physiological reaction etc., occur in an almost unlimited variety of mixtures and gradations.

Rass: Emotions are modes of being conscious in which the feeling element is predominant.

Munn: Emotions are acute disturbances of the individual as a whole, psychological in origin, involving behaviour, conscious experiences and verbal functioning.

Gerow: Emotion is a reaction involving subjective feelings, physiological response, cognitive interpretation and behavioral expression.

Classification of Emotion
There are a number of ways to classify emotional responses and each has its own supporters. Wilhelm Wumdt organised emotions on three interesting dimensions; pleasantness/unpleasantness, relaxation/tension, and calm/excitement.

Carroll Iyard's classification has nine primary emotions. They are fear, anger, shame, contempt, disgust, distress, distress, interest, surprise and joy.

Robert plutchik argues for eight basic emotions of anger, fear, sadness, disgust, surprise, curiosity, acceptance and joy.

Development of emotion
Autonomic nervous system (ANS) serves the smooth muscles, glands, and internal visceral organs. Parasympathetic division of ANS functions to maintain a calm, relaxed state of the organism. Sympathetic division of the ANS is involved in emotional status. Epinephrine (adrenalin) a hormone produced by the adrenal glands are involved in emotional activity, mostly affecting heart activity. Note pinephrine, a harmone secreted by adrenal glands are involved in emotional arosal. Adrenal glands located on the kidneys, part of the ANS, is involved in emotional reactions. Limbic system, a set of small structures located low in the brain is involved in motivational and emotional states. These are the physiological bases for emotion. These emotions are expressed in facial and other expressions. Emotions when controlled effectively help the extension working to achieve their goals of educating the farmers.

Attitudes and Factors Influencing the Development Of Attitudes



Attitudes involve some knowledge of a situation. However, the essential aspect of the attitude is found in the fact that some characteristic feeling or emotion is experienced and, as we would accordingly expect, some definite tendency to action is associated. Subjectively, then, the important factor is the feeling or emotion.

Objectively it is the response, or at least the tendency to respond. Attitudes it is the response, or at least the tendency to respond. Attitudes are important determinants of behaviour. If we are to change them we must change the emotional components. All port has defined attitude as a mental and neutral state of readiness organised through experience, exerting a directive or dynamic influence upon the individual's response to all objects with which it is related.

A farmers may vote for a particular political party because he has been brought up to believe that it is "right" party. In the course of experience he may learn some thing about the policies of that party. In that case his attitude will probably change. As a result, he may be expected to vote in a different way. Knowledge, attitude and behaviour are then very closely linked.

Measuring attitudes
Attitude scales: It is meant for scientific studies. Scales have been developed for measuring a great number of attitudes. Each scale consists of a group of statements related to a particular attitude. Each scale consists of a group of statements related to a particular attitude. Some scales ask the person to respond by indicating whether he agrees or disagrees with each statement. Other scales ask the person to specify the degree of his agreement with a statement. The degree of agreement or disagreement will be given predetermined values.

Public opinion poll: A large number of people are asked only a question or two because they don't have much time to respond to many items.

There are two major problems in public opinion poll (i) wording of questions and (ii) sampling. For the poll be accurate, the sample must be representative. For this we have to use stratified sampling. In stratified sampling, the polling agencies set quotas for certain categories of people based on census data. The most common categories are age, sex, socio-economic status, and geographical region, all of which are known to influence opinions. By seeing to it that the quotas in the sample are in proportion to the categories in the general population, the sample is made more representative.

Attitude change
Well established attitudes tend to be resistant to change, but others may be more amenable to change. Attitudes can be changed by a variety of ways. Some of the ways of attitude change are as follows.

1) By obtaining new information from other people and mass media, resulting in changes in cognitive component of a person's attitudes.
2) Attitudes may change through direct experience.
3) Attitudes may change through legislation.
4) Since person's attitudes are anchored in his membership group and reference groups, one way to change the attitude is to modify one or the other.
5) Attitude change differs with reference to the situation also.

FACTORS INFLUENCING THE DEVELOPMENT OF ATTITUDES

I. MATURATION
The young child has only a very limited capacity for understanding the world about him and he is consequently incapable of forming attitudes about remote, or complex, or abstract things or problems.

At about a mental age of twelve years the child begins to understand abstract terms such as pity and justice, and his capacity for both inductive and deductive reasoning shows a marked and continuous increase during adolescence. As a result of this growth in capacity, he becomes able to understand and react to more abstract and more generalized propositions, ideas and ideals. 

At the age of four or five years, three characteristics especially deserve mention. These are curiosity, centra-suggestibility, and independence. The child at this age is likely to express his curiosity by asking an endless series of questions.

Adolescence is marked especially by the maturation of sex emotions and by the development of altruism and co-operativeness. These in large measure furnish the basis for the formation of attitudes that differentiate adults from children. Boys at the age of twelve years may have a distant interest in girls and they may even have crushes on particular girls, but their interest is quite different from what it will be some years later.

2. PHYSICAL FACTORS
Clinical psychologists have generally recognised that physical health and vitality are important factors in determining adjustment, and frequently it has been found that malnutrition or disease or accidents have interfered so seriously with normal development that serious behaviour disturbances have followed.

3. HOME INFLUENCES
It is generally accepted that attitudes are determined largely by social environment and that home influences are especially important.

4. THE SOCIAL ENVIRONMENT
The home environment is of primary importance in the formation of early attitudes, but friends, associates and the general social environment come to have an increasing influence as the child grows older and has wider social contacts.

5. GOVERNMENT
The form of the government seems to be an important factor in determining attitudes both towards government itself and towards other things.

6. MOVIE PICTURES
Attendance at movie pictures constitutes another important possible influence in determination of attitudes. Thurstone concluded that films definitely change social. One of the categories in Brown's study was "manner of presentation" of subject matter. This was judged to have a favourable effect by 8.0 per cent of the students and an unfavourable effect by 17.7 per cent. attitudes, although only about 10 per cent of the attitudes studied seemed to be affected by movie attendance.

7. THE TEACHER
Brown asked 300 graduate and undergraduate students in educational sociology to evaluate the various factors in their school experience that had been influential in the formation of personality and character traits. According to their judgement, the personalities of their teachers had been the most important single factor, 65.3 per cent thought this influence had been good, but 33.3 per cent thought it had been unfavourable. Only about 10 per cent did not consider, the teacher's influence important.

8. THE CURRICULUM
Thorndike asked 155 teachers to rate eleven subjects and activities on the basis of what they considered the value of these to be or the training of character. Teaching has the highest rank, but athletic sports come next. English literature and history have the best ranks for the regular school subjects; mathematics and foreign languages are ranked much lower. This indicates that, in the opinion of this group of teachers, literature and the social sciences have more influence than other subjects on the determination of attitudes. This seems a reasonable view and it suggests that the units of work and the readings in these areas should be selected with particular reference to their probable influence on the attitudes formed by the students.

Development of Attitude
Attitudes are not mere accidents of individual experience. They result from day-to-day living in the home, in the school, and in the community. Whatever attitude children develop can be traced, in part atleast, to the effect upon them, of teacher precept and example. The challenge to teacher is that of helping the learner retain his identity,  develop his individuality and absorb a background of democratic culture. Theoretically all education is aimed at helping learners develop to the full extent of their ability and those attitudes that fit them for living constructively in a democratic society.

Attitudes are formed without direction and also by direction as the result of careful planning by a person or persons who desire to encourage the development of certain attitudes in others. One function of school is that of stimulating young people towards acquisition of attitudes that are individually and socially desirable. It is through initiation, emotional experience and deliberate efforts on the part of the individual himself, teacher, and other and new attitudes arise.

Child is a great initiator and builds its most of attitudes in that way. Adolescent develops attitude by his enlarging adjustment problems with expanding groups. The environment to which he is exposed influences the attitude either desirable or undesirably. Radio, television, film and printed matter contribute to the attitude development. Thus, there are so many factors that influence the adults to develop attitudes.

Monday, April 9, 2012

Associations and its charecteristics


A group of people organised for a particular purpose or a limited number of purpose. Sometimes it is a group of social beings attached to an organisation with a view to secure a specific end or specific ends.

Definition of Association

Mac Iver defines an association as "an organisation deliberately formed for the collective pursuit of some interest or set of interests, which its members share".

According to Ginsberg an association is "a group of social beings related to one another or have instituted in a common organisation with a view to secure a specific end or specific ends".

Elements of Association

i) There must be group of people.
ii) It must be an organised one based upon rules and regulations.
iii) They must have a common purpose.

Thus family, church, trade union, music or any such clubs are associations. Associations may be formed on several basis.

Vocational (trade unions, teachers association) recreational (Tennis clubs) or philanthropic (Charitable societies). They may be formed on the basis of duration (ie) temporary or permanent like flood relief association or trade unions.

Difference between society and association

1. Society is older than association: Society exists since man appeared on the earth, while association arose when man learnt to organise himself.
2. Aim of society is general: Society is for the well being of the individuals, whereas association is formed for the particular purpose or purposes.
3. Society may be organised or unorganised but association must be organised.
4. Membership of society is compulsory as no man can live without it. But man can live without being member of any association at all. Society will exist as long as man exists but association may be only transitory.
5. Society is marked by both cooperation and conflict whereas association is based on co-operation alone.
6. Society is a system of social relationship, whereas association is a group of people.
7. Society is natural, whereas association is artificial.

Difference between Association and Community

1. An association is partial, whereas community is a whole. Association is to achieve some specific purpose, which does not include the whole purpose of life. Whereas community includes whole circle of common life. It is not for specific purpose.
2. Community is not deliberately created. It has no beginning, no hour of birth. It is simply whole life, more comprehensive and more spontaneous than any association.
3. Associations exist within community. Human beings belong to association by virtue of some specific interests that they possess (music club etc.). Though they born into communities they choose their associations.
It should be remembered that associations may become communities by serving plurality of ends, though that may never be reached.