EXTENSION ORGANIZATION AND ITS EDUCATIONAL PROCESS

In extension, it has been seen that the extension officers’ duty is that of educational one. It is expected that farmers and their families need to learn new skills, knowledge and practices in order to improve their farming produce, skills and techniques as well as other productive activities. As they do so, they develop new attitudes toward farming and the new practices, and to extension process itself. This in turn influences the farmers’ future behavior. Extension officers, however, must also be prepared to learn from farmers about the way they farm, and keep themselves up to date with relevant developments in agricultural activities and practices. In this educational work of extension, the officers should be aware of a number of principles of learning which are involved.

In extension the educator should as well be a learner

Education is not a process of filling empty minds with knowledge. Farmers already have a lot of idea and knowledge about their home environment as well as their farming system; they would not be able to survive if they did not have some of the idea and knowledge. Extension must build on the knowledge that already exists among farmers.

An extension officer, therefore, needs to learn as well as to teach farmers. The officer should learn what farmers already know about their agriculture activities: for instance, how the farmers describe and explain things that happen on their farms and what they know already about improved farming methods as well as techniques.

Learning in extension requires motivation

In extension, no one can compel another person to learn. There has to be a desire to learn. In learning processes, adults find it more difficult than children to grasp new ideas and information. Also, unlike a school teacher, the extension agent does not have a captive audience. Farmers can on their own discretion choose not to learn and they can as well choose not to listen to extension officers.

Naturally, people do not learn unless they feel that the learning will result in their being able to satisfy a particular need or want. Food and drink are needs that are essential for life, together with the starting and raising of a family and the search for safe living conditions, which provide protection and shelter from danger and discomfort for the family.

In addition to needs, people have wants or desires. These are less intense than needs, but are still very important to human. People desire approval and praise from their family and friends; they want prestige in their society and to be well thought of by their neighbors around. These desires become more apparent once the basic needs have been satisfied. Farmers and their families who are well fed and have good homes still in most cases strive for improvement and upgrade. They want to produce more agricultural produce through the assistance of the extension officers, by helping them to improve farming methods to improve the productivity of their farms. A farmer who is motivated to learn is likely to do so more rapidly and completely than a farmer who lacks motivation. This is a very important principle for the extension officer to remember during work execution.

Strategy of dialoguing and practice are important during learning

An extension officer tells a group of farmers how to cultivate their crops in order to improve yields. He then goes away, there by thinking that the farmers have learned the new skill of cultivation. A few weeks later, he returns to find that none of the farmers have cultivated their crops and that they have only a very vague idea of what he told them.

In a circumstance such as this, the extension agent should not be surprised. Farmers do not learn very much from a straight forward talk and most of what they do hear they soon forget. However, if they are given the opportunity to ask questions, to put the new information into their own words and to discuss it with the extension officer, much more will be learned and remembered. Furthermore, when a new practical skill is being taught, the farmers must have a chance to practice it. The extension officer can then correct any initial mistakes, and the farmer will gain the confidence to use the new skill at any time during his or her farming operations.