Education in Rural Columbia: Overview

Well I finally got to hear the Wallace lecture. (Computer problems at home. I think I'm buying a new one next week!) It was very interesting. I'll post a Blog later tonight about my personal opinion. This Blog contains the notes I regarding the lecture. In CAPITAL LETTERS are comments or things I thought of while listening. I'll use this points in my sythesis Blog.

Jose Jachim Salcedo 1947 Study to be Catholic Priest.

• Interest Beyond Church matters
• All aspects of parishioners
• Questioned orthodoxy
• Bucked the system
• Radical ideas: Bucked the system
• Different view of priest’s work: extend beyond spiritual to practical matters

Influence of elders

• Provided the greatest challenge as punishment attempt to bring in line
• Arranged a hardship location –
• described as end of the world
• Columbia in South America
• Specifically Sutentenza
• Sent Not to Bogota –
• modern city with sophistication & wealth
• Several universities,
• wonderful museums,
• international people
• Sent to Andes mountains to valley of Tenza – Sutentenza
• “Banished” there in 1947 his charge to bring religion to people

Sutentenza Area

• People were dispersed/isolate
• had heath & economic problems
• illiterate with poor mortality & morbidity figures
• Some younger children had a little literary
• life expectancy in 40’s

Access to Schools

• Few schools – mostly younger people
• dropped out by grade 3 b/c difficulty to travel curriculum inappropriate
• Children needed at home (Farm/younger siblings)

Country Problems

• Small family farms
• Illiterate
• Poor health
• Day to day existence
• Low life expectancy
• Outdated agriculture practices (no modern farming)
• Extreme poverty
• Steep terrain/people isolated & ignorant
• Couldn’t reach all people – maybe visit all families once a year

Salcedo worried that religion not enough

• Realized education is the key ot improving situation
• Focus on critical needs (MASLOW’S HIERARCHY OF NEEDS)
• Use of knowledge can reduce problems
• Use of mass media to reach people (face to face communication very hard)
• Help people participate
• Educate & move to action – go beyond learned helplessness
• Knowledge = reduction in problems

To visit the people

• See people on other ridges – see across valley – sloping land
• A day’s ride to reach other village even though you can see them
• Transit via horse/donkey makes travel time consuming
• Meant little time education much time travel

Hobby

• Felt was divinely inspired
• Ham radio operating
• Radio’s influence
• Reach dispersed audience
• Extend influence
• Talk to people without having a physical presence

Radio Sutatenza – radio school

· METHOD – AUDIENCE + CONTENT + STRUCTURE = INSTRUCTION)

· Started in 1947 with one transmitter/three receivers

· Has had substantial growth for 50 years

· Considered “grandfather” for radio schools worldwide

· Brought news for farmers = AUDIENCE

· Crops/faming info

· Health segments

· Basic schooling (reading/writing/arithmetic) THE CONTENT

· More news report format/news specials/interviews

· Appropriate for audience

· Limited formal Instruction (3 of 18 hours)

· Considerable interviewing

· Much use of soap operas

· Musical segments

· Everything coordinated messaged even news

Focus on issues relating to his people

• Soap Opera = ROLE PLAYING issues like people
• Instruction –1^st grade through university
• Information – news and new bulletins
• Complementary
• Radio magazine
• World trends (music, art, science, sports)
• -services (health, opinion, sciences, analysis
• –promotional
• Produced 1.5 million hours of programming

Encourage people to take action –

• people can use this knowledge to help families/crops/health problems
• People can improve their life

Radio Schools

• Learning should not be isolated
• knowledge through interaction with other (i.e. more capable) SCAFFFOLDING
• Encourage people to listen with 3-5 people
• ideally with someone who is slightly more capable than self

Network of People

• National level of people
• Regional level of people
• Local level (radio schools)
• Paid & volunteers who worked to help Sutentenza
• Teacher training institute
• Located in Sutatneza
• People learn from radio sutatnenza and then donate time to help others

Content focus

• Most books, magazines and newspapers focused on formally educating people in cities
• Not appropriate for the rural people
• Created Print Resources
• Books
• Pamphlets
• Newspaper
• Written for rural people by rural people (LIKE SMALL TOWNS FINANCE DOCTOR EDUCATION DOCTOR WORK FOR SMALL TOWN – NORTHERN EXPOSURE TV SHOW)
• Content geared to radio programs
• Coordinated messages
• Series of textbooks that dealt with basics skills/health/good speaking/clear mathematics/productive land/ Christianity

Newspaper – Rural Farmer (Peasant)

• Content by people from rural areas
• Consistent focus
• Circulation of 70,000 (readership higher) each paper read by about 10 people
• Sections: information/recreation/knowledge

Correspondence

• Encourage people to write to radio
• Many people sent first letter they every wrote here
• People respond to each others letters
• Talk about problems, request information,
• Gives insight into audience (FORM OF EVALUATION ongoing needs assessment)

• Stay in touch with audience – know what they need
• Based on letters adjusted content choose speakers etc.

Printing operation

• Modern printing press
• Large production capacity
• First shift for them
• Second shift for commercial uses
• Self-funding operation (commercial use pay for ministry use)

Training institute (Leadership)

• Located in Sutatenza – Formal & informal training
• Immersion courses – stay for a couple of weeks train to be local leaders
• Then stay for months study content/pedagogy/development/promotion
• Knowledge and skill to be agriculture leader, minister, etc.
• Prepare leaders to help people change their lives
• Capacity for change
• Teach essential content

Efforts blended

• Emphasis on religion
• Practical matters of health and agricultures
• Becoming more capable by reading, writing, and doing arithmetic
• Coordinated use of mass media – radio school, newspaper, broadcast textbooks

Focuses on the learners

• Based on real needs
• Use content that matters
• Deliver the education in best possible manner
• Emphasizes success
• Requires constant evaluation and revision
• Requires a systematic approach

Focus on education mission (MEGA VIEW)

Deliver (METHODS & MEDIA)

Emphasis on Mastery learning – stay with it to most all people got it.

• Need for constant evaluation & revision
• Not for accountability but to improve quality of instructions
• Evaluation lead to revision to improve instructional program

What Salcedo did

• Analyzed – needs assessment
• Designed – task analysis
• Developed – align curriculum to focus on tasks/needs – people who understood audience & content did development – team approach – co-design – people who did mass media
• Implemented – totally matched to content very IMPORTANT
• Evaluated – constant and revisions put in palce

Instructional Systems development

• Process for creating effective educational programs
• Systematic approach
• Takes the broad systems view
• Produces superior results
• Has not been formalized to modes
• ADDIE design – Instructional Systems Design (PRINT OUT THIS SLIDE)
• Very human process in design
• Now quite systematic