NONFORMAL EDUCATION MANUAL

[Pages:128]NONFORMAL EDUCATION

MANUAL

ace rps CE mber 042

Information Collection and Exchange Publication No. M0042

NONFORMAL EDUCATION

(NFE)

MANUAL

PEACE CORPS

2004

INFORMATION COLLECTION AND EXCHANGE ICE NO. M0042

Nonformal Education

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INFORMATION COLLECTION AND EXCHANGE

This publication was produced by the Peace Corps Center for Field Assistance and Applied Research. It is distributed through the Information Collection and Exchange (ICE). For further information or additional copies, please contact ICE at the Peace Corps and refer to the ICE Catalog number that appears on the publication.

Peace Corps

Paul D. Coverdell Peace Corps Headquarters Center for Field Assistance and Applied Research

Information Collection and Exchange 1111 20th Street, NW ? First Floor Washington, DC 20526

Add your experience to the ICE Resource Center. Send your materials to us so that we can share them with other development workers. Your technical insights serve as the basis for the generation of ICE manuals, reprints, and training materials.They can also ensure that ICE is providing the most up-to-date, innovative problem-solving techniques and information available to you and your fellow development workers.

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CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ........................................................................................................ iv

INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................................... v

CHAPTER ONE What is Nonformal Education? ............................................................................................... 1

CHAPTER TWO Assessing the Situation and Defining your NFE Approach .................................................. 11

CHAPTER THREE Learning Activities: From Assessment to Evaluation............................................................ 29

CHAPTER FOUR Creating an Effective Learning Environment ........................................................................ 36

CHAPTER FIVE Matching Learning Methods to Learning Objectives and Audience ...................................... 84

CHAPTER SIX Creating or Adapting Materials from Local Resources ......................................................... 122

CHAPTER SEVEN Bringing It All Together ....................................................................................................... 144

APPENDICES ........................................................................................................................ 157

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The content of Nonformal Education is grounded in the theory and practice of some of the great educational thinkers of our time including Paolo Freire, Howard Gardner, David Kolb, Malcolm Knowles and Bernice McCarthy. This new manual includes information from the previous Peace Corps publications, The Nonformal Education Manual (ICE No. M0042) and The Nonformal Education Training Module (ICE No. T0064) as well as current research from the field of education. In addition to presenting the most current research and thinking in the field of education, the manual also includes field-tested ideas, activities and tips drawn from the experiences of Peace Corps Volunteers and staff around the world.

The Peace Corps recognizes and appreciates the work from the field, contractor, and education specialist and other headquarters staff that made this new publication possible. Gratitude is also expressed to the various writers and publishers who gave permission to reprint and adapt their materials.

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INTRODUCTION

WHY A MANUAL ON NONFORMAL EDUCATION?

Whether or not you have heard the term nonformal education (NFE) prior to joining Peace Corps, as a Volunteer you will engage in NFE in some way throughout your service. In fact, teachers, extension agents, small business experts, health workers, agricultural specialists--indeed, most people who are involved in "development" in any way--are involved in the sharing of skills and knowledge or changing attitudes, and as such, are engaged in some degree of nonformal education. At the root of NFE is a participatory, grassroots approach to helping people to clarify and address their own needs. In many ways, NFE goes to the heart of what it means to be a Peace Corps Volunteer--a respect for local knowledge, a faith in the wisdom of the people, and a humble awareness of one's own strengths, gifts, and challenges.

This manual is intended to provide both practical skills for engaging in nonformal education and some underlying theory to help you define and develop your own approach to NFE. Based on two previously published Peace Corps resources, Nonformal Education Manual (ICE No. M0042) and Nonformal Education Training Module (ICE No. T0064), this resource represents a combination and elaboration of those manuals to bring together the best thinking from the past with the most current approaches in the field of NFE.

WHO IS THIS RESOURCE FOR?

The most obvious audiences for this manual are education Volunteers and those agriculture, business development, environment, health, youth development, and other Volunteers who are called upon to facilitate learning activities in their work, whether for in-school or out-of-school youth, colleagues or other adults. This manual includes ideas for those Volunteers who require theory and practical skills to conduct training workshops and learning activities in their communities and schools. However, NFE is more than an approach to training and session design; and as such, the reach of this manual extends far beyond those leading NFE sessions. NFE provides a powerful philosophy and an effective approach for identifying and creating learning opportunities and facilitating change in a community; therefore, it is an important tool for any Volunteer.

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In addition to Volunteers, many other groups will find this manual useful in their work:

Host country national (HCN) counterparts, including teachers, health workers, agriculture extension agents, business advisors, community leaders, and anyone wishing to work on individual or community development, using respectful, participatory approaches.

Peace Corps training staff who wish to train Volunteers in nonformal education techniques and approaches, or who want to enhance the NFE aspects of their own facilitation styles.

Associate Peace Corps Directors (APCDs) who may wish to model NFE approaches for Volunteers and trainees in their projects.

ORGANIZATION OF EACH CHAPTER

Each chapter builds on the theories and activities of the others, so there is some benefit to reading the text from start to finish. But each chapter may also be read as a stand-alone module. Whether you choose to read the book from cover to cover or decide to skim through it for topics that are of particular interest to you, we hope that you will find theories, activities, techniques, suggestions, and lessons learned from other Volunteers, to guide you in developing your own unique approach to NFE.

PRE-READING STRATEGY

Assess your Knowledge, Skills, and Attitudes

Each chapter begins with a table that outlines the knowledge, skills, and attitudes that you should have to be effective in the capacity described in that chapter. Beneath each KSA, there is a space for you to evaluate your current knowledge, skills, and attitudes, along with an opportunity to create a learning plan to address any gaps in your KSAs.

READING

This section of each chapter provides important concepts and theories along with vignettes and "lessons learned" about the experiences of Volunteers and HCN counterparts.

IDEAS AND APPLICATIONS

Each chapter contains activities to help you practice NFE in training, in your community, or at work. Use the ideas in each of these sections to explore NFE approaches and to develop your own particular style. This section closes with a list of reflective questions to help you process the information.

KEY RESOURCES

A number of ICE publications, books, and online resources are listed at the end of each chapter to guide your further study of any of the concepts provided in the text. These resources can help you if you find that you still need to work on any of the KSAs after you have read the chapter.

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CHAPTER 1

WHAT IS NONFORMAL EDUCATION?

IN THIS CHAPTER

PRE-READING STRATEGY .................................................................................................. 2 Assess your Knowledge, Skills, and Attitudes ..................................................................... 2

READING ..................................................................................................................................... 3 NFE in Action: Peace Corps' Application of Nonformal Education ................................. 3 Formal, Nonformal, and Informal Education ........................................................................ 4 Basic Concepts of Adult Learning Theory ........................................................................... 9 Working with Youth .............................................................................................................. 11 NFE and CCBI in the Formal Education System ............................................................. 11 Asset-Based and Problem-Based Approaches ..................................................................... 12 Facilitation Basics .................................................................................................................. 14

IDEAS AND APPLICATIONS ............................................................................................. 15 What Type of Education Is It? ............................................................................................ 15 Reflect on Your Own Experiences with Nonformal Education ........................................ 16 Practice Nonformal Education in Your New Culture ......................................................... 17

KEY RESOURCES ................................................................................................................. 18

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