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r

I

i

i

78-3503
HOKE, Stephen Turner, 1949STEPS TOWARD INCREASED AWARENESS AND
PARTICIPATION:
HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOP­
MENT IN A MICHIGAN COMMUNITY.
Michigan State University,
Ph.D., 1977
Education, community and social

University Microfilms International, AnnArbor.Michtgmuioe

(t) Copyright by
STEPHEN TURNER HOKE

1977

STEPS TOWARD INCREASED AWARENESS AND PARTICIPATION:
HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT IN A MICHIGAN COMMUNITY

By
Stephen T. Hoke

A DISSERTATION

Submitted to
Michigan State University
in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

Department of Secondary Education and Curriculum

1977

ABSTRACT
STEPS TOWARDS INCREASED AWARENESS AND PARTICIPATION:
HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT IN A MICHIGAN COMMUNITY
By
Stephen Turner Hoke

The research was a descriptive study of 30 participants In the
"Family and Community" travel/study seminar sponsored by the Cooperative
Extension Service In the tri-county area of Michigan known as the T h u m b .
The study had three main purposes:
1.

To examine the way in which people see themselves as learners,

and to analyze the sources of these self-views;
2.

To examine the way In which people see themselves as teachers,

and to analyze the source of these self-views;
3.

To examine the relationships between the following sets of variables
a.

Past learning experiences and peoples' views of themselves;

b.

Peoples' view of themselves and their expectations regarding
a learning experience;

c.

Peoples' expectations of future learning experiences.

A total of 30 Interviews, pretests and post-tests of a set of three
written measures, and five different observations of verbal interaction
within the group were conducted.
of both a descriptive snalysls and

The results are presented In the form
correlational analyses.

The participant observer methodology was adopted by the researcher.
In that role, a triangulated data-gatherlng and analysis procedure
employing three types of Instruments was used.

A seml-structured

Stephen Turner Hoke
verbal interaction within the group were conducted.

The reaulta are

presented in the form of a both a descriptive analysis and correlational
analyses.
The participant observer methodology was adooted by the researcher.
In that role, a triangulated data-gathering and analysis procedure
employing three types of instruments was used.

A semi-structured

interview gathered descriptive data from the participants about their
self-views and the sources of those views.

A set of three written

instruments assessed whether the participants saw themselves more in
the role of a learner or a teacher.

Direct observation of the group

process recorded the frequency of participants' verbal Interactions.
The descriptive analysis identified the 30 participants as a homo­
geneous group, well-educated, slightly older than the average area
residents, highly active in community activities, and from stable homes
averaging over 19 years of marriage.

Over 90 per cent of the participants

attended church regularly.
The majority (93 per cent) Indicated a good-to-strong attitude
toward learning; 28 participants indicated good-to-hlgh expectations
for the seminar, paralleling their overall positive self-views.

The

majority expressed preference for the learner role from the outset.
A significant change in self-view was seen in the shift of 67 per cent
during the seminar from the learner role toward the teacher role.
The study concluded that self-views may change over time depending
on the interaction between various inter-oarsonal factors and the
learnins experiences.

The data gathered indicated that the participants'

self-views contributed positively to the level of p a r t i cipations the
seminar.

Stephen Turner Hoke
Past learning experiences as well as numerous background variables,
expectations, and attitudes towards learning, tended to influence their
attitudes toward learning and their involvement in the seminar.
participant's self-view was also seen to relate
verbal interaction in the group.

A

to the level of his

Participants who saw themselves as

teachers tended to engage in more verbal interaction.
The study was descriptive, identifying basic relationships and
testable hypotheses concerning learner and teacher self-views, expecta­
tions, and Involvement in learning activities.

The particpant observer

methodology proved an effective research strategy, along with the
written Instruments which Identified participants* self-views in the
learner and teacher role.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This study and my graduate education were both possible thanks to
the cooperation of many persons and Institutions.

It Is difficult to

enumerate all those who have contributed In one way or another and to
describe how 1 feel about them.

But 1 must say that many of them were

important and I want to thank them personally.
Most influential in my doctoral program were my academic coosiittee
advisory members, Professors Sam Corl, Cas Heilman, Marvin Grandstaff,
John Useem and Ted Ward.
One person should be mentioned first.

Dr. Ted Ward was m y educa­

tional advisor for five years before 1 came to Michigan State University
to study with him.

During the course of my study at MSU It was my

privilege to learn first-hand from his broad range of unique abilities
and experiences.

He was constantly flexible and available to help me

In time of need.

To him I owe my greater appreciation of the human

development process, the Inquiry process, and the Importance of educa­
tional evaluation.

1 extend a very special thank you to him and his

very patient and kind family.
Dr. Corl gave m e my first encouragement to inquire into the nature
of teachers' self-views and to explore alternate models for teacher
training.
Dr. Heilman suggested alternative approaches to needs assessment
in the community development process In an Indonesia seminar.

11

His

thoughts in that area sparked my independent study Into alternative
assessment procedures which culminated in my use in the study of a tri­
angulated data gathering method.
Dr. Harvln Grandstaff*s writings in the theory and background of
Non-formal education were foundational in building my knowledge and
understanding of alternate, out-of-school educational programs.

This

interest in non-formal education led to my desire to do my dissertation
research describing a non-formal adult learning experience.
Dr. UseemTs sensitivity to the problems and intricacies of socio­
logical/anthropological relations caused me to investigate the partici­
pant observation strategy more closely.

His guidance and suggestions

in the area of survey research and interviewing were most helpful.
The study was made possible through the Informal cooperation of
the Cooperative Extension Service and USAID.

The Extension Service

covered the expenses involved in data gathering and USAID supported my
Graduate Assletantship.

I thank the numerous personnel in the Extension

Service who facilitated my research and travel.
Ann Ross, Huron County Home Economist, was the person most influ­
ential in my successfully completing the project.

Ann served as

director of the "Family and Community" seminar, and ably advised me in
protocol and procedures during the seminar.

I thank Ann and her husband

for their gracious hospitality and fellowship during the cold winter of
1977.
I would also like to thank the 30 participants of the seminar who
were gracious enough to invite me into their homes to Interview and
patient enough to sit through three different kinds of data gathering
ill

procedures.

It was for adult learners like these that this research was

undertaken.
I thank ay colleagues at Michigan State who encouraged ae during
the time of the planning, Impleaenting and analysis of the research.
Kathy Graham gave invaluable assistance in the writing, editing and
conceptualizing of the study; Rod McKean sharpened ay thinking in statis­
tical procedures and analysis; Tom Mace was a friend and encouragement.
Len Bianchi, research consultant, provided inestimable assistance
and guidance in the analysis of data.

His flexibility and cooperation

are greatly appreciated.
Four other women played a significant role in the day-to-day nurturance and support of the project.

Geneva Speas, Pat Cairo, and Fran

Fowler provided emotional support and critical advice and typing assis­
tance.

Marilyn Renegar completed the major portion of typing in a very

short amount of time at very short notice.

I would like to thank her

too.
My father, Donald Hoke, was another source of encouragement and
editorial assistance, and I give him my w arm appreciation.

I would also

like to thank all of m y family for their patience and hospitality during
our two years in Michigan.

iv

My entire graduate education has been conpleted under the gracious
and loving care of my wife, Elolse Ann.
love.

To her I owe my life and my

Without her four years of difficult and strenuous work, we would

not have finished the program and built the competencies and skills w e
both felt were so vital for our future lives.

It is to her that I humbly

and gratefully dedicate the work that this study represents.

She has

already accepted its cost; may she now accept and receive its benefits
as my co-worker.

v

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
DEDICATION

ii
v

LIST OF TABLES

ix

LIST OF FIGURES

xi

Chapter
I.

IDENTIFICATION OF THE P R O B L E M .................................... 1
Problem Statement............................................... 2
Purposes......................................................... 4
Research Questions.............................................. 5
Importance. . . . . .
........................................ 7
Conceptual Framework............................................ 9
The Socio-political Setting— The Macro V i e w .............. 10
The Educational Research Project— The Micro View . . . .10
Definition of T e r m s ........................................... 11
O v e rview........................................................ 13

II.

REVIEW OF RELEVANT L I T E R A T U R E .................................. 15
T o p i c s .......................................................... 15
Perception
........................................... 16
Community A c t i o n ........................................... 24
Sociological/Anthropological M e t h o d s .................... 31
Evaluation of Educational Experiences.....................33
Specific Data Gathering T e c h n i q u e s .......................34
Participant Observer Methodology.......................35
Personal Interview.
...........
39
Limitations................................................. 40
Stumsary..........................
43

III.

ETHNOGRAPHIC DESCRIPTION........................................ 45
I n t r o d u c t i o n ................................................. 45
The Thumb Area: A Rural Conmuinity .
.......................46
Geographic and Ecological O v e r v i e w .......................46
Demographic Characteristics................................47
The Research................................................... 49
Approaches U s e d ...............................
.49
Entering the S e m i n a r ...................................... 53
Relating to Participants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 6
Analysis of the D a t a ...................................... 58

Chapter

Page
Hay of Life in the Thumb A r e a ................................... 59
Participants ................................................. 60
F a m i l y ......................................................... 60
Child-Rearing...................................................61
W o r k ........................................................... 62
Relationship to Neighbors and the Community................. 63
The C h u r c h ..................................................... 64
Formal Organizations and Associations........................ 65
Education....................................................... 65
G o v e r n m e n t ..................................................... 66
67
Reflections...................................
The S e m i n a r ..................................................... 69
G o a l s ........................................................... 69
Selection of Participants..................................... 69
Materials....................................................... 70
Administration and Plann i n g................................... 70
Content......................................................... 71
Strategies and Methods ...................................... 71
Outline of the Seminar Sessions...............................73
Reflections on the Seminar Experience.......................... 74

IV.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

...............................................

Research Design
...............................................
Trlangulatlon of Methods ......... . . . . . . . . . . . .
Instrumentation and D a t a .......................................
Personal I n t e r v i e w ......................
Analysis of Verbal Interaction .............................
Written Measures
.....................................
Description of Pilot Study ....................................
Summary
..................................................

V.

80
80
80
83
83
86
88
93
94

F I N D I N G S ..............................................................97
Descriptive Analysis .......................................... 97
Thumb Area P a r t i c i p a n t s ..................................... 98
Background Variables Relating to Self-Concept
.........
102
Participation in Community Activities
..................
106
Correlational Analyses ......................................
109
Research Question D1 .....................................
109
Research Question R1 .....................................
Ill
Research Question D3 .....................................
112
Research Question D4 .....................................
113
Research Question R2 .....................................
114
Research Question R3 .....................................
115
Research Question R4 .....................................
115
Research Question SI .....................................
118
Research Question S2 .....................................
119
Research Question S3 .....................................
119
S u m m a r y ........................................................ 122

Chapter

Page

VI. SUMMARY AND C O N C L U S I O N S ......................................

124

Sunaary of the R e s e a r c h ..................................
Discussion and Interpretations
.........................
Descriptive Analysis ..................................
Correlational Analyses ...............................
C o n c l u s i o n s ...............................................
Implications for P r a c t i c e .................................
Implications for R e s e a r c h .................................
Suggested Hypotheses
......................................
........... . . . . . . .
Significance of the Research

124
125
126
128
113
114
114
115
115

BIBLIOGRAPHY

........................................................

A P P E N D I X ..............................................................

viii

159

167

LIST OF TABLES

Table
IV.1.

Page
Range of Scores Possible on MSU T and MSU L
I n s t r u m e n t s ...........................................

90

2.

Data T a b l e ...........................................

93

V.l.

Occupation In the F a m i l y ............................

98

2.

Age of P a r t i c i p a n t s ..................................

99

3.

Last Year of S c h o o l i n g ..............................

99

4.

Parent's O c c u p a t i o n ................................

5.

Size of F a m i l y .......................................

102

6.

Background Variables Relating to Self-Views ........

104

7.

Graph of Background Variables Relating to SelfViewa as Learner and T e a c h e r ........................

106

8.

Participation in Comnunity Activities ...............

107

9.

Age of Thumb Area R e s i d e n t s ..........................

108

10.

Self-Views as Learners (L) or Teachers (T)

110

11.

Strength of S e l f - V i e w s ..............................

Ill

12.

Past Learning E x p e r i e n c e s ............................

112

13.

Expectations and Attitudes

..........................

113

14.

Self-View and A t t i t u d e s ..............................

114

15.

Correlations Between Self-Views and Attitudes . . . .

115

16.

Self-View and E x p e c t a t i o n s .........................

116

17.

Self-View and Verbal Interaction

117

18.

...................

Extent of Self-View Change Between Learner and
Teacher Role .
...............

ix

.

100

118

Table

19.

20.

Page

Participation Change in Learning and Teaching
A c t i v i t i e s ....................
Correlations Between Post-testa

x

............................

120
121

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure
1.1.

Page
The Relationships

I n v e s t i g a t e d .................... .............

5

II.1.

The Six Major Cells of Information Needed for Comprehensive
Evaluation
..................................................33

IV.1.

Triangulation Procedure for Data Gathering and Analysis . . .

81

Time Sequence of Data-Gatherlng Instruments

82

2.

xi

..................

CHAPTER I

IDENTIFICATION OF THE PROBLEM

As Cooperative Extension agents and community program planners seek to
develop effective educational systems for use with adult learning groups
in community development, one of the difficulties is the complexity of
community development as a non-formal education enterprise.

Every situation

is unique; the learners are often cohesive, Intact groups with distinctive
background experiences.

The goals and objectives of the learning processes

depend to a great extent on the learners' own views of their needs and
capabilities.

This demands that the procedures for working with a particular

community must be largely created and adapted anew for each situation.

The

assessment of change must rely on vague and often unreliable indicators (from
FASE report, quoted In Ward and Dettoni, p. 232).
Into this somewhat nebulous informal and non-formdl social and
educational system, extension workers and community program planners must
proceed with caution and care.

There are no established procedures for

Improvement or change, no proven indicators, no reliable pretested methods
or instructional materials.

Discovery is as important as programming, and

when program planning competes with discovery, or when programming
Interferes with and inhibits discovery, such change is not helpful, but
becomes counter-productive.

1

2
Problem Statement

A major concern In non-formal c o m i n l t y education la dealing with
people's expectations of what an Instructional system should consist of
and look like (In order to determine what types of programs will be most
meaningful and relevant for the people Involved).

Based on past

experiences, people have learned to expect (and to project) what educa­
tion for them should look like In the future.

Mon-formal education

systems within Cooperative Extension In Michigan are revealing people's
expectations to be a potential roadblock to the effective adoption and
Implementation of alternative approaches to education for adults, whether
they be In the area of extension services or community development.
A necessary next step In the planning and overall evaluation of
community programs Is to ascertain how people's self-views affect their
participation, Interaction and learning In a community education program.
When a more adequate understanding of the Influence of self-views on a
learning experience is gained, learning experiences and activities can
be designed that will Increase awareness and discovery as well as stimu­
late creativity In participation.
Typically, adult learners have a view of one's self as a learner
In terms of a receiver of Information and knowledge.

Many non-formal

educators are concerned with expanding this self-view as a learner
to a view of self which takes In a desire to share with other
people in the learning process.

They want to know If one's desire

to share with others will Increase as one's self view as a learner
expands.

The question Is, will one's self-view as receiver change

3
over e short time-frame learning experience to include the capacity
to help others learn?

If this change in self-view Is possible, program

planners will have more useful data with which to design adult
learning prograas.

But in order to be able to place persona in

educational experiences that are most appropriate and beneficial for
then, it is necessary to know just what that person's view of self
as a learner and as a teacher is.
A person with a low view of self as a learner would need to
experience success in learning to be confident of his capability
to learn new Information and profit from a group learning program.
A person with a high strong view of self as a learner may be ready
to move into programs that equip and train him as a leader and
teacher of others.

To fill this role, it is important to know what

that person's view of self as a teacher is.

A person with a low

view of self as a teacher may need some confidence building experiences
that confirm his ability and skill in helping other people learn.
A person with a high view of self as a teacher will be ready to
participate in a training program for potential teachers.

A voluntary cn— unity group has certain charactariatlea that
distinguish it from other adult groups.

The voluntary nature of the group

is a positive attribute to a learning group, for it is believed that peo­
ple will profit from having participated in such a learning experience.
There are other dynamics of involvement in a voluntary group that
need to be explored as well.

It is necessary, however, to capture these

dynamics of Interacting forces and elements during the course of the
process as it occurs.

After the learning experience or activity is com­

pleted, the forces are no longer dynamic.

They are now history.

There­

fore, an Intense case study of a voluntary community group attempted to
record an "existential" picture of voluntary participation as it took
place at one particular time.
Purposes
The intention of the study was to use a variety of assessment pro­
cedures to describe the expectations and perceptions of a c o m i n l t y
learning group through their voluntary participation in a particular
non-formal community education program.

The purposes of the research

project were the following:
(1) To examine the way in which people see thsmselves as (potential)
learners, and to analyse the sources of these self~vlews;
(2) To examine the way in which people see thsmselves as (potential)
teachers, and to analyse the sources of these self-views;
(3) To examine the relationships between the following sets of
variables:
a.

Past learning experiences and people's views of thmsselves;

b.

People's views of theswelves and their expectations regard­
ing a learning experience;

c.

People's expectations of future learning experiences.

Prom the study of people's perceptions in a particular community
learning activity, a set of propositions and/or hypotheses were identi­
fied.

When developed, the propositions and hypotheses may be tested on

a larger scale at a later time.

Figure 1 Illustrates the relationships

that were investigated.

Past

Learning

Experiences

People's View
of

Learning

Expectations

Experiences

The

P/PD

P/PD
Si

S2

S3

Modes of Data Gathering:
Code letters in lower corners of each box
represent: D-Descrlption(full verbal description); {("Relationship;
S-Summatlve Data; P/P-pretest and post-test with reference to either des­
cription or measurement data; M"Measurements— quantitative data on
interaction and self-views;

Figure 1.

The Relationships Investigated.

Research Questions

The study was guided by the following exploratory questions:
1.

Questions of Description (D)
Dl.

How do these people see themselves as (potential) learners and
(potential) teachers?

02.

What factors relate to the participants' self-views?

(What

is the source of these self-views?)
D3.

What are the participants' expectations for the learning
experience?

D4.

What are the participant's expectations of his/her Involvement
in the learning experience?

2.

Questions of Relationship (R)
Rl.

How does a participant's past experience in various learning
experiences relate to his/her self-perceptions?

R 2 . How does a participant's self-view relate to his/her attitude
toward learning in general? . . .
R3.

a group? . . . and teaching?

How do these self-views (and expectations) relate to a partici­
pant's learning experience?

R4.

How does a participant's self-view relate to the degree of his/
her participation and interaction in a group learning experience?

3.

Questions of Change (Sunmative Evidence) (S)
51.

To what extent do these self-views change (as a result of the
particular learning experience)?

52.

To what extent did the degree of Involvement change during the
course of the learning experience?

53.

To what extent did the level of participation in learning (L)
or teaching (T) activities change during the course of the
learning experience?

7
Importance
The study is important for the following reasons:

First, there

is an expanding need for a knowledge base concerning how people's view
of themselves as sharers of knowledge (learners and teachers) relates
to their expectations and how these views are affected by particular
(prior) learning experiences.

The possible relationships that

exist between people's prior learning experiences, their view of
themselves, their expectations, and future learning experiences
were

investigated.

Understanding the relationships

effective planning for learning, and

provides

leads

to more

valuable data to

planners for decision making in matching methods (means) to learners ,
as well as matching means to ends.
A second reason is that little emphasis has been placed on ascer­
taining the perceptions of the target population before community
development planning begins, although almost all practitioners of program
planning give lip-service to the concept of cooperative planning.
This has often resulted in the "cart before the horse" phenomenon—
programs planned with little relation to people's real needs.

Little

stress has been placed on understanding the sensitivities and sensibi­
lities of the community in deciding what needs are present, where and
how to get the data, and for what outcomes to plan.

To prevent "the

cart before the horse" In program planning, it is essential to assess
the needs of the intended audience before a program can be properly
planned.

Otherwise, programs will be planned and Implemented that neither meet a
need nor solve a problem.
A third reason for the study's Importance Is that there la a need
to develop more reliable and effective methods for discovering people's
view of themselves, and their preconceptions of the teaching process.
Assessment procedures must be designed that will Increase self-discovery
and Involve the target population in the process of articulating their
own expectations for community development.

Through the design and

Implementation of m ore effective educational delivery systems, further
self-discovery will be facilitated and creativity will be encouraged.
Finally, through implementation of needs-related alternative
approaches to education for adults, community program planners will be
better able to match appropriate teachIng-learaing processes with
people's expectations and experience.

In addition, program planners

will be better able to structure and adapt non-formal educational pro­
grams to local (particular) community needs and expectations.
Specifically, M S U Is currently Involved with USAID In providing
assistance to several developing countries in the area of non-formal
education and community development.

This study is undertaken with the

purpose of providing additional supportive information and data to be
used In the "knowledge building" phase of the various projects.

9
Conceptual Framework
Specialised educational research and programs need to relate to the
larger socio-political context in which they take place.

It is also Im­

portant to have a precise conceptual framework for the research In order
to define exactly what information Is needed and what other kinds of in­
formation are supplementary or extraneous to the objectives of the study.
Within an educational setting as complex as a non-formal community
learning program, two perspectives are apparent.

First, finding out what

Is going on In the community over time demands a macro view of this study.
How Is the community growing and developing towards Its stated objectives?
What are some of the factors at work in the larger community?

The second

perspective takes a micro view of the specific learning seminar in which
this research study is focused.
ing the course of the seminar?

What is going on in the participants dur­
What are the factors that relate to the

participants' self-view and their involvement in the program?
It will be apparent that both points of view inform the other.

Seeing

the big picture of the community as a whole establishes a view within which
the narrower, more precise research study can fit.

Similarly, the focused

study needs to be tied to the larger concerns of the community at large.
How do people involved in a voluntary community learning program relate to
and participate in community life?

How does a non-formal learning program

play a part in community development?
a

Both views are important in planning

research study that will be realistic and alive.

It will be real­

istic in that it will relate a specific concern to the on-going progress
of the larger community and not remain Isolated and separatedjfrom reality.
It will be alive in that it will document a current, in vivo experience
as it takes place.

10
The Socio-Political Setting— The Macro View
For the Case Study to be relevant and helpful to community program
planners In other locations, It must relate the concern of the Cooperative
Extension Service (CES) for Individual participation In the community pol­
itical process (as well as Involvement In a community learning program) to
the social setting In which that participation will take place.

A useful

method of describing the socio-political context is to take Into consi­
deration some of the Important general historical and social factors In
the Thumb Area.

Goldhamner and Farner (1964) list seven factors to be

described.
Individual participation in any one of several community activities
(political, social, or educational) is a result of several Interacting
factors.

Factors such as person's socioeconomic status, his past Involve­

ment In the community structures, the political structure of the local
government and past programs and procedures may all Influence a person's
participation in the political processes within the comunity.
question must be asked:

Thus, the

What are the structural factors within the com­

munity which relate to a person's Involvement In the political processes
In the trl-county area?

Chapter Three sketches this background Information.

The Educational Research Project— The Micro View
The specific Inquiry of the study must be understood in relation to
the evaluation concerns of the CES for the program itself.
evaluative concern of the CES for this program is:
seminar achieving Its stated objectives?

The major

How well Is this

What are Its consequences In

comparison to Its intentions and Its promises?
Another evaluative concern Is determining a criterion or measurement
concept to apply to the product or outcomes of the seminar.

How does one

quantify changes In behavior and actual participation in, governmental

11

These concerns ere those felt primarily by the CES, but are not the
foremost Interest of the study.

However, It was possible for the study

to design and use several measures which were useful In establishing
"benchmark" data.

Further, It may be helpful for future researchers as

well as for the CES to see the relationship of the evaluative concerns
of the CES and the research questions of the study.

Definition of Terms

The following terms are vital to an understanding of the concepts
and approaches to be developed in the research proposal.

It may be

helpful to explain each one within the expanded educational context
this report has selected as Its area of concentration.
Learner— anyone who is Interested In and desires to learn any new
concept, principle, or skill.

He does not have to be a student In the

schooling sense, but can be any person desiring new understanding or
skill by study, Interaction, or experience.
Teacher— any person interested In helping and facilitating other
people In the learning process; one who Is Involved In showing, guiding,
and directing people who are seeking to learn In the broadest sense of
the word.

A teacher does not have to be certified or especially trained

to be able to facilitate learning.
Comsainitv— any group of persona organized Into a unit or manifesting
awareness of some unifying trait; an Interacting group of individuals;
people living In a particular region and usually linked by common
interests.

A rural community, for example. Is a group of persona living

within a particular village having frequent Interaction by reason of
their proximity to one another, usually sharing comaion Interests,
activities and facilities.

12
Learner—

anyone who la interested In and desires to learn any

new concept, principle, or skill.

He does not have to be a student in

the schooling sense, but can be any person desiring new understanding
or skill by study, interaction, or experience.
Teacher—

any person Interested in helping and facilitating other

people in the learning process;

one who is Involved in showing, guiding,

and directing people who are seeking to learn in the broadest sense of
the word.

A teacher does not have to be certified or especially trained

to be able to facilitate learning.
Community—

any group of persons organized Into a unit or mani­

festing awareness of some unifying trait; an interacting group of
individuals; people living in a particular region and usually linked by
common Interests.

A rural community, for example,is a group of persons

living within a particular village having frequent Interaction by reason
of their proximity to one another, usually sharing common interests,
activities and facilities.
Self-view—

a term used to refer to a person's thoughts, ideas

and notions regarding himself as a person; the person's organization of
his self-attitudes; the sum total of what a person sees himself to be;
the image one has of oneself;

this word will be used throughout the study

interchangeably with such words as self-concept and self-perception
(Vldebeck, 1960, p.351).
Expectations—

those assumptions or suppositions one holds

concerning what will occur in the future; the anticipation or hope in
one's mind of a thing or event more or less likely to take place.
Specifically, self-expectations have to do with those hopes that a
person holds for himself in the performance of some role.

13
Self-View— a tern used to refer to a person's thoughts, Ideas and
notions regarding himself as a person; the person's organisation of his
self-attitudes; the sum total of what a person sees himself to be; the
image one has of oneself; this word will be used throughout the study
Interchangeably with such words as self-concept and self-perception
(Vldebeck, 1960, p. 351).
Expectations— those assumptions or suppositions one holds con­
cerning what will occur In the future; the anticipation or hope In one's
mind of a thing or event more or less likely to take place.

Specifically,

self-expectations have to do with those hopes that a person holds for
himself in the performance of some role.

Overview

The background and problem statement, the purposes and Importance
of the study, the research questions to be analysed, and the general
setting In which the study took place have all been described In the
first chapter.

In the remaining chapters the related literature, an

ethnographic description, research procedures, results, and conclusions
are presented.
In Chapter II a review of related literature Is reported.

The

review Is Intended to present findings In four significant areas;
perception, coimminlty action and development, sociological/anthropological
methods, and specific data-gatherlng techniques including Interviewing,
participant observation, and written self-reports.
The ethnographic description of the seminar proceedings are presented
In Chapter III.

A narrative of the data-gatherlng procedure Is recorded

14
and the Interaction of the researcher with participants Is summarized
to give a representative picture of the entire seminar.
The research design Is outlined In Chapter IV.

A detailed

description of the methodology os the study Is presented, including the
trlangulatlon of methods, the development of the three data-gatherlng
procedures and the gathering and processing of the data.
The findings of the analysis of the data are discussed In Chapter V.
A summary of the study, the conclusions, and the implications for
further reaearch are presented in the final chapter.

CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF RELEVANT LITERATURE

The first purpose served by a review of the literature was to more
firmly establish the possible need of the study for non-formal educators
working in c o m u n i t y development programs.
Second, such a review summarized the existing studies relative to
people's perceptions of learning and teaching, who has done the work,
when and where the latest research studies were completed, and what
approaches involving research methodology, instrumentation, and statisti­
cal analyses were followed.

For each topic, the range of literature was

assessed beginning in the initial studies in the field and moving
forward in time to the most recent studies.
In conclusion, a review of the literature served to delineate from
several theoretical positions a conceptual framework affording bases for
generation of hypotheses and statements of their rationale.

Topics

The review of related literature is organized under four major
headings.
Action;

These are the following:

(1) Perception;

(2) Community

(3) Basic Sociological/Anthropological Methods; and (4) Specific

data gathering techniques in participant observation.
Research findings in these areas provide the basis for the research
questions of this study.

15

Perception
Psychologists end educational planners are rapidly learning that
the descriptive accounts of each person's world are best arrived at by
an analysis of the central character, the principal actor; namely, the
self.
Carl Rogers (1951) has probably been the individual most responsible
for systematically formulating a self-concept theory of behavior.
Hamachek (1973) reviewed this literature and suggested that Rogers'
theory is an outgrowth of his clinical experiences as a counselor and
represents a synthesis of phenomenology as developed by Combs and Snygg
(1959); social interaction theory as represented by Mead (1934) and
Cooley (1902); organismic theory as developed in the writings of Goldstein
(1939), Angyal (1941), and Maslov (1970); and Interpersonal theory as
expanded by Sullivan (1953).

Raimy (1943) and Lecky (1945) were also

influential in the development of Rogers' theoretical system.

Vldebeck

(1960) reviewed the findings of Helper (1955), Mania (1955), and Miyamoto
and D o m b u s c h (1956), which show that an individual's self-ratings are
significantly correlated with the ratings of him made by his associates.
Their work on the social origins of the self was lodged in Cooley's
formulation of the "looking glass self," and in Mead's conception of the
self as an organization of socially derived and symbolically represented
self-identification.
Self-concept theory, dissonance theory, and research suggested that
an individual behaves in a manner which is consistent with how he per­
ceives himself.

Evidence showed that some individuals develop "success-

type" personalities and look for ways to succeed, and there are others
who develop "failure-type" personalities and look for ways to fall, both
in order to be consistent with their respective images (Malts, 1960;

Lovln and Epstein, 1965; Aronson and Carlsmith, 1962).

Persons who view

themselves as failure types will tend to reject their successes because
success experiences "just don't fit" how they see themselves.

In a

similar way, persons who view themselves as success types will tend to
reject their failures because, as in the case above, failure experiences
"just don't fit" how they see themselves.

There are, however, some

instances when the positive effects of an unexpected success (a smile of
approval, a word of encouragement, a pat on the back) can make even a
failure-type person feel good.

There are other instances, however, when

no matter how good or unexpected the success, some failure-expectancy
persons still reject outcomes which are inconsistent with their negative
self-pictures or self-views.
Several further questions arise from this evidence.

The first is,

what determines which of these experiences— success or failure— will be
dominant over the other?

In an effort to answer this question, psycholo­

gists have begun looking at the role an individual's feelings about
himself play in influencing his readiness to incorporate or "believe"
his successes or failures.

The work of Pepitone et al. (1969) and

Coopersmith (1967) showed that self-esteem appears to be related to the
extent to which a person "believes" a success

or failure experience.

Marecek and Mettee (1972) hypothesized that low self-esteem persons may
differ as to the certainty of their self-appraisal.

A person who is

certain about his self-esteem would be more likely to maintain the status
quo.

On the other hand, the individual who is uncertain and unconvinced

of the validity of his low self-appraisal may be more open to success
because it provides a means of reducing the uncertainty in a favorable
direction.

This state of uncertain self-appraisal may leave the success-

18
deprived low self-esteem individual "hungry" for success experiences that
will help validate his refusal to fully internalize or "believe" his
past failure experiences.
The conclusions of this research were clear.

Not only does a person

behave in a manner consistent with his self-image, but the extent to
which he either accepts or rejects success or failure experiences depends
to some extent on the certainty of his self-image.
further research was also clear.

The Implication for

It is important to develop ways in

which the certainty of a person's self-esteem can be assessed or diagnosed.
Diagnosis methods would provide needed information to program planners
and would help determine what type of learning experiences could help
learners with low certainty.
This research established a foundation on which the inquiry of the
present study will build.

Both self-concept theory and dissonance

theory provided evidence that most people behave in a way which is
consistent with their private self-perceptions or self-views.
If a person*8 self-view was known, it might serve as a reliable
Indicator (predictor) of success or failure, s b well as a predictor of
that person's involvement or non-Involvement in potential learning
activities.
The question now is, what are the ways in which people in a community
see themselves as learners and (potential) teachers, and what are the
sources of these self-views?
The literature was reviewed for previous studies dealing with two
topics:
1.

the sources relating to one's view of self;

2.

a person's view of self in a particular role (learner or teacher).

19

Studies of the sources of a person's self-view were widespread.
Coopersmith's work on The Antecedents of Self Esteem (1967) served as a
representative study of the kind of research done on children with high self
esteem.

The factors he discussed as important determinants (e.g., parents'

expectations) of a child's self-esteem were listed and compared with the
kinds of items that emerged from interviews regarding the sources of their
self-views.
Biddle and Thomas (1966) suggested that the field of role theory is
still characterized by some definitional misunderstandings and conceptual
confusion.

This was particularly evident in the research published on

teacher role expectations, where, as Biddle pointed out in the Encyclopedia
of Research on Teaching (1969, p. 1437), "a wide variety of terms are
often used to describe common methods and the same terms may be applied
to quite different techniques."

In general, for purposes of this review,

terms similar to those proposed by Biddle and Thomas have been used.
One of the newer and seemingly most fruitful approaches to the under­
standing of personality was the observation of the human being from the
point of view of the behaver himself (Hatfield, 1961).

According to the

self-concept theory of personality, an individual's behavior is determined
by the perceptions he has of himself as an individual and of the world
around him.
Adequately functioning personalities see themselves in essentially
postive ways.

They assume that they are persons that are liked, wanted,

and valued for their own sakes.

They become self-confident, self-assured,

self-reliant members of society.
off of effective functioning.
perform inadequately.

Self-depreciation results in a falling

Seeing themselves as inadequate, they

20
That self-acceptance Is a necessary characteristic for good mental
health has also been supported by a number of therapists.

Carl Rogers

(1947) reported an observation made repeatedly In client-centered
therapeutic situations.

He found that whenever changes occur In the

perception of the self and in the perception of reality* changes occur
in behavior.
In education, a teacher's attitude towards himself is an Important
factor in the growth of a healthy personality.

Teachers must learn to

accept themselves if they are to understand children and help children to
learn desirable attitudes of self-acceptance (Hatfield, p. 87).
The present study was designed to describe the self^viewa of
participants in a learning seminar and to determine the relationship
of those self-concepts to their participation in that learning
experience.
Studies of Teacher-role Expectations.

On the topic of the perception

of self in a particular role, such as that of a learner or teacher,
Biddle (1969) reviewed 74 studies dealing with teacher-role expectations
subdivided into the following categories:
Subject Persons.

Teacher expectations may be held by a variety of

persons who are usually identified by the social position which they hold.
Thus, expectations held by parents may be contrasted with those held by
teachers themselves, principals, school-board members, and so on.
Among the criteria used by Investigators to differentiate groups of
subjects were such things as the subject's ethnic, religious, or racial
background, the school level, socioeconomic level of the subject, and
more.

21
Object Persons.

A wide variety of investigations were also conducted

Into role expectations held by subjects for teachers in general
and for subgroups of teachers such as primary teachers, male teachers,
coaches, and experienced teachers.
Instruments Used.

In 1933 Robert Bernreuter explained his construction

of the "personality inventory" (P-I).

Borrowing from the psychiatrist and

counselor the method of using as data answers given by the subjects to
questions concerning themselves, Bernreuter developed more adequate means
for evaluating the reports which subjects gave concerning themselves.
He designed testa or "inventories" which were used in the simultaneous
estimation of several traits.

His items were adapted from numerous other

authors and then edited to fit the make-up of the P-I test.
Powell (1948) discussed an observation measure as a method of
evaluating a person's insight into his own personality.

Her study, first,

determined the relationship between self-insight into adjustment and the
"real" nature of the person as shown from ratings of peers and of an
expert, and, second, determined the relationship between three different
approaches to the measurement of adjustment, i.e., a self-rating, a peerrating, and an expert's rating. The Bernreuter Personality Inventory was
used to gain a self-rating score from each subject.

The field of personality testing has also attracted many investiga­
tions.

Ellis (1946) reviewed many studies which attempted to

validate self-rating questionnaires.

Most of these studies investigated

only the amount of self-insight individuals have into their adjustment
as compared to ratings by other judges.

Ratings by more than one class

or type of judge were not included in these studies.

Given the general

lack of agreement concerning either the functions presumed to integrate

or Influence the teacher's role, "it comes as no surprise to discover
that a wide range of instruments has been used for the measurement of
teacher-role expectations" (Biddle, 1969, p. 1939).
Biddle reported that most studies asking for direct self-reports
made use of Likert scaling techniques, which call for subjects to choose
from a range of ranked alternatives that response which most clearly
corresponds to their norm, anticipation, or value.

For example, res­

pondents might be asked whether they "highly agreed," "moderately
agreed," "felt neutral about," "moderately disagreed," or "highly dis­
agreed" with specific teacher performance, such as using letter grades
with pupils.
The list of Instruments Included the Teacher Practices Questionnaire
(Sorenson and others, 1963), Medley and Mitzel's LScAR (Lantz, 1965),
and a range of self-developed Instruments.

Most studies made use of

Likert scaling techniques, although Biddle showed that there is also
precedent for using several other methods including a Q-sort technique,
Osgood semantic differential, and open-ended questions (1969, p. 1439).
An adaptation of a Likert scale instrument, such as Ward's (1961)
"Teacher Self Deacrlber" (TSD) was used in the present study to measure
a subject's self-views or perceptions of himself as a learner and as a
(potential) teacher.

The TSD was designed for maximum sensitivity to

the sometimes subtle developments in a teacher's role perception.

As

a "pre-post change" study Instrument, it has been used to "examine the
Impact of such experiences as student teaching . . .

or effects of age

and experience upon the teacher's perception of role" (Ward, 1961, p. 2).

Studies of Teacher-role Performance.

Biddle reported fewer studies

of teacher perfonsance than expectatlonal studies.

Preauaably this

reflects the greater cost of investigations of overt behavior.

The investi­

gations of teacher performance examined a small range of classroom behavior
along such criteria as grade level, subject matter, age and sex of teacher,
and so on.
Methods of Data Collection.

Research on teacher performance also

exhibited a wide variety of methodological approaches.

These can be

classified under the headings of non-participant observation, observer
rating, and behavioral recording.

Of these three strategies, observer

ratings seem to offer the greatest reliability, flexibility and opportunity
for systematic recording of behavioral events.
The studies of teacher-role expectations and performance discussed
above used Likert scales for gathering written information directly from
the respondent.

However, no studies suggested specific formats for direct

self-reports of one's self-perception in the role of either teacher or
learner.
The Interview setting permitted the direct questioning of the
participant regarding his or her self-perception in the roles of teacher
or learner.

However, it became more difficult to measure self-perception

when a written measure was used.

For the purposes of the study, it was

necessary to construct a written measure that participants could fill out
themselves.

A procedure similar to the one followed by Bernreuter (1933,

1935), Hard (1961) and Hatfield (1961) was used to design the instruments
to record the self-views of participants.

The degree of participation of

the participants in either Teaching (T) or Learning (L) activities was
the dimension selected for self-report.

Summary.

The studies of teacher-role expectations and performance

were most helpful In their discussion of instrumentation and methods for
the analysis of data.

Likert scales were adapted to fit a variety of

settings and were the most common method for gathering data.

Comnunity Action
A wealth of literature has grown up in recent years around the
activities of the cooperative extension agent in community development.
The writings of experienced consultants and field personnel established
a philosophical base for planning and implementing a participatory research
activity that viewed the needs and expectations of the participants in a
voluntary community action program as being key to its relevance and
cess.

suc­

Practitioners have also written useful manuals and handbooks for

planning successful programs in other areas (Sanders, 1972; Savlle, 1965;
Kelsey and Hearne, 1949).

Several of these books offered a sound basis

for understanding the dynamics of a voluntary community educational program.
Schlndler-Rainman and Llppitt (1971) characterized the development
and functioning of voluntarism in community development as a key aspect
of a democratic society and articulated several basic assumptions about
the relationship between democracy, voluntarism, and personal growth and
development.

They summarized social trends influencing the development

of voluntarism, analyzed the needs and opportunities for volunteers in
every community, and explored the bases of motivation of those who volun­
teer.

A complete analysis was given of present recruitment and training

programs, and a variety of resources and methods were suggested
Implementing

ideas

for

experimentation

and

innovation.

for

Biddle and Biddle (1965) and Mezirow (1963)alone, of all the producers
of extension literature, focused on the dynamics involved in the revitalization
of local initiative and participation for community development.

Theirs was a

process emphasis rather than a focus on packaged programs, and guidelines
were given for capitalizing on voluntary Involvement within the community.

Meta-Purposes. In any goal-orented activity there may exist "raetapurposea"which are more comprehensive and thus above or behind the stated
purposes.

There exists in program planning and community development a

taxonomy of purposes and motivations for involvement in such programs,
ranging from external, authoritative control to an almost laissez-faire
position.
A

first level of purpose or motivation is often

and heavy-handed authoritarianism
way I tell you...."
ment

highly visible

such as, "You need to do this the

This approach has characterized many aid and develop­

program planning efforts in the past.
A

second level of purpose is expressed

in the phrase, "We want you

(the local participant) to do as much as possible, but we are here to help
whenever necessary."

This supportive stance is more characteristic of the

current trend in development relationships between program planners and
communities.
A

third level of purpose is further removed and external.

The

community is expected to do it all alone, and outside help is only given
to facilitate what the local community has already initiated.
It will
all of these

become evident that there may be
levels operative in the study.

motivations or purposes at
At the outset, for example.

26
It will be obvious (and therefore left unsaid) that there exist certain
philosophical assumptions regarding the desirability of human resource
development, Increasing self determination, and participatory decision­
making that are conslstant with a Developmental Psychological position.
These assumptions will not be further labeled or made any more specific
than necessary

preconceptions on the part of the sponsoring organization.

If this were not the case (i.e., that the Extension Service felt communi­
ties should not be involved In these sorts of educational programs), the pro­
ject would never have been initiated.
The role In which the sponsoring organization is most comfortable and
the one with which this research report aligns itself is the second.

This

posture brings the facilitating organization and its resource people into
close interaction with the community participants.

Uhile the motivation

comes from the participant, both participant and facilitator are actively
Involved in co-exploring and investigating.
The report does not depict the program planner in a role at the third
level.

Accepting the role of facilitator in this learning experience did

not allow the program planner to retreat to a distant observer role entirely.
It was hoped that the planners of a project of this sort could straddle the
two extreme positions to maintain a balanced participant-observer role
that would be mutually beneficial.

Background Information on the Cooperative Extension Service.

The

Cooperative Extension Service is an arm of Michigan State University's
total educational program.
the

federal

Smith-Lever

It was created in 1914 with the passage of
Act.

The role

of

the

Extension Service

27
Is to further the basic, democratic philosophy of the land-grant college
system— education to meet the needs of the people.

Programs of the CES

are informal and based on local needs, conducted in out-of-school (nonformal) situations, and seek to solve the problems of individuals, groups,
and committees.
County extension staff, or agents as they are commonly known, are
located in each of Michigan's 80 county Extension Service offices.

Dis­

trict and area agents are strategically located to provide additional
services.

In areas where population is less dense, as in the Thumb Area,

agents may be shared by more than one county.

Cooperative programs are

also planned to Involve persons from two or three counties.
The overall objective of the Michigan CES is to provide educational
programs to help individuals make sound decisions to maximize their poten­
tial for personal development and growth.

This may Include decisions to

earn more income and use it wisely; to develop talents and capacities;
to provide youth with creative opportunities for character development
and leadership training; to foster an atmosphere for healthy, satisfying
family life and individual growth; and to plan for better communities in
which to live and work.
Traditionally, Extension programs have been guided by local citizens
who serve in an advisory capacity and direct the efforts In areas of great­
est need.

Such groups work closely with county conlssloners.

This has

enabled Extension's work to be focused upon and responsive to the common
concerns and needs of people, their families, and their communities.
Early in the history of the Extension Service, staff members found
that efforts could be expanded many-fold by the help of volunteer leaders.
Today, more than 35,000 persons provide such assistance in the educational

28
programs of the CESf producing a "multiplier" effect.

This educational

method has been widely copied by other organizations and has become a
model for informal and non-formal adult education throughout the world.
The County Extension Director works closely with county boards of
commissioners.
board.

In many counties this is done through a committee of the

In other cases, the agent works directly with the entire board.

Often, individual agents may organize and work with separate special
interest committees composed of residents and area specialists.
these methods have been successful.

All of

Coomittees provide liaison between

the entire board of commissioners and the county staff and administrative
units of the Extension Service at HSU.

Local committees encourage the

development of educational programs and recooawnd adequate county appro­
priations for extension work.

They also work with boards and committees

across county lines to finance area programs.

In turn, Extension Service

staff in the counties look to HSU for supervision, in-service training,
specialist assistance, educational materials, and guidance in program
development (CES,1976).
Background of "Family and Community" Seminar. In August of 1975,
Ann Ross, Huron County Home Econornlm^aubrnltted a "Project Proposal for
Special Extension Funds” to the HSU Cooperative Extension Service (CES).
The project was originally intended to be a 10-week study seminar for
women on"Family Support Systems"

The proposal was revised slightly and

approved in the Spring of 1976 as the "Family and Community" study/travel
seminar

for persons in the trl-county area of Michigan commonly known as

the Ttuaab Area.
The operating agency responsible for sponsoring the project is the
CES in the Thumb Area in cooperation with MSU Family Life and Human Ecology

29
Specialists, Resource Development Specialists, as well as local government
leaders, school, health, and other agency representatives.

Local business

and industry representatives will also be invited to serve in a sponsoring
capacity.
The need for the program developed out of several contemporary phe­
nomena.

First, many of the problems in the school (e.g. poor nutrition,

truancy, drop-outs, discipline problems) stem from inadequate family life.
Second, the break-down of the family in society has affected parenting
patterns and child-care, which are affected in turn by governmental legis­
lation.

Third, many women and mothers in the Thumb Area have voiced a

need for additional training in parenting and home management skills.
Governor Milliken recently underlined the Importance and central place
the family holds as the essential unit of our society when he said,
"It is the family unit that holds the state and nation together and I
believe that every action state government takes should be evaluated
according to its effect upon Michigan families" ( from a speech given at
College Week for Women, Michigan State University, June, 1976).
The Thumb seminar on

the”Family and Community"

looked

at the

building blocks of the community— the family, government, business and
industry, and social institutions— to discover how they can more effec­
tively relate to each other.

The meetings are scheduled each Wednesday

in January and February , 1977, from 9:30 a.m until 2:30 p.m.

In addi­

tion, a legislative tour to the State Capitol in Lansing is planned for
March, 1977.

The sessions

met

at various locations within the tri-

county area centering around Cass City, and including Sandusky and Flint.
The thirty participants

Included

men and women volunteers with an in­

terest in the goals of "The Family and Community" study/travel seminar.

30
Applicants

were

screened and selected by the Extension Staff In Bad

Axe, Michigan.
The overall goal of "The Family and Community" study/travel seminar
is to help community members be better able to participate meaningfully
in community decisions on Issues that affect the family— future decisions
shaping Michigan's families and communities.
The project
and

was

in no way related

a non-formal learning experience (out-of-school)
directly to one's formal education experience.

The specific learning objectives of the program include the following:
1.

To provide the learner with a series of integrated learning experiences

that will add to his knowledge about the processes of community change;
2.

To facilitate the learner's understanding of how the community and

society influence the family;
3.

To increase the participant's knowledge of the sources of information

and assistance related to community affairs and family well-being; and
4.

To involve the participants in a series of experiences that will build

the learner's confidence and willingness to
affairs.

become

involved in community

Sociological/Anthropological Methods
The works of Lewln (1951), Whyte (1951), and Festinger and Katz
(1953) established an ample background and foundational literature re­
garding research methods In social settings.

The rationale and philo­

sophy of field work in the social sciences was outlined, and principles
for conducting behavioral science research were highlighted.
Sociological studies which aided in understanding the methodology
included Howard Becker's "Role and Career Problems of the Chicago Public
School Teacher" and Dan C. Lortie's School Teacher (1975).
offered examples of intense interview of subjects.
observations were also important.

Both studies

In Lortie's case,

Both Becker and Lortie provided

helpful models for data analysis.
Denzin (1970) and Geer (1964) presented updated and expanded surveys
to the field, its theory and lt3 method.

The traditional methods of

surveying and questionnaires were discussed in length.

Geer's chronicle

of research in progress furnished a helpful example to observe and follow.
Another significant methodological work was Pelto's (1970)
Anthropological Research; The Structure of Inquiry.

Pelto identified

strengths and weaknesses of the anthropological approach, developed an
explanation of many techniques such as interviewing, and built a case for
multi-instrument research.

He pinpointed strategies in the art of field

work and offered in general many helpful examples on research design
within an inquiry orientation.
The cotmaon element of these works was the author's commitment to
doing research while working as closely as possible to the social unit
under study.
The term "ethnomethodology" was coined by Harold Garflnkel (1967)
to index the study of everyday practical reasoning as basic to all human
activities.

A basic consideration in the study of practical reasoning is

members' use of everyday talk to describe their experiences and activities.
As Meltzer (1975) pointed out, ethnomethodology relies upon self reports,
introspection and participant observation.
More recently Hall (1975) and Swantz (1975) provided case studies
as well as guiding principles for "participatory research."

Both were

involved in community level, social research and both argued against the
ordinary methods for techniques that are more ethnically responsive and
relevant to the participants themselves.

The task of the community

educational planner, as seen by Hall and Swantz is to assist the non­
professional participants to see the context and concomitants of their
own situation,
can be sought.

problems, and

direction from which the solutions

Participatory research can become a basic tool in the

transformation process of a community when it is seen as a vital inter­
action with the people rather than an external manipulation that is done
to the community.
of

People must become participants in, not only objects

the inquiry process.
The new trend toward participatory research provided a divergent

path from the traditional social science survey and questionnaire
methodologies.

It has been shown that involving community members in

the process of defining their own needs, planning programs, and
implementing those programs, are necessary steps towards Increased aware­
ness and participation in the community.
were also set forth.

The advantages of this approach

The present study will be built on the assumption

of the desirability of increased community awareness and participation.

Evaluation of Educational Experiences
Robert Stake (1967) provided a conceptual model by which the separate
elements involved in the research function could be related to one
another (Figure 1).

The model identified six major cells of information

needed in a comprehensive descriptive study.

INTENTIONS

ACTUALITY (Empirical Reality)

Precond it ions

I
|
!
|

Antecedents (what we think
things and target people
and their situations are
like) (our view of the need
and the potent ialit ies).

Antecedents: (what the
target people and their
situations are rea11y
I ike.

Delivery of Treatment

Intervent ions (what we
^
intend to do to affect the
situations and the target
people) (our design).

Intervent Ions (what we
actually do that affects
the situation or the
target people.

Consequences

Outcomes (which we intend ^
to have happen because of
our interventions) (our
view of the desirable
product).
________________

Figure 1.

Outcomes (what really
happens because of our
intervent ions).

The Six Major Cells of Information Needed for
Comprehensive Evaluation(Adapted from Stake, 1967).

6

The actual antecedents are to be compared with the Intended
antecedents; the actual Interventions compared with the Intended or
planned treatments; the actual outcomes compared with the Intended
outcomes.

Evaluative statements can be made on the worth of the pro­

gram or how well the actual program meets the objectives only after
thorough descriptive data has been gathered.
It was the purpose of the research study to gather the data regarding
the actual antecedents of the Thumb Area learning seminar (see box #4)
— what the participants were really like and what the socio-political
context was like.

Empirical data on the Interventions or treatments used

(box #5) and on the final outcomes of the experience (box #6) are not
the direct concern of this study.

Specific Data Gathering Techniques
An Intensive review was made on the vast range of techniques and
methods that are now available to the social researcher desiring to
Investigate human behavior in the role of participant observer.
Webb et al. (1966) suggested a combined or triangulated measurement
perspective be adapted if social research Is to become better suited for
the analysis of social events, as no single measurement is likely to yield
all the relevant data for a theory.

Denzln (1970) carried this Idea

further In recommending that measurement Instruments be constructed with
an eye to their combination with other techniques.

The following types

of measures have been selected from an almost unlimited number of methods
for triangulation because of their immediate applicability to a community
group setting:

(1) the personal interview;

(2) participant observation

strategies using unobtrusive measure of verbal Interaction; and (3) writ­
ten instruments.

35
Participant Observation Methodology
The findings of any study are intrinsically related to the nethods
used to develop them.

Based on the experience of Kluckholn (1940) and

Levin (1951), participant observation
researcher

is a technique vhereby the

becomes a participant in the social setting he Intends to

observe and record.

It Is a dynamic approach which allows the researcher

to do several things simultaneously.

First, he can "get a feel for" and

analyze the whole situation subjectively, as it is occurring.
can be at work making written observations.

Second, he

Vldlch (1955) suggested

the information secured by participant observation is conditioned by his
marginal role in the group he is observing.Schwartz and Schwartz (1955)
warned of the problems that arise in participant observation.
William Whyte's (1967) Street C o m e r Society is a study of group inter­
actions.

Whyte's major reason for making the study was to analyze and

describe the social structure and leadership of informal groups of "corner
boys."

He successfully used the methodology of participant observation

to accomplish this while living in the Italian section of Boston's north end
for three and one half years to study the community's social structure.
Whyte's study became the prototype on small group participant observation
studies because of his analysis and detailed description of his method
of study.
A somewhat similar study, patterned very much like Whyte's Street
Corner Society, is Gans' (1962) Urban Villagers.
inner city Boston neighborhood.

It is a study of an

Gans, the author, used the participant

observation methodology to carry out the study, and lived in the
West End of Boston for eight months.

He desired to study and understand

neighborhoods known as slums and learn first hand what

36
differentiates working end lower-class people from the middle-class.
Gans believed strongly In the value of participant observation as a
method of social research, as It allows the research to get as close as
possible to the social reality of the residents under study.
Harold Becker (1957) devoted much of his attention to the
understanding of participant observation and discussed Its advantages
over Interviewing as well as the problems of inference and proof from
data gathered in participant observation (1958).
The sociological theory used to guide the study was symbolic
Interaction.
the

According to Blumer the symbolic Interactlonlsts believe

process most suitable for studying a social situation Is aprocess

whereby the researcher participates In and observes the dynamics of the
given social situation through the experience and eyes of the acting
unit.

He brings this point Into sharp focus by stating:
To catch the process, the researcher must take the role of
the acting unit whose behavior he Is studying.
Since the
Interpretation Is being made by the acting unit In terms
of objects designated and appraised, meanings acquired,
and decisions made, the process has to be seen from the
standpoint of the acting unit... To try to catch the
Interpretive process by remaining aloof as a so-called
'objective* observer and refusing to take the role of the
acting unit is to risk the worst kind of subjectivism—
the objective observer Is likely to fill In the process
of Interpretation with his own surmises In place of
catching the process as It occurs In the experience of
the acting unit which uses it (Blumer, 1962, p. 188).
Cuslck supports the symbolic interactlonlsts* theory by stating

that the first and foremost task of the participant observer Is to
establish himself as a legitimate member of the group so that he may
actively pursue and participate In the realities created by the subjects
under study and share In their meanings.

Participants In a social

37
aetting will actually craata their own aocial reality, according to
Cuslck, and must taka part In that creation to undaratand it.
The information gathering procedure la baaed on the
assumption that any group of indivlduala will develop a
reaaonable way of behaving In their environment, and If
one wlahea to undaratand that behavior, he can do ao by
joining them, aubmlttlng hlmaelf to the routine, rulea,
and regulationa that structure their world, and recording
everything that goes on (Cuslck, 1973, p. v).
One of the crucial Issues In participant observation is the role
the participant will play In the social setting without disrupting Its
normal Interactions.

Olesen and Whittaker (1967) dlacussed this researcher-

actor relationship and offered remediating suggestions.
Bruyn (1963) and McCall (1969) provided updated guidelines for the
researcher, while Claater and Schwartz (1972) gave a step-by-step
approach to participation to be used as a checklist In the planning and
design of the research.
The research can employ a variety of unobtrusive measures to gather
data In the role of a participant observer.
Webb at al.

(1966) outlined procedures for the use of these

"unobtrusive measures" without interrupting the natural Interactions in
a aocial setting and often without the participant's knowledge.
Unobtrusive measures Included such things as measuring group communi­
cation and Interaction proceases (Fine and Zlmet, 1956; Lewis, Newell,
and Wlthall, 1961; Powell and Jackson, 1964; and Borgatta, 1965),
techniques for measuring classroom behavior (Medley and Mltzel, 1958),
and the measurement of group activity (Crawford and Nlcora, 1964).
The recording method of Ned Flanders Is best known In this area for
his system of verbal Interaction observation whereby he claeslfled all
behavior by different levels of constructs (1965).

Medley and Mltzel

38
developed a simplified fora for racording obaarvatlona known aa OScAR
(1958, 1963).

Thaaa same methods hava already been dlacuaaed in the

teachar-rola perception literature.

Numerous other examples of aoclo-

mstrlc aeaaurea and recording forms were alao available (Cronlaad, 1959;
Biddle, 1967; Borgatta, 1963).
Systematic obaervatlonal technlquea differ In the level of deacriptlon
which la Intended for the reaultlng varlablea.

Bales* (1950) Interaction

proceaa analyala categorlea were designed to observe the smallest units
of Interaction aa they occur.

The simplest type of scores recorded were

the amount of Interaction In a given category for a given period of time
(Borgatta, 1965b, p. 24).
Arrington (1943) appralaed the contribution of the t echnlque of
controlled observation known as time sampling.

Tima sampling Is a

method of observing the behavior of Individuals or groups under the
ordinary conditions of everyday life In which observations are made In
a series of short time periods.

These short time periods are distributed

to afford a representative sampling of the behavior under observation.
The length of time sample has varied from three seconds to three hours
In different Investigations.
following:

The length of time sample depends on the

the type of behavior sampled, the purpose of the sampling,

and the nuxber of samples on which Individual and group measures have
been based In equal variation.
Flanders (1960) and Medley and Mltzel (1973) made use of arbitrary
units of time for recording observations on group Interaction— -for
example, a three-second Interval at the end of which a rating or code
was given.
character.

This unit of analysis has as an advantage Its mechanical

39
Personal Interview
Hyman at al. (1954), Benney and Hughes (1956), and Kahn and Cannel
(1957) helped establish the dynamics of Interviewing as a scientific
technique for social research.

Since that time numerous refinements and

sophistications have been made to the basic theory and techniques used.
Wax (1971) offered warnings and advice to the field worker doing Inter­
viewing, and Meyer, Borgatta and Fanshel (1964) discussed the Importance
of the interviewer-respondent relationship as the crucial factor in the
Interview process.

Richardson et al.

(1965) provided the most recent

comprehensive coverage of the various aspects of the interview
relationship, techniques,and concerns.
Maroll (1960) represented a large number of authors who have written
regarding the control of data quality In social research.

Jackson (1957)

warned against the "ethnocentrlam" of the Interviewer and suggested
precautions to be taken.

Kane (1962) discussed such details as the

Importance of clothing to the interaction, and Benney, Rlesman, and Star
(1956) documented the influence of age and sex in the Interview.

These

and other authors offered a substantial body of research to suggest the
most effective Interviewer techniques and nuances.
Because of the complexity of the interviewing process, numerous
authors were consulted regarding specific aspects of the construction
and design of the Interview, and guidelines for gathering the data.
Methods of objective validation of factual interview data were discussed
by Weiss and Davis (1960), and the Interviewer's Influence on the duration
of the respondent's speech was reported by Mataraazo, Weltman, and Wiens
(1962).

The latest suggestions regarding item construction, timing,

wording, pacing, dress, and location were taken from Richardson et al.
(1965).

40
Limitations

Three limitations of the study were the following:
1.

There was no background of data to support the questions asked on

the teacher (MSU T ) and learner (MSU L ) Instruments as being valid ques­
tions to get at a person's self-perception In the role of a teacher or.
i

learner.

The forms developed for use In the study remain exploratory In

nature until further research can validate their accuracy.
2.

The study was an Intensive examination of the self-perceptIons of

participants In one learning seminar.

Since their self-views were explored

in two roles, the collection of a substantial amount of data was Involved,
which limited the number of subjects used In the study.
3.

It was an exploratory study into the nature of things as they pre­

sently exist at a particular moment In a particular setting.

It was not

an experimental design with randomly drawn samples from which generali­
zations can be made to the general population.

On the contrary, the

participants were purposlvely selected by the Extension ataff.

They were

representative to some extent of the population of the Thumb Area, but It
was not an accurate cross-sectional group.
Since the study was not a strict experimental design, the concerns
for internal and external validity were not the same as for a rigidly
controlled multlple-treatment research design.

However, there are two

standard objections to participant observations studies relating to ques­
tions of validity and reliability.

The response depends on an acceptance

by the researcher, and those who examine the results of the research, of
the principles of Interaction.

The description and explanation exhibit

an Intimacy seldom available from other methods of research as the
researcher lives close to the situation.

Aa the researcher

41
continues to move deeper Into the situation his perceptions have a
validity unapproachable by any standardized method.

Bruyn (1966,

p. 180) stated that the participant observation approach to empirical
research is more reliable than other methods, In that, while in the
subject's natural setting, the participant observer Is in a unique
position to evaluate any rationalizations which the subject may make in
response to a questionnaire or formal Interview.
Cuslck supported the reliability of the participant obaervatlon
methodology when he stated (1973, p. 232):
As one lives close to a situation, hie description and
explanation of It have a first-person quality which other
methodologlee lack, and as he continues to live close to
and moves deeper into that situation, hie perceptions have
a validity that Is simply unapproachable by any so-called
standardised method.
By constant appraisal of observations and inferences in light of the
Interactions and by reformulating questions, the researcher Is able to
check the validity of his Insight.
Every attempt was made to control for the relevant sources of
invalidity in the study even though It was a descriptive study.

Internal Validity
History.

Since the project spanned nine weeks tins, the participants

were Involved in a variety of other events besides the seminar.

None of

the subjects were Involved in any other structured learning activities
such as a class or other seminar during that time, however.
Testing.

The before and after use of two measures Is sometimes

considered a threat to Internal validity.

The time intervening between

the measures (eight weeks plus) was thought to be sufficiently long to
allow forgetting of the first measure.

Completing the measure did not

42
aid "learning," since the measure was of self-concept, not of cognitive
concepts or principles taught in the seminar.
Selection.

Another concern for internal validity arises from the

selection of the subjects.

No attempt was made to generalise from the

group to the c o m ^ n l t y since this was not an experimental design and
subjects were not assigned randomly from the community.

The study, rather,

documented in case study format the dynamics of the learning situation.

External Validity
Concern for external validity arises from what is called multiple
treatment Interference.

This occurs when the effects of an earlier treat­

ment are still present as the subject encounters a subsequent treatment.
The researcher design was not attempting to measure the effects of any
"treatment" as such, but was merely measuring attitudinal change over
time.

Further, no attempt was made to compare the amount of change

between subjects.

Any such "carry-over" effects were controlled by

having all participants receive similar written measures, and by taking
observational measures at the same time.
The second objection to participant observation studies is that they
deal with limited samples and may not be generalizable.

The social

phenomena may be unique, but that need not prevent learning through
Intelllgant study.

A good description of a social phenomenon, however

unique, may ba quite unintelligible to one who has naver participated in
it.

It was not the purpose of the study to make generalisations to other

areas of Michigan, or even the Thumb Area.

The study was merely a

descriptive study of some of the dynamics at work in a c o M u n l t y learning
system.

It served as a case study for the further investigation and

consideration of non-formal educators.

43
S.rw—

T-y

There has been a considerable amount written about various Influences
and factors of one's self concept.

There was, however, leas research

studying the Individual's self-view and Its Influence on his learning and
sharing with others, and Its Influence on possible future involvement In
educational programs as a teacher.

Critical factors and Influences of

one's self-view and self-concept were known, but these often relied on
sophisticated and complicated clinical teats administered by professionals.
The task Is to adapt or develop relatively simple and straight-forward
measures for self-assessment of this self-view which can be used by com­
munity educators In planning and involving c r r n n l t y participants.
Community development literature set a background context for the
study and offered guidelines for planning and Implementing successful
voluntary community learning programs.

Non-formal educational programs

should be locally Initiated and Implemented with the aid of volunteers
from the community.

These programs were highly motivating and faatured

high Interaction when related to the needs and interests of the partici­
pants.
Social science research Is presently moving away from dependence on
survey and questionnaires to methods that are more responsive and partici­
patory.

The guidelines offered for participatory research ware founda­

tional to the design of instruments and procedures used in this study.
A triangulated measurement perspective was suggested to gather data which
can be compared and related to alternative measures to cross-valldate the
data.
The interview remains one of the most powerful mesns to gather a
variety of personal information which is difficult to gather in any other

44
fashion.

Tha construction of ths Interview schedule and the questIona

followed the principles and suggestions frosi the latest research.
There were two important, common elements In the partldpant-observer
literature which guided each of the authors.

The first of the elements

was the author's belief and commitment to the concept of living as
as possible to the social unit under study.

lose

The second was the strong

i f l f e n t by the authors to Involve thaws elves as Intimately as possible
In the experiences of those subjects under study.

The use of this type

of field methodology gave the researcher several advantages:

(1) It

allowed the researcher to study and record the processes as well as the
product of group and Individual action and Interaction over a long period
of time;

(2) the researcher shared the advantage of Interpreting the

environment of the social unit under study from the perspective of that
unit; and (3) it permitted the researcher to accurately describe the
social unit under study from the position of the actors.
The Interview used In combination with one or more participant
observation strategies (e.g., written measures, analysis by observation
of verbal Interaction) appeared to be the most effective mode of Inquiry
within the i n i l ill tji context.

A variety of verbal Interaction analysis

techniques were svallable and were adapted for this process.

CHAPTER III

ETHNOGRAPHIC DESCRIPTION

The purpose of this chepter Is to describe the researcher's personal
adaptation to tha field experience In the Thumb Area.
account Is divided Into five major sections.

This first person

The first section Intro­

duces the Thuab Area and provides a geographic overview of the region.
The second section describes the way of life In the Thuab Area, and the
third section Includes a discussion of the approaches used by the
researcher In entering the seminar and relating to the participants.
The fourth section explains the goals and proceedings of the sealnar
Itself, and the last section concludes with the researcher's reflections
on the seminar experience.

Introduction

The Thuab Area is a countryside dotted with barns and silos* saall
Industry, criss-crossed by county roads, and rich farm land.
combination of

It is a

modern rural communities In one of the state's most

sparsely populated areas.

It boasts modern schools and hospitals, as

well as country schools and outdoor pluabing.
The Thuab Area Is an area rich In natural resources which has been
unable to keep Its young people from migrating to the urban centers of
the state.

It has over 150 miles of lake shore which lies largely

undeveloped for the weekend vacationer.

45

The streets of the cities are

46

busy by day and atons-qulet at night.

It is a rural region devoted to

the pursuit of happiness and one that holds democracy as an Ideal.

It

is a region where life is tinged with the religious; where nost of the
cltlsens claln faith in Catholicise or Protestantise.
The Thunb Area people are proud of their schools and the acconpllshaents of their athletic teaas, 4-H group, the Future Faraers club and
the school band.

It is an area of anlaal auctions, the Alabaaa Jubilee,

traditional polka parties, and ethnic weddings.
These words are aeant to express the faalllar saying that the Thuab
Area is a land of contrasts.

The contrasts have grown rather than

dlalnlshed as the years have passed.

It is both lapossible and inap­

propriate to give wore than a partial account of increasing awareness
and participation in the Thuab Area.

In a case study depicting the

life and self-views of a snail nuaber of people, a short account nust
also oalt nuch that is lnportant and useful in gaining an understanding
of ways of life.

For these reasons it is useful, first, to discuss

certain aspects of life in the Thuab Area that cannot otherwise be dealt
with explicitly.

The Thuab Area:

A Rural C o w u n l t y

The first section provides background infornatlon about the Thuab
Area and its residents.

Geographic and Ecological Overview
To the average Michigander, the trl-county (Huron, Sanilac,
Tuscola) area of Michigan is known as the "Thuab", and is considered to
be a rather rural, agricultural region.

Most people in the state know

vary little about the Thunb Area and nost have never visited the region.

47
Michigan's Thuab Arsa is a well-defined geographical region bounded
on Che north and east by Lake Huron and on the west by Saginaw Bay.
The peninsula thus created encoapasses soae of the state's richest
agricultural lands.

In addition to agriculture, tourlsa and light

nanufacturlng are aajor sources of annual incoae to area residents.
Portions of the area have experienced economic decline in the last
several years, In spite of the recreational activities associated with
the ISO miles of Great Lakes shoreline and the agricultural productivity
of Its Interior region.

Reasons for this decline Include:

Increased

fern sises and reduction of fara labor due to mechanisation; industrial
growth Inadequate to provide employment for increases in population; a
corresponding out-migration of young people; and Inadequate transporta­
tion networks feeding the area.

All but the western and southern

portion of the Thunb Area are too far for aany people to commute to
outlying Industrial centers.

Denographic Characteristics
The 1974 population of the Thuab Area was 127,975 (Michigan Health
Statistics, 1974, p. 77).
Is 27 years,

The median age of the Thunb Area residents

with 21 percent of the population unenployed or retired.

The aedlan nuaber of years of education Is 11.3.

Fifty-two percent of

the residents favor land-use planning and 72 percent desire sonlng to
keep fara land In agricultural production.

Sixty percent of the popu­

lation are Involved In agriculture related work.

Of the total land

area, 62 percent Is In harvested cropland, 14 percent In other crops,
eight percent In pasture, eight percent In woodlots, and the remaining
eight percent In various other uses (CBS, 1975).

48
On my first trip to the Thumb Area, I noted the level farmland
which stretched for miles on end with only an occasional rolling hill.
The ubiquitous farm silo dotted the countryside, and pre-fabricated
barns and storage buildings were frequent.

Many of the county roads were

unpaved gravel, and much of the county was snowed in for several days
during January of 1977.
Michigan had a moderate growth rate In the last decade (1960-1970)
with 13.4 percent gain over the 1960 population.

During this same

period of time, the overall rate of Increase In the Thumb area was only
6.8 percent (Huron County - .2%, Sanilac County - 8.0%, Tuscola County 12.2%).

Huron County experienced the highest rate of net out-mlgratlon

during that time, losing over 2,925 persons.

Metropolitan areas grew

such faster than non-metropolitan areas (Population Growth and
Redistribution, 1971).
The Thumb Area is a rich mixture of ethnic groups.

Ubly, for

example, Is a Polish community, while Sebewaing is largely German.
Other communities like Prankenmuth are also known as German settlements.
Small groups of Chlcano settlers are In certain scattered sections, such
as Gilford and Reese.
farm labor.

Some of these settlers provide seasonal migratory

There are few blacks living in the Thumb Area.

49
The Research

The study is a report of a participant-observation study of a middleclass adult learning seminar held in the Thumb Area of Michigan.

The area

studied was comprised of the tri-counties of Huron, Sanilac and Tuscola
counties known as the Thumb Area of Michigan.
I participated in the learning seminar sponsored by the CES during
the winter months of January through April, 1977.
interests were two:

The main research

to study and document the activities and processes

of a CES seminar with volunteer adult learners, and to study the self­
views of the participants in two roles— that of a learner and a teacher.

Approaches Used
Gans (1962) pointed out that the findings of any study are intrinsi­
cally related to the methods used to develop them and are often affected
by the research purposes.

The opportunity to participate in an adult

learning seminar provided the needed setting for studying the self-view
of adult learners in a volunteer learning experience.
was a particularly suitable setting.

The Thumb Area

Not only was it a rural community,

but it was also a predominantly white area, and thus somewhat easier for
a white participant-observer to enter.
The actual field work employed six major approaches, roughly paral­
lel to those employed by Gans (1962, pp. 337-338):
1.

Use of facilities in the Thumb Area.

stayed overnight once a week.
facilities as much as possible.

I visited the Thumb Area and

I used its stores, services and other
This enabled me to observe my and other

people's behavior as residents of the area.

2.

ACtendance at meetings and public places.

I attended each meeting

of the seminar as a participant observer, and participated In the field
trips as an observant spectator.

I also visited shops and restaurants

in this role.
3.

Informal and structured visiting with participants, neighbors and

families.

I was able to spend time visiting with participants before and

after the weekly sessions, before and after the interview in the home,
as well as over visits to the homes and meals as the participant's guest.
4.

Formal and Informal interviewing of community residents.

I inter­

viewed each of the 30 participants as well as persons in different
institutions and organizations— talking with staff members and active
people in offices and stores and other staff in the Extension Service.
5.

Use of CES staff as additional sources of Information.

Some of the

CES staff were useful in providing background and supplemental Informa­
tion on phases of life in the Thumb with which they were familiar.
6.

Observation.

I kept my eyes and ears open at all times trying to

learn something about as many phases of Thumb Area life as possible.

I

also looked for unexpected leads and ideas on subjects in which I was
especially interested.
Variations in the actual participant-observation method can be des­
cribed in different ways.

Gans (1962) identified the approaches in terms

of differences in the actual behavior of the researcher.

This produced

the following three types of behavior:
1.

Researcher acts as observer.

In this approach, the researcher

is actually present at the event which he observes, but does not really
participate in it.

At each weekly session of the seminar, I sat with

the participants and interacted with them, but refrained from participating

51
in the group discussion, Individualized learning activities, and group
simulations.

My main function was to observe so as not to affect the

phenomenon being studied— or at least, to affect It no more than was
absolutely unavoidable.

Much of my participation was of this sort, when

attending the meetings, or watching the goings-on at area stores and
restaurants.
The researcher found, like William F. Whyte in Street Corner Society
and Philip A. Cuslck in Inside High School, that acceptance by the group
under study "depended more on the personal relationship 1 developed far
more than upon any explanation I might give" (Whyte, 1943, p. 300;
Cuslck, 1973, p. 7).

The group and the individuals within that group

developed an explanation for the researcher's presence and his actions
as he was trying to develop explanations for their actions.

Thus, the

researcher assumed a role which not only explained his presence, but also
one he could perform.
2.

Researcher participates, but as a researcher.

In this case, I

became an actual participant in an event or gathering, but my participa­
tion was determined by my research interests.

For example, in social

gatherings over a meal in a home, I sometimes tried to steer the conversa­
tion to topics about the family and the Thumb Area— topics in which I was
especially Interested.

In such Instances, I might be described as a

"research-participant" (Gans, 1962, p. 339).
I acted as a researcher to gather three different kinds of data.
The first method employed an interview with each participant.
view procedure consisted of three phases.

The inter­

First, I attempted to estab­

lish a good personal relationship with each person being Interviewed,
using an informal, individualized approach.

Conversation began about

52
the pertlclpent'a hone, the family, the weather, spouse's occupation, age
of the children, and other matters of Interest to both persons.

Time was

also spent prior to and during the seminar to develop and maintain rap­
port with the participants.

During the second phase, 1 stated the purpose

for the Interview and described how the conversations would be recorded
by written notes.

None of the participants objected to this procedure,

no participant seemed to be uneasy during the interview process.

In the

final phase, I asked questions that would provide the necessary data as
outlined on the interview schedule (see Appendix A ) .

The questions for

each participant were the same, even though I re-worded and repeated
questions when necessary.

There were 30 interviews in all, conducted

between January 12 and March 8, 1977.

The Interviews averaged a little

over one hour in length.
The second method employed an unobtrusive observation of the verbal
Interaction among participants when they were divided into small dis­
cussion groups.

For this purpose, I walked among the groups in discus­

sion as if observing and listening to the discussion of the group.

Slash

marks were recorded on a tally sheet for each verbal interaction engaged
in by each participant.
The third method employed the administration of pretests and post­
tests of a set of three written Instruments to the participants.

Use of

this method raised the most questions from the participants as to the
purpose and the results of the "test."

1 was able to explain that the

Instruments would help me gain a more accurate picture of the group for
documenting the learning experience.
participants.

This reply seemed to satisfy the

53
3.

Researcher participates.

In some few cases, I temporarily left

my study role and became a "real11 participant.

After the event, my role

reverted back to that of an observer and an analyst of my own actions.
For example, at times I went to social gatherings as an invited guest
and participated freely in the conversation without trying to direct it
to my own research interests.

Afterwards, however, I made notes on what

had happened.
With less than three months to collect the data, the researcher
participation role turned out to be the most productive.

The real parti­

cipation was most enjoyable, but it was the most time-consuming approach.

Entering the Seminar
In late October of 1976, Dr. Ted Ward of the College of Education,
H.S.U., was asked to help in the planning and development of one of
several sessions of the "Family and Conuunity" travel/study seminar
sponsored by the CES.

It was the intention of the N.S.U. Specialist and

the seminar director, Ms. Ann Ross, to utilize Dr. Ward's expertise in
the design and implementation of instructional experiences, especially
highly interactive games and instructional simulations.
Before the first meeting took place, Dr. Ward invited me to sit in
with the group and to assist in the planning and design of the needed
instructional experiences.
On October 19, 1976, the M.S.U. Family Living Specialist, seminar
director Ann Ross, Dr. Ward, hia admlnlatratlve assistant, and myself
met to discuss the feasibility of Dr. Ward and I providing Input into
the study program.
for the sesd.nar:

Dr. Ward offered the following servicea to the CES
(1) materials, (2) participation by someone from his

staff in using the materials, and (3) a case study documentation that

54

would Include the above mentioned materials In addition to my involvement
to gather information about the dynamics of the group's experience.

Dr.

Ward's interest in documenting the project stemmed from a desire to
develop a case study of a volunteer adult learning program for efforts
in non-formal education in several developing countries where M.S.U. is
cooperating with other donor agencies.
At this meeting it was agreed that I would serve as a project "His­
torian" to document the seminar for the purposes listed above.

In that

role, I would want to visit with the participants in their homes to dis­
cuss what they were learning and how they felt about the seminar.

The

M.S.U. Specialist indicated she would be able to cover the expense of
transportation for my travel to the eight planned meetings in the Thumb
Area.

Ms. Ross agreed to provide my meals during the day-long seminars

and kindly invited me to spend the nights in her home with her family.
These important details were taken care of with a minimum of dis­
cussion and paperwork.

The CES staff graciously handled all the necessary

forms for travel reimbursements, and all arrangements for lodging and
meals in the Thumb Area were handled by the seminar director.
I visited the Thumb Area for the first time in December of 1976,
one month before the seminar was to begin.

Snow covered the ground.

The weather was cold, and the narrow roads seemed to stretch endlessly
across frozen farmland as I drove north towards Bad Axe, the county seat
of Huron County.

Ann Ross served the tri-county area as Home Economist

but kept an office in Bad Axe.

The population of the city was

3,400 .

A two-lane road runs through the middle of town, and a traffic light is
the only indication that one has even left the central city.

It is an

attractive rural town with itB own churches, lodge halls, a new county

55
building, coffee shops, several new shopping plazas, a new school, and a
few snail industrial plants.
Ann gave me a leisurely tour of the city and the outlying woodlots.
She explained the leisurely pace of life and pointed out the local indus­
try on the

edge of town.

the Thunb,

and it was evident she was quite proud of the town and its

accomplishments.
said.

She tried to fill ne in on the way of life in

"We have lived here 11 years, and we just love it," she

"It's a friendly town and very active."
When we arrived back in her office, Ann explained the background of

the project, her expectations for the program, and a little of her excite­
ment about

the whole seminar."It is just amazing,"

she shared enthusi­

astically,

"how everything has fit together . . . We have the funding,

the facility, the resource people, and the applications are still coming
in . . . I ' m really excited about the whole thing.
great experience!"

I think it will be a

She went on to give me a thumbnail sketch of some of

the participants already registered and to comment on the quality and
variety of the persons registering.
I was introduced to the rest of the Huron County Extension Staff
and was able to talk briefly with several of the program assistants.
Each of them shared their enthusiasm and enjoyment in working for the
Extension Service, and I was able to detect a genuineness that would
have been hard to fake.

They seemed deeply committed to serving the

residents of the Thumb Area and to helping in any way they could to meet
the needs of the people.

The three program personnel I met were quite

young.
As I drove home to M.S.U. 1 reflected on the strong loyalty the
residents of the Thumb Area felt for their community and their way of

56
life.

They lived in a rural area and were proud of it.

It was not an

overbearing patriotism, but a quiet confidence and pride in their accom­
plishments and character.

They were willing to share their feelings and

their values and were not ashamed that their values included patriotism,
hard work, neighborliness, honesty, and a commitment to the family and
to the church.

I got the distinct impression that this was Indeed the

rural America I had read about all my life growing up in school.

Relating to Participants
The problem of entry into the Thumb Area was particularly tentative
at first.

The Thumb Area residents were a rural community in the lower-

middle class group.

They had neither been Interviewed by researchers nor

exposed to the popular sociology of slick magazines.

Consequently, they

were unfamiliar with the methods and goals of educational research.

Also,

they were possibly suspicious at first of a middle-class outsider, espe­
cially one who appeared to be so young.

To facilitate this apparent

problem, 1 presented myself to the participants as an interested observer,
one who was interested in documenting the learning process as "Historian"
or "Documentarian" for the seminar.

The title of "Researcher" was not

used, and the educational research purposes for my participation were
not fully elaborated at first.

The title of "Historian" was a key ele­

ment which permitted an "under-thirty" to infiltrate an older peer group
as well as move around within the group.
At the suggestion of the advisory committee, I assumed the role of
an Interested observer, comfortable in the partlcipant-observer role,
and allowed the Extension staff and participants to "Parent" me during
the duration of the project.

This allowed the staff and participants to

provide information, encouragement, and hospitality to me as a friend

57

and fellow-participant whom they saw to be in need of assistance and
consultation.

Undoubtedly this role Influenced the kind of information

given by the participants.

But, given the highly specific nature of the

questions about the self-view of participants in the teacher and learner
role, I felt this role was ideally suited for meaningful interaction and
open communication.
I was soon able to enter into a cordial friendship with almost every
participant because of the friendliness of the residents and my attempt
to be casual and polite.

After the first two weeks, 1 became a familiar

face and was able to carry on longer conversations with participants and
residents.

As time went on, I was considered to be a welcome guest in

their homes, and was Introduced to spouses and children.
entry problem disappeared altogether.

Finally, the

In fact, another problem arose—

having more data than I could ever hope to analyze.
My initial desire to be only an observer and a partlcipant-observer
was complicated by the short duration of the seminar and the data gather­
ing period.

Given the short time in which to do the research, I could

not wait for specific questions to come up spontaneously in the conversa­
tion.

Consequently, I gradually had to explain more about my role in

doing a study of the seminar and its participants.

I sensed that they

were naturally wary of educational studies, and therefore, I described
my research as exploratory and descriptive in nature.

The revelation of

the research role did not end any relationships, but on the whole, it
helped the study and made it easier for me to approach the people with
unusual questions.
I realized that I could not be exactly like the participants and
did not try to be.

I maintained a low profile by wearing clothes a

58
little less formal than the seminar leaders (suit, shirt and tie), but
in keeping with the neatness and formality of the participants themselves.
I did not dress exactly like the Thumb residents, but chose neat, casual
clothes that fit in with their casual style of dress (sport coat, slacks,
turtleneck sweater or casual shirts).

Analysis of the Data
The actual analysis of the data was quite simple.

1 took careful

notes on the daily proceedings and minutes of the meetings.

Notes were

also taken during the Interviews and from Informal conversations with
the participants.

Observations were recorded as soon as possible after

they had been completed, together with the generalizations they stimu­
lated.

In writing narrative summaries of the interviews, supporting

observations and quotes were included along with the verbatim notes that
had been taken long-hand during the interview.

Other anecdotal material

was included in the running diary of the meetings of the seminar.

The

content of the interviews and minutes of the meetings were digested into
pages of notes listing the major generalizations and other ideas.
Many of the conclusions or generalizations of the study fall into
the category of what Merton has called "post factum sociological inter­
pretation" (Merton, 1957, pp. 93-94), in that they have been developed
after the observations.
I did try to guard against overly facile Interpretations by analyz­
ing the data Immediately after collecting them, and by putting both data
and analysis into the field notes.

Thus, interpretations were developed

at once, rather than at the end of the study.

Since I did not begin the

study with a set of explicit notions that I wanted to prove, most of the

59
generalizations reported In this chapter were developed during the field
work.
The study sought to report on the participants in the CES "Family
and Community" travel/study seminar.

Each participant was interviewed

once and I talked with participants repeatedly during the course of the
seminar.

The small size of the group permitted rather intensive contact

with each participant, and most of the conclusions are based on the
researcher's observations of their ways.

The statistical analyses used

were limited.
Way of Life In the Thumb Area
I could not adequately capture on paper the unique combination of
qualities that characterize the Thumb Area of Michigan.

Typical aspects

of Thumb Area life can best be described by an informal sketch of some
of the events, places and persons that Impressed me as an observer in
the rural community.
Participants
The group of 30 participants were white, middle class residents of
the Thumb.

The participants were volunteers in a community learning

project sponsored by the Michigan State University Cooperation Extension
Service (CES).

All were adult learners between the ages of 22 and 55,

married (except two) and employed in the Thumb Area.
men and 26 women.

There were four

No attempt was made to enroll a random sample of the

Thumb's population, although some attempt was made to involve a crosssection of people from the three countries as to age, with a special
emphasis placed on Involving women.
Family
The participants came from families that were stable (mean number

60

of years marriage was 19.9) and In which the family members were suc­
cessfully coping with the pressures of life confronting them in the
Thumb.

The participants' experience of stability ( in the home and

in the community) made that a high priority with them.
family and their commitment to it.

They valued the

This was substantiated by their

participation in this study seminar focused on a closer examination
of the family unit.

1 was in contact with over ten of the families and observed the
family units to be close-knit and cohesive.

I heard pleasant conver­

sations and joking, and observed children completing a variety of chores
around the home.
the participants.

The family group was the center of activity among
Most parents with children at home were active in

one or more of the children's school activities such as Band Boosters,
4-H, FFA, or PTO (see Table 5.8, p. 106).

Most of the families were not transient and had been settled in
one location over 15 years.
belonging and ownership.

This contributed to a strong feeling of

The participants voiced their desire to

maintain the Thumb as a rural, agricultural area.
from the urban center was disapproved and resented.

Thus, in-migration
When asked how he

felt about "urban sprawl," Bill Hall* responded:

*

Pseudonyms are used to identify participants in order to maintain
their anonymity.

61

"The Thumb is being Infiltrated by city people."

Further fear was expressed about the loss of agricultural land to
housing and small business, as well as the detrimental effects of such
movement from the cities (e.g., crime, vandalism, violence, drugs).
Many of the participants said they were motivated to become more
Involved in their community to maintain the stable environment in which
their family life thrived.

The families I observed evidenced a joint relationship between
husband and wife that is characteristic of the middle-class family.
There was little segregation of roles.

In most of the farm homes, the

wife was heavily involved with the husband in the management and plan­
ning of the farm work schedule, and several wives were accountants or
bookkeepers for the family business.

In several cases the wife worked

alongside the husband in feeding the animals, mowing hay, and harvesting
the crops.

None of the participants lived in the same home with their parents,
but at least three families had parents living nearby or next door.

Child-Rearing

In the Thumb, children come because marriage and God brings them.
Many of the participants were members of Catholic churches and believe
having children is consistent with God's wish.

There was some planning

62
of conception, as Indicated In the smaller family size of the partici­
pants at present compared with the size of the family the participants
were raised In.
The participants who were parents spoke of their family in warm
and affectionate terms.
cared for and loved.
upkeep.

The children I observed first-hand were well

The homes evidenced careful housecleaning and

The active involvement of the parents In their children's

school activities supported the positive relationship the participants
had with their children.

Child-rearing or parenting was seen as a

responsibility of great Importance.

One mother

said,

"i feel my firBt

responsibility as a teacher is to my children...to help them grow up
and hold certain values, and to respect authority."

Another added,

"I'm involved with my children in sharing and helping them learn all
the time.

We do projects and crafts together."

Work
There was an unspoken pride in the amount of work one could do.
Work was seen as a life-calling or vocation; hence, meaningful,
respected and expected.

Complaints about the weather, the difficulty

of work, or work schedules were not heard.
content and happy in their work.

The participants seemed

Most of the participants (50 percent)

were in agriculture related work, 30 percent in skilled or professional
work, seven percent in labor, and six percent were heads of house­
hold.
Thumb residents expect to work hard and they derive satisfaction
from doing a good job.

A typical day for a farmer begins before 6 a.m.

and is not over until after six or seven in the evening.

The amount of

work necessary to keep a farm solvent financially is substantial, and

63
may explain the strong sense of Individualism expressed by the
participants.

Having succeeded In a difficult area of work undoubtedly

contributed to the participants' overall sense of self-confidence and
strong self-concept or self-view.

Relationship to Neighbors and the Community
The participants lived in small rural communities and prised the
building of strong relationships with their neighbors and other people
in the community.

They spoke highly of their neighbors and community.

One farmer told how his neighbors had pitched in and provided meals for
his family when he had been sick.

Another wife

had helped a farmer whose barn had burned.

told

how her neighbors

Another bragged on how close

he was with his neighbors.
Neighbors were seen as a vital part of community life.

There was

a strong bond of dependency, trust and cooperation among neighbors
within the communities I visited.

Reciprocity and dependence grew as

trust and cooperation were built through mutual effort and friendship.
The participants were proud of their communities, despite their faults.
They were eager to take part and responsibility to help improve the
quality of life for their families and children.

This was indicated by

the high level of participation in community activities (Figure 4.8).
Almost every participant made at least one positive comment during
the interview about their community.

These comments ranged from

"peaceful," to "family-oriented," to "stable and not much change," to
"a fine community to live in."

Halter Wilson felt that "the community

is friendly...the wholesomeness for family living speaks for itself."
Others remarked that their area was "so helpful" and "cooperative in
nature."

64
Most of the participants had a fairly accurate and informed under­
standing of their comsnmlty and its activities.

Their attendance at

the seminar was indicative of their concern about the governing process
in the counties affecting their families.
The participants did not identify any strong peer group of which
they were a part.

Many alluded to social gatherings they were involved

in on a periodic basis.

Because there were not many people moving into

the Thumb Area, meeting new people was a welcome experience for many of
them.

Their associations in social groups seemed to revolve around their

work roles.

For example, the farmers were more likely to get together

with other farmers in the Farm Bureau or at the Hog meetings, while the
professional families tended to socialize with other couples who were
in professional work or the skilled trades.
The participants all shared certain common interests and concerns
within the context of the seminar and this contributed to a high level
of Interaction and sharing.

They all expressed their enjoyment of the

seminar and the learning they were doing in talking with other partici­
pants.

The participants considered themselves to be a homogeneous

group with shared interests and needs.

The Church
The most important formal institution in the Thumb Area appeared
to be the church.

All except one participant were active church

attenders, and many indicated their involvement in the church organiza­
tion in positions of responsibility and leadership.

Table 5.8 (p. 106) shows

74 percent of the participants to be Involved in such things as Sunday
School teacher, serving on the church board, and so on.

Membership was

split almost equally between the Catholic and Protestant churches in

65
the area.

The participants were a religious group, and were trilling to

identify with the church and its activities.

Many expressed an identi­

fication with the ministry of the parish and several mentioned a close
relationship with the Minister or Clergyman.

Several participants

expressed the idea that their involvement in church and religious
fellowship provided them with a perspective on current events in the
world and in their state (e.g., in relation to drugs, polution, land
use) which prompted them to respond with caution and careful planning.
I was Impressed with the seriousness of the participants' faith
and their belief in the spiritual aspect of life.

Several participants

mentioned "the Lord's help" as a significant factor In their upbringing
and development.

Formal Organizations and Associations
The participants listed over twenty different community groups and
activities in which they were involved.

The usual community clubs such

as Lions and Masons were listed, along with the Jaycees, Community
Chest and the Women's Club.
participants listed.

There was not one activity that all

The variety of organizations they were involved

in depended on their individual Interests and work.

No exclusive or

ethnic clubs were mentioned.

Education
Most Thumb Area conmunitles support both parochial and public
elementary schools, but most students go to public schools.

Most of

the participants expressed a positive opinion of the public schools
in their community, although one participant did not think her
coemunity valued quality education enough.

Ann Ames

66
wanted to see more emphasis on youth in her community and said, "There
Is a low level of acceptance of teachers and helpers In this community
since there is not nuch enphasis on education."

Another felt "there

neede to be a change in students' attitudes toward education.

Education

should be for personal growth and as a personal asset not just for
vocational gain."

She felt hindered in what she could do about the

situation since her husband was a teacher at the school.
On the one hand, Thumb residents recognized that education is
important and necessary to obtain employment, and urged their children
to get as much schooling as required for a good job.

On the other hand,

the parents were aware of the fact that further education would estrange
the children from them and take them from the Thumb Area.

Most of the

parents, however, were confident of the state colleges and universities
and said they would encourage their children to go to college.
of the participants

said

Several

that if they were to do it over again, they

would have finished college Instead of marrying immediately out of high
school.

,

Government
The participants expressed an ambivalent attitude toward government
and politics.

On the one hand, they were eager to become more knowledge­

able of the local governing procedures and the legislative process at
the local and county level.

On the other hand, they expressed some doubt

as to the Impact they could have at the state and/or federal level.

The

Interest in determining what they could do prompted their attendance in
the seminar.
As the seminar progressed, and as the participants became more
aware of the legislative process through lectures, visitations to the

67
councy board of commissioners meeting, and to the state capital, their
confidence In being able to make an Impact at the local level increased.
At the conclusion of the seminar many of the participants were eager to
return home and begin work in their community on an issue of concern to
them.

Many expressed a new confidence gained through understanding the

political process more thoroughly and a new desire to become Involved
in making things happen.

Reflections
The entire mood and setting of the seminar in the Thumb Area was
much more relaxed and unhurried than in a typical urban or unlversltyclty setting.

There was concern over the weather and the usual press

of farming responsibilities, but participants lacked the hurried and
rushed behavior indicative of much of the rest of society.
calm, collected, and comfortable people to be with.

They were

They conversed

easily, and were eager to listen to other people's problems and needs.
The participants were also willing to share and help others in need.
More than once 1 saw Walter Wilson hunched up in the corner with two or
three other participants, listening to them and offering advice.
The residents of the Thumb Area lived in a cultural and social
setting distinctly different from an urban setting In the United States.
The participants' outlook on life was very rural and tended, at times,
to be provincial and status q u o .
The fact that most of the women participants were full-time
homemakers in addition to helping manage the farm and/or family business
influenced the participants towards making the investment of their time
in the seminar a valuable one with maximum payoff for themselves.
participant indicated:

One

"I have had broader experiences than many in

the cosmunity and I feel I can bring experiences to them that stretch
their Imagination."

Several of the women shared that the seminar was

the first out-of-the-home learning experience they had participated in
for years.

They had became so busy with children and work, they had

neglected themselves and their own development.
first step out of the old rut.

The seminar was their

69
The Seminar

In this section the proceedings of the seminar sessions are
outlined to set the contextual scene for the research study.

Goals
The overall objective of the "Family and Community" travel/study
seminar was to help community members become better able to participate
meaningfully In conmnmlty decisions on Issues that affect the family.
The specific learning objectives were the following:
1.

To provide the participants with a series of integrated learning

experiences that would add to his knowledge about the processes of
community change;
2.

To facilitate the participants' understanding of how the community

and society Influence the family;
3.

To Increase the participants' knowledge of the sources of Informa­

tion and assistance related to family well-being and community affairs;
4.

To involve the participants in a series of experiences that would

build their confidence and willingness to become Involved In community
affairs;
5.

To increase the participation of rural homemakers In government by

Increased awareness and Interaction; and
6.

To increase the leadership potential within the communities.

Selection of Participants
Enrollment was open to interested residents of the Thumb Area on a
voluntary basis.

Participants were expected to pay $20 to attend the

eight weekly sessions, lasting five hours each.

A variety of mass media

were used to establish initial awareness In the Thumb Area; 3500

70
brochures were sent from the various county offices to diverse audiences;
2000 newsletters described the program to different residents; radio
spots were aired on several local stations; and personal letters were
sent to public officials asking their cooperation and urging their
support.

Opening enrollment to all residents of the Thumb Area increased

the opportunity for participation among all levels of residents.

The

Extension staff followed up leads and suggestions for participants with
over 75 personal phone calls.

In all, 33 applications were received;

two men had to drop out, and one woman was too late to attend the
seminar.

Materials
Few materials were needed for a non-formal program such as this.
Handouts and supplemental learning aids (e.g., copies of periodical
articles) were produced by the county staff.

Learning experiences with

a specific focus were designed by the staff and M.S.U. specialists.
The simpllest facilities were used.

A large, comfortable meeting room

was rented In the basement of a centrally located restaurant in the
Thumb Area.

Administration and Planning
Huron County Home Economist Ann Ross administered the planning,
design and Implementation of the entire program, with the aid of her
assistant and other state and county Extension staff.

Ann was respon­

sible for all communications to the Planning Committee members and
participants.

A campus coordinator at M.S.U. contacted guest speakers

and additional resource personnel there.

The Program Planning Committee

was responsible for designing the first three sessions of the seminar

71
in January.

The remaining sessions were planned and implemented under

the direction of the participant planning subcommittees.

Ann described

her thoughts In planning the seminar in this way:
The M.S.U. Specialists and I tried to design a format that
would weave together a basic understanding of the family and
the community. We hoped to show that they are an integral
part of each other and that answers to problems of the family
are often in public policies and programs. We hoped to teach
local leaders to define problems and locate sources of help
and know how to influence change.
Guest speakers were chosen by suggestions from the participant subcom­
mittees for their subject matter competency and understanding of
Extension methods and purposes.

The guest speakerfs ability to

communicate with a diverse audience was also considered.

Content
The content for the seminar was defined in terms of two broad
categories, learning about the Family and learning about Community
Government.

The seminar sessions were divided into these two parts.

The first three sessions Introduced the participants to the Issues of
the family and community in today's society.

The last five sessions

investigated the role of government and its functioning processes.
From the fourth session on, participants took part in planning the
content and manner of presentation for the sessions.

Strategies and Methods
In planning the overall seminar, a variety of instructional media
and learning activities to supplement the verbal instructions, lectures,
and small group interaction were used.
different techniques:

The media included the following

movies, slides and filmstrips, games and

72
simulations, handouts, overhead projections, chalkboard, flip chart,
posters, notebooks with note-taking guides, and various small group
activities.
Each guest speaker was asked to make his presentation as audience
participative and responsive as possible.

Almost every speaker Involved

the participants in discussion and interaction through the use of
Interactive exercises, questions and answers, group discussion and
problem solving, and individual reflection exercises.
Travel was an Important part of the seminar as well.

Travel and

on-the-spot tours provided enriched experiences for the participants and
allowed them to broaden their perspective through interaction with other
people.

Tours were taken to the Sanilac and Genesee County Board of

Commissioners meeting, the Flint Culture Center, and the state capital
in Lansing.

The trips introduced participants to the operations of

family-oriented social service organizations as well as official
governmental operations— from the county commissioners to the state
representatives and senators in Lansing.
The seminar required a time commitment of over 75 "in-class" hours
on the part of the participants, not including travel time.

Eight six-

hour sessions were held between January 6 and February 28, 1977.

Two

full days were spent in a visit to Lansing on March 22-23, 1977.
The non-formal nature of the learning experience meant that the
participants were volunteer learners and no formal tests of cognitive
learning were administered.

Weekly evaluation forms were available for

participants to complete if they wished.

Subjective evaluations of

this sort provided information to program planners as to how the parti­
cipants were perceiving and valuing the experience.

Numerous additional

opportunities were available for the participants to make suggestions,
ask questions, and request further information.

Outline of the Seminar Sessions
The eight weekly sessions covered the following topics:
X.

How to Get Acquainted As A Group and How to Consider the

Perspective of Others.

Getting involved means expenditure of time,

energy, skills and money.
II.

How to Look at the Family and Community Objectively:

using a

Family and Community survey/oplnlonnalre.
III.

How to Survey Diverse Family Members:

the Family and Community survey by county.
IV.

using and tabulating

The Nominal Group Technique.

How to Interview Agencies and Governmental Units for Information

How to evaluate the significance of that information for families and
communities.

Travel to Sanilac County Board of Commissioners Meeting

and interview various social service organizations.

V.

Communications:

How to Communicate More Effectively (short

presentations interspersed with small groups activities)
VI.

Decision Making:

Accounting System:
problems.
VII.

Family and Government.

The Prince Political

a model for understanding and analyzing political

The importance of citizen participation.
The Legislative Process:

The Power Game— a learning simulation

of personal and political power; Sharing what we have learned so far;
An Introduction to the Legislative Process:

How bills originate and

are acted upon.
VIII.

Flint Tour:

Genesee County Board of Commissioners Meeting;

Discussion of Social Services in Genesee County; Overview and tour of

74

Flint's Cultural Center; Views on Community Life with Jerry Taff at
WJRT TV station.

IX.

Lansing Tour:

Participation In Fanners Week on M.S.U. campus;

Meet and tour capital building and meet legislators and governor.
Visit House of Representatives and Senate.

Reflections on the Seminar Experience

In concluding this section, it may be helpful to summarize my
reflections on the seminar and my involvement in it.

The following

comments are subjective responses to what I saw, heard and felt.

They

are based on fact, although not entirely objective.
1.

There was a high degree of participation and sense of involve­

ment in the learning experience because the program was developed for,
by, and with the participants themselves in response to expressed
l
needs, interests, and concerns.

Almost every participant commented

positively on his/her involvement in the seminar.

The majority of them

expressed the desire to attend another CES seminar in the future.
Hall

said:

all here.

Jill

"I want to learn about others in the group and why we are
I would like to attend another seminar and feel it would be

a good experience."

Amy Abood felt that "meeting the other participants

was the most enjoyable part of the seminar...The visitation tours were
valuable as well."

In evaluating the seminar, Donna Davis said:

"Everything has been beautiful!

The Flint trip and speakers were great."

She said she would "definitely participate in another seminar, even if
the cost were doubled."

75
2.

Providing opportunity for feedback and participant evaluation

encouraged adult learners to take an active part in the proceeding of
the learning experience.

Significant learning occurred in a non-

threatening environment characterized by mutual respect, warmth, and
acceptance of Individual differences.

A relaxed mood and atmosphere

were Important ingredients in a successful learning experience.
Tension and hurriedness inhibit effective learning.
The style of leadership afforded the group by the CES personnel had
a positive Influence on the overall learning effectiveness of the
participants.

Providing successful role models served to stimulate

growth and development among the adult learners.
3.

The combination of learning activities used in the "Family and

Community" seminar proved to be an effective process for increasing the
awareness and participation of the participants in their communities.
Self-awareness was Increased through a combination of reflection exercises,
interactions with other participants, feedback received from speakers,
and increased information and ideas.

After several of the lectures,

one of the participants turned to me and said, "I really enjoyed that
lecture presentation.

That was really helpful to me."

I asked why.

"Well," he responded, "I had the feeling he really knew what he was
talking about, but he shared it in a manner that I understood all that
he said, and I knew he was concerned that I profit from what he said.
It made me feel good."
All except two or three of the presentations by guest speakers
were on-target, well-presented and well-timed.
unusually dry and lengthy.

Only two speakers were

"That was a drag!" I overheard one

76

participant say to another after the first of the poor presentations.
The small group around her nodded their heads in agreement.
I also noticed that as the participants were given the opportunity
to volunteer for committees and sign up to serve as "Chairman of the
Day," that the leadership potential within the group emerged quite
naturally.

The Extension staff did not have to beg for participants or

for help.

In conversing with several of the participants about the high

level of Involvement and motivation I discerned that many of them were
motivated and involved in the "Family and Community" seminar because
it was structured around their mutually felt needs and concerns.

The

seminar drew residents from a three county area who were concerned about
the family and their community.

They paid $20 and invested over 100

hours from their winter work schedule to learn more about the roles
they could play in their communities to Influence legislation concerning
the family.

For them, the motivation was intrinsic in the content of the

program itself.
learn.

They did not need to be urged to share, Interact or

Undoubtedly, this high degree of participation and motivation

was unique to this seminar and the cluster of participants it drew.
The strong self-views and positive attitudes toward learning were
related to their high, positive expectations for the seminar.

I had

the feeling at times that even if the seminar had failed to present any
valuable Information or provide opportunities for group discussion that
the participants would still have felt positive about the seminar.
They were just that "high" about the whole experience.
I think it is important to point out, however, that the overall
quality of the speakers, travel tours, and group experiences was very
high.

Within the three-month period of the seminar, the participants

77
were privileged to go on three field trips, hear over 15 guest speakers,
and Interact over crucial Issues relating to the family and the com­
munity.

The teaching strategies and techniques were unusually effective

and appropriately chosen for the group, and there was an abundance of
supplemental resource material available for the participants desiring
further study.
In discussing the quality of the seminar in relation to other
programs sponsored by the CES, several of the staff admitted that this
seminar was exceptionally good.

"I don't think we've ever had a group

that started out with so much," said the seminar director.
super group.

"They are a

They are all experienced and knowledgeable, and really

want to learn.

This is going to be an exciting time."

Another said,

"This seminar doesn't even compare to another New Horizons program I'm
leading in another town.

These people are so far ahead that I just

wish I was with this group every week.

In fact, I wish all my groups

were like this."
In evaluating the impact of the learning experience on the parti­
cipants, I realized that the entire seminar and all of its component
parts had fallen together into a beautiful "fit".

I caste away with the

distinct impression and feeling that this had been an unusual group,
and that the learning process had been very effective.
said

As the director

afterwards, "I don't think I could've asked for anything else.

It all worked out so perfectly...I'm still a little shocked myself that
all the pieces fell together so well.

I don't think I could've done

that all by myself."
4.

I observed many participants who were skilled and effective In

helping other people learn, and were not hung-up with the foraal

78
definition of a teacher aa a classroom leader.

When

the stereotype

of the formal classroom teacher was set aside, most participants were
willing to share their knowledge and experience to help others grow and
develop.

Without using the word "teacher," I felt the seminar experience

encouraged the participants to be more effective teachers in the nonformal sense of helping other people learn.
Very few of the participants had formal teaching experience, yet
most of them were functioning In a variety of non-formal teaching—
learning settings to help others learn.

1 was impressed that an abundance

of potential teachers exists In communities among adults who are selfmotivated learners with positive self-views.

Many more effective

non-formal learning experiences could be planned and implemented if
program planners were willing to draw from the rich supply of teachers
already available in the community.

I found that many of these

teachers are ready and even waiting to be called and asked to help.
Many of them, in fact, are willing to help, but are not bold enough to
volunteer.

As Carol Carter

helpful and supportive.

said:

"i n k e to think of myself as

But often I'm so hard on myself I become

depressed...I'm so tired of looking for a teaching job, and not finding
one.

I do want to teach...anywhere, if only someone would give me the

chance."
It may appear as a truism to add that If the elements of the
learning package had not fit together as they did, the seminar would
have been a very different experience for the participants.

As I have

tried to point out, the combination of the style of leadership, the
positive attitudes and expectations of the participants, the quality of
input and sharing, the variety of experiences and pleasant facilities

79
all contributed to the success of the "Family and Community" seminar.
Had one element been different, for example the leadership style, I
think the participants would have reacted differently.

Or If the

seminar had not Included the participants in the planning and
presentations I think the entire seminar would have been perceived
very differently.
These Impressions and reflections based on actual events and
conversations provide the background and data on which the conclusions
and implications in the last chapter are based.

i

CHAPTER IV

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

In this chapter, the research design and the procedures of
instrumentation and data collection are described.

The first section

Includes a discussion of the triangulation of methods.

The second sec­

tion explains the Instrument construction process as well as the data
collection and analysis procedure for each instrument.

Research Design

The research was an exploratory descriptive study with multiple
measures.

The purpose was to document the self-views of 30 adult parti­

cipants in a community learning activity as they relate to two specific
roles:

that of a learner and as a teacher.

While assessing their self-

views, the study also examined the source of these self-views.

Triangulation of Methods
A triangulated measurement perspective was adapted to compare and
correlate the results with one another from at least three different
measures as no single measurement technique was certain to yield all the
needed and relevant data.

To triangulate measures as proposed by Webb

et al. (1966) and Densin (1970), it was necessary to compare data gathered
by three different methods (Figure 1).

80

81

1.
INTERVIEW

2

3.

VERBAL
INTERACTION

Figure 1.

WRITTEN
INSTRUMENTS

Triangulation Procedure for Data Gathering and
Analysis.

The first method was a personal interview conducted with each
participant in the project.
mental.

Factual and accurate description was funda­

The data gathered during the interviews were recorded and

structured using a modified interview schedule.

A combination of short-

answer and open-ended questions was asked regarding the subject's
background and perceptions of himself.

The data collected was coded and

analyzed using correlational measures.
The second method to gain supplemental data was through observation
of the group process.

This one unobtrusive measure was taken of the

participants to analyze the interaction patterns between participants
within the group.

The primary technique used was an adaptation of

Borgatta's (1965b) Interaction analysis form.

The method provided data

which reflected the Involvement and participation of each member within

82
the group.

The measure was taken at five different times during the

course of the seminar.
The third method for the triangulation procedure involved pretests
and post-tests of a set of three written instruments.

The first was a

three-question questionnaire titled A Look At Myself measuring partici­
pants' self-views In two roles:

that of a learner and that of a teacher.

The second and third Instruments (titled MSU T and MSU L ) used a frequency
scale to measure the degree of a person's participation In either of the
two roles.

Both of these measures were correlated with the interview and

analysis of verbal Interaction data to determine how a person's self-view
Influenced his awareness and participation in the learning seminar.
Each of the measures were administered In the time sequence shown
below:

1

2

3

4

Ul

Eight Weekly Sessions

6

7

l

I

2„_
____ .± ______

I
I

A
t.

i
I
i

•
? ...

___ .5 a
____ 3

C
A.

Written instruments.

B.

Analysis of Verbal Interaction.

C.

Interviews conducted throughout the seminar.
Figure 2.

Time Sequence of Data-gatherlng Instruments.

83
The Interaction analysis and written measures were taken during the first
two weeks and the last two weeks of the seminar.

Personal Interviews

were conducted at the home of the participants throughout the seminar.

Instrumentation and Data

The three separate measures used in the gathering of data are
described In some detail.

First, the interview Is explained; second,

the Interaction analysis procedures; and third, the written measures are
discussed.

Personal Interview
The Individual interview Is the most c o m o n Instrument for data
collection In social research.

It is uniquely well-suited for descriptive

research as It collects data through direct verbal interaction between
individuals.

Accordingly, detailed steps in constructing and administering

interview schedules are presented in this section.
Interview Items In this study may refer to past, present, or future
phenomena.

Some questions attempted to get at past experiences and

associations, some items probed present attitudes and practice, and
still additional queries related to future expectations and aspirations.
The first step In carrying out a successful interview study was to
list specific objectives to be achieved by the Interview.

The methods

of data analysis used had to be kept in mind during formulation of the
interview schedule.

The first objective of this study was to examine

the way in which people see themselves as learners and (potential)
teachers.

Therefore, Items that elicit information from each respondent

84
regarding their self-view, roles played as learners, and experiences
as a learner were Included In the Interview (see sample of interview
schedule questions, Appendix A).
The Interview Schedule.

The Interview schedule was prepared prior

to the site visits, and was a combination of open and closed questions
and probes trtiich allowed the respondent to elaborate on Initial responses
so Internal checks for response

errors could be made.

The development

of an interview guide made It possible to obtain the data required to
meet the objectives of the study and standardize the situation and data
to some extent (see copy of Interview Schedule in Appendix, p. I65ff).
Highly structured questions were aimed

primarily toward a semi­

structured level, although some were included in the interview guide.
The interviewer first asked a series of structured questions at this
level.

He began with basic demographic Information and led to questions

with yes/no responses.

The interviewer then probed further, using

open-ended questions to obtain more complete data.
Recording the Interview.

The guideline for analysis of field notes

and Interviews were those suggested by Becker (1958).

Prior to beginning

the on-slte interviews, all data recording Instruments were standardised
so that data collected could be codified and noted to make analysis more
manageable.

By pre-determlning some of the categories of analysis

(e.g., age categories, roles, occupations) It was possible to structure
adequate response and note-taking spaces for each question.
A single interviewer conducted all thirty Interviews.
lnter-rater reliability checks unnecessary.
collect the Information in the interview.

This made

Note-taking was used to
The Interviewer took full

85
notes in longhand to record an almost verbatim report.

This note-taking

facilitated data analysis* since the information was readily accessible.
The note-taking process did not appear to disrupt the effectiveness of
the interaction patterns the interviewer was trying to establish.

Each

Interview was summarised and typed in narrative fashion by the inter­
viewer upon completion of the interviews.
slightly over one hour in length.

The interviews averaged

The written narratives of the inter­

views averaged three typewritten pages in length and are contained in
the Appendix

(pp. 1,65 ff).

Data from the Interviews were both quantified and qualified.

One

quantification technique used was to record the frequency with which
certain variables were repeated in the interviews.

Source of self-view

variables* for example* were identified and tabulated to identify the
perceived importance of selected variables.
A three-person panel was used to quantify the verbal data.
Directions for selecting such personnel and collecting scores were taken
from Borg and Gall (1971).

Three elementary school teachers were selected

to read the narrative descriptions of the interviews and to score the
self-view of each participant as either a teacher (T) or a learner (L).
A rating sheet similar to the A Look At Myself Instrument was used.

The

use of a panel of raters removes the subjectivity bias which might result
if the Interviewer was the only person to rate the self-view of the
interviewees.
The analysis of data on the rating sheet was made in terms of a
numeric score for each role (either teacher or learner).

After the panel

had scored the interviews* the inter-rater reliability coefficient was
significantly high (a - .05 level) to assure uniformity of ratings by the

8b
panel.

This meant that the panel raters were scoring the seLt-vtewa ot

the respondents In a consistent pattern.

In this way, the Interview

data was reduced, for purposes of further comparison and correlation, to
a numeric score that could be related to the scores from the three
written instruments and the mean number score of verbal Interactions.
The panel ratings yielded scores from the Interview data very similar
to the results from the participants' self-ratings.
Qualification techniques consisted of explaining the variables and
replies found In the Interviews.

The explanation gave names to the

processes Identified, described how certain variables interact, what
their functions were, who led who and how, and what role or Influence
each seemed to have on other variables.

A classification system emerged

for the various types of variables and Influences at work in a person's
background.

Analysis of Verbal Interaction
The second method for gathering data regarding the subject's view
of self was an analysis procedure of verbal interaction.

All the detailed

categories suggested by Borgatta (1965a) and others were collapsed to
represent, simply, Interaction between persons In the group or no inter­
action between persons.

An Interaction was defined by a verbal response

directed toward the other members of the group.

A simple slash surk was

recorded for every verbal behavior that took place, no matter how brief.
Behaviors lasting over 10 seconds were marked as a

87
second interaction to indicate the continued or repeated interaction of
that person with the group.

A person receiving no mark indicated that

the person did-not, in the period of observations,
verbal interaction with the group.

participate in any

A single observer made ratings in

this study; thus, reliability checks were unnecessary.

The score recorded did not reflect the context of the interaction
or the content of the response of the Individuals within the group being
observed.
The study was not as concerned to develop or use a category system
which allowed for scoring of all possible kinds of actions as it was.to
provide a system which would allow the accurate recording of all verbal
act ions— regard less of brevity, content, or meaning.
Borrowing from Borgatta's (1965, pp. 31,44) description of the
scoring procedures for the revised interaction scores, the tally sheet
provided columns which corresponded to persons and rows which corres­
ponded to categories Or times of observation.

The scoring of Interaction

was simplified by recording tally marks in the proper spaces.

This form

of scoring easily provided suanary information (see Appendix, p. 165 ff).
The observation of verbal interaction took place during each session
in which the participants were seated in small groups or interacting
among themselves.
session as planned.

Participants, however, were not placed in groups every
Observations were made of each group of four or

six members for periods of one-minute's length.

Three one-minute periods

of observation were made of each group at periodic Intervals during the
time of group interaction.

Only two observation periods were possible

when the group interaction was cut short by the seminar leaders.

88
Total scoras were computed by finding the mean number of verbal
interactions for each person per minute.

This score represented the

degree of involvement or participation of each person in the group during
the course of the seminar.

Written Measures
The third method for assessing a subject's self-perceptions was to
administer three written Instruments to each person (see Appendix, p. 165ff).
Development of the MSU T and MSU L Instruments.

The first two instru­

ments were titled the MSU T and the MSU L and were constructed to assess
the frequency of the subject's involvement in teaching and learning acti­
vities.

To secure a sample of items, a population of traits or activities

was defined in both areas.

This was accomplished through an extensive

relvew of the literature describing the teaching and learning process and
from lists of character traits of teachers and learners.
The authors described teaching as an interactive process, primarily
involving classroom talk, which takes place between teacher and pupils
and occurs during certain definable activities.

The ten teaching activi­

ties were defined according to the Joyce and Well (1972) and Kinney
(1953, 1957) analyses, and supplemented by selected other authorities:
1.

telling and sharing of Information (Amidon and Hunter, 1966);

2.

showing and demonstrating;

3.

motivating and supervising (Valenti and Jasper, 1951);

4.

explaining and clarifying;

5.

counseling and encouraging;

6.

identifying needs and resources (Morgan, 1975, p.
PP. 1-5);

7.

posing problems and asking questions;

1; Kaufman, 1969,

89
8.

planning activities with students (Dewey, 1938, p 40);

9.

evaluating; and

10.

doing things and participating with others.
Specific activities in the learning role were also listed fron the

literature describing effective learning and the activity of the learners.
The following seven learning activities were defined according to the
Joyce and Weil (1972) analyses and supplemented by other authorities;
1.

gaining or receiving new information (Atwood, 1974,

pp. 9-13);

2.

discovering new ideas for oneself (Atwood, 1974, p.

33);

3.

finding answers to questions;

4.

developing new skills (Atwood, 1974, p. 33)

5.

solving problems and dealing with dilesnas;

6.

applying ideas to new situations; and

7.

doing or seeing new things and new places (Dewey,1938, p. 40).
Behavior traits representing related aspects of teaching and learn­

ing behavior were placed into categories to insure a balance of traits
and check furthur possibilities of additions to the list.

The group

resulted in seven major categories of three items each for the learning
Instrument, and ten major categories of two items each for the teaching
Instrument after much further reduction, revision, and elimination.
Two college professors and three graduate assistants were asked to make
the final selection of 21 to 23 items to constitute the sample traits
to be used in the Instrument.

The final steps involved randomizing the

teaching and learning activities, assigning them a number, and typing
them onto a one-page teaching (MSU T) or learning (MSU L) Instrument.
The questions were carefully edited and recast to fit the make-up of
the T or L test.

Forty-five items were Included on the two instruments.

90

Each question was stated In terns that each subject could easily answer.
The nethod of answering was clear and unambiguous so the forn of the answers
permitted statistical treatment and rapid, accurate scoring.
Each question exhibited either a teaching (T) or a learning (L) factor
in the MSU T or MSU L instruments.

The respondents were to mark the fre­

quency with which they participated In both kinds of activities.

Frequency

breakdowns were within "Half-Day,” "Day," "Week," "Month," "Over a Month"
or "Not Sure".

Instruments were scored by taking a simple total of the

numbers marked which designated the frequency with which the participant
had engaged In the activity.

A total was determined for each person, and

pretest scores were correlated with post-test scores on both T and L measures.
"Half-Day" was scored 1, "Day" - 2, "Week" - 3, "Month" - 4, "Not Sure" - 5.
The lower the total score the more often that person engaged In that
type of activity.

The range of possible scores was computed by multiply­

ing the number of questions times the score value of the response category.

Table 1
Range of Scores Possible on MSU T and MSU L Instruments
Rating Scale
Learning Activity Instrument “ 23 Items.
Possible scores

23

Rating
°a *

46

69

92

frequent Very frequent Frequent
Periodic
(High) 4------------- 1 ------------- — --t ---*
22
44
66
88
Possible scores
Teaching Activity Instrument ” 22 Items.

115
Almost Never
— + (Low)
110

Some of the tentative hypotheses underlying the construction of the Instru­
ment were the following:

91
1.

The lower the score the more often the person engages In that
activity.
a.

The lower the L score, the higher will be the person's selfperception of him/herself as a learner.

b.

The lower the T score, the higher will be the person's selfperception of him/herself as a teacher.

2.

The higher the score the less often the person engages in that
activity.
a.

The higher the L score, the lower will be the person's self­
perception of him/herself as a learner.

b.

The higher the T score, the lower will be the person's selfperceptlon of him/herself as a teacher.

3.

Both the L and the T score should correlate with the person's
initial indication of his/her self-perception as measured on the
A Look At Myself self-perception instrument.

4.

The relative position of what

is high or low on the J* or X

instruments will relate to the person's general self-esteem as
measured on the personal interview and scored by the rating panel.
5.

Certain factors may emerge over time as being key Indicators or
correlates with either high or low self-perception of oneself as a
learner or as a teacher.

Development of the A Look at Myself Instrument.

The third written

Instrument was titled A Look at Myself and was constructed to Identify
participant's initial salf-perceptlon of themselves as either a teacher
or a learner, and measure the strength of that identification.

The

first of the three questions asked, "As you look at yourself now,
do you see yourself as a Teacher or Learner?"

92
Responses were checked along a four-point scale.

The simple forced-

choice question identified those participants who saw themselves as
teachers and those who saw themselves as learners.
The second and third questions asked, "Do you like to think of
yourself as a Learner?...Teacher?"

Responses were checked along a four-

point scale ranging from "Not really" at point one, to "Sometimes" at
points two and three, and "Yes!" at point four.

A person who did not see

himself as a teacher would mark the one or two space, while a person with
a strong perception of self as a teacher would mark space three or four.
Pretests and post-tests were taken with this Instrument as well, and scores
were correlated to determine if there had been any change in self­
perception in either of the two roles during the time of the seminar.
The exploratory nature of this study prohibited a fine distinction
between degrees of self-concept among the participants.

However, an

approximate four-point scale was used to rate the participant's level of
self-concept as determined on the Interview and on each of the three
written Instruments.

The scale points were as follows:

1 ■ strong high self-

concept; 2 * good, positive; 3 * fair, average; and 4 - below average,
poor.
The rating panel assigned a numeric rating of 1-4 on the teacher and
learner self-perception for each subject based on their interpretation of
the subject's self-concept in that role.

A single overall score of

either T or L was also assigned by the panel to each subject to correspond
with the T or L selection made by each subject on question #1 of the
A Look At Myself instrument.

A total score was tabulated for each subject on the pretests and post­
tests of the MSU T and the MSU L instruments as well.

These data for

each subject were tabled as follows:

Table 2
Data Table
Instrument

Ratings from Three Instruments
T or L

T

L

MSU L

MSU T

Interaction

r

Interview
A Look At Myself
MS U L
MSU T
. . _____ L___

Source:

Interview form, A Look At Myself, MSU L and MSU T , and
Analysis of Verbal Interaction.

The total interaction score was also tabled with the other two
measures for ease of analysis and for correlation purposes.

All

statistical analyses for the study were handled by the Statistical
Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) computer program.

All correlation

coefficients and reliability coefficients were computed at the a “ .05
level, number of subjects being 30.

The level of significance was

determined from the "Quantities of the Spearman Test Statistic" table In
Conoyer (1971, p. 390).

Description of the Pilot Study

All possible controls and safeguards must be employed when a
technique as subjective as an interview Is used to obtain reasonably
objective and unbiased data.

A careful pilot study with three graduate

students was conducted after the Interview guide was developed to

94
evaluate and Improve the Interview schedule guide and interviewing
procedure.

The pilot study also helped the Interviewer develop experi­

ence In using the procedure before any research data for the major study
was collected.

The three subjects were Interviewed on campus and selected,

roughly, from the same population as the main study participants.

Dif­

ferent parts of the interview schedule were refined from the progress of
the pilot interviews, and the order of questions was slightly altered.
The three written Instruments were also tested with five trial
subjects.

A five-day space-time reliability study was conducted with

eight persons as a pilot study.
and asked to complete them.
given the Instruments.

The subjects were given the Instruments

Five days later the same subjects were again

Correlations were run to determine the degree of

agreement between the two measures.
of .9535 at a * .01.

There was a coefficient of stability

A coefficient of at least .80 meant it was safe to

conclude that the test was consistent between measurements.
Each person was asked to explain his response after giving the
A Look At Myself self-perception measure the second time.

A simple

question such as, "What did you mean by your response to this question?"
was used to elicit a response.

Answers to this question confirmed the

general Intent and purpose of the test as a measure of that person's
perception of himself in either the teacher or learner role.

The con­

struct validity of the Instruments were thus evaluated by identifying
what qualities the test actually measured.
Once data from the Instruments were tabulated, the data were presented
to a panel of three persons to determine If the data— as they saw it— were
responsible measures of the subjects' self-perceptions.
two-thirds of the panel was sufficient for approval.

Agreement by

95
The MSU T and MSU L instruments were completed the second time and
subjects were asked to explain their responses to these tests as well.
Questions such as, "What kinds of activities came to mind when answering
this question?" were asked the subjects in order to compare the multiplequestlons for each factor.

A high similarity of responses from the

subjects showed that the Items on the two forms were in a form which was
understandable to the respondents.

Minor changes were made In syntax

and wording on the Instruments before printing for use In the project.

Summary .

Three different descriptive assessments were conducted to determine
the self-perceptions of the participants in the learning seminar In
either of two roles; that of a learner or a (potential) teacher.
Personal Interviews were conducted with each participant during the
eight weeks of the seminar.

Two kinds of data resulted.

First, various

background factors relating to one's self-perception as a teacher or
learner were identified and tabulated.

Second, a panel of raters scored

each Interview as to the person's self-conception In the teacher and
learner role.
Observations of the verbal Interaction within the learning group
were tabulated for each participant.

A total score was determined for

each participant of the mean nunber of Interactions engaged In per minute.
Last, three different written instruments gathered data from the
participants concerning their self-perceptIons In the role of teacher and
learner and the frequency of participation In teaching and learning
activities.

The three-question A Look At Myself Instrument was used to

Identify one's Initial self-perception as either a teacher or learner and

96
the strength of that self-view.

The MSU T and MSU L instruments measured

the participants' Involvement In teaching (T) and learning (L) activities.
A total score was computed for both of these forms*
Correlations were determined for the total of the pretest and post­
test scores of the group as a whole.

CHAPTER

V

FINDINGS

This chapter presents the analysis of the data gathered In the
Thumb Area seminar on "The Family and Conmunlty."

A total of five

different types of measures were administered to 30 participants.

The

findings of each measure are tabulated and presented In tables.
The chapter is divided into two main sections:
First Is the descriptive analysis.

It includes information about

the Thumb Area residents, the community activities in the Thumb Area,
and further demographic data about the participants.
Second, the correlational analyses of the several background variables
are presented.

These analyses relate to one's present self-concept,

the relation of self-view to attitudes about learning, the relation of
self-view to the degree of participation, the extent to which self-views
changed, and the extent of change in participation in learning (L) and
teaching (T) activities.

Descriptive Analysis

The descriptive analysis includes information about the Thumb
Area participants as gathered from the interview form and basic
information sheet filled out by the participants at the start of the
seminar.

97

98

Thumb Area Participants
The 30 participants interviewed were predominantly wives and
homemakers; the four men participants were the heads of families
engaged in agricultural work.

Four of the women worked full-time in

addition to being homemakers, seven worked part-time, and only one
woman was single living at home.

Two of the men held other jobs in

addition to being full-time farmers (Table 1).

Table 1
Occupation in the Family
Occupation

Number of Participants

Homemaker

X

15

50

Homemaker +
fulltime work*

4

14

Homemaker +
part-time work*

7

24

Fulltime work*

1

3

Farmer

1

3

Farmer + work

2

6

30

100

Source:
*Note.

Interview forms
Refers to out-of-the-home work.

The mean age of the group was 42

years.

Only one participant

was younger than 24 years, and three participants were less than 34
years of age.

Eighty percent of the participants were between the

ages of 35 and 54.
(Table 2).

Two participants were older than 55 years of age

99

Table 2
Age of Participants
No. Participants

Age Groups

X

19-24

1

3

25-34

3

10

35-46

16

53

47-54

8

27

2
30

7
100

55+

Source:

Participant Information Sheets and Interview forms.

Schooling data are presented in Table 3.

Thirty-six percent of the

participants attended high school and went no further in their schooling.
Twenty-nine percent began college or professional school and did not finish;
another 29 percent completed college.

Two participants had completed grad­

uate degrees.

Table 3
Last Year of Schooling
Year of Schooling

No. Participants

X

High School
9-12

1

3

11-12

10

33

attended

9

29

finished

9

29

2
30

6
100

College

Graduate
degree

Source: Interview forms.

100
The data in Table 4 indicate that 36 percent of the seminar
participants came from agricultural homes with the father employed in
*

agriculture related work.

Thirty percent of the participants* fathers

were laborers or factory workers, with 17 percent employed as tradesmen.
Another 17 percent were engaged in business or professional fields.

Table 4
Parent's Occupation
Occupation

No. Participants

X

Father
Farmer/Agriculture

11

36

Factory/Laborer

9

30

Tradesman

5

17

5
30

17
100

17

57

Housewife + work*

9

30

Fulltime work*

3

10

1
30

3
100

Business/
Professional
Mother
Housewife

Other

Source:
*Note.

Interview forms.
Refers to out-of-the-home work.

Data were also collected about the occupations of the mothers of
the participants.

Each of the participants' mothers were housewives.

Thirty percent of that number also worked part-time and 10 percent
worked full-time.
Table 5 presents data on the size of the participants' families
by birth and the size of their present family.

There was an overall

101
role of influence.

Several participants mentioned their m o ther as

both a positive and a negative factor relating to their self-concept
as a learner.
A particular Success or Failure in the learning role was mentioned
by 70 percent of the participants as having an influence on their selfconcept as a learner.
experience.

These 57 percent were able to recall a success

Thirteen percent recalled a failure or negative learning

experience.
Forty percent of the subjects were influenced by a Significant
Other in their learning experience.

No one identified a person other

than a teacher or parent who played a negative part in shaping their
self-concept as a learner.
The Setting of their past learning experiences was mentioned by
20 percent of the subjects as relating to their self-concept as a
learner.

The rural or country school in w h i c h they wer e raised w as a

positive factor to most of them.
The influence of Peers was the seventh major background variable
identified by participants.

Thirteen percent of the subjects recalled

the positive influence a peer had made on their learning experience
and self-concept as a learner.
In summary, Out-of-School Learning Experiences were the most
frequently mentioned factor having a positive influence on partici­
pants'

self-concepts as learners.

Teachers were the persons having

the strongest negative influence of participants'

learning concepts.

Six major variables were identified by participants as relating
to their present self-concept in the role of a teacher.

Table 6

presents data on the number of positive, neutral, or negative comments
made by participants about each variable.

102
decrease In the mean size of families, from 5.6 members In the families
Into which they were born to 5.2 members In their Immediate families at
the present time.

Table 5
Size of Family
Size of family by birth
1

2

No.
Participants

3

4

5

6

7

8+

1

3

7

6

4

4

6

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8+

3

4

6

7

5

3

Mean size * 5.2

Mean size = 5.6
Source:

Size of family now

Interview forms.

All except two participants are presently married.

One participant

is single, and one was recently divorced from her husband.

The mean

number of years participants have been married Is 19.8 years.

Background Variables Relating to Self-Views
Further descriptive data were gathered through the personal
interviews to answer the second research question.
Research Question D 2 :

What factors or background variables relate

to the participants' self-views?

What is the source of these self-views?

Data were gathered from participants during the interview by
asking them the question:

"What factors from your past do you think

influenced or relate to you as a learner?...teacher?"

The respondent

was permitted completely to finish his/her sharing on the topic of

103
factors relating to the role of learner before moving on to discuss
the factors relating to the role of teacher.

If the participant was

unable to recall any specific influence, the interviewer urged them to
think through the periods of one's life:

elementary and high school,

to post-secondary school experiences, family experiences and work
experiences.

Probes were offered by the interviewer when the respondent

was unable to articulate his/her thoughts or feelings about the past.
The participant was asked if any of the following persons or experiences
related to his/her present self-conception in the role of learner or
teacher:

the setting, the roles played in school, his/her parents'

attitudes toward teaching and learning, his/her peer group attitudes,
his/her particular successes or failures, his/her other Interests or
sources of support or encouragement, or any other influences.
The data gathered indicate that the Thumb seminar participants
were all significantly influenced by one or more persons in their past
concerning their self-concept in the role of teacher or learner.

The

various background variables or factors relating to one's self-view
that emerged will be separated into two groups; first, those related
to the learner role, and second, those related to the teacher role.
Seven major variables were identified by participants as relating
to their present self-concept as a learner.

Eighty-three percent of

the subjects mentioned Schooling as a factor in their background that
related to how they felt about learning.
fied their teachers specifically.
on 23 percent of the subjects.

Of those, 57 percent identi­

Teachers were a negative influence

Twenty-six percent talked about one or

various roles they played during their schooling that influenced them
either positively or negatively (Table 6).

104
Table 6
Background Variables Relating to Self-Views
Participants In
Positive

Learner Role
Negative

Variable

Teacher Role_________

Neutral

Positive

Negative Neutral

Total %

Total X

Schooling
Teachers
Roles played

10
3

7
5

Out-of-School
Learning
Experiences

19

1

8
5
2

2

5

2

2

2

64

3
1

70

12

2

Family/Parents
Father
Mother
Siblings

83

14
5

67

16

1

3
1

77

53
1

43

Success &
Failures

17

Significant
Others

12

40

8

26

Setting

6

20

3

10

Peers

4

13

2

6

Other

2

6

Source:

4

47

Interview forms.

The next most frequently mentioned factor was Out-of School
Learning Experiences.

Sixty-seven percent of the participants pointed

to things or skills learned non-formally (out-of-school) as being a
positive factor in how they now feel about themself as a learner.
Only one person could recall a negative learning experience outside
of schooling.
The Family was identified as having a positive Influence on
50 percent of the participants, and a negative influence by 14 percent.
Fathers were the persons in the family playing the strongest positive

105
Schooling was again the background factor most often mentioned as
relating to one's self-concept as a teacher.

Fifty-seven percent of

the subjects felt that teachers and roles played In school had been
positive Influences, while 20 percent felt they had been negative
Influences.
The Family related to the self-concept of 43 percent of the
subjects; 29 percent felt their parents and siblings had exerted a
positive influence, and 13 percent felt it had been a negative
influence.
Out-of-School Learning Experiences were identified by 53 percent
of the subjects as a positive factor relating to their self-concept as
a teacher, and no one indicated any negative aspects of non-formal
learning.

Forty-seven percent of the subjects cited a particular

Success as a positive factor, with two persons recalling Failure
experiences.
Husbands were the most often mentioned Significant Other playing
a positive role in influencing one's self-concept as a teacher;
26 percent of the subjects identified husbands or others as important
factors.
The final variable identified as relating to self-views in the
role of teacher was that of the Setting in which their shcoollng took
place.

Ten percent of the subjects mentioned that the country school

setting had been a positive learning experience and influenced the way
they felt about themselves as teachers.
The summarization of the teacher role self-concept is the same as
the learner role:

Out-of-School Learning Experiences was a positive

factor and teachers were a negative factor relating to subjects'

106
self-concepts as teachers.

Table 7 graphs the background variables

relating to the learner and teacher self-views and visualizes the
comparisons described above.
Table 7
Graph of Background Variables Relating
to Self-Views as Learner and Teacher

Participants--

10-'
Positive (+)
influence
Negative (_)
Influence
Self-View as Teacher

Self-View as Learner
Background
Variables

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Participation in Community Activities
Participants were asked»durlng the interview,to list the community
activities in which they were presently involved ant rate as to whether
they were involved "A Lot," "Some," "Little," or "None."

These four

categories were designed to allow them to choose the level or extent

107
to which they were involved.

Thirty-seven percent of the participants

said they participated "A Lot," 57 percent said "Some," none said
"Little," and two persons

( six

percent) said they had not partici­

pated in community activities at all.

The mean number of activities

in which participants engaged was 4.06.

Those subjects who said they

participated "A Lot" did not participate in significantly more
activities than those who said they participated "Some" (Table 8).

Table 8
Participation in Community Activities
Activity

I

Participants

Level of Participation

No.

X

School

27

90

"A Lot"

11

37

Church

22

74

"Some"

17

57

Farm Bureau

10

33

"Little"

Scouting, 4-H

11

37

"None”

2

6

CES

9

30

Township Official

4

13

Women's Club

5

17

Source:

Interview forms.

The data collected indicate that 90 percent of the subjects were
Involved in activities related to the Schools.

PTA, Band Boosters,

FFA, substitute-teaching, and serving as member of the School Board
were the major school activities mentioned.
Seventy-four percent of the subjects were actively Involved in
church related activities, and all except one participant indicated
they attended church regularly.

Ove r 20 percent of the subjects were

presently teaching Sunday School classes, and 10 percent were serving
on the church board in some capacity.

108
The findings also indicate at least 20 different specific
community activities in which participants were involved.

Thirty-four

percent were involved in the Farm Bureau» 30 percent were participating
in CES sessions and groups, 14 percent were Scout leaders with another
20 percent were serving as 4-H leaders.
included:

The other activities listed

a glass recycling project, the hospital auxiliary, AAUW,

township officer, Bi-Centennial program committee, the Thumb Council
on the Arts, Jaycees and Jaycettes, the March of Dimes, Community
Chest, and United Fund, Meals on Wheels and the Women's Club.
The data collected indicate that the participants in the Thumb
seminar were not a group representative of the population of the state
of Michigan.

The

seminar participants' mean age of 42.06 was higher

than the mean age

for the population of the State (26.3), and of the

Thumb Area as a whole— 27.46 (1970 Michigan Census).
education for the

The level of

group was also higher than the norm for the Thumb

Area(Table 9).
Table 9
Age of Thumb Area Residents
Area

Mean Age

Seminar Participants

42.06

Huron County

28.9

Sanilac County

28.0

Tuscola County

25.5

State of Michigan

26.3

Source:

1970 Michigan Census

The factors of occupation, parents' occupation, and size of
family were representative of the rest of the Thumb Area population.

The level of participation by subjects in conmunlty activities was
high (4.1).

This high level of involvement would be in keeping with the

expressed interest of the subjects in learning more about the family and
the conmunlty in which they live.
The mean number years of marriage (19.83) was notably higher than
either the state mean or the national average (Michigan Health Statistics,
Michigan Department of Public Health, 1974, p. 77).

Only one divorce

among the 27 marriages represented by the participants is not indicative
of the national divorce rate (one in every three marriages)

(Statistical

Abstracts of the U.S., U.S. Dept, of Commerce, Bureau of Statistics, 1976).

Correlational Analyses

The second section of the chapter is guided by the exploratory
questions posed in Chapter I.

The findings to each questions are

tabled and discussed, and relationships are explained in terms of
correlations that exist between variables and factors.
Research Question D l ;

How do the participants see themselves

as (potential) learners and (potential) teachers?
Two different types of instruments were used to gather data on
how the participants saw themselves in the learner and teacher role.
The personal Interview asked the question directly to the participants:
"How do you think of yourself as a learner?...teacher?
about learning?...teaching?"

How do you feel

Raters scored the narrative of the

Interviews by determining if the participant was a teacher (T) or
learner (L) overall, and then ranked the strength of both selfconcepts on a scale from 1 to 4.

The first of the three written instruments identified an overall pre­
ference of the participant for either the teacher or learner role.

It then

had each participant rank the strength of his self-concept in the two roles.
The data in Table 10 Indicate that on item one on the pretest of the
A Look at Myself instrument, 28 participants saw themselves as learners and
only two participants saw themselves as teachers.
participants to make a forced choice:

The first item asked

"As you look at yourself now, do you

see yourself as a teacher or learner?"

There was a significant shift in

the self-concept positions on the post-test of the same Instrument with 14
participants identifying themselves as teachers and 16 as learners.
overall scoring of the panel followed the pattern of the post-test:

The
18

participants were marked by the panel as learners and 12 as teachers.
Table 10
Self-Views as Learners (L) or Teachers (T)
Participants
Instrument:

L

T

Pretest

28

2

Post-test

16

14

Panel Rating

18

12

Source:

Interview forms and A Look At M y s e l f .

Table lx summarizes the data gathered indicating the strength of
the participants' self-concepts in the teacher and learner role as
measured by the panel's ratings of the interview data and by the second
and third question on the A Look At Myself instrument.

The data

gathered by the two different methods are roughly parallel.

The panel

marked 14 participants as having a "positive, strong" self-concept as
learners, and the written instrument indicated 24 participants in that
category.

The largest number of participants scored highest on the

written L question.

Ill
Fifty percent of the participants were marked as having a "good"
self-concept as a learner by the panel, with only one participant seen
as "average."

The panel marked 12 participants as "strong" teachers,

11 as "good," six as "average," and the single remaining participant as
"poor" or below average.
The written instrument divided the participants into three equal
groups on the teacher role dimension.

Ten participants marked them­

selves as "strong," 10 marked "good," 9 marked "average," and only one
marked below average (Table 11).
Table 11
Strength of Self-Views
Rating Scale
Instrument

1 "Strong"

Panel Rating of
Interview
L Role
T Role

2 "Good"

3 "Average"

4 "Poojj,"

3

14
12

47
40

15
11

50
37

1
6

3
23

1

24
10

SO
34

5
10

17
34

1
9

L9

1

A Look At Myself
L Role
T Role

3

*
Five participants who indicated a "strong" attitude toward
learning also indicated "strong" expectations for the seminar learning
experience.

Seven participants shared a "good" attitude and expectation

level.
The next research question investigates the relationship between
different factors in the lives of the participants.
Research Question R l ;

H o w does a p a rticipantfa past

experience in various learning experiences relate to his/her
se1f-perceptions?
* Source:

Interview forms and A Look At M y s e l f .

112
The participant's thoughts and feelings about past learning
experiences were determined through a series of questions.
question asked was the following:
being a student or learner?

The first

"How did you used to feel about

What factors from your past do you think

influenced you as a learner?...teacher?"

The data gathered are

indicated in Table 12.
Table 12
Past Learning Experiences
Evaluation

Self-View

as

L

Positive

9

Neutral

1

Negative

1

Missing data

5

Source:

or

T
9

5

Interview forms

Nine participants felt their past learning experience had influenced
their self-concept as a learner positively, and an equal number felt a
positive influence on their self-concept as a teacher.

Five partici­

pants felt their learning was a negative factor on their self-concept
as a learner, and only one mentioned it as a teacher.

In total, more

participants had positive learning experiences (18 persons) than
negative.

Thus, 80 percent of the participants mentioned past learning

experiences as being an influence in how they felt about themselves as
a teacher and learner.
On the post-test scores of the A Look At M y s e l f , the mean score
of the participants in the learner role was 3.9 on a four-point scale,
and the mean score in the teacher role was 2.96.
Research Question D 3 :

What are the participants'

expectations for the learning experience?

113
Data were collected in response to the questions in the interview
form:

"How do you think you will do as a learner?...in this seminar?

What are some of your expectations for yourself in this seminar?"
The data collected Indicate that nine of the participants had strong
or high, positive expectations,

19 had "good" expectations, and two

stated their expectations were only "average" (Table 13).
Table 13
Expectations and Attitudes
Strength of Rating
1 "Strong"
Expectations
Attitude toward
Learning
Source:

2 "Good"

3 "Average"

9

19

2

18

10

2

4 "Poor"

Interview forms.

Many of the participants found the concept of expectations
difficult to verbalize.

Many were unable to articulate their personal

expectations for either the learning experience or their involvement
in the learning experience as asked in Research Question D4.
Research Question D 4 :

What are the participant's

expectations of his/her involvement In the learning
experience?
For this reason, the data collected in response to these two
questions appear together in Table 13.

A single score was determined

from the interview data for each participant's expectations about his/
her involvement in the learning experience and his/her expectations
for the seminar itself*
Table 14 also summarizes the data showing the participants*
attitudes toward learning in general as defined in Research Question R2.

H4
Eighteen participants indicated a "strong, positive" attitude toward
learning, 10 indicated a "good" attitude, and two indicated an
"average" attitude.

Tabl(J 14
Self-View and Attitudes

Instrument_________ _________ Strength of Rating_________________
________________________ 1 "Strogg"

2 "Gooj"

3 "Averag|"

L Self-View
A Look At Myself

24 80

5

17

1

3

L Self-View
Panel Rating

14 47

15

50

1

3

Attitude toward
Learning

18 60

10

34

2

6

27

90

2

6

Attitude toward
Group Learning

1

J

4 "Poog"

Scores of strengths in the teacher (T) and learner (L) role relate
positively with the 18 participants who indicated positive past
learning experiences.

It was difficult to determine whether or not

the past learning experience factor was influential in determining that
score, and whether or not the past experience influenced the distinction
of a participant as a teacher or learner, since all participants scored
high on the strength of role scale.
Research Question R 2 :

How does a participant's self-view

relate to his/her attitude toward learning in general?...
a group?...and teaching?
The attitude of the participants towards learning in general is
presented in Tables 13 and 14.

These data were gathered from a

summary of each participant's comments during the interview process.
The participants' attitude toward learning was overwhelmingly positive
(94 percent), and parallels their expectations for the learning
experience as also being high.
*

Source:

Interview forms and A Look At Myself.

115
The participants'

self-views measured by the A Look At Myself and

by the panel indicate that all but one participant marked themselves
positively in the role of learner.

This indicates a strong relation­

ship between participants' self-view and their attitude toward learning
in general.
All except two participants felt they learned best in small,
informal group settings which featured discussion and opportunity for
feedback and dialogue.

The overall positive self-views would relate to

this strong positive feeling about learning in groups.
Finally, Pearson correlation coefficients indicate a significant
relationship between participants' attitude toward learning and the
participants' self-view in the role of learner and teacher.

Table 15

shows the correlations between the five factors.

Table 15
Correlations Between Self-Views and Attitudes
Instrument & Self-View

Attitude Toward Learning

Post-test Learning Activity

.527

Post-test Teaching Activity

.385

Panel Rating of Learner Role

.592

Panel Rating of Teacher Role

.440

Source:

Interview forms and A Look At M y s e l f .

Note.
Statistic needed for significance with 30 subjects
is .3059,
"Quantities of the Spearman Test Statistic" Table, Conover,
1971, p.390; a » .05.
Research Question R 3 :

How do these self-views

(and expectations)

relate to participant's learning experience?
Research Question R 4 :

H o w does a participant's self-view relate to

the degree of his/her participation and interaction in a group
learning experience?

116
The similarity of these two questions suggests that they m a y best
be answered together as one question.

Self-views were measured by the

A Look At Myself written instrument which asked the participant to
decide whether he/she saw him/herself as a teacher or a learner.
Eighteen participants marked "learner" and 12 marked "teacher" on the
post-test.

That self-view score was used in the comparison for

question R3.
It was necessary to substitute a numeric score of the participants'
expectations instead of a quantative m easure of the learning experience
as the study was unable to measure the overall effect or effectiveness
of the seminar as a learning experience, and the CES was not concerned
wit h precise measures of learning gain achieved during the seminar.
Table 16 indicates the relation between the participants'

self­

view score and the participants' expectation for the learning
experience as presented above in Table 13.

Five of the 18 participants

selecting the learner role had "high," or "strong" expectations, while
13 said their expectations for the seminar were "good."

Twelve

participants selected the teacher role, out of wh i c h four had "high"
expectations,

six had "good" expectations, and the remaining two said

their expectations were "average."
Table 16
Self-View and Expectations
Self-View

Level of Expectation
1 High

2 Good

3 Average

4 Poor

Learner Role

5

13

Teacher Role

4

6

2

Total

9

19

2

Source:

Interview forms and A Look At M y s e l f .

117
The fourth question of the relationship (R4) asks what the
relationship is between a participant's self-view and his/her degree of
participation in the group learning experience.

Table 17 includes the

data collected on the interview form and through the observation
of verbal interaction among the participants at various times in the
seminar.
Table 17
Self-View and Verbal Interaction
Interactions per minute

Level of
Expectation

.06— .099

1.0— 1.9

2.0— 2.9

1 High

1

4

3

2 Good

3

10

6

3 Average

3.0— +

1

2

4 Poor
Mean number of interactions " 1.72
teacher mean “ 1.85
learner mean » 1.6
Source:

Interview forms and Analysis of Verbal Interaction forma.

It was impossible to collect the necessary data for the analysis
of verbal interaction because the participants were not divided into
small groups in each session of the seminar.

Thus* the researcher was

unable to collect interaction data in the first, fourth, fifth and
sixth sessions.

A critical number of pupil absences during the

remaining sessions prevented the collection of complete data on a
pretest and post-test basis.

An overall interaction score was

determined for each participant by averaging the total number of
interaction observations made on each person during the course of the
seminar.
data.

This single overall score was compared with the self-view

118
The m e a n n u m b e r of I n t e r a c t i o n s for p a r t i c i p a n t s
1.72 per minute.

In the g r o u p w a s

T h e r e w a s a slight d i f f e r e n c e b e t w e e n the m e a n n u m b e r

of Intera c t i o n s e n g a g e d In b y p a r t i c i p a n t s i d e n t i f i e d in the teacher
role

(mean * 1.85 i n t e r a c t i o n s per m inute)

learner rol e

and thos ide n t i f i e d in the

(mean “ 1.6 i n t e r a c t i o n s p e r minut e ) .

This difference

was not significant.
R ese a r c h Q u e s t i o n S I :
c hange

To w h a t e x t e n t do these sel f - v i e w s

(as a r e s u l t of the l e a r n i n g e x p e r i e n c e ) ?

A L o o k A t M y s e l f i n d i c a t ed the g r e a t e s t a m o u n t of c h a n g e d uring
the c o u r s e of the seminar.

R e s p o n s e s to the first q u e s t i o n o n the

Instrument i n d i c a t e d that 23 p a r t i c i p a n t s had s h i f t e d in their s e l f ­
per c e p t i o n d u r i n g the seminar.

T w e n t y p a r t i c i p a n t s m o v e d a w a y from

their o r i g i n a l l e a r n e r role towards the teach i n g role.

Th r e e p a r t i c i ­

pants m o v e d c l o s e r towards the l e a r n e r role f r o m their o r i g i n a l
position,

and se v e n p e r s o n s did not change.

Ta b l e 18 i n d i c a t e s the

percentages of these c h a n g e s .
T a b l e 18
Oi. jCju^-Vicw C h a n g e B e t w e e n L e a r n e r a.iu Ic&c.ier ..clc
D i r e c t i o n of C h a n g e

Item 1
No.

X

Item 2

Item 3

No.

X

No.

X

L e a rner to T e a c h e r

20

67

6

20

12

40

Te a cher to L e a r n e r

3

10

2

7

9

30

Same

7

23

22

73

9

30

30

100

30

100

30

100

Source:

A Look. At Myself.

Responses to the second q u e s t i o n show e d 22 p a r t i c i p a n t s remaining
in the same learner position,
definite l e a r n e r role,

two p a r t i c i p a n t s m o v i n g towards a m o r e

and six p a r t i c i p a n t s m o v i n g a w a y f rom their

original p o s i t i o n in the l e a r n e r role.

119
Change among participants was more pronounced as measured by the
third question.

Nine participants did not change, 12 moved towards a

more definite Identification with the teacher role, and nine moved
away from the teacher role.
The data collected indicate that more participants experienced
change in their self-views in the role of teacher than did participants
In the role of learner.

Sixty-seven percent of the participants showed

some change in their self-view as a teacher; only 10 percent showed
change in their self-view as a learner.
Research Question S 2 :

To what extent did the degree of

involvement change during the course of the learning
experience?
It was impossible to answer this question as planned because of
the data collection problems mentioned above.

Incomplete time-

sampling of data prevented comparing pretests with post-test
measurements to determine change.
Research Question S 3 :

To what extent did the level of

participation in learning (L) or teaching (T) activities
change during the course of the learning activity?
Table 19 summarizes the data indicating the extent of change by
participants in learning (L) and teaching (T) activities.

The HSU L

and MSU T instruments were used in a pretest and post-test fashion to
gather these data.

The mean number of the total scores on the MSU L

pretest was 59.70.

This score falls between the "Very Frequent” (Day)

and the "Frequent” (Week) category on the range of scores possible.
The post-test mean was 58.33; this was not a significant difference.
This instrument recorded that 16 participants became more actively

120
Involved In learning activities during the course of the seminar, one
did not.

Thirteen participants became less involved.
Table 19

Participation Change in Learning and Teaching Activities
Instrument

Pre-MSU L

Pre-MSU T

Pretest MSU L

.7707

Post-MSU L

Post-MSU T

.5979

Pretest MSU T

.5445

Post-test MSU L

.8099

Post-test MSU T
Source:

MSU L and MSU T.

Note.

a “ .001.

Fifteen participants became more involved in teaching activities,
with an equal number dropping off in activity level.

There was not a

significant difference between the mean of the pretest and the post­
test.

However,

there was a significant (.001) relationship between

the following four factors as computed by Pearson correlation
coefficients:

the pre-MSU L and the post-MSU L , the pre-MSU T and the

post-MSU T , the pre-MSU L and the pre-MSU T , and the post-MSU L and
the post-MSU T .
Table 20 presents the correlation coefficients indicating
significant relationships between the remaining pretest and post-test
data.

The Interview panel ratings of participants as either teachers

(T) or learners (L) showed a significant relationship to post-test
scores of the participants1 Involvement in learning and teaching
activities.

This correlation indicates that the data gathered via

the two instruments are related.

121
Table 20
Correlations Between Post-tests
Instruments

Panel of L

Panel of T

.4066

.4519

Post-test Learning
Activity
Post-test Teaching
Activity

-.5754*
.4747

Panel on Learner Role
Panel on Teacher Role

Source:

-.3856*

.3279

Panel Overall Score

Verbal Interaction

Verbal Interaction

.4747
-.4485*

-.5442*

Interview forms and Analysis of Verbal Interaction.

*Note.
a ” .05.
Negative correlation coefficients result from
correlation of data with differing scales, i.e. scales with high scores
with scales with low scores.
The panel's rating of the strength of the participants' selfconcept in the learner role shows a significant correlation with the
total mean score of the participants' verbal interaction.

This means

that the level of verbal Interaction among the participants relates
positively with their self-views in the role of learners.

There was

also a significant relationship between the level of interaction and
their self-views in the role of teachers.
The overall score the panel gave each participant

as a teacher

or a learner shows a significant relationship with the panel's rating
of the participants' self-concept in the teacher role.

There was also

a significant relationship between the panel's ratings of the partici­
pants as learners and the participants as teachers.

The significance

of the relationships indicates a consistency between the different
ratings by the panel of the interview data.
The data collected Indicate a positive relationship between the
panel's rating of the participants as learners and the post-test scores
on the learning activities, and between the panel's rating of the
i
D fl rti ril M in f S a a

fo opH oro

and

p p o f-fo o .o

n f

.I* - 1—
——
— ~

122
teaching activity.

This relationship shows that the participants'

self-concept in the role of learner and teacher (as m e a sured on the
interview and scored by the panel) wer e consistent with their
participation o r involvement in learning and teaching activities.
Their self-concept correlated w i t h their level of activity.
Finally,

the data also Indicate that the post-test scores on the

learning act i v i t y Instrument

(M S U L ) are related to the participants'

level of verbal interaction.

There was not a significant relationship

between the teaching activ i t y score and the level of verbal interaction.

Summary

The major findings of the study w ere presented under two main
headings:

descri p t i v e analysis and correlational analyses.

The descriptive analysis showed the participants in the seminar to
be a well-educated group,

slightly older than the Thumb residents,

highly active in community activities,

and coming from stable homes.

Other demographic data w e r e also highlighted.

Seven b a c k ground variables

were identified by the participants as relating to their views of
themselves in the learning role, and six v ariables w e r e identified
relating to the teaching role.
The correlational analyses indicated several important
relationships bet w e e n different factors and different instruments.
First,

the m a j ority of the participants showed a good to strong

attitude toward learning, and this attitude was related to the
participants'

self-view in bot h the teacher and learner role as well

as to the participants'
activities.

level of participation in learning and teaching

Twenty-eight of the participants indicated good to high

123
expectations

for the l e a r n i n g e x p e r i e n c e a n d th e i r o v e r a l l p o s i t i v e

self-views related
change

to t h e i r p o s i t i v e e x p e c t a t i o n s .

in s e l f - v i e w a m o n g the p a r t i c i p a n t s w a s

57 p e r c e n t o f

the participants

s e e n in t h e sh i ft of

f r o m the l e a r n e r r o l e t o w a r d

t e a c h e r r o l e as m e a s u r e d b y t h e A L o o k A t M y s e l f
t hree w r i t t e n I n s t r u m e n t s w e r e h e l p f u l
participants*

A significant

v i e w of t h e m s e l v e s

Instrument.

the
The

In i d e n t i f y i n g d a t a r e l a t i n g to

in t h e l e a r n e r a n d

t e a c h e r role.

CHAPTER V

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

The study attempted to clarify one specific problem that program
planners in non-formal community learning programs must deal with— the
self-perceptions of participants in a community learning experience in
two roles:

that of a potential learner and a potential teacher.

The research was conducted in the Thumb Area of Michigan, during
the winter months of 1977.

The purposes of the research were the

following:
(1)

To examine the way in which people see themselves as

(potential) learners, and to analyze the sources of these self-views.
(2)

To examine the way in which people see themselves as

(potential) teachers, and to analyze the sources of these self-views.
(3)

To examine the relationships between the following sets of

variables:
a.

Past learning experiences and peoples' view of themselves;

b.

Peoples' view of themselves and their expectations

regarding a learning experience;
c.

Peoples' expectations and future learning experiences.

A total of 30 interviews were conducted; three sets of tests were
administered (both pre and post for e a c h ) ; and an analysis of verbal
interaction was made throughout the seminar sessions.

The results were

presented in the form of descriptive analysis and Pearson product-moment
correlatIons.
Summary of the Research

In the first chapter of the dissertation the problem was Identified

124

125
and a research procedure proposed.
importance w e r e outlined.

The purposes of the

study and its

In concluding the first chapter,

the guiding

research questions w e r e listed.
In the second chapter,

the review of the previous research and

literature suggested that self-perceptions could be directly assessed in
order to indicate the strength of that person's s e l f - v i e w in a particular
role.

The participant observer m e thodology was adopted by the researcher

to be Involved w i t h the participants in the Cooperative E xtention Ser­
vice's "Family and Community" travel/study seminar.
were gathered:

Three kinds of data

interview data, scores of v e r b a l interaction, and written

responses to questionnaires.
In the third chapter, a narrative description was g i v e n of the
researcher's adaptation to the field experience.

The first person account

provided an overview of the region, described the way of life in the Thumb
Area, discussed relating to the participants, outlined the proceedings of
the seminar Itself, and concluded w i t h the researcher's reflections on
the seminar experience.
In the fourth chapter,

the research design was described;

the rationale for the trlangulatlon of data,

covering

the descriptive Interview,

and the supplemental data gathering techniques.
The fifth chapter presented the findings.

Data gathered by the

three different kinds of research Instruments w e r e tabulated and corre­
lated through the u s e of the SPSS computer program.

Several significant

correlations w e r e noted.

Discussions and Interpretations
Discussion of the findings are divided into two sections,

following,

in terms of the descriptive and the correlational procedures used.

126
Descriptive Analysis
T h e a n a l y s i s of the d a t a Indi c a t e d that the m e a n a g e of the
pa r ticipants w a s 42 years, w i t h 80 p e r c e n t of the gr o u p b e t w e e n the ages
of 35 to 54.

T h i s is a l m o s t 14 y e a r s o l d e r tha n the m e a n for the T h u m b

Area.
T h e p a r t i c i p a n t s w e r e a lso b e t t e r e d u c a t e d than the typ i c a l Thumb
residents.
high school,

T h i r t y - s e v e n p e r c e n t of the g r o u p had g o n e n o f u r t h e r than
29 p e r c e n t b e g a n c o l l e g e but did not f i n i s h and 29 p e r c e n t

completed college.

T w o p a r t i c i p a n t s had c o m p l e t e d g r a d u a t e degrees.

T h i r t y - s i x p e r c e n t of the p a r t i c i p a n t s h a d b e e n r e a r e d in a g r i c u l t u r e related homes;

60 p e r c e n t of the p a r t i c i p a n t s w e r e c u r r e n t l y e n g aged in

a griculture r e l a t e d work.

T w e n t y - s e v e n p e r c e n t of the partic i p a n ts'

families w e r e i n p r o f e s s i o n a l fields,

10 p e r c e n t in the trades, and 6

percent in o t h e r areas.
A l l the p a r t i c i p a n t s w e r e living in f a m i l i e s s m a l l e r than the family
in w h i c h they w e r e raised.

A l l b u t two of the p a r t i c i p a n t s w e r e married,

and the m e a n n u m b e r of ye a r s m a r r i e d w a s 19.9 years.

In addition,

90

percent of the p a r t i c i p a n t s i n d i c a t e d they w e r e a c t i v e l y i n v olved in
church a t t e n d a n c e and a v a r i e t y of c h u r c h activities.
This d e s c r i p t i v e a n a l y s i s of the p a r t i c i p a n t s i n d i c a t e s that the
seminar w a s c o m p o s e d of a h o m o g e n e o u s g r o u p of r e s i d e n t s of the T h u m b
Area w h o came f r o m and p r e s e n t l y l i v e d in v e r y s t a b l e homes.

This

stability a p p e a r e d to r e l a t e to the p o s i t i v e s e l f - v i e w s and h e a l t h y
views of learning they exhibited.
m otlvated learners,

A l l the p a r t i c i p a n t s w e r e s e l f -

and all w e r e v o l u n t a r y p a r t i c i p a n t s in the seminar.

A number of the p a r t i c i p a n t s a l s o m e n t i o n e d a n d s h a r e d their fee l ing

127
Chat it w a s their religious u p b r i n g i n g and b eliefs w h i c h provided the
necessary integrating element in their lives and work.
T w e n t y - s i x of the participants w e r e women, four w e r e men.
except two of the w o m e n w e r e homemakers;

All

four w o r k e d full-time outside

of the home and seven w o r k e d p a r t - t i m e outside of the home.
T h e semin a r participants w e r e hea v i l y Involved in a v a r ie t y of com­
munity activities as well.
of four activities.
to the schools,

P a r t i cipants w e r e engaged in a m e a n number

Nine t y per c e n t w e r e Involved in activities related

and all but one partic i p a n t indicated church attendance.

Twenty specific community activities w e r e also m e n t i o n e d by the p a r tici­
pants,

Including:

committees,

the F a r m Bureau, CES meetings, Bi - C e n t e n n i a l p r o gram

Comm u n i t y C h e s t and Wom e n ' s Club.

T h e h i g h level of involve­

men t m i g h t be expected in such a v o l u n t e e r group w h e r e the self-selection
process is at work.

Onl y active persons pursued appli c a t i o n and enroll­

ment in the seminar.
Further d e s c r i p t i v e data w e r e g a t hered on the factors or variables
in the participants' b a c k ground relating to their p resent self-view in
the role of learner and the role of teacher.

Seven m a j o r variables w e r e

identified by part i c i p a n t s in relating to their self - v i e w as a learner.
Schooling w as a factor to 83 percent of the participants; Out-of-School
Learning Experiences w e r e m e n t i o n e d by 63 percent;

50 p ercent indicated

their Family h a d a p o s i t i v e effect; Success or Fai l u r e w a s m e n t i o n e d by
70 percent;

40 percent of the participants wer e Influenced by a Signifi­

cant O t h e r .

T h e Se t t i n g and Peers w e r e identified b y 20 percent and 13

percent respectively.
Six m a j o r v a r i a b l e s w e r e identified by participants as relating to
their self-vie w in the role of a teacher.

Schooling was a g a i n the mos t

128
frequently mentioned factor with 57 percent of the participants identify­
ing it; 43 percent mentioned their F a m i l y ; 53 percent mentioned Out-ofSchool Learning Experiences; 47 percent mentioned Success or Failure; and
26 percent mentioned Significant O t h e r s .

Ten percent of the participants

mentioned the Setting relating to their self-view.
It was evident that positive background experiences and influences
related to the positive self-views and attitudes the participants had
toward learning.

The positive consents and factors identified outweighed

the negative comments five to one.

Fundamental to the strong self-views

as learners were positive learning experiences in and outside of the
school.

No participants mentioned falling in school.

The lowest self­

views identified were the few participants who saw themselves as only
"average" students.
It was significant that in a rural area, the Family played a strong
influence in shaping the self-view and positive attitude toward learning.
The peer group was not cited as being very influential in the partici­
pants ' upbringing.
Spouses were the single most frequently mentioned Significant Other
who played a positive role of influence in the lives of the participants.
This fact undoubtedly relates to the strong family ties already mentioned
and to the stable marriages.

Correlational Analyses
One of the eleven research questions was unanswered, and the rest
yielded meaningful data.

The major findings from each question are

summarised below:
Research Question D l . How do the participants see themselves
as (potential) learners and (potential) teachers?

129
The data summarized in Table 10 (p. 110) indicate that at
ofthe seminar 24 participants had a ''strong1'

the start

self-view as a learner but

only 10 participants had a "strong" self-view as a teacher.
It was expected that the participants in such a volunteer
experience would exhibit positive self-views as learners.

learning

Persons with

low self-views as learners were probably not interested or attracted by
the goals and objectives of the Thumb seminar although it was publicized
widely in the Thumb Area.
This preference for the learner role is also explained by the fact
that the seminar did not seek to enroll professional teachers or educators.
The sponsors attempted to involve participants who did not conceive of
teaching in the traditional and formal sense of a classroom teacher in
the schooling context.
Research Question D3 and D 4 . What are the participant's
expectations for the learning experience?
What are the participant's expectations of his/her involve­
ment in the learning experience?
Twenty-eight of the participants had either "good" or "strong" (high)
expectations for the learning experience.

This high level of anticipa­

tion relates to the voluntary nature of the seminar.

Participants

enrolled in the Fall and deposited $20 to attend the seminar.
did not begin until early January— a wait of over a month.

Sessions

The seminar

director felt the cosfolnatlon of waiting and making a financial comsitment served to heighten the expectations of the participants.
The high level of expectations the participants held for the seminar

130
positively Influenced their involvement in the sessions as well as the
success of their overall experience.

Host participants voiced specific

goals and objectives they hoped to achieve through the seminar.

The

principle of self-fulfilling prophecy became evident as participants began
to realize previously held expectations as they progressed through the
seminar.
Other participants were unable to articulate their personal
expectations for the seminar or their expectations for their involvement
in the learning experience.

They were anxious to learn and be part of

a group learning experience, but could not visualize what their
involvement might entail and demand.
Research Question R l . How does a participant's past experience in
various learning experiences relate to his/her self-perception?
Eighty percent of the participants mentioned past learning
experiences as being an influence (positive and negative) in how they
felt about themselves as a teacher or learner.
that the influence had been a positive one.

Sixty percent mentioned

The data gathered through

this question on the Interview form matched the listing of Schooling
as the most significant variable or factor in one's background relating
to one's self-concept in the roles of teacher and learner.
The tremendous influence schooling has on peoples' self-view is
difficult to estimate.

Its potentialities for positive and/or negative

influence are readily evident.

More participants had positive learning

experiences in this particular study,

(18 persons) than negative learning

experiences.
Out-of-School Learning Experience was the single factor identified
as having the most positive overall effect on self-vi«ws (63 percent).

131
Thus,

It is not necessary to conceive of all learning as taking place in

the school.

The participants'

responses point out the value of non-fonnal

learning experiences and their importance in the formation of one's
self-view.
The strong identification of all participants with the role of
learner on the A Look At Myself instrument may be a direct reflection of
the high number of positive learning experiences they had in the past;
both in school and out-of-school.
between the two factors —

If there is a direct correlation

past learning to self-view— then the

Thumb participants represent a group w ith unusually high and positive
past learning experiences.

Many participants mentioned the setting of

their early schooling as being a positive Influence in their learning
experience (e.g. a country school).

This factor might also relate to

their positive self-views.
Research Question R 2 . How does a participant's self-view relate
to his/her attitude toward learning in general?
. . . a group?
. . . and teaching?
Twenty-eight participants indicated either a "good" or "strong"
attitude toward learning in general (Table 12, 14).

This number

represents the great majority (93 percent) of the group.

The participants'

positive attitude toward learning parallels their generally positive
self-views in the role of learner and teacher.

The correlation

coefficients between participants' attitude toward learning and their
self-views in both the role of learner and teacher,
significant relationship.

Indicate a

It is logical to assume that if a person

feels good about learning, he/she may also feel good about him/herself as
a learner.

The study verified this assumption.

a positive self- view

The participants w i t h

as a learner also had a positive attitude

132
toward learning.

The participants with a positive self-view as a

teacher had a positive attitude toward learning as well.
Ninety-three percent of the participants indicated that they
preferred to learn in a snail group setting which featured infornal
dialogue and transactions.

Participants who felt good about themselves

as learners wanted an opportunity to share ideas and interaction with
other people.

Similarly, participants who felt comfortable in the

role of teacher, also wanted to talk and Interact with others about
their ideas, concerns, and feelings.
Research Question R3 and R 4 . How do these self-views (and expectations)
relate to a participant's learning experience?
How does a participant's self-view relate to the degree of his/her
participation and interaction in a group learning experience?
It was necessary for the researcher to rely on observations of
the participants during the learning process to determine the effect of
one's s e l f - v i e w
self- views

on the quality of one's learning experience.

The

have been discussed as very positive and strong.

Participants expressed a stronger identification with the learner role
than the teacher role, but even the teacher role scored positively by
the majority of the participants.
Only one participant indicated that she would have rather
participated in an activity other than the seminar.

The remaining 29

participants were excited and actively Involved in the learning
activities and weekly sessions.

The interaction level was quite high

during each session, and every participant shared at least once in the
Interaction and discussion during each small group period.
positive self- views
involvement,

The

of the participants were evident in their

level of participation, and level of verbal Interaction.

133
The following section of the study will discuss some of the immediate
results of the seminar on the participants and further illustrate the
positive correlation between the participant's positive self-views
as learners and the quality of their learning experience.
The problems cited in gathering adequate data on the level of
verbal interaction prevent further description of the relation between
the participants' self-view and level of participation in the group
learning experience.
It was expected that the participants who saw themselves more as
teachers would tend to engage in more verbal interaction.

This would

have resulted in higher interaction scores for the teachers than for
the learners.

This was not the case, however.

The slight difference

between the mean number of interactions engaged in by participants
identified in the teacher role and those identified in the learner role
was

not significant (Table 16).

Further research is needed to identify

any trends and differences.
Generally,

it can be said that

a

participant's self-view

contributed positively to the degree or level of his/her participation
in the learning experience.

The stronger the self-concept, it is

expected that the greater will be the involvement.
Research Question S I . To what extent do these self-views change
(as a result of the learning experience)?

There was an apparent shift in participants' self-view in the role
of teacher over the course of the seminar, as measured by the A Look at
instrument.

Table 10 shows two participants identifying thsaaelves

as teachers on the pretest of A Look at Myself and 14 participants on the
post-test.

The panel scores also rated 12 of the participants as teachers.

r,<*
Table 18 (p. 118) presents the self-view change scores in a different
fashion.

Seventy-seven percent of the participants shifted in their

overall self-view during the seminar.

Although seven participants did

not change in their self-view as a teacher or learner at all, 20 parti­
cipants moved from their original identification with the learner role
towards the teacher role, while three participants moved closer to the
learner role.

Thus, over three quarters of the participants indicated

a change in their self-views on the A Look at Myself instrument.
The definite shift in responses on the instrument may be related to
one factor or a combination of several factors.

First, the shift may be

related to the participants' participation in the processes and learning
activities of the seminar.

One goal of the learning activities was to

increase the participants' self-awareness of one's role in the family and
in the community.

An expected result of such a "leadership training"

experience would be the heightened awareness on the part of some of the
participants of their own abilities and capabilities in the role of a
leader.

In the same way, the study examined the Increase in the self-

awareness of participants in the role of a teacher and a learner.

The

teacher role may be equated with the typical "leader" role in the sense
that most people think of a leader as one who is concerned with and
involved in helping other people learn and develop their potential.
Further research is needed to identify the extent to which the context
and fact of participation in the seminar color the responses to the
A Look At Myself instrument.
Second, throughout the seminar a teacher was defined in terms of one
who is Interested and involved in helping other people learn through the
sharing of information and experience.

As participants were encouraged

135
to think of teaching in the broader sense of "helping people learn,"
many recognized their everyday roles involved teaching in very natural
ways and settings.

Broadening the concept of teaching and one's

understanding of the teaching— learning process may also have contributed
to the apparent shift in self-view from learner to teacher.
In addition, the seminar was seen as a "successful"
experience by most of the participants.

learning

This may have been a contri­

buting factor to the increase in the participants'

self-view as teachers.

As participants learned with each other, and as they shared information,
ideas and experiences,

they became more aware of their ability and skill

in helping others to learn.
their s e l f - v i e w

as a "people helper."

Change in participants'
the third

item

Success in learning together strengthened

self-view as teacher was also measured by

on the A L ook At Myself Instrument.

Forty percent

of the participants moved towards a mor e definite identification with
the teacher role, while thirty percent moved away from the teacher role.
That would account for only a 10 percent overall increase In identifi­
cation with the teacher role.
item,

In general, the data collected from this

support the major shift reported by the first question.
Based on the data collected to the forced-choice response in item

one, it is impossible to identify the change in response between pre­
tests and post-tests as a definite shift in self-view in the role of a
teacher.

The data support the conclusion that there was a significantly

different response on the post-tests from the responses on the pretests.
But it is still unclear whether this was a true change in self-view on
the part of the participants, or whether it was a change in their

136
definitional v i e w of a t e a c h e r .

One cannot k n o w for sure If the A

Look At M yself Instrument Is m e a s u r i n g a shift in self-view or not.
The Interrelation of the three d ifferent data g athering techniques does
Indicate that the shift in each me a s u r e correlates w i t h the shift In
each of the ot h e r two measures.

Fur t h e r research Is needed to validate

and clarify the shift that Is being registered on the A L o o k At M yself
Instrument.
Rese a r c h Q u e s t i o n S 3 . To what extent did the level of
participation in learning (L) or teaching (T) activities
change during the course of the learning experience?
The data presented in Table 19 (p. 120 ) indicate the significant
change in the level of involvement by participants in learning and
teaching activities.

T h e H S U L and the M S U T instruments recorded

meaningful changes in the frequency w i t h w h i c h participants engaged in
specific learning activities.

A l t h o u g h signif i c a n t differences w e r e

not found by c omparing the m e a n scores of the pretest w i t h the p ost­
tests , Pearson correlations identified significant relationships between
the pretest and post-tests of activity level.
F i r s t , there was a significant relation

(.001) bet w e e n the

involvement of participants in learning activities on the pretest and
the post-test.

One possible reason w a s their increased awareness of

themselves as learners and a realization of the continual need to learn
and develop.

A second possible reason was their familiarity wit h a new

and broader d e f i n i t i o n of learning.

L e a r n i n g came to be understood in

terms of exper i e n c i n g n e w things and people,
and sharing ideas.

interacting w i t h others,

Participants realized they wer e already engaging in

many learning activities dally.

A third p o s sible reason relates to

their particip a t i o n in the seminar itself.

As they part i c i p a t e d in the

137
seminar, their awareness and sensitivity to the learning opportunities
around them Increased.

They became more active In pursuing knowledge

and relevant Information.
to their questions.

They stepped out aggressively to seek answers

And they felt more comfortable sharing new Ideas

and Information and skills with other people.
Second, there was a significant relation (. 001) between the
Involvement of participants in teaching activities on the pretest and
the post-test.

The reasons for this relation have been discussed

under Question SI.
Third, there was a significant relation (. 001) between the Involve­
ment of participants In learning and teaching activities on both pretests.
These may indicate that the level of activity of the participants on
both tests was somewhat similar.
The last significant relation described was between the post-tests
of learning and teaching activities.

Despite increased and decreased

levels of activity on both tests, the tests were related (.001).

One

possible reason Is that the overall pattern of change was similar.
Another possible reason is that the tests were measuring a significant
shift in activity levels among the participants.

A third possible

reason is that the instruments themselves are related in some way, and
are, in fact, measuring the same sort of data.
The correlations presented in Table 20 (p. 121 ) represent significant
(.05) relationships between the various data gathering Instruments.

The

panel's scores of the participants in the learner role are related to
the MSU L post-test scores, and to the scores of the participants in the
teacher role with the MSU T post-test scores.

Both types of instruments

(interview and MSU L/T) appear to be reliable measures of the same

138
phenomena.

Similarly,

Che panel's score of Che learner role relaces Co

Chelr score of Che Ceacher role.

In addition,

che panel's scores of

boCh Che learner and Ceacher role relace significanCly Co che macchlng
scores of verbal InCeracClon.

Conclusions

The main conclusions of Che sCudy are presenCed under five headings.
The flrsC two are descriptive,
1.

che last three are evaluative.

Conclusions About Background Variables
Seven of the background factors most affecting a person's self-view

as a learner were Che following:

schooling, out-of-school learning

experiences, family, success or failure, significant others, setting and
one's peers.

Schooling was the most important factor mentioned by Che

participants in how they felt about themselves as a learner.

Assessing

a person's schooling experience provided important clues to that person's
Involvement in the learning experience.
Six of the background factors most affecting a person's self-view
as a teacher w e r e the following:

schooling, out-of-school learning

experiences, family, success or failure, significant others and setting.
Out-of-school Learning Experiences wer e an especially significant ba c k ­
ground variable In the self-views of the participants.

The Family also

played an Important part in the early life of the participants in
developing his/her sense of self-worth and In building a healthy selfview or self-concept.

The participants indicated in the interviews that

their parents played a role of significance In either encouraging that
growth or limiting that growth by negative influence.

139
2.

Conclusions About Level of Participation
All participants were actively involved in the learning process.

Only one participant was forced to drop out because of a conflicting
work schedule.

There were no stragglers who withdrew from the group

Interaction and remained aloof or distant.

The high degree of verbal

interaction and sharing was facilitated in a group that was homogeneous
in background, characteristics, and interests.
The homogeneity of the group contributed to the interaction among
the participants In other ways as well.

The basic content of the

seminar on the family and the community, even though new in many
instances, was not significantly divergent from the belief system and
thinking of the participants to be a negative Influence.

The presenta­

tions were not perceived as threatening, forcing change, or in any way
conflicting with the present way of life.

In this sense, the seminar

was very permissive and non-threatening in its content and approach.
In fact, the congruence of the content with the belief system of the
participants was a further positive factor contributing to its singular
success.
In a society of rapid change and growing heterogeneity among groups
of people, the seminar is exemplary as a carefully designed educational
experience.

The planners brought people of similar backgrounds and

experience together to learn about a topic of mutual concern.

The

entire learning experience was based on a warm, mutually agreeable and
responsive environment.
If the content variable alone had changed, for example, the seminar
probably would have been a very different experience for most of the
30 participants.

If they had perceived threat, change, or a challenge

140
to their ideas and way of life, the seminar might not have been so
successful.

This is not to suggest that It would not have been.

But

it is necessary to consider some of the alternative outcomes had some
of the variables been different.
Changes in just one of the following aspects of the seminar might
have resulted in a completely different and/or less successful learning
experience for the participants.

What if, for example, the content of

the sessions was related to the livelihood of the participants?
they have been as eager to learn or more so?
dealt with the migrant worker issue?
level of agreement and cordiality?

Would

What if the seminar had

Would there have been such a high
What if the seminar had dealt with

a topic like abortion, or family planning, or integration in the
schools?

Undoubtedly, the outcome of the seminar would have been

altered somewhat from what it was.
Each of the variables that were identified and discussed as con­
tributing to the success of the seminar played a significant part in
its overall effectiveness.

An educational planner thinking about future

seminars might well review the philosophy, goals and implementation of
the "Family and Community" seminar and analyze the interaction of its
components.

In planning a seminar such as this, the context and con­

tent of the sessions themselves play an important part in either build­
ing group cohesion or fragmenting the thrust of the experience.
The frequency and pattern of verbal interaction among the partici­
pants varied with the type of activity in which they were engaged.
Activities such as small group discussions were much more favorable
to the occurrence of interaction and sharing than were lecture presenta­
tions even when questions were asked by the speaker.

The participants

141
did not Calk as freely in Che large group as Chey did in dyads and
criads.

Most participants said

informal groups.

Participants,

they preferred Co learn in small,
irrespective of age or sex,

tended to

differ consistently in the level to which they became involved in verbal
interaction.

The most vocal of the participants at one time would

hardly talk at all when observed at a later time.

Similarly, a quieter

member of the group at one time might suddenly take over the conversa­
tion of the group at a later time.

A consistent pattern of high or low

interaction did not emerge in the observation periods.
A participant's self-view was related to the level of his partici­
pation and interaction in the group learning experience.

Participants

who saw themselves as teachers tended to engage in verbal interaction
more often than participants who saw themselves as l e a r n e r s .
Time-spaced observations of verbal Interaction in a group can
provide helpful data Identifying the high interactors and the low
Interactors.

3.

Conclusions About Self-Views
The findings of the study tended to support the general view that

self-views are learned, and that the interactions and reactions of
other persons played a significant part in the learning process.

Past

learning experiences both in and out of school, and one's background
were a powerful influence in shaping a person's self-view in the role
of a teacher or a learner (Table 5.6, p. 104 )•
In responding to the first item on the A Look at Myself instrument,
a majority of the participants saw themselves more in the learner role
than the teacher role.
instrument,

Between the pretest and the post-test on the

the self-view of a substantial number of participants

142
shifted from that of a learner to that of a teacher.

There remains some

question whether or not the instrument is in fact measuring a person's
self-view.

The use of such a simple forced-choice alternative of choos­

ing between a view of oneself as either a teacher or a learner may yet
leave too much to chance or complicating factors in the person's response.
Although it was evident to the researcher in observing and conversing
with the participants that their self-awareness had grown during the
course of the seminar, it is still premature to conclude that the self­
views of the participants changed during the course of the seminar.
Only by delimiting the definition of teaching and learning and control­
ling for some of the interacting variables influencing self-view will
it be possible to determine actual change in participants* self-views.

4.

Conclusions About Learning Outcomes
A participant's attitude toward learning had a direct relationship

with one's self-view in the role of a learner or a teacher (Table 5.15,
p.115 ).

For 93 percent of the participants, a positive attitude toward

learning and positive expectations about the seminar related to the
success of their learning experience in the "Family and Community"
seminar.

People who did not have positive expectations were not as

likely to have a successful learning experience.
Most of the participants had a positive attitude toward learning
and would pursue the chance to learn on their own initiative if given
the opportunity and provided with the necessary resources.

It was

also interesting that most of the participants said in the interview
they enjoyed learning in a group setting more than on their own
(Table 5.14, p. 114).

143
The participants' awareness of their surroundings was increased
through enriched experiences and increased exposure to human resources
outside their communities at the county, state and federal level.

Many

participants indicated in the interviews and in the final evaluations
that their self-awareness had also Increased as a result of the seminar.
Participants left the seminar with a new perspective on themselves and
on the community in which they lived.

Their new perspective Included

the following sensitivities as evidenced in their comments, activities
and declared Intentions at the end of the seminar:
(1) A new understanding of the interrelated functions of the
family and Its integral part in the community;
(2) A new appreciation for the complex processes at work in
their own community;
(3) A new appreciation for themselves as learners and sharers
of Information and knowledge;
(4) A greater understanding of the governmental processes
pertaining to the family and its functioning;
(5) A new understanding of how to become Involved and be a
part of community processes;
(6) A greater awareness of the social services available in
their coununlty to assist parents, children and the
family;
(7) A greater appreciation of their need for warm, personal
relationships with other persons in their community;
and
(8) A greater sense of their own responsibility to guide and
influence the social forces affecting their families.

144
Two further conclusions about learning outcomes relate to the
participants' level of participation In teaching and learning activities
(Table 5.19, p. 120).

When participants understood learning in the

broader sense of experiencing new things and new ideas, interacting
with others, and sharing Information, their participation in learning
activities increased.

Similarly, when they understood teaching to

include the sharing of experience and information to help others learn,
their participation in teaching activities increased.

Although not

related causally, it can be concluded that participation in community
development, in the broadest sense, Increased as one's awareness of
self and one's environment (coianunity) grew.

Awareness of Belf and of

one's community grew with enriched experience, social interaction, and
reflection on one's present condition.
The seminar was successful in reaching its goals of increased
awareness and participation on the part of the participants in the
family and the community viewed in light of some of the immediate results
of the seminar in the lives of the participants.

Some of the notable

results in the lives of participants include the following changes:
one person now heada a tri-county consortium; one is running for a
school board (that she claims she never would have before the seminar);
two have became involved as lobbyists for a farm group; and another has
requested her local paper to carry more articles on the CES activities
in the Thumb Area that relate to the family.

145
In evaluating the seminar,

the CES leaders concluded that the

background of the participants and the homogeneous make-up of the group
(e.g., older In age, more education, more women than men, highly active
in community activities, religiosity, rural residents, and number of years
of marriage) blended together to maximize the learning experience.

5.

Conclusions About the Effectiveness of Instruments

The participants' self-view (as an organization of discrete
self-ratings) were assessed directly through either interview questions
or written Instruments.

Using the two different methods to supplement

the other gave a more accurate description of their self-view.

The

following conclusions are suggested about the effectiveness of the
data-gatherlng instruments developed for the study.
First,

the participant-observer procedure for data collection was

an easy-to-use, and effective research strategy.

Developing personal

relationships with the participants without changing the nature and
validity of the research data was apparently achieved.
Second,

the personal interview schedule proved to be a direct and

effective method of getting a variety of data assessing a participant's
self-view.

The sequence of questions and combination of open and

closed questions was effective in getting the participant to talk about
background variables that related to his/her self-view.

146
Third,

the A Look At M y s e l f instrument was a simple and effective

method (forced-choice question) of gaining an Initial assessment of a
participant's self-view In the role of a learner or a t e a c h e r .

However,

further research and refinement is needed to focus the instrument so
that it truly measures self-view and change In self-view.
Finally,

the M S U T and the M S U L w ere simple and reliable instruments

for assessing a person's involvement in b o t h teaching and learning
activities.

As discussed above,

further research is needed to control for

Intervening variables that might also Influence Involvement in those
activities.

Implications for Practice

T h e mai n recommendations for non-formal educational planners are
the following:
1.

To implement a complete documen t a t i o n and reporting s y s t e m of all
CES learning p r o g r a m s .
Documentation of the various seminars and learning experiences

sponsored by the CES w i l l provide valuable data for planners on which
to build and design more effective learning experiences.

2.

To plan and conduct seminars in parallel for purposes of comparison
and e v a l u a t i o n .
Conducting learning seminars simultaneously or in close conjunction

with one another wo u l d allow p r o g r a m planners to compare different
elements and p r o g r a m components of the seminars to find the most
effective elements for each setting.

147
3.

To pursue research Into the natu r e of participants'

self-views.

Un d e rsta n d i n g the self-view of participants in the "Family and
Community" seminar m a y provide the CES w i t h ideas and methods for
individualizing learning programs as w ell as d i f f erentiating future
programs for persons wit h differing self-views.

For example,

separate

seminars might be offered to residents of the Th u m b A r e a w h o see
themselves as learners and to those residents who see themselves as
teachers.

A seminar for learners might a i m to increase their self-

awareness and the participants' awareness of learning opportunities
around them.

No teacher training activities w o u l d be Included.

The

seminar w o u l d be focused on learners and their needs and Interests.

4.

To continue to provide for participant involvement in the planning
design, a n d implementation of the s e s s i o n s .
One of the most successful elements of the C E S learning seminar

was the inclusion of the participants in the planning and pre s e n tation
of the sessions as the seminar procedes

(see p. 71,76).

Responsibility

for the success of the learning experience is voluntarily transferred
from the shoulders of the Extension staff to the shoulders of the
participants themselves.

Further e x p erimentation w i t h this format

should yield meaningful data to p r o g r a m planners on h o w best to Involve
participants for a m a x i m u m learning experience.

5.

To make c o n t i nuation of the seminar an o p t i o n .
The "Family and Community" study/travel seminar reached m a x i m u m

effectiveness shortly b e fore the last session.
enthusiasm of the participants w a s high.

The interest and

M a n y w a n t e d to pursue avenues

of inquiry and involvement that had b e come evident

to them in the course

148
of the seminar.
case.

In a successful

learning program, tills may often In* tIn­

The continuation of any program should not be a pre-delermined

decision by the program planners unless their Involvement In a future
program is prohibited.

Participants should be allowed to take the

Initiative in determining if they want to be a part of a further
learning program on the same topic or on a related subject.

If the

desire is evident on the part of the participants, the sponsoring
agency should act to encourage and facilitate the planning for
continued learning. In this case, participants chose to plan future meetings.

6.

To provide for individualized learning.
Individualized learning should be emphasized with the Intention

that If participants cannot attend the sessions at a specific day and
time, he/she should be given the chance to do it at his/her own time.
Taping each session and collating handouts and written materials
would facilitate this suggestion by making them available for Individual
study.

Sets of materials for Individualized instruction may be

distributed in a specific area and coordinated by another participant
in that area.

7.

To schedule debriefing periods at the conclusion of each learning
activity.
Much of the learning potential from a particular experience or

instructional activity (e.g., lecture, group exercise, tour, film) is
lost if adequate discussion and debriefing is not provided.
not to say that every activity and event demands closure.

This is
It is

Important to highlight certain ideas and concepts for the participants
and to continually focus the attention of the participants on the

149
Intended learning objectives.

Guided discussion can be

led

by

participants and will serve to point out the connection between the
intended purposes of the seminar and specific learning activities.

Implications for Research
The main recommendations for non-formal educational planners are
the following:

1.

To conduct an overall evaluation of each learning seminar and to
continue the evaluation longitudinally.
Before informed decisions can be made on the worth of a learning

experience, adequate and appropriate data must be collected.

Gathering

pre-seminar data and post-seminar data would yield information about
the change in participants over time.

In this manner, the effective­

ness and overall impact of the program could be determined more
accurately.

Assessing participants periodically at the conclusion of

the program would provide valuable data to program planners on what
kind of results the program had over time and if the program really
had the Intended effect on the participants.

2.

To develop a methodology easy to both manipulate and analyce in
the field.
One of the research objectives was to use a research methodology

easy to manipulate in the field and at the analysis level.

"Easy*' was

defined as research that would not be too expensive, would not require
a large staffing, and with results which could be presented to the
source in no more than one month.

150

The strengths and weaknesses of the method used are outlined as
follows:
a.

The Thumb Area data, Including Interviews with each partici­

pant, periodic observations of verbal interaction, and pretests and
post-tests of three written Instruments, were collected in less than
three months.
b.

The Interview questionnaires were scored entirely by hand.

Notes were taken longhand during the course of the interview and later
recorded in a typewritten narrative version.

Each interview lasted an

average of one hour, and two hours were needed to type and edit the
narrative.

The findings and interpretation could easily have been

presented in one month.
computer analysis.

It took two weeks for coding, keypunching and

The other two weeks, working full-time, were used

for Interpretation and writing the recommendations for the sponsoring
agency.
c.

An SPSS computer program was used for the study.

data, however, can be analyzed by other means.

Much of the

Interviews were verbally

summarized, and a panel rated certain factors on a scoring sheet.
Results of the written instruments were tabled by hand and means
tabulated by hand.

The analyses of verbal interaction were also hand

tabulated and analyzed.

The computer was used to compute means on some

demographic data and to compute correlation coefficients.

Researchers

in rural could utilize a research center in an urban center or at a
university when available.

151
d.

The Interviews In the study w ere c onducted by a single

researcher.

If m o r e communities w e r e to be studied, or If more

participants w e r e to be included, more Interviewers could be used.
Interviewers could b e trained in the field if exper i e n c e d interviews
were not available.

E x perienced interviewers are pr e f e r a b l e bec a use

they would be able to mak e decisions qui c k l y w h e n confronted w i t h a
problem.

It is fundamental to have a good and reliable staff.

High

cost for reliable data gathering Is a good Investment in the long run.
e.

The participants w e r e not a representative sample of the

Thumb Ar e a residents.

R e s e a r c h on v o l u n t e e r learning programs cannot

be done w i t h the p r e c i s i o n in a non-formal setting that can b e attained
in a formal, exp e r i m e n t a l setting.

The mor e flexible set t i n g must be

accommodated b y using a v a r i e t y of data g a thering instruments to
supplement one another.
f.

Host of the participants interviewed w e r e housewives.

six heads of family w e r e represented in the group.

Only

To gain a more

accurate picture of a community and its sub— p r o c e s s e s , the study
suggests that future studies interview other local comm u n i t y leaders
(e.g., school officials,

government officials, county extension staff).

D ata gathered w i t h local offi c i a l s in an unstructured interview about
their community and the learning syst e m w i t h i n the community would be
v aluable to understand, support^ and help interpret data gathered via
the structured interviews w i t h participants.
g.

For non-formal educat i o n a l research to be of m a x i m u m usefulness,

it wil l be necessary for responsible institutions and agencies to
cooperate in financing and s p o n soring longitudinal research.
w a y different programs can be compared and contrasted,

In this

and various

152
Instructional methods can be tested and refined.

Questions that arise

in the first series of programs may be answered by the results of
research conducted during subsequent programs.
h.

The costs of the study were minimal.

Although the time and

expenses of the researcher were covered by the CES and cooperating
organizations* costs of the research were between the expected limits.
Transportation within Michigan*

interviewing* coding, keypunching* and

computer time cost less than one thousand dollars.
1.

The significance level was arbitrarily set at .05.

A more

realistic level for this type of research and the impreclsions that
occur might have been a .10.

The exploratory nature of the study

would also allow a lower significance level.

It is more important to

look at the relationship explained that whether or not the association
is significant.

3.

To research the optimum time of attendance and number of participants.
Experimental research could be conducted which would determine how

long a learning program should last for maximum effectiveness before
drop-out occurs.

Research collected from various programs In the Thumb

Area* for example, might yield data which could be used to construct the
participation curve of the Thumb Area residents.

Research data might

confirm the Winter months as the ideal time for indoor study seminars
because of the agricultural layoff during that time.

Research might

also confirm that seminars should last no more than eight weeks rather
than nine or ten weeks.
The comparison of various non-formal learning programs might suggest
the optimum number of participants to be included in community learning

153
experiences.

Certain topics and formats may be better suited to large

groups than small groups, while other seminars may require that
participation be limited to a dozen persons.

4.

To Investigate sources of participant motivation.
The adult learners In the study enrolled In the "Family and

Community" seminar voluntarily.
from conflict of schedule.
other CES seminars however.

There was only one drop-out resulting

Drop-out rates have been much higher in
This may indicate that the motivation to

stay with a particular seminar is not strong enough.

Conducting a

periodic needs assessment among the residents of a community will
uncover the topics of concern and Interest to the residents.

Programs

that are implemented will be based on researched needs, not on intuition
or subjective feelings.

The motivation to enroll and remain a

participant in non-formal learning experiences should be inherent In
the content and structure of the seminar program itself.

5.

To research methods for training leaders and teachers.
There was not a strong desire or need In the Thumb seminar on the

part of the sponsors to carefully select participants on the basis of
demonstrated ability or entrance requirements.
fill the roster with volunteer learners.

The CES was pleased to

In addition, "affirmative

action" programs within the United States today demand that all persons
be given an equal opportunity to participate, even if that means working
with persons possessing less than the necessary skills or abilities.
However,

In a setting where there Is a greater demand for efficiency and

154
cost-effectiveness In preparing leaders or teachers to meet local and
regional needs for non-formal education* careful selection of participants
might be very important.
The CES trains many community residents each year to assist as
program leaders and group discussion leaders.

Many of those who are

being trained may not be the "real" community leaders or teachers* but
willing participants who may or may not become leaders or teachers in
the near future.

Research could be done on effective ways to enroll

potential leaders and teachers and on the most effective methods of
training them.

The CES might borrow and build on the wealth of

"leadership training" data available in business education and on the
teacher-training literature in the field of education.
With refinement*

the three written instruments could be used to

identify persons who perceive themselves in the role of a teacher
already.

These persons might serve as the first participants in a teacher-

training program.

Persons who initially see themselves more in the

learner role* but who are also capable of serving as effective teachers
in the non-formal context* might participate in a series of training
experiences that would prepare them for helping people learn.

If time

is a factor in training persons to serve as teachers* it may be helpful
to begin with persons who already see themselves in the role of a
teacher and who are Involved in teaching activities already.

6.

To explore the use of bridges* intermediaries* and persons with
wider contacts.
The CES experienced some difficulty in enrolling 30 participants

for the "Family and Community" seminar even though many more people had
expressed an interest in attending.

Research Is suggested in communities

155
to which bridges, Intermediaries and personal contacts are used by the
CES to help In reaching their objectives.

Communication channels and

resource persons need to be mapped and analyzed.

The results of the

studies need to be compared with communities in which personal communi­
cation channels and local communication channels are not used at all.

7.

To research the adaptation of content.
The content and structure of learning experiences need to be

better understood and researched before educational programs can be
transferred from one setting to another.

Content could be adapted

experimentally to the local conditions of the different coanunltles in
which the programs were taking place to see if this has an effect on
the participants in terms of drop out, adoption of Innovations, attitude
and behavior change, and levels of involvement.

Suggested Hypotheses

Based on the descriptions derived from the exploratory study, the
following hypotheses are testable:
1.

A person's self-view as a learner will relate to the kind of

Interaction one engages In within a group learning experience.

A person

with a high (positive) self-view as a learner will tend to interact more
frequently than a person with a low self-view.
2.

A person's self-view as a learner will relate to the expectations

one holds for a learning experience.

A person with a high self-view

will tend to hold higher expectations than a person with a low self-view.
3.

A person's self-view as a learner will relate to his past learning

experience (in and out-of-school).

156
4.

Certain critical factors from a person's background will relate to

his self-view in the role of a learner and In the role of a teacher.
a.

Extent and kind of schooling Is the most Important factor

relating to one's self-view as a learner.
b.

Extent and kind of out-of-school learning Is the second most

Important factor relating to one's self-view as a learner.
5.

A person's self-view as

learned expectations of what

alearner Is related to one's accumulated
alearner is like.

Similarly, a person's

self-view as a teacher Is related to one's accumulated learned
expectations of what a teacher should be like.
6.

A person's self-view as

ateacher and as a

learner may change

during the course of a short-time-frame learning seminar focused on
building self-awareness and Involvement in the community.
7.

The strength of a person's self-view as a teacher and as a learner

may intensify during the source of a seminar focused on building selfawareness and Involvement In the community.
8.

A person with a positive self-view as a teacher will tend to engage

in more verbal interaction In a group than a person with a self-view as
a learner.
9.

The A Look At Myself instrument describes a person's self-view as

either a teacher or a learner.

Any change between pretest and post-test

responses on the instrument will be an indication of actual change in
self-view as either a teacher or a learner.
10.

The MSU T and the MSU L Instrument describes a person's level of

participation in teaching and learning activities, respectively.

Any

change between pretest and post-test responses on the Instruments will
be an indication of actual change In the level of participation In
either or both of those types of activities.

The testing of these hypotheses in the future will provide empirics
evidence towards improving the quality of non-formal learning experiences.

158
Sig n i f i c a n c e of the Study

T h e stud y c o n c e n t r a t e d on p a r t i c i p a n t s In the "Family and
C o m munity" le a r n i n g sem i n a r by t a k i n g wha t they thought,
as units of analysis.

said and did

F r o m the study, d e s c r i p t i v e d a t a m a y b e h e l p f u l

for later studies.
The study p r o v i d e d d e s c r i p t i v e data on participants'

s e l f -views as

w e l l as an e x p l a n a t i o n of h o w those s e l f - v i e w s b r o u g h t s o m e t h i n g to
their Involvement in the l e a r n i n g experience.
Methodologically,

the r e s earch d e m o n s t r a t e d the increased utility

of simple mea s u r e s of s e l f - p e r c e p t i o n in the field of no n - f o r m a l
education.
thought,

T h e m e t h o d e n a b l e d one to get at h o w the p a r t i c i p a n t s

felt and a c t e d in a l e a r n i n g s i t u a t i o n and m a y p r o v i d e h e l pful

findings to p r o g r a m planners.
The

study

w a s d e s c r i p t i v e and e x p l a n a t o r y and w a s intended

identify

basic

re l a t i o n s h i p s and t e s t a b l e h y p o t h e s e s c o n c e r ning learner

and teacher s e l f - perceptions,
learning activities.

and e x p e c t a t i o n s and involvement

to

in

T h e findi n g s of the study m a y c o n t ribute to the

w o r k of other resea r c h e r s at

a

later time.

In addition,

it w a s possible

to discover m o r e about w h a t goes on "inside the h e a d s " of adult learners
through study i n g their s e l f - p e r c e p t i o n s and learning behavior.
The

study

w a s s i gnificant for n o n - f o r m a l e d u c a t i o n p r o g r a m

in the follow i n g ways.

First,

planning

techniques w e r e d e v e l o p e d to add to the

qualitative and q u a n t i t a t i v e d a t a n e e d e d to e n r i c h and m a k e sense of the
assumptions alr e a d y held.

Secondly,

it w a s found that comm u n i t y non-

formal e d u c a t i o n p r a c t i c e s might be improved th r o u g h u n d e r s t a n d i n g of
the participants'

s e l f -views as learners and teachers.

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Stake, Robert E.
The Countenance of Educational Evaluation.
College Record. 1967, 6 8 , 523-540.
Sullivan, H. S.
Interpersonal Theory of Psychiatry.
Norton, 1953.
♦Spindler, George D.
Cultures.

Teacher

New York:

W. W.

Being An Anthropologist— Field Work in Eleven
New York:
Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1970.

Swantz, Marja Liisa.
Research as an educational tool for development.
Convergence, 1975, _8, 2.
Thumb Area Research Project.
Service, 1975.

£. Lansing, MI:

Cooperative Extension

Valenti, Jasper J. and Nelson, Charles W.
Survey of Teaching Practices.
Chicago:
Science Research Associates, 1951.
Videbeck, Richard.
Self Conception and the Reaction of Others.
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Vidich, Arthur J.
Participant observation and the collection and
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American Journal of Sociology. 1955,
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Vidich, A. J. and Shapiro, G. A.
A comparison of participant observation
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American Sociological R e view, 1955, 2 0 , 28-33.
Ward, Ted.

The Teacher Self Pe3criber.
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E. Lansing, MI:

Michigan State

Ward, Ted and Dettonl, John.
Increasing learning effectiveness through
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In Effective Learning in Nonformal Education.
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Nonreactlve Research in the Social
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An objective validation of factual interview
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Observational field-work methods.
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------ .

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New York:

Prentice-Hall,

APPENDIX

roup_______ Session_______ P a r t______ Date____________ Time: from_______ to.
Topic

or

elf

(Adapted from Borgatta,

erson

Person

Person

Person

Person

erson

Person

Person

Person

Person

erson

Person

Person

Person

Person

erson

Person

Person

Person

Person

erson

Person

Person

Person

Person

-----------

- --------

—

1965, p . 45)

— ------- ---- ---- .. _ ... —

er s o n

Person

Person

Person

Person

erson

Person

Person

Person

Person

irson

Person

Person

Person

Person
■

. -----

rsrticipant no.

A LOCK AT MYSELF

Time_____

In the experiences we will have together, we will all likely learn
some things. We will all be learners.
Also there will be many ways we can share ideas and experiences with
each other.
In this way we can all be teachers.
PLEASE PLACE AN X AT THE PLACE WHICH REPRESENTS YOUR FEELINGS
TOWARDS YOURSELF IN ANSWERING THE QUESTION.
1.

As you look at yourself now, do you see yourself as a TEACHER or LEARNER?
More as a
More as a
Teacher
Learner

I
--1-- --1-- 1
1

2.

Do you like to think of yourself as a LEARNER?
I a m a L E A R N E R !
Not really

Sometimes

Yes!

--'
--1--1
-- 1
I
3.

Do you like to think of yourself as a TEACHER?
I a m a T E A C H E R !
Not really
Sometimes

Yes!

I '-- 1-- 1-- 1

r ij. c n j. g a iL

o i a i e

u i u v c l b x l

/

i f

rarticipam

u

Date_
W e a r e I n t e r e s t e d in f i n d i n g o u t m o r e a b o u t the k i n d s of a c t i v i t i e s
y o u e n g a g e i n f r o m t i m e to time.
Read each sentence b e l o w and determine w i t h i n what time frame you
last e n g a g e d in that activity:
W i t h i n H a l f Day, a Day, a W e ek, a
Month, N e v e r - N o t Sure.
If y o u c a n ' t r e m e m b e r o r h a v e a q u e s t i o n
p l a c e y o u r m a r k I n t h e N o t S u r e (NS) s q u a r e .

1 HD
a m p l e :H o w r e c e n t l y d i d
cently

you wear

did someone share

cently did you discover
?
cently did y o u w o r k
on?

to

cently did you acquire
cently did

some

an

spend

find an

someone

cently did

you

cently d id y o u

answer

group

time applying

participate

cently did y o u s p end

time

idea

In a d i s c o v e r y
reading

time p a a ct i ci n g a n ew s k i l l ?

cently did y o u

take

cently d i d y o u
B?

come up with

cently w e ^ e

you

time

to

to h e l p

listen

tell y o u h o w
someone

trained

in

cently did
it?

involved

someone

an

cently d i d y o u r e c e i v e

to s o m e o n e

else

to s o l v e

talk?

an old

to d o s o m e t h i n g ?

a question about

something

a new skill?
to s o l v e

a new problem?

in a d i s c u s s i o n ?

go w i t h y o u

cently d i d y o u w a t c h

them solve a problem?

a new way

cently did y o u w o r k b y y o u r s e l f
cently w e r e y o u

activity?

or s t u d y i n g ?

did someonedo something with you?

ask

to a n e w

to d o s o m e t h i n g n e w ?

cently

cently d i d y o u
eded to k n o w ?

new

new?

did someone ask y o u

someone

that wa s

to a p a r t i c u l a r

cently

cently did

you?

to s o l v e a p r o b l e m ?
an

something

show you how

spend

information with

a new skill?

cently did y o u do or s e e
cently d i d

new

to

see so m et h in g

instructional
feedback

Wk
X

idea or concept

you consult w i t h a

cently d id y o u
ion?

a new hat?

Day

film or TV

of
show?

from another person?

Date
We are interested in finding out more about the kinds of activities
you engage in from time to time.
Read each sentence below and determine within what time frame you
last engaged in that activity:
Within Half Day* a Day* a Week* a
Month, or Not Sure.
If you have a question place your mark in the
Not Sure square.
J?

Within:

&

HD

Wk
X

example, H ow recently did y o u wear a new hat?
recently did you tell someone how to do something?
recently did y ou show someone h o w to do something?
recently did you request someone to do something?
recently did you explain something to someone?
recently did you encourage someone else trying to learn?
recently did you try to Identify the needs of someone you
e helping?
recently did you help others to use community agencies
ganizatlons* clubs* services* etc.) to help solve
■unity problems?
recently did you plan an activity w i t h others?
recently did you ask some important questions to help
>le understand the problem better?
recently did you do something with others?recently did you share some new information with someone?
recently did you demonstrate a skill to someone?
recently did you ask someone to spend some time reading
itudylng?
recently did you clarify the meaning of a word*
:ept to someone?

Day

idea or

recently did you compliment someone for something they
rned?
recently did you try to use someone in the community to
* others solve a problem?
recently did you help others solve a community problem?
recently did you lead a small group discussion or problem
rtng group?
recently did you take someone to see or do something
-nterest?
recently did you ask others to help you plan an activity?
recently did you lecture or lead a meeting?
recently did you take time to talk to someone at length?

Mo

NS

ID#
Im of Respondent:

Address:____________

lulc Demographic Information:
SB

M

F

AGE ____ 18-24

25-34_____ 36-44 ____

Circle last year of schooling:
P re se n t

9-10; ____ 11-12;

45-55

56 and over

Udg college

.Grad

Post Grad

p o s itio n or r o le in fa m ily :_____________________________________________________________

Length of tim e in th lB r o le : _____________ ________________________________________________________
Present occupation:_____________________________ Spouses occupation____________________________
Fitter's occupation:____________________________ Mother's occupation:__________________________
Site of immediate family: 2

3

4

5

6

7

8+

Size of family by birth: 2

3

4

5

6

7

£

Jaracteristics of the Community:
1, How would you describe your community and its surroundings?______________________________

!. What do you think is the outstanding attribute of your community?

I. How do you think this community sees Itself?

How would they describe themselves?

i. Would you describe your community as an active community?

Yes

No

If so, describe some of its activities:_____________________________________

'■ How much have you participated in the community activities?

NONE

Some

a lot

What kinds of roles have you played/filled in your community?___________________________
Can you tell me about some of your experiences as a participant within the community?

• Do others in your Immediate family also participate in community activities?

Yes

Tell me about it:

■ What kind of benefits or rewards or what kind of motivation is there to participate in
°wunity activities and projects?

N

Interview-2-

tfhat changes would you like to see take place In your c ommunity In the next few yearf

ifltat changes do you think are Important?

Bow could you help your community develop and grow?

Hhat are some of your Ideas

(perceptions and expectations)

In relation to what these

possible programs should be like?___________________________________________________________

Bow do you see yourself as being involved In the community learning process?

tfould you like to be Involved in helping people learn in your community?

Yes

Bow do you think or feel that you could play a part in h elping people in your
community to learn?_____________________________________________________________________

Do you feel you would need any m ore special skills or training?

Yes _____ No

tfhat kinds?_______________________________________________________________________________
Bow and where would you get mor e training if you decided y o u w a nted it?_________

tfhat kinds of educational programs are available in your comaunlty that would help
people do their jobs better?_______________________________________________________________

tfhat kind of training for various skills is provided in your community? or
Bow are things taught In the community that relate to dally functions in the communit

tfho has or takes the responsibility for m a k i n g things h a p p e n in your community w h e n c
need is evident?_______________________________________________________________________________
Bow is this done?______________________________________________________________________________
fcre there any kinds of rewards or recognition given for p a r ticipation in community
projects and activities?

Yes ______ No

fliat is role of an instructor or teacher or helper in your community?__________________

Interview-3r Section of I n t e r v i e w :
S SEMINAR W E W I L L ALL BE LEARNING TOGETHER.
IN THAT SENSE W E A R E A L L "LEARNERS."
0 LIKE TO A S K YOU A F E W QUESTIONS A B O U T Y O U R EXPERIENCE AS A LEARNER. . .
w do you think of yourself as a "learner"

(i.e. one who is learning)?______________

w do you feel about learning or about becom i n g a learner?

v did you used to feel about b e i n g a student or learner?

at factors from your past do you think influenced/ or relate to you as a learner?
(over for chart)
v veil did your schooling experience prepare you for your present w o r k o r role?
Not much

average

well

v e r y well___________________________________________

you look back, what changes do you n o w think are important?

you wanted to repeat some part of your schooling or educational experience, would
u do anything different on the basis of what you have learned working?

e you presently taking any formal education courses?
you plan to? _____ Yes

No

Yes _____ No

No Why or W h y not?_______________________

you see yourself as a learner (being involved in learning activities)
ulnar or 4-H, etc.?)?

Yes

____ Yes ____ No

(e.g.

like thd

If so, what kind?_________________________________

at are your feelings about being involved in such community learning activities?

w do you think you will/would do as a learner?

vhat settings do you think you wo u l d learn best?

v do you think others see you as a learner?

interview-^icr Section of Interview:
like t o

ask

you

a

few

questions

about

your

experiences

in

helping

other

people

learn

.

fhat are some of your feelings about helping people learn?_______________________________

)o you enjoy helping people learn and become excited about discovering n e w things?
Yes

No_________________________________________________________________________________

Aiat kinds of teaching experiences have you had?___

Aiat do you enjoy most about helping people learn?

low do you see yourself as a "teacher"—

one who hel

other people learn?

.IKE TO GO BACK FOR A MINUTE AND REFLECT ON O R DISCUSS SOME OF Y O U R PAST EXPERIENCES...
)hy do you think you feel the w a y you do about helping people learn?_____________________

that factors have Influenced your estimate or "picture" of teaching and of yourself in
:his role?
[over for chart)
)o any factors from your past now relate to you as a teacher?

Yes

No

If you were to do It again, what would you do differently?

)o you see yourself in that role (that of a helper or teacher) at all?

Yes

No

Ihy or why not?
low do you think you could or would do as a teacher or people helper?

Jhen you are Involved In a community education program or activity (such as this
leminar), how do you think other people see themselves as learner and/or as teachers?

low do you think other people see you as a learner? . ..as a teacher_______________________
>hy do you think they feel that way?__________________________________________________________
?SION 11.What do you think will be/has been the most enjoyable for you In this seminar?

fould you do it again?

Yes

No

Why or why not?