CHAPTER h

ORGANISATION OF CONTENT AND LEARNING EXPERIENCES

During the course of Chapter 3».the investigator has described the strategy and scheme of work developed and followed for the first four phases of the curriculum development - diognosing the nature and the need of the learners, formulating the objectives, selecting the content and selecting learning experiences. In the present chapter, the investigator has described the strategy and scheme of work developed and followed by him for Phase - Organisation of content and learning experiences.

Meaning and Importance of Organisation

The process of curriculum development does not end with the selection of the content and the learning experiences. In fact, it begins with it. In order to produce a cumulative effect, they must be so organised as to reinforce each other. Ralph Tyler very rightly suggests s

Organisation is thus seen as an important problem in'curriculum development because it greatly Influences the efficiency of ' f'instruction and the degree to which major educational changes are brought about in the learners.

( Tyler, 1969 : 83 )

77

While organizing content and learning experiences,

three major considerations are usually to be taken into

account. They are : Continuity, sequence and integration.

Continuity refers to the vertical organisation of content

and experiences, sequence emphasises the importance of

building each successive experience up on the preceding one.

Integration refers to the horizontal relationship of

curriculum, content and experiences.

Taba rightly stresses the importance of this phase

of the process of curriculum development as follows :

If the curriculum is to be a plan for learning, its content and learning experiences need to be organised so that they serve the educational objectives. The type of curriculum organisation*followed is probably one of the most potent factors in determining how learning proceeds. Often the curriculum is ineffective not because its content is inadequate but because it is put together in a way that makes learning difficult, or because learning experiences are organized in a way that makes learning either less efficient or less productive than it might be. Chaotic content or isolated learning experiences are usually not effective in attaining any important objectives.

( Taba, 1962 290 )

Patterns of Organization

Just as an architect uses building materials so as

to construct houses of different patterns, there can be

78

different patterns of organizing content and learning experiences. A study of the related literature fcy the Investigator shows that different patterns of organization * have been suggested by different authors.

Herrick and 3Jyler ( 1950 j i+5 ), for Instance, suggests that there are four common approaches to curriculum organization : the subject, the broad fields, the problems of living and the need approaches. Burton ( 1962 : 275~^31*- ) has made a two-fold classification along slightly different lines when he says that two general organizations of teaching materials are the assign-study-recite-test procedure and the unit. Tab a ( 1962 : 382-1+12) distinguishes the subject organisation the broadfields based on social processes and life functions, the activity, and the core. According to Goodlad ( 1963 * ^2-*+7), there are three patterns of curriculum organisation. When the organizing centres which define the substance of learning are selected to develop elements drawn from a single field, a single-subject pattern emerges. When the teacher seeks to develop simultaniously div­erse organising elements, a broad field or_core. pattern emerges. He considers the concepts, generalizations or modes of inquiry to be the organizing elements. Saylor and Alexander (1958 s250) consider the school subjects, the broad fields of subject matter, the major social functions of living and the interest needs, and problems of learners, to be the types of curriculum organization. Smith, Stanley and Shores (1957 t

79

225-^22) have made an intensive analysis of schemes of curriculum organisation.-On the basis of certain distinctive and essential characteristics they have detailed three patterns subject curriculum, activity curriculum and core curriculum - which they call ’ pure * types of organization.

The Pattern of organisation selected

There were three options before the investigator to select the pattern of orgnisation of content and learning experiences for the curriculum development in the present

I

investigation. They were i (i) A separate subject pattern (ii) An integrated pattern, (ill), A combination of the two patterns - a separate subject pattern and an integrated pattern.

Several authors have suggested the integrated pattern for organizing content and learning ejqperiences. Their main argument is that the temptation of introducing population education as a separate subject is to be avoided keeping in view the already crowded syllabus and a tight time schedule of the secondary “feachers training colleges. They further argue that as population problem cuts across boundaries of various subjects and disciplines, it is natural as well as desirable to adopt qp interdisciplinary approach where by

i>the concepts of population education are integrated into various courses. Thus, it is suggested that the syllabi of the subjects at the B. Ed. level such as Philosophical,and Sociological Foundations of Education, Educational Psychology,

80

Modem Trends and. Problems of Education and Health Educationcan be discussed with the student teachers with a particular

\

emphasis on the concepts of population education.

Though the integrated pattern of organization of contentand learning experiences easily meets one’s approval, the

treinvestigator has thought it proper^accept and use the separatesubject pattern because of the following reasons :

(1) If population education is not introduced as a separate subject, there is every possibility that this important subject gets either too much diluted or is almost lost in -tit bits. '

(2) The attempt of integrating population education concepts with the various subjects of the B.Ed. syllabus may appear attractive or sound in theory but in actual practice, the process would be slow and far from effective.

(3) Moreover, such an integrated approach presupposes the mastery on the part of the faculty members of secondary teachers colleges to teach population education concepts along with their own subjects. It is neither easy nor possible for all to do so and this would result in a futile exercise.

(^) The investigator believes that the integrated pattern of organising content and learning experiences can be

. 81

m o r e s u i t a b l e a n d r e w a r d i n g w h e n u s e d a t t h e l e v e l s o f

s e c o n d a r y e d u c a t i o n o r p r i m a r y e d u c a t i o n . B u t w h e n w e

a r e t r y i n g t o c o n v e y p o p u l a t i o n e d u c a t i o n c o n c e p t s t o

t h e m a t u r e a n d g r o w n u p s e c o n d a r y t e a c h e r s u n d e r

t r a i n i n g , t h e s e p a r a t e s u b j e c t a p p r o a c h i s m o r e

e f f e c t i v e a n d u s e f u l .

( 5 ) A c a r e f u l a n a l y s i s o f t h e c o n t e n t o f v a r i o u s s u b j e c t s

o f t h e B . E d . s y l l a b u s s h o w s t h a t t h e r e i s , i n f a c t , a

v e r y l i t t l e s c o p e o f t e a c h i n g p o p u l a t i o n e d u c a t i o n

c o n c e p t s w i t h o u t d e v i a t i o n . H e n c e , a n afcfcempt f o r

i n t e g r a t i o n w o u l d b e u n n a t u r a l a n d a r t i f i c a l a n d ,

t h e r e f o r e , u n c o n v i n c i n g .

( 6 ) I t i s p r e f e r a b l e t o h a n d o v e r t h e t e a c h i n g o f t h i s

i m p o r t a n t s u b j e c t t o a t e a c h e r w h o i s w e l l o r i e n t e d

a n d b e t t e r e q u i p p e d s o t h a t h e c a n d o a g o o d J o b w i t h

z e a l , p e r s o n a l i n v d v e m e n t a n d d e v o t i o n . I f t h e t a s k o f

t e a c h i n g p o p u l a t i o n e d u c a t i o n i s a s s i g n e d t o a l l , i t

w o u l d t u r n o u t t o b e n o b o d y ' s b u s i n e s s .

B e s i d e s t h i s , t h e i n v e s t i g a t o r t a k e s n o t e o f t h e

a r g u m e n t s a d v a n c e d i n f a v o u r o f t h e s u b j e c t c e n t r e d c u r r i c u l u m

b y S a y l o r a n d A l e x a n d e r , ( 1 9 5 8 i 2 5 3 - 2 5 7 ) • T h e y a r e s u m m a r i z e d

h e r e u n d e r :

1. T h e s u b j e c t s c o n s t i t u t e a l o g i c a l a n d e f f e c t i v e m e t h o d

o f o r g a n i z i n g l e a r n i n g a n d o f i n t e r p r e t i n g a n d

s y s t e m a t i z i n g n e w k n o w l e d g e a n d f a c t s .

82

2. The subject curriculum is most appropriate for developing the intellectual powers of the individual.

3. The subject type of curriculum organization is consistent with certain basic concepts of the educational process.

*f. The subject curriculum best utilizes the accumulated heritage of a race.

5* The subject curriculum is backed by long tradition and is widely accepted.

6. The subject design is more readily used by present-day teachers.

7. Curriculum planning is simpler and easier in the subject - centered curriculum.

8. Evaluation of the educational programme is readily carried on in the subject-type of curriculum.

While advancing the arguments in favour of the separate subject- pattern of curriculum organisation the investigator is well aware of its shortcomings too. Such an organisation is not always a psychological organisation. Further, it is very difficult to encompass a worth-while set of desired outcomes for pupils within the subject type of design. It is also said that subject organization fractionates learning. Moreover, the subject curriculum is not based on a

83

f u n c t i o n a l u s e o f k n o w l e d g e a n d i t i s s e r i o u s l y l i m i t e d i n

t h e r a n g e o f t h e s u b j e c t - m a t t e r c o v e r e d . I n s p i t e o f s u c h a n d

s i m i l a r l i m i t a t i o n s t h e s u b j e c t - o r g a n i s e d c u r r i c u l u m i s b y

f a r t h e m o s t w i d e l y u s e d m e t h o d o f o r g a n i s i n g e d u c a t i o n a l

e x p e r i e n c e s t o d a y a n d h a s a l o n g t r a d i t i o n o f c e n t u r i e s

b e h i n d i t . H e n c e , t h e i n v e s t i g a t o r s e l e c t e d t h e s e p a r a t e

s u b j e c t p a t t e r n o f o r g a n i s i n g t h e c u r r i c u l u m .

F o r m u l a t i o n o f T e a c h i n g - L e a r n i n g U n i t s

A f t e r s e l e c t i n g t h e p a t t e r n o f o r g a n i z i n g t h e

c u r r i c u l u m , t h e i n v e s t i g a t o r u n d e r t o o k t h e p r o c e s s o f

f o r m u l a t i n g t e a c h i n g - l e a r n i n g u n i t s .

D u r i n g t h e c o u r s e o f C h a p t e r I I I t h e i n v e s t i g a t o r h a s

d i s c u s s e d t h e p r o c e d u r e f o l l o w e d b y h i m t o d e v e l o p t h e c o n t e n t s

f r o m t h e s p e c i f i c a t i o n s o f t h e g e n e r a l o b j e c t i v e f r o m t h e

c o g n i t i v e d o m a i n . T a b l e 5. i n C h a p t e r 3 c o n t a i n s t h e o u t l i n e

o f t h e c o n t e n t b a s e d o n e a c h o f t h e t w e l v e s p e c i f i c

o b j e c t i v e s o f t h e g e n e r a l o b j e c t i v e f r o m t h e c o g n i t i v e ,

d o m a i n . H o w i t w a s n e c e s s a r y f o r t h e i n v e s t i g a t o r t o

a r r a n g e t h e c o n t e n t s u n d e r s p e c i f i c h e a d s o f t e a c h i n g ­

l e a r n i n g u n i t s . T a b l e 6 g i v e s t h i s a r r a n g e m e n t .

TABLES 6ARRANGEMENT OF THE CONTENT UNDER SPECIFIC

HEADS OF TEACHING-LEARNING UNITS

No. Unit Outline of the content

1 Introduction to Population education - itsPopulation Education meaning, concept, scope, need

and importance and objectives.

2 Population Dynamics Demographic concepts such asand population birth rate, death rate,situation migration, density, sex-ratio

life expectancy . Population situation in Gujarat and India in the context of the world population situation. Factors affecting growth rate and birth rate of population.

3 Population Growth Relationship between populationand Economic and product! on--Relationshipconsequences between growth of population

and standard of living-economic ills resulting from rapid growth in population.

eontd

85

1 A B 1 E 6 c o n t d .

N o . U n i t O u t l i n e o f t h e c o n t e n t

if P o p u l a t i o n g r o w t h ,

E n v i r o n m e n t a n d

N a t u r a l r e s o u r c e s

A d v e r s e e f f e c t s o f p o p u l a t i o n

g r o w t h o n h e a l t h y e n v i r o n m e n t -

p o l l u t i o n - n o i s e . P o p u l a t i o n

g r o w t h a n d i t s r e l a t i o n s h i p

w i t h r e n e w a b l e a n d n o n - r e n e w a b l e

r e s o u r c e s .

5 P o p u l a t i o n g r o w t h

a n d P o o d p r o b l e m

P o p u l a t i o n g r o w t h a n d g r o w i n g

p r e s s u r e o f p e o p l e o n l a n d —

I n a d e q u a t e f o o d p r o d u c t i o n t o ,

m e e t t h e r e q u i r e m e n t s o f

g r o w i n g p o p u l a t i o n . S a p i d

g r o w t h i n p o p u l a t i o n a s a

h i n d r a n c e t o g r e e n r e v o l u t i o n .

6 P o p u l a t i o n g r o w t h S o c i a l i l l s a n d p r o b l e m s a r i s i n g

a n d s o c i a l i m p l i c a t i o n s o u t o f u n a b a t e d , g r o w t h i n

p o p u l a t i o n : t r a d i t i o n a l i s m ,

s u p e r s t i t i o n s , p o o r e t h i c a l a n d

m o r a l b e h a v i o u r - s c a r c i t y o f

e s s e n t i a l c o m m o d i t i e s - s o a r i n g

p r i c e l i n e - b l a c k m a r k e t i n g -

h o a r d i n g , a d u l t e r a t i o n ,

c h e a t i n g .

c o n t d

86

TABLE 6 contd.

No.. Unit Outline of the content

7 Population growth Causes of urbanization-effectsand urbanization of urbanization :

over-crowding, poor housing facilities, inadequate supply of basic necessities like water, stress and strain on transport-poor health facilities.

8 Population growth Population growth and increasingand education rate of illiteracy - its

consequences-problem of pressure on enrolment at all levels - scarcity of school buildings and equipments. Increase in teacher-pupil ratio - problem of quantity Vs. quality.

9 Population growth, Effects of early and lateFamily life, Health marriages on population ",and Nutrition growth - Interrelationship

between family size on the per capita availibility of food, clothing, shelter, educational facilities - Effects of

eontd

87

TABLE 6 contd.

No, Unit Outline of the content

of malnutrition. Responsible parenthood.

10 Teacher as a Qualities and attitudes of thePopulation Educatfinf: teacher as a population

<5

educator - Expected skills - Techniques and tools for communicating population concepts to secondary pupils - organisation of eo-currieular activities - use of audio­visual aids and devices for population education.

A glance at Table 6 shows that the investigator has formulated units under ten heads from the contents developed by him. While doing so he has kept in mind some of the basic considerations. Firstly, care has been taken to see that the units cover the four major areas from which the contents was selected ie. demography, determinanats and consequences of population growth, population control and teacher as a population educator. Secondly, the units are formulated and arranged in such a way as to achieve continuity and sequence.

88

For example, Unit 1 : Introduction to population education Is followed by unit 2 : Population dynamics and population, situation wherein demographic consequences and determinants of population growth are included. Units 3 to 9 cover the consequences of population growth at the macro as well as the micro levels. Unit 10 discusses the role of teahcer as a population educator. The units thus formulated and arranged are in continuity and sequence. Thirdly, in the present curriculum, the chronological organisation was, neither feasible nor justified. Hence, the investigator has tried to see that the units are formulated so as to achieve increasing breadth of application, the use of description followed by analysis, the development of specific illustrations and the attempt to build an increasingly unified picture from the specific pqrts of the contents covered by these units.

The Element of Time

Besides the considerations outlined above, one of the most important considerations was regarding the develop­ment of curriculum in population education for secondary teachers under training in the perspective of the availibility of time. The investigator was chiefly concerned with the task of developing the curriculum and its try-out during tie normal working conditions of a secondary teachers training college within the stipulated time limit of one academic year. So while developing the teaching-laming units

89

organised on the basis of the content and learning experiences, the element of time needed to be considered

as one of the basic elements.

For assessing the availibility of time, the investigator made survey of the work schedule of the Secondary Teachers Training College, Ahmedabad where he is working. He referred to the records of the last five years and found that the total number of working days during the academic year ( from mid June to mid February) come to 170 days on average excluding Sundays and holidays. Out of this, about 35 days are spent for practice teaching during the whole academic year. So about 135 days are available for theory lectures. Thus, the total time for

u

theory lectures come to about 1^ to 2J& weeks.

Now if population education is to be introduced as a separate subject, it could be given a status of one section of a paper carrying 50 marks. It is usually a procedure to allot two periods per week for the teachingof, section. This means that if the total time available for

Atheory lectures is of about 1f to t# weeks, nearly 3*+ to 36 periods could be allotted for teaching population education to secondary teachers under training. To make this estimate more modest, the investigator decided to try out the curriculum in about 30 periods of *+0 minutes each. Out of these 30 periods, 20 periods were earmakred for lectures and

90

10 for co-curricular activities.

After taking the decision of allotting 20 periods

of *4-0, minutes each for curricular activities and 10 periods

of *+0 minutes each for co-eurricular activites, the next

step for the investigator was to distribute these 20 periods

for the units formulated b y him heretofore. As all these

units and the contents t h e r e o f are almost equal in .

importance and length, the investigator thought it proper

to allot 2 periods to each of these 10 units. In this way, the rational decisions regarding the element of time were

arrived at. Then the investigator began the process of

trying out the teaching-learning units.

The Tryout

In Chapter 2 the investigator has spelt out the ’

specific objectives for the investigation. To develop a

curriculum in population education for secondary teachers

under training was the first specific objective. The second

objective was to select the content and the learning

experiences for the curriculum and to arrange the content

under specific heads of teaching-learning units. The

investigator finished the work as envisaged in these

objectives and then started to fulfil the third objective

i.e. to tryout the curriculum developed in the normal set-up of a secondary teachers training college.

91

As stated earlier, the curriculum thus developed was to be tried out on a sample of 200 trainees receiving their training at the Secondary Teachers Training College, Ahmedabad during the academic year 1977-78, The diagnosis and description of the sample have already been discussed in Chapter 3,

The pattern selected for the tryout of the curriculum was single group pre test post test design : T1 x Tg. The process under this pattern consisted of pretesting the group, trying out the.curriculum and posttesting so as to measure the change and the gain.

Soon after the opening of the college, the investigator administered an attitude scale and an achieve­ment test specially constructed by. him to measure the attitude and knowledge-understanding of the student teachers with ffegard to the concepts of population education. The method and procedure followed for constructing these tests are described in Chapter 5» These tests were administered on June 18, i.e. prior to the tryout of the curriculum.

For the tryout of the curriculum, it was necessary to devote a period to population education in the time table of the College. The principal of the ^Secondary Teachdrs Training College was kind enough not only to give permission for the said tryout but also allowed the Investigator to

92

take the first period on Saturdays to teach the units on population education. The first term of the academic year 1977-78 ended on 31st October and during the course of the first term the investigator tried out the first six units by teaching for 12 periods*

The college reopened for the second term on 21st November, and the theory work lasted upto 11th February, 1978. During the course of the second term, the investigator engaged the classes in population education for 8 periods and thereby finished the tryout of the remaining four units.

The exact schedule of this tryout of ten units as well as the organisation of co-eurricular learning experiences are described in the subsequent pages.

On February *f, 1978 the investigator again administered the same attitude and achievement tests which he had previously administered prior to the tryout on June 18, 1977.

On February 6, 1978, the student teachers included in the sample were asked to fill in an evaluation sheet whereby they showed their reactions and gave suggestions.The details of the pretest and posttest measurement and the assessment of the population education programme by the trainees as well as by the teacher are given in the subsequent chapters.

93

In this way, the investigator carried out the

tryout of the curriculum developed by him in the normal

setting of the Secondary Teachers Training College, Ahmedabad from 15th June, 1977 to 11th February, 1978 during the

academic year 1977-7 8 .

Organising Teaching - Learning Experiences

Taba (1962 : 363-368 ) has discussed certain rules

to be observed in organising teaching learning experiences.

Firstly, each teaching-learning experience should serve some

definite function. Learning experiences without specific

functions are a waste of students’ time. Secondly, only such

learning experiences should be organised which are useful in

achieving objectives and efficient in the sense of serving

more than one objective. Thirdly, learning experiences should

promote active learning. Fourthly, they should be appropriate

for the maturity level of the learners. Fifthly, care must

be taken to include a variety of learning experiences.

Sixthly, the teaching-learning experiences should follow a

sequence which makes eontinous and accumulative learning

possible. This sequence involves atleast three main stages :

introductory, developmental and culmination. The investigator kept in mind these rules while teaching the teaching-

learning units.

The investigator used the following teaching techniques

while teaching those ten teaching-learning units :

9^

(a) Lectures and Teacher Talks t The investigator is aware of the fact that in some circles it has been a fashion to denigrate the lecture but the lecture has been used with success in the past, is being used with.success at the present and no doubt will be used with success in the future. The investigator took care to see that each lecture is planned meticulously; that they are both clear,and persuasive. For achieving this purpose he stated clearly each point and supported it with illustrations, examples etc. He also tried to add graphs, charts, pictures, tables and other aids to clarify the desired concepts. Moreover, the investigator always tried to switchover to indirect teaching by asking questions, posing problems, seeking comments and entertrai­ning questions whereever and whenever he found opportunityto do so.

(b) Questioning : Questioning has been one of the most common of teaching techniques. While discussing the teaching learning units with the student teachers the investigator tried to make varied use of questions. Moreover, enough care was taken to see that the questions are simple, definite, challenging and thought-provoking. They were further adapted to the age, abilities and interests of the student teachers. The investigator also tried to create a permissive atmosphere, an atmosphere of friendly co-operation, in which the student teachers feel free to express themselves candidly and clearly. As a result, the student teachers not only answered the

95

questions put by the investigator but also asked questions to him.

(c) Problem-solving : The investigator also used theproblem solving method while discussing certain units as it' leads to real understanding because it provides for the pupils' becoming really involved in their learning. For example, while discussing the social implications of population explosion, the investigator helped the student- teachers to be aware of the problem. Then they themselves were asked to define and delimit the problem. They also tried to gather evidence that may help them solve the problem. They also formed to some extent a hypothesis of what the solution to the problem is. Finally, they were helped to test the hypothesis. Of course, the trying out of this technique has had its own problems and limitations, but the investigator feels that it is worth using especially when the learners are mature and grown up student teachers.

Moreover, while teaching the units enough care was taken to see that as many learning experiences as possible from those selected as a part of the process of curriculum development and described in Chapter 3 are provided to the student teachers.

The investigator is well aware of the need and importance of using other techniques of teaching such as group discussion, seminar, workshop, pro3ect etc. but it

96

was neither feasible nor possible to make use of them in the

class of 200 student teachers and hence, they were not made

use of.

Following the principles and techniques described

above, the investigator took 12 periods of **0 minutes each

during the first term i.e. between 1?th June, 1977 to 31st

October, 1977 and 8 periods of Vo minutes each during the

second term i.e. between 21st November, 1977 to 11th February,

1978. He thus taught population education concepts for 20

periods to,finish the teaching of 10 units by allocating 2

periods to each of these units as stated earlier.

Table 7 gives the details of the schedule of the

teaching learning units tried out.

97

TABLE 7

SCHEDULE OF THE TEIOUT OF THE TEACHING LEABNING UNITS'

Sr.No. Day & date

of Tryout Teaching-Learning Units No. of periods

Time in minutes

1 Saturday25-6-1977

Introduction to Population Education

1 »+0

2 Saturday2-7-1977

Introduction to. Population Education

1 1+0

3 Saturday16-7-1977

Population Dynamics and , population situation

1 ko

i+ Saturday3O-7-1977

Population Dynamics and population situation

1 ko

5 Saturday6-8-1977

Population Growth and Economic Consequences

1 l+o

6 Saturday13-8-1977

Population Growth and Economic Consequences

1 l+o

7 Saturday27-8-1977

Population growth, environment and natural resources

1 1+0

8 Saturday3-9-1977

Population growth, environment and natural resources

1 1+0

9 Saturday1-10-1977

Population growth and food problems

1 1+0

10 Saturday8-10-1977

Population growth and food problem

1 1+0

contd

98

Table 7 eontd.

Sr. Day & date Teaching-Learning No. of Time inNo. of Tryout Units periods minutes

11 'Saturday Population growth and 1 MO15-10-1977 social implications

12 Saturday Population growth and 1 Mo22-10-1977 social implications

13 Saturday Population growth and 1 b 0

26-11-1977 urbanisation1i+ Saturday Population growth and 1 bO

3-12-1977 urbanisation15 Saturday Population growth and 1 bO

10-12-1977 education16 Saturday Population growth and 1 bO

17-12-1977 education17 Saturday Population growth and 1 bO

21+-12-1977 family life, health and nutrition

18 Saturday Population growth, 1 Mo31-12-1977 family life, health

and nutrition19 Saturday Teacher as a population 1 MO

21-1-1978 educator20 Saturday Teacher as a population 1 MO

28-1-1978 > educator

20 800Total C 13 hours and

20 minutes )

99

Organizing Co-curricular Experiences

The concept of m o d e m curricialura encompasses all the

meaningful and desirable activities- both curricular and

co-curricular. It fully and frankly recognises eo-currieular

activities as valuable media for realising the objectives

of the curriculum. The traditional distinction between the

curricular activities and eo-curricular activities now seems unacceptable and the term ’’Curriculum experiences” is used

to include both the activities related to teaching-'learning situations and the co-curricular activities.

The investigator, therefore, thought!t proper to

organise certain co-curricular activities as a part of the

process of developing the curriculum. Figure 5 present the

overall view of the activities organised during the tryout

of the curriculum in population education for secondary

teachers under training.

k\\

\\\m

\\\v

\\\v

m^

IO O

activities

e x te n s io n lectures

D 6 8 A T ES ANDe i-ocunoN

OlSPt-Ay O F M A T E R I A Lon ©ulletii i Board

e x h ib it io n s

FILM^SLIDE SHOWS

M IS C E L L A N E O U SA C T I V I T I E S

CURRICULUM IN POPULATION! EDUCATION

F I3UK& 5

ORGANISATION o f CO-CURRICULARACTI VI TI ES

101

The details of the co-eurricular activities organised

during the process of the tryout of the curriculum are given hereunder,

(1) Extension lectures : The investigator decided to

organise extension lectures by experts and resource

persons on the topics which were related to the concepts

of population education#

Accordingly, on 23-7-1977, RLrtikumar Shelat, Officer,

The Health and Family Welfare Training Centre, Ahmedabad

addressed the students teachers on : M The Process of

Human Reproduction." He explained the process by screeing

the films such as "Female Cycle," " Puberty and Boys",

"Human Body Reproductive System", and a film strip : "Human

Reproduction."

On 20-8-1977, Kegnalben Naik, Principal of the Health and Family Welfare Training Centre, Ahmedabad was invited

to speak on : "Family Planning Programme - Methods and Techniques." She presented her views in the context of the

population problem in the world perspective.

On 19-1-1978, Dolatbhai Desai, Former Principal

Mohinaba Girls High School, Ahmedabad gave an inspiring

talk on "Teacher and Population Education."

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( 2) Debates and Eloaution : On 2^ - 1-1978 a debate wasarranged on the subject : "Education cannot be an effective instrument for population control." Twelve student teachers spoke against the proposition while three in favour.

(3) Display of Material on Bulletin Board : Hie investi­gator has been n.-. in contact with national, foreign and international agencies working in the area of population education and as a result has collected good amount of literature in the form of books, magazines, pamphlets, reports, research abstracts, charts, tables, posters, photographs and leaflets. Therefore, it was decided to display selected material relating to population education on the bulletin board. A big-size bulletin board was spared for the purpose and Population Education Corner was formed at the vantage position. On it the material related to population education concepts was attractively displayed on Saturdays regularly throughout the year* The student teachers showed keen interest in the arrangement and perusal of the bulletin board. They were often found taking down notes of facts and figures from the materia,! displayed.

(*+) Exhibition : On 9-7-1977 a small exhibition consisting of graphs, charts, pictures, posters and photographs related to the damographic profile, of Gujarat, consequences of population growth and techniques for family planning and population control was held with the co-operation

103

of. the local branch of the Family Planning Association

of India.

Similarly, on 1^-12^1977 an exhibition of the

literature and material concerning population education

was held in the college library. The. material displayed

was referred to by the students with interest and

appreciation.

(5) Film and Slide shows : The Health and Family

Welfare Training Centre, Ahmedabad has a very rich

collection of the films and film strips which are very

useful for population education. The principal and staff

of the centre were kind enough to spare some films which

were projected before the target group of the student

teachers on 22-9-1977 and 19-1-1978.

Table 8 shows the details of the films and

filmstrips shown to the target group.

TABLE 8FILMS AND FILMSTRIPS SHOWN TO THE STUDENT TEACHERS

Sr.No.

Date Title Film or Langua- film - gestrip

1 22-9-77 People by Billion Film Hindi2 22-9-77 Danger Signal Film Gujarati3 22-9-77 Blast Film English¥ 22-9-77 Birth control

techniquesfilmstrip:!

English

5 22-9-77 How life is handed on Film strip/'

English

6 19-1-78 Sukhi Dukhi Film Gujarati7 19-1-78 I help Fight over

populationFilm English

8 19-1-78 Paighara Film Hindi9 19-1-78 Sex and Society Film

stripEnglish

10 19-1-78 Why a small family ? Filmstrip

English

From Table 8, it is clear that during the period.of the tryout six films and four filmstrips were shown to the student teachers on two days. The time of the show on both the days was about 90 minutes.

Besides the filmshows, some slides depicting the need, necessity and techniques of family planning were

105

s h o w n t o t h e s t u d e n t t e a c h e r s a l o n g w i t h t h e t e a c h i n g o f

t h e u n i t s * T h e s l i d e s w e r e b o r r o w e d f r o m t h e l o c a l b r a n c h

o f t h e F a m i l y P l a n n i n g A s s o c i a t i o n o f I n d i a *

( 6 ) M i s c e l l a n e o u s A c t i v i t i e s ; I n a d d i t i o n t o t h e

a c t i v i t i e s d e s c r i b e d a b o v e , t h e s t u d e n t t e a c h e r s w e r e a l s o

p r o v i d e d w i t h m i s c e l l a n e o u s a c t i v i t i e s s u c h a s f o l l o w s :

( a ) P r a c t i c e t e a c h i n g w i t h e m p h a s i s o n p o p u l a t i o n

e d u c a t i o n c o n c e p t s : T h e s t u d e n t t e a c h e r s t h e m s e l v e s

e x h i b i t e d t h e i m p a c t o f t h e m e s s a g e o f p o p u l a t i o n e d u c a t i o n

o n t h e m w h e n t h e y s t a r t e d d r a w i n g t h e a t t e n t i o n o f t h e

p u p i l s t o t h e c o n s e q u e n c e s o f .p o p u l a t i o n e x p l o s i o n w h i l e

g i v i n g p r a c t i c e l e s s o n s . S o m e o f t h e s t u d e n t t e a c h e r s e v e n

t r i e d t o g i v e p r a c t i c e l e s s o n s a n d a n n u a l l e s s o n s b a s e d

o n t h e c o n c e p t s o f p o p u l a t i o n e d u c a t i o n .

(b) l i s t e n i n g t o t h e t a p e - r e c o r d e d m a t e r i a l : T h e

i n v e s t i g a t o r a t t i m e s p r e s e n t e d s o n g s , p l a y s , t a l k s a n d

p o e m s b a s e d o n t h e t h e m e s o f p o p u l a t i o n c o n t r o l t a p e -

r e c o r d e d b y h i m f r o m t h e r a d i o b r o a d c a s t s .\

( c ) P a r t i c i p a t i o n i n t h e a s s e m b l y p r o g r a m m e s j T h e

s t u d e n t t e a c h e r s w e r e o f t e n i n s p i r e d t o p r e s e n t t a l k s o r

c o m m e n t s o n t h e i s s u e s r e l a t i n g t o t h e p o p u l a t i o n p r o b l e m

b e f o r e t h e c o l l e g e a s s e m b l y *

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(d) Wall Paper : The student teachers were guided to

write on various aspects of the population problem. One

student teacher had the skill of drawing cartoons. Quite a

few wrote poems and stories. All such material was

exhibited on the wall paper at regular intervals.

The investigator thus, tried to organise the

content and the learning'experiences while trying out the curriculum. He derives satisfaction from the fact

that he has done his best inspite of the limitations of

time, men, money and material. With this, Phase 5 of

the model of the process of developing the curriculum

was complete.