Practical guide to functional literacy PDF 1973

Experimental World Literacy Programme Practical guide to functional literacy A method of training for development Unesco Paris 1973 Practical guide to functional literacy Published by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization...

Experimental World Literacy Programme Practical guide to functional literacy A method of training for development Unesco Paris 1973 Practical guide to functional literacy Published by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization 7, place de Fontenoy, 75700 Paris Printed by 'Journal de Genkve' ISBN 92-3-101054-9 LC NO.73-75104 0Unesco 1973 Printed in Switzerland  Preface The purpose of the present publication is to meet the need to dis- seminate,in circles directly concerned with the theory and practice of functional literacy training, the fundamental principles and essential pedagogical methods yielded by the pursuit of Unesco’s Experimental World Literacy Programe, at its present stage of development. Since the World Congress of Ministers of Education on the Eradication of Illiteracy (Teheran, September 1965), interest in functional literacy training has grown steadily, and Member States’ efforts to put it into practice have multiplied. The whole purpose of the Experimental World Literacy Programme being to provide more efficient instruments for combating illiteracy than those hitherto available, the circulation of the first pedagogical lessons which can already be drawn from it is both a duty and an absolute necessity for Unesco. In addition, it appears all the more urgent to present the lessons in the form of a practical guide,inasmuch as the world has entered the Second Development Decade, of which the campaign to eradicate illiteracy is an essential element. As an attempted synthesis of the many and various experiments undertaken in the framework of the pilot projects and limited oper- ations for functional literacy training, the guide is addressed more particularly to adult-educati6ninstructors,engineers and technicians in agriculture and industry in charge of the training of illiterate labour forces plus the international and national specialists responsible for launching and running the Decade’s functional literacy programmes. Unesco hopes that readers will find in it subjects for reflection and an inspiration to action,as well as practical information of help to them in the accomplishment of their tasks,  The present work is the product of a collective effort1 in which all those sharing in the execution of the Experimental World Literacy Programme on m a n y levels have taken part. It has been written by C.Bellahsène of the Unesco Secretariat,a specialist in themethodology of functional literacy training. 1. See Literacy 1945-1967, Paris,Unesco, 1968,and Literacy 1967-19G9. Progress Achieved in Liferacy throughout the World, Paris, Unesco, 1970.  Contents INTRODUCTION 9 Functional and traditional literacy training 9 W h y functional literacy? 10 Part One C H A P T E R 1. PRELIMINARY I N V E N T O R Y OF OBJECTIVES Determination of a A N D PROBLEMS 15 strategyadapted Preliminary inventory of the economic objectives 15 totheaimsOf a Preliminaryinventory of the technico-occupationaland programme socio-economicob.jectives 16 Preliminaryinventory of problems 16 CHAPTER 2. C O N T E X T S T U D Y 21 What is the context? 21 How should one tackle the milieu? 21 Survey methods 22 A Monograph of the environment 23 Agricultural milieu 23 Industrialmilieu 24 B The ‘radiographic’study of the milieu 25 Intellectualprofile of the illiterateadult 25 Determinationof training needs 25 Literacy-a major need 30 Documents I-8 31 CHAPTER 3. P E D A G O G I C A L STRATEGY 53 Definition of the training objectives 53 Definition of a pedagogicalsystem adapted to the realities of concrete action 55 Documents 9-I6 58 C H A P T E R 4. R O L E O F T H E MILIEU A T T H E DIFFERENT STAGES OF THE F U N C T I O N A L LITERACY OPERATION 69 Preparatory survey 69 Pedagogical strategy 69 Part Two CHAPTER 5. ESTABLISHMENT O F PROGRESSIONS 77 Application of the Definition of contents 77 pedagogical strategy Establishment of didactic progressions 78 Documents 17-21 80 CHAPTER 6. E L A B O R A T I O N OF P E D A G O G I C A L M E T H O D S 91 A N D MACHINERY A Bases and underlying principles of the pedagogical approach in functionalliteracy work 91 Bases of the pedagogical approach 91 Basic principles of the pedagogical approach 93 B Special pedagogy 98 Preliminary considerations 98 Special didacticmethods 1 O1 Testing of teaching methods and aids 110 Docunients 22-46 112 CHAPTER 7. F U N C T I O N A L LITERACY IN ACTION 163 Recruitment and training of instructors 163 Formation of functional literacy groups 164 The functional literacy ‘class’ 165 Docunwnts 47-48 169 GENERAL CONCLUSION 171 P OSTSCR JPT 173  Introduction Literacy training aims at promoting man’s adjustment to change so that he may become both the agent and the object of development. Closely geared to the economic and social developmentpriorities, such training is designed as a component part of the development projects. FUNCTIONAL A N D TRADITIONAL LITERACY TRAINING’ Functional literacy training is distinguished from so-calledtraditional literacy training in that it ceases to be an isolated,separate operation, let alone an end in itself,but treats the illiterate in a group context in relation to a given environment,and with a view to development. The basic characteristic of a functional literacy programme is that it is geared to collective and individualneeds. It is ‘madeto measure’; differentiated according to the environment and adjusted to specific economic and social objectives. The advocates of traditional literacy training aim at giving the illiterate sufficient command of the mechanisms of reading, writing and elementary arithmetic to afford him access to the written or printed word. In a functionalliteracy programme, on the other hand, instruction in reading and writing and the training component (tech- nical, occupational, scientific, socio-economic, civic, etc.) are not conducted separately nor dissociated in time;they are integrated activities,each entering intimatelyinto the other. Traditional literacy work is diffuse and non-intensivein character. Functional literacy uses an intensive approach as a step towards the ultimate acquisitionof vocational skills and usable knowledge. 1. See FunctionalLiteracy as a Fuctor in Development, Paris, Unesco, 1970 (Inter- national Education Yeas 1970,1).. 10 Practical guide to functional literacy Traditional literacy programmes are generally standardized and set up on a centralized basis. Functional literacy programmes are variable and flexible,and take the immediate objectives and specific situations into account. These basic characteristics of functional literacy work need to be kept in mind, more particularly because of the frequency with which their application in practice falls short of their acceptance in principle. WHY FUNCTIONAL LITERACY? Throughout a diversity of situations, the aim of functional literacy remains basically the same: to mobilize,train and educate still insuf- ficiently utilized manpower, to make it more productive and more useful to itself and to society. O n the plane of development,most of the Third World countries have set themselves two main objectives:industrialization and mod- ernization of agriculture. Industrializationrequires capital,raw materials and power ; it also presupposes a high level of technology,supplies of skilled labour and genuine know-how.These demands would be out of the question without qualified and specialist personnel at all levels.It is obvious that the industrialization of a country necessitates the production not only of technicalpersonnel but also of a diversity of ‘labourcorps’with the required skills and know-how.Now, a country which is just embarking on the industrialization process does not at first possess workers trained for industrial production. Very often, firms are obliged to take on untrained workers newly arrived from the country districts.These workers have to adapt to factory conditions and to the ideas of output and productivity.Accustomed in their villages to work to the rhythm ofnatural phenomena-sun, rain,the moon’sphases,the seasons-they suddenly have to adapt to the rhythm of the machine, to the exigencies of precision, exactness, punctuality and discipline, which industrial production implies.The difficulties presented by this adaptation are at the root of a great many failings which slow up production or make it costly and non-competitive.A few examples of this are frequent botches in tooling and waste of raw materials, nu- merous breakdowns ofmachines,unsatisfactory maintenance of equip- ment,deterioration oftools,accidents at work,large-scaleabsenteeism, etc.For industry to be productive,it requires workers with a diversity oflevels of training according to the nature of their work.Yet,training  Introduction 11 for industry in the Third World countries requires more than mere copies of what is given in the industrialized countries.It demands not only the acquisition of skills or know-how,but also a recasting of the modes of being and functioning.For the teachers,it is not simply a matter of teaching people a trade or a manual or clerical skill,but also of creating a new mentality, of shaping a ‘professionalconscience’. Industrial training includes such elements as industrial technology, industrialart,applied arithmetic,safetyand hygiene,as well as elements of sociology, economics and civics,which are unlearnable without a certain level ofliteracy.It is at this point that functionalliteracy comes into the picture. Functional literacy training is an activity aimed at the intellectual and civic training of the worker and his adaptation to the industrial environment and its technical demands. By extending the benefits of functionalliteracy to the greatest possible number of illiterate workers, greater over-allproductivity is obtained from the individualfirm;and this-be it remembered-is one ofthe necessary conditionsfor national development. The modernization of the agricultural sector is also a priority objective in a good number OP countries. For an idea of the usefulness and, indeed, the necessity of a functional literacy operation as part of an agricultural extension campaign,let us consider the requirements for training in operations such as irrigation and the use of cheinical fertilizers and insecticides, which only in appearance fall within the capabilities of any cultivator. In point of fact, the cultivator not only has to be able to read and understand the instructions concerning the products he has occasion to use;he also,and above all,must be able to calculate:to reckon the amount of seed needed for his fields,the volume of water required for optimum plant growth; to work out,from the proportions indicated per hectare or per acre, the amount of fertilizer required for a given area of ground,or to calculatethe quantity of insecticides to be mixed with volumes of water varying with the capacity of the spray used. In short, the agricultural worker has to be able to calculate surfaces, volumes and capacities,to use the rule of three and to work out per- centages.Yet the number of peasants who are still illiterate or semi- literate remains very high, and the frequently very low levels of education are a particularly serious handicap,for they immediately block any effective possibility of sustained technical progress in the agricultural sector. It can be said that inferior levels of education and 12 Prcrctical guide to fiinctionul literacy agricultural progress are totally incompatible. In every analysis of modernization in the agricultural sector,one conclusion is the double necessity of organizing appropriate vocational training and raising the cultivators’level of general education.Functional literacy teaching takes both these objectives into consideration,with the understanding that in certain cases it can be made available to populations with partial schooling.More accurately,it is in fact a matter of equipping individualsintellectually and of helping them to a level at which their knowledge becomes usable on the technical plane. T w o major questions arise once the decision is taken to mount a functional literacy operation: first, how to work out a pedagogic strategy adapted to the over-alldevelopmentstrategy-in other words, how to gear the pedagogic action to the development objectives; second,how to put this strategyinto effect.The two parts ofthe present guide will attempt to answer these two questions. W e are aiming,however,at a practical guide.The articles contained in it will therefore be abundantly illustrated with examples, models and references drawn from the actual experience of the functional literacy projects, whether completed or still in progress. These docu- ments appear as appendixes to the chapters they are meant to complement or clarify.  Purt One Determination of a pedagogical strategy adapted to the aims of a development programme The effectiveness of a functional literacy operation depends very much on its adjustment to the development objectives and problems of the social and economic milieu in which it is to take place. The preliminary definition of an operational strategy in the light of this basic requirement therefore constitutes the crucial phase of any fu.nctiona1literacy action. Chapters 1, 2 and 3 are devoted to this important problem.  Chapter 1 Preliminary inventory of objectives and problems PRELIMINARY INVENTORY O F THE ECONOMIC OBJECTIVES Once the development programme scheduled for integration with a functional literacy element has been established, the first step is to ascertain the programme’sgeneral objectives. These objectives must be clearly tabulated,as conceived and stated by the competent authorities. The available documents will be consulted with this in mind, e.g.: general development plan; regional or local development plan; miscellaneous technical and economic studies (production standards, etc.) ; monographs;plans of operations,etc. In the rare cases in which the objectives are not clearly defined,it will be necessary to make preliminary inquiries which should be directed to the national authorities connected with the development programme (ministries of agriculture,industry,planning,etc.), and to those with local responsibility for the administration and execution of the programme (heads of companies, administrators of development machinery, etc.). The precision of the information collected varies from context to context. To the extent that the objectives determine the action to be taken and facilitatethe orientation and execution of the context study, it is always useful to collect numerical data which can aid in the quantification of these objectives. In a well-conceived and well-designed development operation,the fruit of thorough preliminary basic studies, the data available-of adequate clarity and explicitness-are of such a kind as to facilitate the identification of needs as regards training and the preparation of the teaching programmes. O n the other hand, serious difficulties are to be feared if for some reason or other a functional literacy element is introduced in a 16 Practical guide to functional literacy development programme whose orientation and executory modalities are still uncertain. PRELIMINARY INVENTORY O F T H E TECHNICO- O C C U P AT1 O N A L A N D SO CI O -ECO N O M IC OB JE C T IVES In order to reach the general development objectives,the competent authorities (planning bodies, technical ministries, leaders of industry, etc.) set ‘contributory’technico-occupationaland/or socio-economic objectives which must be met at the outset. These objectivesmust be known as completely as possible,for they strictly condition the definition of both the training objectives and the functional-literacyprogrammes. Table 1 illustrates the functional relations which should exist among these various objectives, the examples selected coming from functional literacy programmes integrated in development operations in course of execution in December 1970. PRELIMINARY INVENTORY O F PROBLEMS The collectionofdata requiredfor a preliminary inventoryofobjectives usually servesto reveala diversity ofproblems relating to the technico- occupational and socio-economic aspects of the work factor: tech- nical and occupationalabilitiesand skills;socio-economicorganization of production; economic comportments; human relations within the firm;health and hygiene at work,etc. At this stage of data collection and contacts,obviously all that can be expected is a general view of the problems, a full understanding of which is calculated to bring out the physiognomy of a situation and to facilitate the context study. 1. The word ‘work’ is used here in a general sense. It designates any human activity which, within the area under consideration, contributes directly or indirectly to development. Preliminary inventory of objectives and problems 17 33 18 Practical guide to functional literacy  19 Preliminary inventory of objectives and problems  Chapter 2 Context study The preliminary inventory of objectives and problems constitutes an introduction to an exploratory analysis of the context,whose main objective is the definition of a strategy of educational intervention. W H A T IS THE ‘CONTEXT’? It is first of all the geographical milieu,i.e.the conlbhation of natural factorswhich set the lines of economic and social development. It is above all the human rnilieu with its demographiccharacteristics and its sociological, psychological and cultural aspects; in this case,the dynamic human elements (engineers,technicians,peasants, workers, educators, etc.) participating in one way or another in the development process. It is, finally,the economic milieu, in which scientific-technological factors are brought into play, serving towards transformation of the context itself.Economic action and productive activities being closely tied up with individualpsychologies and mentalities,a socio-economic and socio-psychologicalanalysisofthe milieu is obviouslyindispensable in every case. H O W SHOULD O N E T A C K L E THE MILIEU? Whatever survey method is chosen,the mode of penetration into the socio-occupationalmilieu closely conditions the results expected from the survey. The concept of functional literacy training is new and difficult to grasp. It can be applied effectively only with the participation of the milieu-heads of firms,executives,technicians,illiterate w0rkers.l 1. See Chapter 3, below. 22 Practical guide to functional literacy It is necessary for the milieu to know exactly what is in question, and to understand the objectives of the projected action, plus the methods likely to be employed. In order to avoid mistakes or ques- tionable diagnoses,it is desirable to inform the milieu in objective and concrete terms about the nature and objectives of functional literacy, and about the object of the given survey.To this end,the investigations must be furnished with the appropriate information in order to make themselves heard and understood. If well employed,the audio-visual media,with the impact inherent in them,can render notable service in approaching the problem. A film or a good audio-visualdemonstration is more easily understood than a long talk.This is the more important in that, during this crucial preliminary phase, one is concerned with creating an atmosphere of confidence and establishing a dialogue and communication. In order to avoid suspicion and reserve,it is essential to respect the habits, customs and representations of the populations concerned.In launching the dialogue it is often useful to take advantage,thanks to audio-visualmedia, of the detour afforded by outside experience in order to pose the problem in striking and expressive terms, facilitate understanding of it and promote discussion and reflection. If the briefing session is well conducted, the approach to the facts and experience of the hearer’s own milieu is easily effected by a natural process of comparison,association and transposition. The emergence of a clear awareness among those concerned of the true dimensions of the training problems facing them (technical, economic, educational), in itself transforms the situation and consti- tutes a favourablefactor for the ‘sounding’of the milieu. SURVEY METHODS As regards the survey methods to be used, the approach proposed in the pages which follow is only indicative in nature. The ‘terrain’itself must suggest the method to be used to identify needs and problems in terms of pedagogic action. The experience acquired in the functional literacy projects in pro- gress,and in the training seminarswhose organization they make neces- sary,clearly demonstrates the usefulness of moving step by step to a ‘diagnosis’,of making a clinical approach which seeksto identify objec- tives, needs and problems as precisely as possible, and of identifying positive and negative socio-psychologicaland socio-culturalelements.  Context study 23 The necessity of a precise diagnosis, with a view to functional adaptation of training action to the exigencies of a milieu in the process of transformation,implies a study of that milieu by two funda- mental, concentric approaches, simultaneously or seriatim according to the circumstances: the ‘monographing’and the ‘radiography’of the milieu. The essential purpose of the monographic study is to describe the development area and activities to show the problem range and strategy. The ‘radiographic’study uses the data thus collected to identify the problem/situations directly affecting development, both on the group and on the individual level. This stage normally issues in an identification of the training needs and a determination of the pro- gramme elements. A. Monograph of the environment The nionograph ofthe environmentmight be constructed in conformity with the skeletongiven below.As each situation presents an individual and original character,it may seem arbitrary to prepare a framework for the investigative study which is thereby exposed to the risk of running up against the disadvantages of a rigid structure. For this reason,it should be stressed that this skeleton is only given as an indication, and that the formal aspects of the monographic approach must not allow its object and the spirit of the project to be forgotten. The following are a few chapter-headings which would seem important. AGRICULTURAL MILIEU The natural setting The human milieu. The settlement of the area and its demographic characteristics.Living conditions.Cultural aspects.Linguistic aspects. Administrative structures. Educational factors: educational and training institutions and activities. 24 Practical guide to fuizctional literucy Socio-economic milieu. The development programme. Economic factors and modes of production. The development mechanisms and their activities.Transport facilities and exchanges. Inventory of needs and resources. Unemployment and underemployment The socio- See cultural and psycho-sociologicalaspects of the milieu. The training of Document I, the labour force. Illiteracy and the motivations for welcoming puge 31 functionalliteracy training. Synthesis Formulation of the problem complex presented by the development of the milieu. Statement of the economic objectives. Statement of the technico-occupational and socio-economic objectives. §ocio-cultural and psycho-sociologicalelements-positive and negative. Motivations, attitudes. INDUSTRIAL MILIEU The sector of industry to which the firm belongs. Its place in the national industrialization effort. The jïrm. Status of the 16nn. The manufacturing operation (raw materials; products manufactured, destination; manufacturing pro- cess-over-all view). The labour force (socio-occupationalstructure; social particulars; cultural particulars). Size of the firm (its production capacity;its integrationin the local and nationalsystem ofproduction). The problem aspects of this milieu (the firm’sneeds and resources; problem of labour force capacitation;illiteracy;psycho-sociological factors: human relations within the firm). Synthesis. Formulation of the problem complex presented by the development of the firm.Statement of production objectives. State- ment of technico-occupationaland socio-economicobjectives.Positive and negative psycho-sociological and socio-culturalelements. Moti- vations,attitudes,human relations.  Context study 25 B. The ‘radiographic’ study of the milieu Themilieu having been ‘monographed’,the finalphase ofthe ‘sounding’ process should have as its principal objective the restatement of the ‘operational’objectives in terms of problems and needs as regards training. The level at which the investigation is conducted should be es- sentially that of the groups and that of the individual-whose intel- lectual profile and knowledge demand understanding for the purpose of determining his needs as regards training. INTELLECTUAL PROFILE OF T H E ILLITERATE A D U L T Research into the psychology of the illiterate adult has still to be undertaken and encouraged.In effect,we have here a still-unexplored domain,but one of exceptional richness,if we consider the variety of socio-culturalsituations and of individualexperience. In this domain,we have no established scientific data, such as we have in the area of child and adolescent psychology.The rare studies made are still of an inconclusive character, and the fragmentary conclusions which they yield would be the better for fuller research. These conclusions are nevertheless of undoubted interest for the See pedagogical action which, in turn, can clarify and amplify them. Document 2, Document 2,extracted from a study carried out among the peasants page 36 of Farafangana is relevant to all functional literacy action in the country,land-beyond that experience-may provide suggestions for similar studies respecting the action to be taken. DETERMINATION OF TRAINING NEEDS A determination of training needs involves two approaches which are in fact complementary: objectives-oriented approach and problems- oriented approach. For didactic reasons,these two approaches will here be presented separately. In practice, and according to the circumstances, their combined use is essential. 1. See Functional Literacy: Method of Training fou Development, p. 13 (Unesco document ED/Conf.26/3, 6 November 1970). 26 Practical guide to functional literacy Ifthe educationalprogrammes for adults were required to conform to individual objects or aspirations, their adaptation to existing conditions and real needs would be imperfect.It is necessary to take into consideration the problems which prevent the attainment of the desired aims. It goes without saying that the problems of a subjective character,having to do with individuals, groups or collectivities,are much more varied than the objective problems; but they are also closer to life and real circumstances.It is for this reason that their identification constitutes a decisive step towards the determination of training requirements and the adaptation of educational programmes to a given milieu. Objectives-orientedapproach In industrial and agricultural areas alike, the determination of pro- gramme elements can issue from a preliminary restatementof develop- mental objectives (technico-occupational and socio-economic) in terms of training requirements. To this end,use can be made ofjob-analysismethods,in the wide sense of tasks,roles and functions,within the socio-economicactivities of a dynamic milieu : workshop, work-site,agricultural holding, co- operative,etc. A job-study is necessarily multidisciplinary in character, since it requires the co-operationof a range of specialists:technicians,sociol- ogists, educators, etc., with the composition of the teams varying according to the nature of thejob under consideration. Job-study in an agricultural milieu. This study is directed, on the one hand,to the actual knowledge of the populations under consideration and,on the other,to the knowledge required.The latter is established on the basis ofthe technico-occupationaland socio-economicobjectives of the development programme. The comparison between these two levels of knowledge permits a listing of needs as regards training. Regarding translation of the technical-occupationalobjectives into See tasks and operations (definition of situation to be achieved), the ob- Document 3, jectives must be seen in terms of operationsto be carried out and roles page 40 to be undertaken at the level of each task. Determination of the level of knowledge of the population and’”of needs as regards training can be tackled in several different wa$:  Context study 27 Direct observation. This means going to the area to observe and interview the workers and the technicians supervising them. This method gives excellent results,but is long and therefore expensive. Sounding the specialists. The specialists of the development team (engineers, agronomists, technicians, administrative staff) respon- sible for following and implementing the technical programmes in the field are often in a position to provide the necessary information concerning the level of knowledge of the populations under consideration. Inquiry by questionnaire. The workers and specialists are asked to reply to a questionnaireregardingthe different technical operations carried out in the course of the cultivation cycle.After analysis of the results, it is possible to determine the level of knowledge of those concerned. The three approaches indicated above are generally susceptible to a diversity of combinations,according to local possibilities and oppor- tunities. Whatever approach or combination of approaches is used, it should be possible to identify the level of knowledge of the population under consideration for each task and for the corresponding operations (initial state). The individual operations and tasks necessitated where ‘defi- ciencies’are found to affect the majority of the population constitute See the situations from which the elements of the programme will be Documents4-5, determined. pages 41-5 Job-analysis in an industrial milieu. Here, the methodological approach is the same as in the case of an agricultural milieu. T w o situations may be distinguished, according to the objectives in view: training for a job in industry,generally given in the form of basic vocational training; and on-the-jobretraining or vocational training proper. Training for ajob in industry. The need to train a skilled labour force in short order to meet the needs of industrial concerns leads the authorities concerned to organize basic training for workers, either full-time in vocational basic-training centres, in alternation with productive work, or during or after working hours. The situation is particularly favourable to training in the first two cases. In the first, we get the normal situation of a technical and vocational training establishmentwhere the main pedagogical problem 28 Practical guide to ,functionalliteracy is that of adapting the training to the aptitudesofthe illiteratestudents. See In the second, the training problem is directly linked to productive Document 6, activities. However, the alternation work and functional literacy page 46 training is particularly favourable to the training activities. On-the-job training and retraining. Job-analyses,whether by direct observation,by samplings and a documentary study,or by an approach combining several different methods,should make it possible to draw up a list of the training needs which will provide the basis for drafting the programmes. Problems-oriented approach In the pursuit of given objectives, fixed problems arise as soon as various obstacles diverse in nature block the advance towards the objects chosen. These obstacles are essentially concerned with indi- viduals’ Skikills and attitudes, and with human relations. Identzj5cation of the problems. The detection of problem situations is undertaken as soon as the preliminary enumeration of problems has been made.lThis process must be pursued by a systematic exploration of the field of operations by: (a) direct observation;(b) consuItation of experts and the population elements involved; (c) documentary analysis. In both agricultural and industrial circles, the analysis of the technico-economicsituation,considered as a preliminary to functional literacy operations, must always be rounded off by a study of the problems arising in the context of human relations within the groups and of attitudes towards work, development and functional literacy. Industrial psychology shows the importance of the working ‘atmosphere’.The fact is that the productivity of an individual is determined both by his capacities and by his state of mind. By reason of their affective content,attitudes influence behaviour. It is therefore necessary to study them, both at supervisory and at operativelevel,so that the training effort may be directed concurrently See with the acquisition of knowledge to that of constructive attitudes. Documents 7-8, The examples given in Documents 7 and 8 are good illustrations of pages 48-51 the problems-orientedapproach. 1. See Chapter 1, above.  Context study 29 Translation of the problems into tvuiízing needs. The problems identified represent the ‘deficiencies’of individuals or groups, and supply,item for item,the list of the corresponding needs as regards training. 1 * * Instrumental objectives 7 Problems Technico-occupational I , Socio-economic / // I / I / /’ / I // / / /Y / I ,/’ I/. Tasks Operations Functions Starting situation Figure I. Objectives-oriented(1) and problems-oriented(2)approaches. 30 Practical guide to functional literacy LITERACY-A MAJOR N E E D Functional literacy is a method of training for development.It must never be forgotten that literacy represents one of the fundamental elements in such training. It is unnecessary to recallthe importance of mastery ofthe alphabet as a means of communication.The fact that the written sign is one of the essential conditions of progress is a datum of modern life. In effect, the written word constitutes at once a permanent working instrument and a 'memory bank' containing all the knowledge needed for action and for individual and collective deve1opment.l In order to make the most profitable use of the capacity for action which the ability to read and write provides,the main effort should be directed to a definition of the most motivative educational situations, i.e.those which are the most directly related to individual and collective needs,those most closely tied in with the development objectives. Accordingly, it is impossible to overstate the importance attached to the study ofthe milieu, which alone will make it possible to elaborate functional programmes corresponding to needs and expectations. Literacy is only really functional in the context of a training dynamic, and to the extent that it conveys a technical, vocational, social and economic content related to development requirements. All the work of studying the terrain, defining the ranges of prob- lems, and elaborating the programmes and strategies,must be able to ensure the effectiveness of the training and hence of the pure literacy instruction which is an integral part of it.2 1. See Introduction,above. 2. See Chapter 6, below.  31 Document I Functional Literacy Project (Madagascar) Befandriana Operation Motivations of the peasantry for or against functional literacy training AIMS A N D LIMITS OF T H E S T U D Y cent persons of authority. When the latter were not able to attend separate sessions, they joined This study of peasant motivations for or against in the meetings for men. development and literacy training has been taken from the results of a survey which covered W H Y D O PEASANTS W A N T T O L E A R N T O twenty villages of all sizes situated in the zone READ AND WRITE? of the Farafangana (Madagascar) subproject. Peasants wanted to learn to rea? everything PRESENTATION O F T H E S U R V E Y readable so as not to be ‘ignorantof the evolu- tion of modern life’, so as not to be ‘cheatedby The survey was carried out by eight voluntary- traders’who knew how to read, and finally,‘to service workers who were accompanied by two be like the chaps of Farafangana’.Those in au- young women (one the directress of a rural thority wanted to learn to read ‘in order to extension centre, and the other of a domestic organize village affairs better’. and women’s agricultural training centre). They first wanted to read family letters (17per Meetings were thrown open for general dis- cent of the total of ‘wants’,manifested at thirty- cussion after an announcement by the investi- nine meetings out of forty-six). gator: ‘ W e know that you have asked for After family letters, it was books in general someone to cone and teach you, but we don’t and agricultural brochures in particular, which know what you want to learn.You can help us attracted the peasants (32 per cent of the reading by telling us what you would like to learn.’The choices,16 per cent for each item in 80 pes cent investigators-two in number each time-took of the meetings). occasional discreet notes, and met afterwards to Next came newspapers, instanced by all the fill out the forms, since the peasants, usually young people, almost all those in authority,one- untrusting by nature, would have given no third of the women and three-quartersof the men. information if they had seen notes being taken Peasants also wanted to be able to read official of what they were saying. As a result, much letters (11 per cent of voies, one meeting out of detail was undoubtedly lost. It was not possible two) and the ‘stufffrom the town hall’ (10 per to use tape recorders, as the peasants were too cent of votes, one meeting out of two). apprehensive. It therefore emerges that the peasants want to The team managed to hold forty-sixmeetings learn to read in order to keep in touch with the (fifteen for men, twelve for women, eight for young people who have gone abroad, to keep a persons of authority, and eleven for young check on the action of the administration,and to people of either sex) with a total attendance of get technical knowledge froin books. The young 893, of whom 30 per cent were young people, people and the leading personalities are the 12 per cent women, 30 per cent men and 9 per groups with the most motivation. 32 Practical guide to functional litesacy WRITING assembled in order of the support they received, the followingdifferencesare observable. In the course of the forty-sixmeetings,107 replies Among the men, totting up and calculating were obtained to the question ‘Youwant to learn prices come first (an average of 1.5 replies per to write; what do you want to write?’.Fifty-five meeting); then,calculating lengths and distances, per cent of the replies indicated a letter, 40 per surface areas, weights, volumes and capacities cent a desire to write the names of people or of (about one reply per meeting); and last,calculat- things. ing times and relationships. An average of approximately two replies per Among the women,the leading want was addi- meeting was obtained,which is very low. It was tion (3.5 replies per meeting); followed by calcu- the young people who expressed the most ‘wants’ latingprices,weights and capacities(a little under (average of 3.3 replies per meeting), the men had one reply per meeting); and finally,a long way an average of 2.3per meeting (2.4for the persons behind, calculating lengths, distances, surface of authority), and the women, 1.3 per meeting. areas and times (about 0.5 replies per meeting). Two-thirdsof the replies from the men (includ- Of the wants of those in authority,by numbers ing the persons of authority) expressed desires to of replies received, the ability to add was &st write a letter ‘tothe family,and to our sons far (2.2), followed in descending order by ability to away’,but also ‘tofriends,to those we love’.In calculate (a) prices and weights (1.7), (b) capaci- the case of five meetings, answerers wanted to ties, surface areas, and lengths (about one reply write ‘administrativeletters to the Agricultural per meeting), and finally (c) times and relation- Department’ and, in one village specifically,‘to ships. ask the Prefectfor assegaisto kill the wild boars’. The young people’s wants were, kst, to learn About one-third of the replies indicated that to reckon prices (1.7) and to add (1.6); followed peasants wanted to leam to write so as to be able in order by learning to calculate surface areas, to sign their names, to avoid the humiliation of capacities, weights, volumes and times (about finger-printing,to write the names of their vil- one reply); and finally,relationships (0.2). lages¶while there were a few who wanted to know Given that the peasants want to learn how to how to ‘writethe date and their age’. A motive tot up and calculate,for what purposes do they advanced at one meeting was to be able to write want this? a ‘work plan’, and at another, ‘tolist our pro- perty’. Addition TOTTING UP A N D CALCULATIN- The wish most frequently expressed was to learn ANALYSIS OF REPLIES to add up inoney earned,since the peasants are never sure of receiving their due when they sell This item produced many replies,about eight per their agriculturalproduce.Thiswish came mainly meeting. The figurewas eight per meeting for the from the adults-men and women. Next in fre- persons of authority, the men and the young quency was the wish to learn to tot up livestock people, and a little under seven for the women. (mainly cattle and poultry); it was the men, Twenty-threeper cent of the replies referred to young and old (not the women) who wanted this. totting up; people wanted to calculate their pos- The least frequent wish expressed was to be able sessions.Next,17 per cent instanced working out to make enumerations of everything relevant to prices, followed by calculating weights (13 per agricultural production : soubiques (baskets) of cent), volumes and capacities (13 per cent), sur- rice and coffee, numbers of coffee bushes, mats face areas (11 per cent), lengths and distances woven,etc. It was the women who were most keen (11 per cent), times (8per cent), and lastly,of cer- on learning to add and, surprisingly,the young tain relationships (3 per cent). people who were leastkeen.(Perhaps they already Arranging thewants cited by each of the groups knew how?)  Context study 33 Calculation and rice paddies (men) and of rush matting and dress materials (women). The primary wish was to learn to calculateprices Eight per cent of the total of wishes expressed and, first and foremost, the value of produce: related to the calculation of time.The wish most 90 per cent of the answers specified ‘the total frequently expressed was for information on the price of the goods or produce we buy or sell, so notion of time and the workings of the watch. as not to lose money’. Many answers specified Next came the desire to learn how to measure the products whose prices are subject to evaluation: time taken on the journey to a neighbouring vil- rice, cotton, pepper, vanilla, and rush matting lage or to the trader’s store.Other wishes expres- (‘ordinaryand coloured‘). sed were to learn how to calculatethe drying time Other subjects (especially women) wanted to for coffee and paddy, the time to be allowed learn to calculate the price of manufactured between sowing and planting out,etc.;in short, articles:pillows,poufs,clothes,dresses,curtains. everything relating to the agricultural calendar. Next came the desire to learn to calculate weights, in most cases, of local produce (84 per W H A T PEASANTS W A N T T O L E A R N cent of those giving this answer):first coffee,then IN ADDITION T O W R I T I N G A N D ARITHMETIC paddy,pepper and straw.Others wanted to know how weighing is done mechanically, others, the Learning something else relationship or difference between one kilo and one kapoakd of coffee,or the weight in kilos of a The questionput to the peasants was ; ‘Apartfrom daba.2 reading, writing and arithmetic, what more do Next in order of frequency was the wish to you want to be taught? A total of 624replieswere learn how to calculate volumes and, above all, obtained,of which 29 per cent came from men’s dry and liquid measures. Eighty-threeper cent of meetings, 28 per cent from the young people, these replies mentioned accurate calculation of 23 per cent from the women and 19 per cent from dry-measure volumes of their agricultural pro- the local leaders. If we take into account the duce: coffee, paddy, pepper and manioc. Of number of meetings held by each of these social equal interest were the calculation of space in groups, we find that it was the young people’s granaries or houses, and the dry-measurequan- meetings which proffered the most suggestions tity of rice consumed by the family.(The peas- (16 on average), followed by the men’s and ants think in terms of dry measures rather than women’s meetings running level with an average ofweight,especially for subsistenceproduce.)The of 12.5 per meeting. indications are thathere and there peopie do have An attempt has been made to regroup the the notion of the relationship of different units requests under the following heads: (total volume of the coffee they reckon in kapo- Request for knowledge of direct occupational aka, volume of manioc after fine chopping, the relevance (improvement of cultivation tech- capacity of a jar,etc.). niques, animal husbandry, preservation of As regards calculations,in descending order of produce marketing); 28 per cent of all wishes interest to peasants are the assessments of areas, expressed. lengths and distances: 83 per cent of this group Requests for knowledge relating more particu- wanted to learn to calculate the areas of rice larly to means of production (rural trades, fields, coffee plantations and cultivable fields. rural engineering): 13 per cent of all requests. A few men wanted to learn to work out floor Requests for occupationally essential academic space in houses, and a few women the area of rush mats. Measure of capacity corresponding to a Nestle’s con- As to distances,most wanted to learn to calcu- 1. densed-milk tin. late the distance between villages or between vil- 2. Measure of capacity correspondingto a n 1 &litre petrol lages and traders,and the main lengths of fields can. 34 Practical guide COfuiictional literacy knowledge (weights, measures, relationships): The first want is to learn how to improve 25 per cent of all requests. farming techniques, run tractor-drawn ploughs Requests for knowledge relevant to the care or (in order to work more land), improve rice- improvement of the labour force (health, growing (seed-beds,drilling the seedlings), use of hygiene, food,clothing): 13 per cent of all re- insecticides and fertilizers,maintenance of coffee quests. and pepper plantations,improvement of manioc Requests for knowledge relevant to relations cultivation,vegetable and tree-fruitgrowing,and with the outside world (knowledge of the laws cultivation of other crops which do not yet exist of nature, communication with others, re- in the village. lations with authorities, general knowledge): The men were interested in cattle. Some of 21 per cent of total requests. them wanted to make theirs a stock-farming W e thus see that the acquiring of skills such as region. Accordingly,they wanted to learn how weighing, measuring, calculating proportions, to fatten the cattle, how to extend the area of relationship and percentages, are a main preoc- improved pasture and how to pick out their sepa- cupation of the peasants, since they appear four rate draught oxen from beef cattle. Advice was times (once for each social group) on the list of requested on the breeding of pedigree stock. A the first ten.The primary interestlies in weighing few expressed interest in pisciculture. things (half therequestsrelated to this). Generally Peasants remarked that produce kept in store speaking,subjects wanted to know the weight of was often damaged, either by insects or by rats. their produce before marketing it. They wanted They accordingly wanted to know how to pre- to know the weight of the traditional village servethe full quality of the stored harvests (paddy, measures (daba,kapoaka) of each product. They rice, manioc). They also wanted to be taught also wanted to learn the use of scales,to be able better ways of choosing seed for the next year, to weigh things for themselves. A few subjects and of drying coffee and pepper. Many thought also expressed a wish to learn to weigh seed in that if they learned how to preserve their produce order to avoid wasting it. better,the period of short supplywould be briefer In the same line of thought was the desire to and famine more easily avoided. learn to measure-calculate distances, areas of The problems of marketing were also of inter- rice paddies and seed-beds,the dimensions of est to each of the four groups interviewed,above houses, and of the rapaka (stakes) used in build- all to the leaders and the young people, although ing. But they also wanted to be able to use the the women were not indifferent to these concerns. measuring tape, as done by the development There was a general wish to know how to sell at agents. the best price. The peasants were indignant that Lastly,subjects wanted to know how to calcu- prices dropped when their production increased. latethe ‘rightquantities’of fertilizers,insecticides They remarked that the over-all profit was not and seeds which should be used on a field accord- proportionate to the quantities marketed, and ing to area ‘likethe FAO agents’; and how to wanted to learn how the total cost is calculated work out the amount of rice which should be from the selling price per soubique or kapouka. retained for their own consumption and the They wanted to know the price of their produce amount of surplus which can be sold. Finally, (coffee,pepper,rice or paddy) in advance.In sum, the women were concerned with medicines and they sensed the economic phenomena associated wanted to learn how to give the doses prescribed with marketing, did not accept the structure and by the doctors. wanted enlightenment. They thought that liter- acy teaching would arm them (with arithmetic, Occliputional knowledge knowledge of weights and measures and of the asking price) to meet traders on equal terms. Here the wants expressed can be divided into As regards the improvement of the means of fous, almost equal groups. production,the requests for instruction covered  Con text study 35 water management, disposal of produce for sale, taneously; why water cannot be stored in areas improvementof the habitat and storage facilities, of the plain where there is none available; what and the development of the rural trades sector. water is used for apart from drinking and Thirty-sixper cent of the requests related to the washing; why there is a particular time of the water problem. Subjects wanted, with the help year for planting crops; why aeroplanes fly; and of the ‘technicalservices’,to build darns,improve if it is not true that there is, after all,a little man the maintenance of the canals,irrigate and drain inside the radio.They were anxious to know how the paddy fields according to the rules, and to take notes, so as to write all this down. For operate pumps. when an instructor did come,they quickly forgot There was also a wish to learn the laws of the explanations lie gave. They wanted to enrich nature. Subjects wanted to know: the causes of their knowledgein order to discuss it together in thunder and drought;why the wind blows; why the evening. the sun despite its heat does not dry coffee instan- 36 Document 2 Functional Literacy Project (Madagascar) Intellectual profile of the Malagasy peasant The illiterate peasant is generally characterizedstanding a picture, which he does not see as a in terms of his inability to read or write (or-asrepresentation of reality but as an object in itself. is too often forgotten-add or calculate). This Therefore, he will not necessarily say what the definition,however, is absolutely inadequate for picture represents, but what this collection of distinguishing him from the literate. The latter lines suggest to him. One might point out that moves fast and far and lives in a world inundatedpictorial material is wholly lacking to most by the written word, images,drawings,sketches, school-lesshamlets,and that there is practically diagrams,posters,Hms,television-all of it to an no paper, either printed or blank. accompaniment of increasingly symbolic noises, Researcherswere able to conduct an inquiry on cries or music, which underscores the written or this point in 1969, in villages in the sub-project represented element. These assaults on eye and zone. A three-plate pictorial test was used (see ear permanently modify the action ofthe literate,page 37). operate in depth on his sensations and impreg- The first plate showed everyday objects with nate his sensibility. which the villagers were familiar, represented The illiteratepeasant moves around much less, without unnecessary details. The second plate and seldom rapidly;he lives in a fairly ill-defined introduced the notion of perspective, while the spatial structure and in an environment generallythird showed parts of objects or much enlarged devoid ofman-madesymbols,whether graphic or objects. All the objects represented belonged to acoustic. This non-technicizedenvironment does the visual world of the peasant. little to modify his sensationsand sensibility,or If we examine the results of the test we &st else does it less rapidly. find that in general the men recognized the objects The illiteratecannot compensatefor the lack ofpictured better than the women, but with only a knowledgeresulting from his inability to interpret small difference between them, except among the written symbol by over-exceptionaldevelop- people over 45 years of age (the difference then ment of other intellectualfaculties as in the case becomes very marked). Although two men out of some physically handicapped people who com- of three (against 61 per cent of the women) re- pensate for the lack of one sensory faculty (e.g.cognized the eight pictures on the first plate, we sight) by an astonishing development of other find that the eight pictures on the second plate senses (e.g. hearing and touch). The illiterate’swere only recognized by a quarter of the men comportment is more that of a mentally handi- (against 23 per cent of the women), and those on capped person. the third plate (parts of objects) by no more than 11 per cent of the men and 8 per cent of the INABILITY T O INTERPRET PICTURES women. The distribution ofright answers by age groups One important characteristic of the illiterate shows that the younger subjects (as a result of peasant is the difficulty which he has in under- schooling) better indentified the items pictured  Context study 37 - Plate 1 1 3 4 / Plate 2 5 d 6 1 @ 8 9 11 12 '1 14 16 Plate 3 1; 18 20 21 22  38 Practical guide to functional literacy than aid the older subjects. Finally, it will be technical progress. H e is rarely confronted with noted that while all the men recognized at least the laws of mechanics, physics or electricity; one picture in the last two plates, nearly 20 per statistics drawn up in 1969 for agricultural cent ofthe women aged 45 recognized none at all. equipment held by peasants in the Farafangana From this it is possible to conclude that the ability district showed 137 carts, 113 ploughs, 12 h a - to see a picture as a representation of reality is rows,but no tractors or rollers. completely absent among women aged 45. W e thus find that the peasantry have never been taught to ‘see’pictures,any more than they have Lack of precision in using measures been taught to read and calculate.If an illiterate Another point distinguishing the illiterate from is asked to ‘describe’the drawing in front of him, the modern man is a lack of meticulousness, of the results obtained are very variable; being precision in measuring length,area,weight and, incapable of analysing the picture,his answer is above all,time.The illiterate peasant never needs suggested to him either by the general look of the to know the exact measurements of things and drawing or by some detail of no particular has never heard of degrees centigrade,millimetres importance in terms of the drawing’s structure. or seconds. His units of measurement are sub- By way of illustration,there follow a few of the jective,not objective.Time is measured in terms villagers’interpretations of some of the pictures: of sunrise and sunset. The unit for distances is Picture 17 (bicycle-wheel): watch, moon, star, the pace;for weight,content and production (the cart-wheel,umbrella,bowl. three notions are not clearly differentiated in his , Picture 10 (back view of a zebu): cooking-pot, mind) the unit is the rice basket. Verticality, shovel, tree-stump,fish, material, tree-trunk, horizontality and parallelism are never absolutely coffee-pot,jug, skeleton, horse, insect, man exact in the peasant’s mind: he settles for ‘near working,snake.. enough’,which, indeed, is all he needs. For the Picture 23 (man’s ear): machete,snake,cooking- measures of length in particular,the peasant has pot,rope, brain,penknife, parrot,mouth,pig, fish-hook,eel, intestine, embroidery, child in never adopted a k e d unit. H e measures by comparison-either ‘morethan’or ‘less than’- its mother’s womb. utilizing ‘anatomical’lengths according to stand- The variety of the replies is a good indication ards provided by his own body which, of course, of the difficulty in the thought-processes of the varies with the individual. illiterate of proceeding from the real to the Formeasuring capacityhe uses thekapoaka,the figured,and from the representationof an object sobika (soubique)in natural fibre,with a capacity to the real object. This image blindness is, how- that varies greatly according to the region, and ever, easily curable. the daba. These measures are convertible into weights in the course of trading transactionswith Non-technicalmentality of the peasant outsiders.It is hardly necessary to point out the cheating which can occur as a result of these One essential difference between the illiterate practices. peasant and the townsman is the peasant’s non- technical mentality. The town-dwellerof today livesin a technicalworld proceeding from nature’s Dijjîculty over’mental detachment from the veal physical laws.H e has at his disposal a quantity of machines-slaves whose strength is reckoned in The peasant’s thinking is above all pragmatic; horsepower or kilowatt hours. it is always ‘foundedin the realworld‘. When the The non-technicalmentality would seem to be peasant makes a comparison it is always by r e created by the illiterate peasant’s lack of habitu- ference to the concrete world in which his daily ation to technical values: he is a man of the life is lived. H e generally thinks in images-in primary sector which has been little touched by juxtapositions or seriations determined by prox-  Context study 39 imity, resemblances or differences-and rarely it with another act,also isolated.For him,every- if eves inductively or deductively. He thinks in thing is on an equal footing, all the associated images and not in concepts; and thinking in details must be recapitulated,and all present the imagesisheavy,awkward to handle,uncommonly same interest. PIence the difficulty he has in slow and therefore limited. learning new cultural ways. Thus the illiteratepeasant’sthought is concrete DifJiculty in conceptualization thought formed of concrete images. Yet the modern world is a world loaded with symbols,a A consequenceof the difficultieswhich arise from high-speed world where meaningful thought the fact that the peasant only thinks in concrete must be stated with clarity and concision. More- imageswill be the arrest,through lack ofpractice, over, modem thought is often allusive and of the capacity to develop his judgement and his elliptical. powers of reasoning,analysis and synthesis-and The changeover from the illiterate to the hence of his potential for creativity. The act is literate state is not a mere evolution,an enrich- never more than the reproduction of another act ment of the intellect. It is a radical mutation. already repeated previously. The trmsfer of an The process implies not merely access to a higher acquisition in one domain is not carried out sys- level of knowledge but also a general restruc- tematically for application in another domain. turing of knowledge previously acquired, of A principal act is not,in the peasant’s thinking, modes of apprehension of the outside world, of purged of all the associated details which must fosms of elaborating ideas and, in a word, be- precede or follow the principal act for that act to haviour as a whole. For many former illiterates, take place. The villagescannotisolatethe act and having learned to read and write has been a re- give it a preferential value in order to compare discovery of the world,a rebirth. 40 Document 3 Literacy Project, Ghab (Syrian Arab Republic) Technical priorities for sugar-beet cultivation T E C H N I C A L OBJECTIVES TRANSLATION INTO TECHNICAL OPERATIONS A N D TASKS The primordial production factor implies the securing of a sufficient number of roots per unit Preparation of the soil of surface. The preparation of the soil and the Choice of soil. (Loam, mixture of sand and date of sowing which condition this factor are clay;avoid heavy clay soils.) therefore of prime importance. Any delay may Ploughing. cause a heavy drop in production, which may Sowing reach as much as 70 per cent. Date (15 October to early November; in the Moreover,it is absolute heresy to abandon the Acharneh region sowing may be around unirrigated cultivation method even for autumn 15 February-spring beet). beet. Irrigation Further provision must be made against an Autumn :2-3 irrigations. increase of certain vegetable parasites (especially Spring: 5-7 irrigations. Cercospoua) and animal parasites (Laphygma and Periods between irrigations: 2 weeks in Phterimes). Action to combat parasites must be Achameh;3 weeks in Ghab. extremely rapid. Diseases Use copper-basedproducts. Choose a resistantvariety of beet. Insects Use HCH and DDT products.  41 Document 4 Functional Literacy Project,Madagascar Befandriana Operation List of situations in which individual ‘deficiencies’ have been detected RICE G R O U N D -NUTS Preparation of the seed-beds (ploughing, har- Choice of ground. rowing, levelling). Preparation of the soil (ploughing,harrowing). Maintenance of banking. Shelling ofthe seed nuts;fungicide treatment. Sowing in the seed-beds(pre-germination). Sowing (density); anti-rosettemeasures. Preparation of the rice paddies (ploughing,har- Weeding. rowing, construction of banking). Harvesting. Drilling seedlings. Marketing of crop. Weeding (use of the rotary hoe). Rice-grubprevention. STOCK-FARMING Second weeding. Harvesting. Herding. Marketing of crop. Storage of ground-nuttops and rice straw. Feeding of cattle. Care of cattle. 42 Document 5 Functional Literacy Pilot Project (Algeria) S u m m a r y of the agricultural technical survey A survey was conducted in nine self-managed The method of fertilizing used in Algiers-Sahel farm estates: five covered by the Algiers-Sahel consists in using 3-5 cwt of compound fertilizers subprojectandfourbythehnaba(l3ouNamoussa) (0-10-18). The fertilizersare spread on the surface subproject.This study is intended to indicate the or worked into the soil either by light ploughing technical needs of the workers on the self-man- or by hand into holes dug close to the vine stocks. aged farm estates included in the Algeria II pro- Nitrogenous fertilizers are never used for the ject.The method adopted comprisedthefollowing Algiers-Sahelvines. At Bou Namoussa, mineral stages:study of the present agicultural situation fertilizers have not been used for vines for the on the estates;job-analysis;preparation of a list past íwo years. of the technical skills needed by each group of Treatment against oidium and mildew is car- workers to carry out its work satisfactorily; ried out satisfactorily. Treatment for other analysis of the present technical skills of each diseases and against insects is not carried out on group of workers;listing oftheworkers’technical a wide scale. needs,which will serveas a basis for the list of the The averageyield per hectare is 50-60 quintals. agricultural technical themes in the functional The estatemanagements estimatethat production literacy programme. is down by about 40per cent in comparison with previous years. They consider that the draught C U R R E N T STATE OF T H E M A I N CROPS and lack of appropriate technical work may be the cause of this decrease. The study of the current state of the main crops was carried out by means of interviews with the Market-garden crops directors,heads of management committees and a certain number of supervisory personnel Potatoes, tomatoes, carrots, lettuces, onions, working on the estates. marrows, peas, green beans and turnips are the The main crops ofthe self-managedagricultural main vegetables produced in the two regions.At estates covered by the Algeria II project are: Bou Namoussa, three ‘raw-material’crops- vines, market-gardencrops,citrus fruits, cereals sugar-beet,cotton and tobacco-are produced and fodder crops. as well. The market-garden crops are generally well tended. However, considerable possibilities Vines exist for improving fertilizing and treating operations,as regards the products and methods Wine-makingvines occ~ipythe larger part of the used. land under vines. The average age of the vines is At Bou Namoussa, an effort is called for to 30-40 years. It is difficult to obtain precise in- introduce and explain the new methods of irri- formation on the vine stocks used for each gation for market-gardencrops as the irrigation variety. project began to supply water to the M a z Rachir  Context study 43 pilot project area over a year ago. The,other on different lines from those currently followed domains will be supplied from the irrigation on non-irrigated land. project very shortly. Again, the growing of industrial crops, particularly sugar-beet7is being encouraged in this area, and the care of these Fodder crops crops will need to be dealt with in training pro- As a result of the encouragement of cattle-raising grammes for the land-workersof the region. -milkers, calves,etc.-fodder crops are now of great importance in the Bou Namoussa region. Citsus fruits In consequence, land-workers require a whole range of new knowledge about the sowing,irri- These include tangerines, mandarin oranges, gation,cultivationand harvesting of these crops. oranges,lemons and grape-fruit. The introduction of spray irrigation and all that The manuring of citrus-treesincludes mineral it implies in the way of preparatory workabout and organic dressings. The mineral fertilizers wind-breaks, the training of workers in the used are nitrogenous (ammonium nitrate at 33.5 handling and servicing of the machinery, the per cent and 22 per cent) and are applied three amount of water to be given to each crop, etc., times per year (in principle, in February, June are also important. and August), averaging 1 kg of pure nitrate (3 kg Such is briefly the current agriculturalsituation of ammonitrate at 33.5 per cent) per tree each in the self-managedestates of Algiers-Saheland time. The amount of farmyard manure used in Bou Namoussa. The survey shows that the the citrus groves varies with the species, and standard of work is in general fairly good,thanks depends on the possibility of buying manure to the technical instruction given by the depart- from the other estates. mental directorates of agriculture, the estate Treatment against scale is excellently carried managers and a proportion of senior workers out, but little is done against other diseases with practical experience. The disappearance of and against insects. Pruning is generally badly the latter may pose a serious problem.It should done. also be added that since yields are mostly very The average yield varies from 100 to 150 quin- low, with much room for improvement in the tals per hectare. This is very much below the technical operations, and since new techniques econoinically viable level for citrus-growing.It is will therefore have to be introduced,there is every quite possible to increase this yield by improving possibility of an increase in the over-all pro- such operationsas irrigation,manuring treatment duction of the farm estates if the technical needs against insects and diseases,pruning,etc. It is to of the workers can be met. The succeeding be noted that the citrus yields on the Ramdani sections of the survey are devoted to indicating Nouar estate at Bou Namoussa is much higher, these needs. thanks to the sound management of the groves there. JOB-ANALYSIS Cereals The job-analyseswere caried out in conjunction with the estate managers, the chairmen of the Wheat, barley and oats constitute a secondary management committees and the departmental crop in Algiers-Sahel,but hold a more important farming authorities. The results were embodied place in the Bou Namoussa region. With the in two lists:the firstgiving the tasks and responsi- prospective extension of irrigation over this bilities assigned to each group of workers, and region, the problems of irrigation, rotation of the second the technical operations with which crops,manuring, weeding and seed selection are the workers must be familiar in order to carry out of great importance.They will need to be handled their tasks. 44 Practical gziicle to.functionalliteracy PRESENT T E C H N I C A L SKILLS concerned the main operations in the farming of - OP THE L A N D W O R K E R S these self-managedestates. The results are summarized in the accompa- From the results of the job-analyses,question- nying table,which shows,for each main farming naires were prepared to investigate the technical operation, the percentage of workers who are skills of the workers,and were used on a random skilled (i.e. able to carry out the operation in sample of 200,comprising 50 supervioory grades question), semi-skilledand unskilled (i.e.unable (farm unit, crop division and workshop heads) to carry out the operation without being super- and 150 workers. The questions in the survey vised down to the last detail). Percentageclassificationof workers according to their skillin carrying out the main farmingoperations Operation Skilled Unskilled Operation Skilled $2; Unskilled Preparation of land 46 39 15 Manuring O 12 88 Selection of good Treatment against plants or seed 41 31 28 diseases and insect Planting or sowing 5 49 46 pests O 20 80 Grafting 2 2 96 Irrigation 22 38 40 Pruning of vines 24 36 40 Ploughing 20 32 48 Pruning of citrus-and Harvesting 20 80 O other fruit-trees O 2 98 Marketing 5 12 83 EXPLANATION O F RESULTS and insect pests, and the marketing of crops, with unskilled workers totalling respectively 98 This table shows that the percentages of workers per cent, 88 per cent,80 per cent and 83 per cent. ranking as skilled in the various farming oper- It is worth noting that the following of in- ations vary from O to 24 per cent for ten oper- structions given by the departmentaldirectorates ations,with percentages of 46 and 41 respectively of agriculture and the estate managers is made for preparation of the land and choice of good difficult by the lack of skills of the majority of plants or seeds,The percentages of semi-skilled the workers. Thus in treatment against diseases workers range from 2 to 39 per cent in ten main and insect pests, the workers perform the drill operations,with figuresof49per centfor planting but do not know what products to use or in what or sowing and 80 per cent for harvesting. The quantities to use them;they know that fertilizers percentages of unskilled workers vary from 40 are necessary for what they are growing,but they to 98 per cent for nine main operations, with do not know what kinds or what amounts to use, figures of O per cent for harvesting,15 per cent how to apply them or what effect they will have; for preparation of the land and 28 per cent for they know that water is needed for citrus fruits selection of good plants and seed. and market-garden crops but they do not know It is important to note that the greater part of the methods of irrigation recommended. the workers rank as unskilled in four main oper- ations which have an immense influence on the CONCLUSIONS yields and revenues of the farm estates. These operations are: the pruning of citrus- and other The conclusions of the survey may be sum- fruit-trees,manuring, treatment against diseases marized as follows:  Context study 45 1. All the workers on the self-managed farm cal experience. When these workers are no estates in the region covered by the Algeria II longer there,a difficult situation may arise. project (‘modern’ agricultural areas where 5.The workers’ introduction to agricultural intensivefarming methods are used) have tech- technology through the functional literacy nical responsibilities in carrying out their programme is a prime necessity if one wishes tasks. to place them in a position to learn more, to 2.The work requires the workers to have techni- improve their work and to increase the level cal skills in a certain number of major farming of production of their farm estates. operations. 6.The technical content of the functional literacy 3. Most of the workers, both supervisors and programme should cover the main farming hands,need to be taught certain techniques to operations. master these operations and increase the pro- 7.The results of this survey may serve as basic duction level of their estates. information for evaluation purposes. The 4.The technical work carried out is of fair stand- analysis of the workers’skills can be taken as ard, despite the lack of skills of the majority a usable starting-point for establishing the of the workers, thanks to a certain number of indicators necessary for evaluation. senior land-workerswho have acquired practi- 46 Doeutnent G Functional literacy experiment in a phosphates company (Morocco) DESCRIPTION OF ENTITY S E A R C H F O R A METHOD The Office Chérifien des Phosphates (Sherifian In determining the method to be used, account Phosphates Office), or OCP, is a State corpora- was taken first of the population group for tion with a monopoly of the working and sale training,and secondly ofthe posts to be provided of Moroccan natural phosphates. for in the organization. This company, which a ls one of the most important places-if not the most important-in Population group fou tuainirig the economy of the country,had a staffof 14,000, of whom 35 per cent were illiterate before the The OCP socio-occupationalmilieu presented a introduction of the literacy training system. The majority of ‘worker-peasants’, as the majority of absence of supervisory staff, technicians and the illiterate labourershad not brolcen their links skilled workers was a heavy handicap in the with the land. Outside of his shifts in the mine, economic battle being fought by this Moroccan the ’casual’, once back in the family group, pioneer enterprise. It was because of this factor reverted to the tasks of his farm,his rhythm of that the head officeturned its attention to working life and his habits of thought. out an internal promotion programme intended The thinlcing of the illiterate worker,structured to reach the mass of illiterates, a labour reserve by rules,customs and taboos which operated in which had to be upgraded, primarily in the the fellah socio-culturalmilieu, was an obstacle interest of OCP,as well as of the participants and to his understanding of the industrial world, Snally of the country as a whole. This objective rationalized and organized in accordance with the could only be reached by the development of technological spirit of the societies of the West. adult-training techniques, which posed specific The individual found hiinself being pulled in two problems and required large-scaleresources,but directions by two opposing ways of life: a tra- which was deemed an investment with an early ditional way of life and a technical way of life, pay-off,and essential for economic expansion. structured by scientific reasoning. Consequently,the only matter to be considered There was no question of passing a value was that of seeking a new method, retaining the judgement on these two forms of thinking, or positive elements of the two processesrepresented putting one above the other,but simply of alter- first by literacy studies and the acquisition of nating the possible sources of conflicts liable to ‘book knowledge’, and secondly by practical develop in individualsliving in both these worlds, training for a specific trade-these two elements and to inhibit aptitudes and possibilities of being closely linked to effect a synchronous adaptation. development of all the individual’saptitudes. While preserving those traditionalvalues which are of capital importancefor the cultural stability of a people, it became necessary to equip the  Context study 47 subjects with elements of scientific thought es- Distribution of posts and elementary tasks sential to eliminating a sense of estrangement by branch from the industrial world around them. Understanding this industrial world involves Branch Posts Elementary tasks a knowledge of abstract notions-geometrical, scientific (weight, temperature, etc.), techno- Mechanical 1 a, b, c, 4 f, i, j logical (strength of materials, machining, etc.), 2 a, b, c, d,k, 1 and mathematical (equality, proportions, etc.). Electrical 3 a, b, e, f, m,8 4 a, b, e3 f, 0,P Posts to be filled Electro-mechanical 5 a, b, g, h, 4,r 6 a, b, g, h, s, t At OCP,the problem was to fill posts of fairly complex characteristics in the three basic branches : mechanical, electrical and electro- The specialization programmes for each of mechanical. these posts will be based on the tasks specific to A study was made of these posts by job-analy- each post, that is:i and j for post 1 ;k and 1 for sis methods promoting the definition of all the post 2;m and n for post 3; o and p for post 4; elementary tasks which each involved. Given q and r for post 5; s and t for post 6. their number and variety, it would have been This method should make it possible to train uneconomic to devise different basic training the semi-skilled workers (category 4) in the courses for each of them; the ‘common-stream’ miners’ code required for all the posts, in three method was therefore selected. stages: The schematization ofthemethod is as follows. Stage 1. C o m m o n introductory technical course Suppose that a certain number of posts (1, 2,3, for all entrants. 4,5, 6) have to be filled,comprising elementary Stage 2. Common-streamcourses for each of the tasks indicated by letters (see the accompanying three branches (a preliminary streaming of table). trainees should take place at the end of the The basic introductory technical programme introductorytechnical course). for allthe subjectswill be prepared on the basis of Stage 3.A specialist course for each post to be the tasks common to all posts,i.e.a and b. aled,with a second more specificstreaming of The common-streamprogrammes,for each of the trainees. the branches, will be determined by the tasks common to all jobs in a particular branch,i.e. c and d forthe mechanical,e andf for the electrical, and g and h for the electro-mechanical. Document 7 Functional Literacy Experiment, Vale do Rio Doce (Brazil) In the contextofthe ExperimentalWorld Literacy Return ofhours of attendance and hours worked. Programme, an experimental operation in an The problems thus identified are the following: industrial milieu was carried out in Brazil, with Frequent bad machinery. the assistance of Unesco. Frequent accidents at work. The sphere of operation was the mine-based High level of absenteeism. industrial complex of the Companhia da Vale do Waste of raw materials. Rio Doce, a State corporation employing about Damage to tools. 10,000hands. Frequent breakdown of machinery. The identificationof the problems was effected Bad maintenance. on the basis of the information provided by the Muddle and inadequate tidying. analytical accounting practised in certain of the Excessive overtime. corporation’s departments and records: Inadequatecontacts between workers and super- Costing services. visors. Purchase-and stock-controlservice. Communication difficulties due to the illiteracy Quantitative and qualitative returns of single of the hands. parts and assemblies.  49 Document 8 Gezira Development Project (Sudan) Identification of problems P R O B L E M S PRESENTED BY THE SCHEME’S Uneconomic use of cattle DIRECTORS A N D TECHNICIANS Farmers tend to acquire the largest possible During the meeting with those responsible for number of cattle as a status symbolbut generally the Gezira scheme,as well as during subsequent refuse to sell the milk since this is considered meetings with various local technicians involved demeaning. in the scheme (whose action covers the team’s area of intervention), problems impeding the Tribal fanaticism economic developmentprogrammes and suitable for treatment by an educational training pro- This factor has repercussionson the functioning gramme such as functional literacy were pre- of co-operativesocieties. Farmers tend to select sented; these could be divided into two broad members of their tribe for the board regardless of categories: general problems of a socio-cultural their professional qualifications and competence. nature,mainly caused by an unfavourableattitude towards economic development; and problems Negative attitudes towards manual labour related to specific agricultural operations,attri- butable to unfavourable attitudes and/orlack of Because of theirnomadic origin and their cultural knowledgeand skills.The main problems within background, many farmers do not attach high the first category are as follows. value to manual labour. They tend to hire agri-