Non-Formal Education and the Structure of Culture. Program of Studies in Non-Formal Education Discussion Papers Number 3.

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50

Agency for International Development (Dept. of State), Washington, DC.

Change Agents; Conceptual Schemes; Cultural Influences; Economic Development; Educational Anthropology; Educational Development; Educational History; Educational Practices; Institutional Role; Intervention; Nonformal Education; Sociocultural Patterns; Technical Assistance; Technology

The two essays that make up this discussion paper explore the cultural implications for non-formal education. "Modes of Intervention" examines the typical fashion in which nations have aided the development of other nations through technical assistance. This mode comes from the assumption that a modern nation has special knowledge to assist a developing one. A different mode for intervention is suggested, however, one that requires the intervening nation to explore the institutions that already function within a society and build on them toward development goals. "Educational History and Non-Formal Education: A Methodological Strategy" sets out to articulate an historical study of education and to organize the inquiry along the lines of a search for similarities between educational arrangments and extra-educational variables. Education is cast as a dependent variable in a system where change in techno-economic arrangements generates change in social organization and in ideology. A typology is developed that matches primitive, modern, and traditional social units with techno-economic arrangements, social organization, and ideology, and with educational activities (enculturation, skill transfer, and knowledge transfer). This typology, delineated as a format for a cultural history of education or as a step toward an anthropology of education, is considered remarkable in that it does not automatically reveal a particular categorization for non-formal educational activities. (JH)

1975

ED103307