History and Philosophy of Cooperative Extension

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History and Philosophy of Cooperative Extension

• Dr. Lisa A. Guion
• Fall 2006

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• Early Legislative Acts Leading to Cooperative
  Extension
• 1862,1890 1994 Morrill Acts Established
  Land-Grant Universities
• 1862 Organic Act Established USDA
• 1887 Hatch Act Established Experiment Stations
• 1914 The Smith-Lever Act - Established
  Cooperative Extension

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Land Grant University

• Extension is one of the three arms of the
  Land-Grant University System
• Teaching
• Research
• Extension

Extension not only provides local
educational programs, but it is the ideal way for
the Land-Grant university to maintain a viable
connection with grass-roots input and involvement
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The Democratic Promise of the Land-Grant Idea

• Placing control in the hands of the people
• Opening up access
• Expanding the curriculum
• Elevating the character, knowledge and political
  status of the common people
• Expanding opportunities for social and economic
  mobility
• Addressing public problems through applied
  research and public service
• Developing an active, democratic citizenship

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Whats behind the name Cooperative Extension
System?

• Cooperative in that it includes 3 levels of
  partners Federal, State, and County Governments
• Extension of the USDA and the Land-Grant
  Institutions of the nation
• System of education to provide unbiased,
  scientific-based knowledge

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Cooperative Extension is a System of Partnerships

• State
• Facilities support
• Staff
• Educational materials
• Funding

• Federal
• Program leadership
• Publications
• Establish national initiatives
• Funding

• Counties
• Office facilities and support
• Support staff, paraprofessionals
• Travel budget / Funding
• Equipment, supplies

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Three original guiding principles for Cooperative
Extension

• Reach people where they are
• Education, interest, understanding, and ability
• Teach people to determine their own needs
• Teach people to help themselves

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Cooperative Extension is....

• Public-funded, non-formal, education system. For
  youth and adults across numerous educational
  program areas
• Links the education and research resources of
  the USDA, state, and county administrative units

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Cooperative Extension is....

• The way we extend the university to the people
• Provide unbiased research-based knowledge,
  information and education
• Education that is used to Help People - Help
  Themselves

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Cooperative Extension is....

• Worlds largest out-of-school nonformal
  education system
• Includes over 16,000 faculty and staff in over
  3,000 counties in the U.S.
• Millions of volunteers across the nation are
  involved as leaders and trained educators

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The Social Situation During the Development of
Extension

• The nation was largely rural and agricultural
• Over 50 of the population were farmers compared
  to less than 2 today

• Rural people were lagging far behind the urban
  standard of living - high poverty and illiteracy

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The Social Situation During the Development of
Extension
Extension developed as a response to rural
conditions
To aid in diffusing among the people of the
United States useful and practical information on
subjects relating to agriculture and home
economics, and to encourage the application of
the same. Smith-Lever Act 1914
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Why was the National Cooperative Extension
Created?

• First Vision of Cooperative Extensions Core
  Mission
• The primary economic aim of simultaneously (1)
  producing cheap food for consumers and American
  industry and (2) raising farmers incomes through
  bringing science to agriculture to make it more
  efficient and productive.

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Clyde William Warburton, 1930. Director of
Extension Work, USDA

• For what is the object of Extension work? More
  bushels of corn? More bales of cotton? More
  pounds of butter-fat in the dairy cows annual
  record? More quarts of fruit and vegetables
  canned for winter use? No, these are but means to
  an end. The end, the object of Extension work, is
  to aid the farmer and his family to improve
  living conditions on the farm, to provide a more
  satisfying rural life. Better crops, better
  livestock, better food, better clothes, these are
  among the objects of Extension work. But back of
  it all, the ultimate purpose is to create better
  homes, better citizens, better communities,
  better rural living.

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M.L. Wilson, 1940 USDA Agriculture Undersecretary

• Extension workers and others who are charged with
  assisting in the development of programs to meet
  not only current needs, but also the changed
  needs of the world, are vitally concerned with
  questions of leadership. Their primary job is to
  help the community analyze its problems in the
  light of all available information and so to
  organize itself that the necessary action can be
  taken.

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Cooperative Extensions Early Civic Mission and
Public Work

• Celebrated and developed ordinary people as
  civic, economic, and cultural producers.
• Honored both scientific knowledge and knowledge
  from practical experience, transforming each
  through public research and action partnerships.
• Sought wisdom, not just knowledge or economic and
  technical efficiency.

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Early Work of Cooperative Extension Pioneers

• Very difficult to introduce new ideas, new
  techniques and educational programs
• High suspicion and skepticism among the
  public/clientele about Extension and its agents
• Little initial support for Extension from
  business and the general public
• First agents were on their own to create
  awareness, answer questions and conduct programs.
  Furthermore, they did not have modern
  technologies for obtaining timely help from their
  land-grant partner
• The agent had to prove himself/herself as worthy,
  helpful, progressive, and necessary for the county

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Seaman A. Knapp

• Social pioneer for Extension Education Father of
  Extension
• Drafted the Hatch Act
• Originator of farm demonstration education
• Started in Texas as a means of controlling the
  boll weevil and improving profitability on cotton
  farms
• The demonstration method was very successful!
• Chance to see first-hand results and get involved
  in new techniques. The first demonstration farm
  realized an increased annual profit of 700.00!
• Note A very early demonstration pioneer was
  Squanto. He introduced corn planting and
  fertilization to the Pilgrims.

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4-H Arose as a means of educating farmers

• Initial educational work with adults was
  difficult to accomplish
• More impact could be realized from working with
  youth
• Adults became involved, through youth
  education
• There was a spillover educational effect to
  adults!

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Otwells Corn Clubs and Corn Growing Contests

• Earliest beginnings of youth club work - started
  1890s
• First organized by W. B. Otwell in Illinois - by
  1901 there were 1500 boys involved 50,000 by
  1904
• Gained national recognition for their Pyramid
  of Corn at a 1904 Expo in St. Louis
• Caused national interest and business support

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Great Results through Youth Corn Clubs

• 1912 - Marius Malmgrem from VA produced 209
  bushels of corn per acre
• Average national yield at that time was 45
  Bu./ac.
• News of these results quickly spread to other
  states
• Results were utilized with adult farmers

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Business Support of 4-H

• Excellent relationship evolved between public
  and private participation of youth club work,
  because of positive results and outcomes
• Thousands of youth relied on bank loans for
  their first major projects

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1915 Girls Canning Clubs

• Girls learned about safe food preservation
• Food poisoning was rampant at the time these
  clubs started. The incidence decreased
  dramatically as a result of the Canning Clubs
• Federal (USDA) sponsored clubs started in 1910 in
  South Carolina

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Girls Sewing Clubsstarted around 1920

• The Sewing Clubs were a secondary activity to
  canning
• Federal reluctance initially to start these clubs
• Girls clubs had a full range of home economics
  projects and activities by the mid-1920s

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VOLUNTEERS The Backbone of Cooperative
Extension

• Overall County
• Advisory Committee
• Program Needs
• Financial Oversight
• Legislative Support
• Marketing of Extension and its programs

• Program Advisory Committees
• Volunteer Educators (Ex. 4-H, Master Gardeners,
  Master Canners, Master Farmers, etc.)

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Volunteer Leadership

• Evolved with youth clubs and was established by
  1920
• Brought about a change in Extensions role with
  youth clubs
• Critical component to the success and scope of
  the 4-H program

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Cooperative Extension Clientele A Few Examples

• Farmers/Producers
• Township and Municipal Officials
• Small Business Owners
• Schools (Elementary, Middle, High)
• Homeowners/Landowners
• Homemakers
• Child Care Providers
• Resource Stressed Audiences
• Volunteers
• Includes Youth and Adult Education!

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Clientele Costs for Extension Educational
Programs

• Minimal program costs because of government
• appropriated dollars
• Includes salaries, state support, program
• development, penalty mail, etc.
• Cost recovery basis for
• Program materials, facilities, meals, etc.

Note Extension has restrictions in how it uses
appropriated (tax) dollars
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Program DeliveryWhen Where

• When Anytime, Year - Round
• - Schools, farms, homes,camps,
• municipal officials

• Where Anywhere the Learners are
• - Schools, halls, farms churches, centers,
  housing developments, prisons, ...

Common characteristics of Extension Nonformal
Education
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Educational Delivery Methods
Satellite and Distance Education
Computer Training
Print Materials - Newsletters, News-articles
Group Meetings and
Individual Assistance
Volunteers
Mass Media
Delivery methods need to align with subject
matter and targeted clientele!
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The Four Traditional Extension Program areas - in
Extensions beginnings

• Agriculture
• Focused mostly on farm production
• Home Economics
• Focused mostly on canning, sewing and supporting
  the farm/rural home
• 4-H
• Focused mostly on farm, home, and rural projects
• Community Development
• Focused mostly on farm and rural development
• Think about how each program area has changed
  since the beginning of Extension in 1914???

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Current Extension Program Areas

• Agriculture and Natural Resources
• Family and Consumer Science
• Youth Development / 4-H
• Community Development
• In some states
• Sea Grant
• Energy
• Both program areas are part of Florida CES

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Program Examples - Economic and Community
Development
- Rural and Community Development - Municipal
Official Development - Rural / Urban Interface
Issues - Leadership Training - Land Use Issues -
Public Policy - Water Quality
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Program Examples - Families and Youth
- Improving Nutrition, Health and Food Safety -
Managing Family and Household Resources -
Strengthening Family Life - Volunteer and
Leadership Development - Improving life
skills of youth
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Program Examples - Ag and Natural Resources
- Plant and Animal Science - Fruits and
Vegetables - Turf and Gardening - Farm
Management - Forestry and Wood Products -
Wildlife - Ag Marketing
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Philosophy of Cooperative Extension today is a -
Strong Belief in

• the equality of people
• the possibility of change or progress
• the reliability of science
• the power of education
• Mission ...to help people improve their lives
  through an educational process that uses
  scientific knowledge to address issues and needs.

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What is Extensions Role and Purpose?

• Technology and knowledge transfer?
• Facilitation of learning and deliberation?
• Capacity and skill building?
• Action and applied research?
• Organizing people?
• A combination of all of these?

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Interrelated challenges facing Cooperative
Extension today

• Globalization
• Rapid technological and cultural change
• Economic and political restructuring
• Ecological Crisis
• Many dimensions / factions / interests
• Civic Decline and Degeneration
• Erosion of trust and civility
• Greater consumerism market / economic focus

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Reference

• UF New Faculty Orientation Module developed by
  Dr. Nick Place