Zarafshani Kiyoumars; Hossein Agahi; khoshghadam khaledi
Volume 9, Issue 1 , April 2011, , Pages 165-183
Abstract
Needs assessment is “gaps between current conditions and desired conditions”. Most educational programs in extension education pay little attention to clients’ needs. This devalues the assessment as a policy making tool. However, this study will approach both rural women and extension agents’ ...
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Needs assessment is “gaps between current conditions and desired conditions”. Most educational programs in extension education pay little attention to clients’ needs. This devalues the assessment as a policy making tool. However, this study will approach both rural women and extension agents’ perception, supposing rural women’s needs are considered to find areas of match or mismatch among stakeholders. Therefore, the survey aimed at inspecting educational needs of rural women in Ghomum Village using Borich needs assessment model and quadrant analysis.
Through survey methodology, Borich (1980) obtained some data that could be ranked in order of priority. He believed that through needs assessment model rural women should judge about their own needs. Other researchers have also defined approaches to assessing educational needs. Through quadrant analysis, Witkin (1984) used importance as a qualifying factor in deriving priorities without fallacy of basing priority decisions on simple discrepancies.
The population consisted of rural women and community extension agents in Gomum village. 100 women were selected and 35 of them were brought in to the study. Through Borich needs assessment model the questionnaires revealed that home economics, child care and methods of cooking were their top three needs. And quadrant analysis showed that educational needs were also ranked high. As a result both techniques should be used. Specifically, issues such as home economics, child care, and method of cooking should be more emphasized when planning extension classes for women residing in Gomum village.
kiumars zarafshani; KHOSHGHADAM KHALEDI; Mansour Ghanian
Volume 7, Issue 3 , September 2009
Abstract
Over the past decades, participatory approaches to development have been the center of attention not only as a means to sustainable development but also as an end. Although women's role in rural development is emphasized, their participation in extension educational programs is nevertheless limited. ...
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Over the past decades, participatory approaches to development have been the center of attention not only as a means to sustainable development but also as an end. Although women's role in rural development is emphasized, their participation in extension educational programs is nevertheless limited. Using Sherry Aronstein theoretical framework, the descriptive-survey research aims to determine the level of participation among rural women. Considering Krejcie and Morgan (1980) table of sample size, multistage random sampling is used to select 120 rural women. The results follow Sherry Arnstein's ladder from bottom to top sequentially as manipulation, therapy, informing, consultation, placation, partnership, delegated power, and citizen control. Findings reveal that rural women are more on manipulation level (non-participation) and less on placation level (tokenism). Results also show that there is a significant difference between women's participation and educational level as well as marital status. Finally, recommendations are provided to enhance rural women's participation in extension education programs.
