Levels of Source - Individuals, Groups, Communities

The three levels of source each look at contemporary life through a different lens. An individual reveals one thing, a group another, a whole community a third. A developer who studies all three gets a picture none of them gives alone.

Individuals

Studying individuals means looking closely at single people to learn what their lives actually involve. The kinds of things studied include:

1. The activities they are engaged in at present.
2. The defects of their lives in particular areas, including difficulties and serious maladjustments.
3. Their interests, hopes, and aspirations in particular phases of life.
4. Their information and concepts, along with misconceptions, alternative conceptions, and superstitions.
5. The values and ideas that adults have developed.

This level shows contemporary life as it is lived by real people: what they do, where they struggle, what they hope for, and what they believe.

Flashcard

What does studying contemporary life at the level of individuals examine?

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Answer

A person’s activities, life difficulties, interests and hopes, and their information and values

It also looks at misconceptions and superstitions. This level shows contemporary life as real people actually live it.

Social groups

The second level studies social groups rather than single people. Here a developer examines the group’s practices, its problems, its concepts and ideas, and its dominant values, in order to suggest group objectives for education.

A real example shows the use. In some regions, a curriculum study examined the main characteristics of distinct community groups and identified the needs and opportunities for educating their children. It also compared urban and rural communities to surface the problems and values of each, and gathered other data helpful for suggesting objectives suited to educating children in rural groups. Studying a group reveals shared patterns that no single individual would show on their own.

Flashcard

Why study social groups as well as individuals?

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Answer

A group reveals shared practices, problems, and values that individuals alone do not show

Studying a group’s dominant values helps suggest objectives for educating its children. Comparing urban and rural groups, for instance, surfaces problems and values specific to each.

Communities

The third level studies the whole community or area, looking at the factors that condition contemporary life there:

1. Its natural resources.
2. Its population changes.
3. Its patterns of migration.
4. The direction of its social change.

Studying these rests on an assumption about what education is for at this level: education should enable a community to use its resources most effectively, to provide adequate preparation for the people who are migrating away, to provide adequate preparation for those who are remaining, and to meet the social changes that are coming. A community that is losing people to migration, or that has resources it is not using well, sets different objectives than one that is not.

The lesson that closes this work is a reminder, not a result. The study of contemporary life only gives information about the present state of the individual, the group, and the conditions of life within the community or region. That data still has to be interpreted, and inferences have to be drawn from the present status about gaps, emphases, and needs before any objectives can be suggested. As with studying learners, the data points; the developer decides.

Flashcard

What conditioning factors does a community-level study of contemporary life examine?

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Answer

Natural resources, population changes, migration, and the direction of social change

The assumption is that education should help a community use its resources, prepare both those who migrate and those who stay, and meet the social changes that are coming.