The Front Line Let us now go on to discuss what it takes for you to be as effective
 as possible as both a sender and receiver of messages within T&V-
Extension or within any structure for delivering extension messages to farm-
Worker ers.

 A COMPETENCY ANALYSIS
 As a front-line agricultural extension worker, whatever system of
 extension you are operating in, your experience can be categorized
 in three broad areas:
 things you know;
 things you can do;
 things you think and feel about what you know
 and do.
 These broad categories of experience are often referred to simply
 as:
 *KNOWLEDGE
 SKILLS
 ATTITUDES

 For a successful work performance, you will need to have competen-
 cies in all three categories.
 Each of the categories can be divided, on the one hand, into
 technical or subject competencies; and, on the other hand, into
 communication or social competencies.
 From your initial training, your in-service training, and from your
 field experience, you acquire a good deal of knowledge and skill
 related to the practice of agriculture, the conditions and problems
 of agricultural production in particular localities. You acquire
 knowledge about the agency which employs you, about the sched-
 ules of your extension system and about the organizational net-
 works in the community through which you work. You think and
 feel certain things about Agriculture and about Extension-you
 have an attitude towards your chosen area of activity. If, in the
 main, it is a positive one, then it is likely that you are motivated to
 continually up-date and improve your professional skills.
 If, in any respect, your attitude is a negative one, then it will be
 important for you to reflect on how you might change those


Chapter 2