The Learning Process










As an extension worker your most important role is as an educator.
The function of an educator is to promote learning. Learning is
about change in behaviour, and helping to change the behaviour of
farmers is your business. Therefore, to be an effective extension
worker, educator and change agent, it is important to understand
some of the key factors that affect learning.
The first part of this chapter reviews certain general points about
learning; the second relates these considerations to the particular
ways in which adults orientate themselves to learning. Both sec-
tions will refer back to what has just been said about farmers.

THE CRUCIAL CONDITIONS FOR LEARNING
This is not the place to go deeply into the psychology of learning-
what happens inside our heads when we experience a change in the
way we understand or do certain things. What is more important
for our immediate purposes is to consider what factors make for
successful learning-what conditions are usually present when
learning takes place. These are the factors over which we as
educators have some control. An understanding of them can im-
prove our ability to promote effective learning.
Most of what can be gleaned from textbooks on the psychology of
learning can be summarized into six conditions:
In order to learn, we must:
 be motivated to learn;
 ready to admit certain deficiencies in our current
 behaviour;