Out-Of-School Television in Four Villages

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Folder Title: Out-of-School Television in Four Villages - A Report on the First Experiment in Adult TV Education in Ivory Coast 1973-1974 by Stephen Grant - This Report was written for the Secretary of State for Primary Education and Educational Television Ministry of

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Dates: 01/01/1974-01/01/1974

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OUT-OF-SCHOOL TELEVISION IN FOUR VILL

A report on the first experiment

in adult TV education in Ivory Coas

1973 - 1974

by Stephen Grant

This report was written for the

Secretary of State for Primary Education and Educational Television

Ministry of National Education, Abidjan, Ivory C

-0

I te _ I

Academy for Educational Development I.D M 10 under contract with the -

Agency for International Development__

_ 1974 hi __

- CD- CONFIDENTIAL - Please do not cite

or circulate

OUT-OF-SCHOOL TELEVISION IN FOUR VILLAGES

A report on the first experiment

in adult TV education in Ivory Coast

1973 - 1974

by Stephen Grant

This report was written for the

Secretary of State for Primary Education and Educational Television

Ministry of National Education, Abidjan, Ivory Coast

on behalf of the

Academy for Educational Development

under contract with the

Agency for International Development

1974 TABLE OF CONTENTS

PREFACE

MAP

I. - INTRODUCTION 4

II. - ORIENTATIONS FOR A FURTHER EVALUATION 11

III. - ASPECTS OF OUT-OF-SCHOOL TV IN FOUR VILLAGES 16

III.1. - Presentation of the villages 16

111.2. - Aspects of the Animation 21

111.3. - Presence of a Foreign Observor 27

111.4. - Selection of the Viewers 33

111.5. - Integration of the Teachers in the Village 37

111.6. - The Villagers and the Well-to-do 42

111.7. - Discussion versus Action 45

111.8. - Program Relevance and Viewer Expectations 48

111.9. - The Out-of-school Program Setting 52

APPENDIX--EXAMPLES OF TRANSCRIBED DISCUSSIONS 56 ii.

PREFACE

This report is based on information gathered during a series of regular visits to four villages from November 1973 through January

1974 when the out-of-school department of the educational television program broadcast thirteen programs for adults. The observors were

Mm DZrr, Grant, and Kaye from the Evaluation Unit and Miss Benveniste from the Ethno-Sociology Institute at the University of Abidjan.

For complementary information, two reports may be consulted:

1. "Rapport d'Evaluation sur la periode expdrimentale de diffusion

des 4missions extra-scolaires" by Miss Benveniste of the Ethno-

Sociology Institute.

20 "Quelques observations 'apropos des 4missions Sant4 de la TV

extra-scolaire" by Duponchel and Lombardi of the National Institute

for Public Health in Abidjan. BOUAKE 0 0 KANOUKRO ANDO ZUNE 0

boUGOo . o ABIDJAN IKASSAMbLE -4-

I. - INTRODUCTION

In October, 1973 the External Evaluation Unit of the ETV Program presented a project for continuous evaluation of the out-of-school programs in 1973-1974 to the out-of-school Unit in Bouak6 and in

Abidjan. This project was limited to a longitudinal examination of the impact of the programs in a limited number of listening centers in order to bring complementary information to the national feedback gathered by the teachers/animators and the Internal Evaluation Service.

The project was designed to cover the following points:

A. Selection

On what criteria were the viewers selected for the programs?

Did the chosen recruitment procedure seem to have privileged

or neglected certain sectors of the population?

B. Integration of the Teacher in The Village

The teacher is a government employee who is supposed to have

close contact with the community. The young teachers who had

recent training are supposed to have acquired animation techniques

that could be used in an out-of-school context as well as in the

classroom. In the case of your school what part does the teacher

play as a link between the school, the TV and the public? What

are the limits of his contribution? C. Animation

Two types of people other than the teacher were suggested for

the animation of the listening group: extension workers (Health

or Agricultural agents, AVB, FGV*, etc.) from the same community

or a leader volunteering from the public. In your case do you

see real alternatives for the teacher as primary animator?

D. Attendance

How do you diagnose the assiduity of the viewers? Did you notice

regular attendance at the programs or a change in number of the

people from one time to another?

E. Post-school Audience

The out-of-school programs in 1973-1974 were destined for adults

rather than for school dropouts. What is the importance of the

dropout population in your area? What are their wishes for

eventual programs on their behalf?

F. Motivation of the Viewers

Why do people come to watch out-of-school programs?

G. Aspiratiens of the Community and Relevance of the Programs

In your perception, what roles do the members of your community

*AVB - Am6nagement de la vall6e du Bandama, a major development project

FGV - F6d6ration des groupements villageois -6-

who come to watch the programs aspire to? Do the programs

shown contain some elements that will allow them to better

reach their goal? Or, on the contrary, do you think that those

programs contain elements that would frustrate the search for

their desired role?

H. New Behavior

During the discussions after the program or at any other moment

do people express intentions to do things in a different way

due to specific advice given in a program or to the spontaneous

reaction of somebody to the program? What evidence can you cite

of any behavioral change?

I. Reaction to the Type of Programs

During the first phase of pre-experimentation in May-June 1973

essentially two types of programs were produced and put on the

air: the didactic type (for instance the program "sad children")

and the dramatic type (for instance the program about "Andre's

Return".) Provided these two types are distinguishable can

you detect particular audience reactions to each type?

J. Idiom and Language

Do you think that the French used in the programs is close to the rural teachers' milieu or does it have too much technical

jargon? What can you notice about the ease and the exactness

of translation?

K. The Television in the Village

Which programs does the community watch regularly or with pleasure

beside the programs directed to the students and the teachers and

besides the out-of-school programs? What is generally speaking

the impact of the TV on community life?

Points A through K do not constitute an exhaustive list. They represent the major concerns expressed by the four groups who have recently studied the problem of adult education in general or the program of out-of-school education in Ivory Coast in particular:

1. Third International Conference on Adult Education called by

Unesco. Tokyo, July 25 to August 7, 1972. Final Report.

2. Round-table discussion on out-of-school education and TV,

September 24-25 1973, Abidjan.

3. Advisory scientific committee PETV, Bouak4 plenary sessions,

October 2 and 4 1973.

4. Advisory scientific committee PETV, Bouak6--meeting of the

subcommission on the out-of-school education, October 3-4 1973. -8-.

Another element of documentation was added to the preceding ones

in order to determine the content of sections A-K: the results from

the feedback from the pre-experimental out-of-school education programs

in May and June 1973.

Four villages, two near Bouak4 and two near Abidjan were chosen for

a continuous study. The intention of the research, led principally* by

three members of the External Evaluation Unit and a researcher from the

Ethno-Sociology Institute, was to complete the information gathered by

the teachers, to investigate certain points more thoroughly, and to

prepare the basis for later more complete research. The data bank to which

this evaluation contributed is made up of the following elements.

1. Tapes in vernacular language and transcription in French

- of the translation of the programs

- of the discussions following the programs

2. Reports on the immediate impact of the programs in the listening centers.

* One member of the out-of-school unit in Abidjan~and one member of the

Research Unit in Bouak4 also contributed written observations. -9-

3. Reports about the interviews with principals, teachers, chiefs,

and other village leaders.

The program series to which the tapes, transcriptions and reports

relate are the following with the date of broadcast:

1. Tree of misery 11/14/73

2. Cooperatives 11/21/73

3. Biography of President Houphouet-Boigny 11/23/73

4. Health 1 11/28/73

5. French speakers 11/30/73

6. Health 2 12/05/73

7, Health 3 12/12/73

8. Coffee 1 12/14/73

9. It's your turn to speak out 12/19/73

10. Coffee 2 12/21/73

11. For or against PETV 01/09/74

12. Our children learn reading 01/16/74

13. Danger of unclean water 01/23/74

During the reception of those.programs in the listening centers it appeared to the observors that some of the major questions were more important or more relevant than others. Consequently this report does not treat them all. Several conclusions confirm statements in our preceding reports "Feedback on the program about cooperatives" and "feedback on the 1973 pre-experimental programs." -10-

The comparison with the global results from the teacher/animator's feedback reports for a reliability study was not possible because most of those reports have not been analyzed at this writing and because their rate of return has been low. At any rate, the following results have an intrinsic value, although they come from only four villages in just two areas of the country. First, they represent quite detailed "case studies" and secondly, they constitute a point of departure for further observation. For in 1974-1975 it is planned to create a network of forty Ivorian observors, selected from listening centers to form a representative sample, in order to collect information on the impact of out-of-school programs. The themes identified in the present study on four villages will constitute prime elements for the training and the guidance of the forty observors. -11-

II. - ORIENTATIONS FOR A FURTTIER EVALUATION

II0. THE PRINCIPAL OBJECTIVES OF THE OBSERVATIONS CARRIED OUT

IN THE FOUR VILLAGES INCLUDE MORE AN INITIAL IDENTIFICATION OF THEMES

WORTHY OF FURTHER STUDY THAN AN EVALUATION PER SE OF THE IMPACT OF

CERTAIN TV PROGRAMS. THE FOUR-VILLAGE STUDY SIMPLY ATTEMPTS TO SHED

LIGHT UPON SOME ISSUES AND PROBLEMS WHICH AROSE DURING THE DEVELOP-

MENTAL STAGES OF THE OUT-OF-SCHOOL EDUCATION PROGRAM. OBVIOUSLY

FEW VALID GENERALIZATIONS CAN BE MADE AT THIS POINT FRC WORK CARRIED

OUT BY FOREIGNERS IN ONLY FOUR VILLAGES. NEVERTHELESS THE CONCLUSIONS

REMAIN FOR SUBSEQUENT VALIDATION BY A LARGER AND MORE REPRESENTATIVE

GROUP OF OBSERVORS.

These preliminary observations plus information gathered by the feedback forms have led the Evaluation Unit to plan in 1974-1975 the creation of two complementary means of evaluation*:

-- a feedback system more sophisticated than that used in 1973-1974

utilizing the data processing unit for data analysis,

--a network of approximately forty Ivorian observors who will be trained

in simple information gathering techniques and furnish the Evalua-

tion Unit with impact data.

* See "Propositions pour l'Evaluation des Emissions Extra-scolaires

pour la p6riode novembre 1974 - juillet 1975," Evaluation Service. -12-

It has been suggested that the Evaluation Unit members and out- of-school unit staff continue their regular visits to listening centers, with the purpose more of maintaining a permanent contact with actual field conditions than furnishing evaluation data.

II.2. In this section are defined the important aspects of the information contained in this report in an effort to lay the ground- work for a more reliable observation system,

a) - General information on the community

During the inquiry into the four villages certain factors

appeared important in order to understand the impact which the

out-of-school programs can produce:

-- the social structure of the village (role played by the chief,

existence of systems such as age classes, relations between

the old and the young, between men and women, etc.),

-- economic structure of the village (principal economic activi-

ties, labor organization, presence of foreign laborers,

agriculture extension activities by State institutions or

State agents, etc.),

--relations with the local and central authorities (administra-

tive relations, family relations),

-- attitudes toward school (how is the school perceived? Integra-

tion of the young people who have just graduated and of the

dropouts with the rest of the village). -136

b) - Aspects of program animation

We noticed a great difference in the quality of animation in

the villages studied. It is important to see if this difference

comes from the animator's mood or character, from his background

(schooling, etc.) or from his attitude toward the villagers or

vice-versa. It would also be interesting to know whether or not

other people could assume the function of animator in case the

teacher were absent (this occurred twice in the four villages).

c) - The observors

We noticed that the presence of a European observor coming from

the ETV Complex into a village can be decisive in getting the

school principal to turn on the school TV, can attract a big

crowd and provoke a discussion where before there was none.

The villagers perceive the observor as an expert in the subject

of the program (nutrition, cooperatives, coffee production, etc.)

and often they expect him to give concrete advice which he cannot

give and therefore they are often disappointed.

d) - Felection of spectators

There will unavoidably be some kind of selection of viewers.

Studies should be conducted on the reasons why certain groups

do not attend the programs (such as the dropouts cited in this

report who were excluded from the classroom) and Ree what means

were used by the animator to inform the public about the programs.

Further on we cite cases of jealousy and ill-will between a TV village and a non-TV village: the first is privileged because it

has a school and a TV; the other has neither. The regularity of

spectator attendance should also be studied, for it appears to

fluctuate greatly from one evening to another.

e) - Integration of the teacher in the village

According to our observations, it appears that the role of the

teacher as change agent should be more carefully examined.

Since he comes from another village and more likely another

ethnic group, he often hesitates to become involved in what is

going on in the village where he is appointed and his intrusion

into out-of-school affairs may be discouraged by the villagers.

f) - The villagers and the well-to-do

Any evaluation dealing with the programs trying to advise the

rural population must consider the villager's behavior towards

the authorities, the city dwellers, the well-to-do. This attitude

often seems ambiguous; on one hand, he generally reveres what comes

from the "civilized" world; he counts on the well-to-do for leader-

ship and support, but, on the other hand, he is distrustful of them

as providers of help.

g) -Discussion versus action

Several of the adult TV programs produced many stated intentions

to "change" and adopt the recommended behavior; nevertheless no

instance of practical application has been reported outside of -15-

the classroom walls. The most important function of the observor

network set up in sample villages would be to see in what measure

concrete actions could be attributed to the influence of the TV

programs. It is obvious that the probability of such actions

would be greater if there were an effective control on the spot

by the agents representing the organizations implied in the

program preparation.

h) - Proaram relevance and viewer expectations

In this context it becomes necessary to see in what measure the

programs

-- are relevant to the real needs as they are perceived by the

target population,

-- present a model or setting which reflects the village situation

(during our inquiries many remarks were made by villagers about

the comfortable city setting presented in some of the programs,

which lead the people to conclude that the programs do not

concern them in their present condition),

-- present a practical aim (many observors demand a more concrete

approach for all the information imparted).

i) - The out-of-school program setting

One last aspect of program-reception which appeared important to

us concerns the setting of the broadcastse Several factors seem

to diminish the importance of these programs: their presentation

by the announcer, the kind of programs shown before and after the

out-of-school program, the non-observance of the announced program .16-

III. - ASPECTS OF OUT-OF-SCHOOL TV IN FOUR VILLAGES

III.1. Presentation of the Villages

1. Bougrbo

The village of Bougbo is located in Adioukrou country about two

kilometers away from the Sous-Prdfecture of Dabou. The housing

pattern presents a mixture of traditional mud huts and cement

houses some of which are nice two-story villas (there are seven

of the latter). Although it benefits from a relatively privileged

geographical position near the town, in a developed region, the

village has few modern facilities: it has neither running water

nor electricity.

The village of Bougbo has 913 inhabitants, 441 men and 472

women. One should add to this number eleven foreigners, all from

Dahomey settled in a fishing camp near the lagoon. The age pyramid

shows the importance of the rural exodus which involves principally

men between ages 20 and 35. The age class 15-20 also presents a

decrease equally important for both sexes: it corresponds to

increased school enrollment away from the village. After primary

school education the young people go to high school either in

Dabou or in Abidjan.

Concerning the social structure, there is an opposition that

is evident at the level of political life where women have an

inferior status and do not participate in any important decision

making. They are summoned to the village assembly only when -17-

problems concerning them are debated. The women from Bougbo have

nevertheless some economic independence thanks to their commercial

activities. There is also an opposition between young and old

people which is illustrated by the age class systean. Adioukrou

society is divided into seven age classes, each one of them having

very precise and hierarchical functions. This system guarantees

the superiority of the upper age class over the lower one, of the

old people over the young.

Economic life is essentially dominated by fishing and food

exportation. Most of the villagers practice both activities.

The basic crops are limited to cassava, a part of which is used

for the family "attiek6", the rest is sold whole (as a root).

The main export crops are coffee, cocoa, and palm oil.

The economic unit of production is the extended family. Ordina-

rily it is the head of the family who controls the production and

distribution of food and who covers the needs of his wives and

children.

2. Kassamb1

Kassambl6 is an Ebri6 village located between the Ebri6 Lagoon

and the Abidjan-Dabou road about midway between those cities. The

village spreads out up to 200-300 meters from the lagoon bank and

the Abidjan-Bouak4 road is about one kilometer away. The village

has electricity but water is drawn from wells. There is a TV

primary school at one end of the village, near the Dabou road.

A store from the "avion" chain is also to be found near the Dabou -18-

road and, in the main street there is a bar, The village counts

about one thousand inhabitants.

The village economy is based on palm oil, coffee, and cocoa crops. There are a dozen big planters in the village who have palm tree plantations; most of them work for the SODEPALM company*

Most of the other villagers are busy cultivating cocoa and coffee.

A long time ago there was a fishing industry but now most of the fishing activities are oriented toward individual family needs

-- several villagers said that since the Vridi Canal was opened there were less fish in the lagoon and crabs ruined their nets.

The village women's task is to cultivate cassava, prepare attiek6, and perform domestic chores. Work organization is traditionally based on the family structure but it is obvious that this organization is going through a period of change. It seems after the very animated talks we had with one of the planters, with the deputy chief of the village and with other elders that young people do not want to cultivate or fish. Several villagers noticed that their children do not know how to climb a palm tree, swim or repair fishing nets. Some of the planters had to hire workers from Upper Volta to do the work traditionally done by the family. It raises the cost of production because they have to pay them. Many fathers complain of the current attitude of young school children and of those who leave school and who in their opinion do not work, are lazy, do not respect old people, and want at all costs to leave the village. -19-

3. Ando-Zuma

Ando-Zums is a Baould village located 23 kilometers from Sakassou

near a peninsula made by the Kossou Lake. There are about a thousand

Baould inhabitants plus a little Dioula Camp at the entrance of the

village and an "anago", Dahomean merchant who has the only shop. All

the houses are built with bricks made of mud dried in the sun, except

the classrooms and the three teachers' houses that are made in cement

blocks. In the development plan of the AVB this village will have to

move in the near future. The villagers are glad that a site has been

chosen for the new village and that wells are being dug.

The agricultural production is mainly for export: coffee and cocoa.

Usually the coffee is decorticated in the village on a machine acquired

through the cooperative but this year due to the draught the coffee trees did not produce. The Syrians from Sakassou come and buy the cocoa. There are also products for local consumption: yam, chiefly, but also corn,

cassava, and rice. Each family owns his field. Work organization is

based on the individual and his family, seldom collective efforts.

In this village also there is a big void between 20 to 35 year-old

youth because of rural exodus. The village chief and his elders estimate

that three quarters of the young people of this age have gone to town.

Sometimes they come back but they never can support the rest of the

family left in the village.

Women's situation can be summed up as follows: the young female

population is part of the rural exodus. "Not one of them wants to

marry here. They all leave the village." Concerning enrollment: -20-

out of the 60 girls who completed elementary school only three or

four are now in high school. Their older "sisters" in the village

have a certain economic independence because their husbands give

them a part of the profits. On the other hand they do not play

the least part in political action. The old people say that women

are invited to the public meetings but say they are too busy to

come or if they come it is more out of curiosity than real interest,

4. Kanoukro

The Baould Village Kanoukro is 22 kilometers away from Bouake

near Manikro. It is the administrative center of NDranouan Canton.

The village has seven cement houses, the Canton chief's included.

The school is located 500 meters outside of the village and has

five classrooms, two of which are TV classes. The 540 inhabitants

grow crops for local consumption (yam, corn, cassava, and rice)

and raise two crops to be sold: coffee and cocoa. But the lack

of rain this year has totally discouraged the planters. The old

people confess that they do not blame young people for going to

the city. Because of the draught they would like to do the same

thing but they are too old: "the young people leave us and they

are right."

It seems that the TV-equipped classrooms are visited in the

evening during this period of the year when field work is not too

heavy (from July to February). At this time the viewers consist

mainly of old people because many younger ones have gone temporarily

to the coast to look for work. -21-

Asked in August 1974 about the series of out-of-school programs

shown from October to December 1973, the villagers had a hard

time evoking the general themes treated. They explained that the

programs were only shown once; consequently, it was very hard to

remember anything. An elder added: "we thought that you had made

those programs for fun!" After the personal contact of this

conversation, however, the villagers swore they would in the

future pay greater attention to the programs,

III.2. Aspects of the Animation

The first intervention of the animator at the end of each TV program is capital; it gives a direction to the rest of the discussion and provokes (or does not provoke) thinking about the topic. A good example of a discussion opening occurred after the program called

"It's Your Turn to Speak Out". The TV animator told the listening centers, "Tell us what you think of the preceding programs and give us your ideas on future programs." Those are two accessible starting points upon which anyone has something to say. In spite of explicit directions from the TV, the animator from one center answered the first question from the crowd after the program ("What must I say?") with: "All you wish especially your difficulties and the problems that annoy you most." With this false orientation a series of remarks followed pell-mell about the condition of the local roads, the lack of money, about sterile women, about the lack of rain, etc. The obvious lesson from this example is that in spite of a clear orientation from the TV animator, the discussion can go astray if on the one -22-

hand the animator in the listening center does not pay attention to the directions given on the air or on the other, if he is unable to direct a discussion on the subject.

Reports from the discussions show that many of the teachers have not acquired the notion of animation. After the program they are content to ask the audience general questions rather than particular points which are essential to the chosen themes. For instance, this animator (a school principal) who opens the discussion in this way

"What do you have to say about what you've just seen?"

Another danger in the animation lies in a false translation, for whatever the reason: there may have been inattention; the equivalent of a French word may not exist in the vernacular language; insufficient time for translating may be given the interpreter so that he has to make cuts. Or finally, the interpreter may give a false translation substituting his own feelings or thoughts. This last case, although rare, is particularly disturbing.

For an example of the last possibility, we turn to a discussion after the program about reading, the second aimed at informing TV studentst parents about the educational reform. An animator, we observed, made two mistakes, the first one is innocent enough. Instead of translating: "Thanks to the TV the children can speak a better

French and can learn how to read and write good French" he translated:

"the children newly recruited on the school benches at the beginning know how to read, talk and write and this is the way it goes; this is how they can advance from one grade to another." The translation is rather far from the original and contains an inaccuracy, specifi- cally that nowadays student are literate when they are newly arrived -23-

at school. The second mistake, taped the same tonight, is more serious.

He translated a scenario in which a woman confides: "At the beginning my child did not read very well but now he reads well, he pronounces well and each time his teacher gives us a report about his pronunciation in class." The translation was: "Here we are told that children who go to TV schools do not know anything, they are dunces." This observation about the projection of the animator's feelings or thoughts toward the value of the TV program was done by an Ivorian research assistant

(with a tape to support his observation) and confirmed later by the school principal who witnessed the discussion. It underlines the overwhelming power (and responsability) of the animator (and translator) over the people who do not understand French. In spite of the presence of several literate persons in the room, the animator's inaccurate translation was not corrected. It is not sure, however, that the negative attitude of the teacher/animator predisposed the public to consider with ill-will the reform in the educational system.

We can be sure that the tone given by the animator is capital. Will the discussion be a banal description of everyday life as it is known, or a real debating session with a theme, opposite points of view and a conclusion? The animator has much to do with the level of the discussion.

It is important to indicate cases where the animator has been skillful.

In the following case the animator took the trouble to explain the purpose of adult TV programs. "If you are presented these programs, it is not because they are pretty or amusing, it is in order to help you to raise your standard of living. It is for your own good and for your health. It is to show you how vou can dAfAnd vnmenAlf nnninn+ -24-

guinea worms if you happen to be in a village where there is an

epidemic of guinea worms. If white people make those films for you

it is because they want you to have a long life".

We notice that this animator's message is neither redundant nor

superfluous. That which may appear evident--namely that out-of-school

educational programs Aim at comprehension--ia not so for an audience

that meets in the evening in a village school. One has always to

fight and insist on the comprehension and the application of a message.

We cite the technique of an animator who knows how to interrupt in

a firm but polite way a verbose talker in order to move the discussion

along and who challenges a group in order to provoke reactions.

"Thank you very much air, you have spoken enough about this. Let

other people speak too. Everybody may speak, even women. You come

and you do not speak much. Why is that?"

The animator fulfills his tank if, as in these two examples, he

puts the evening program in a context, gives it an aim, speaks little

and incites the public to talk, if he leads the discussion so that

people or groups of people (i.e. women) speak who would not have if he had left the discussion follow its own course0

The observors found two situations in which elements inhibited

an animation or a real participation by each member.

a) - A woman viewer keeps silent because her husband represents her

point of view: "Since you are my husband, 'everything you say is

good".

b) - The people, in general, do not see the necessity of expressing

themselves if their chief or other person who represents them -25-

has already given his viewpoint on the question. Example: A

teacher explained to an observor the day after a program "If

the PDCII representative answered our questions so often it was

because he represents the village, and if he is the only one to

talk it is all right because he talks for all of the village".

Animation done by a teacher and a villager: A Case Study

The fact that the Inspector of a primary school appointed a teacher as animator or that a teacher volunteered for the job does not guarantee his permanence. Especially in a situation where no financial compensation is offered for the work one cannot count on finding the same animator each time.

What happens when several animators lead the discussions? Is there a marked difference in attitude from one to the other? Do they have the same rapport with the viewers? In one of the four villages under observation a very interesting phenomenon occurred: Three people

-- two teachers and a villager--served as animators successively and each had his own character and his own impact. Here follows a description of the situation.

The school principal held a meeting in order to elect an animator.

Teacher A was elected because he could express himself well in the local language (which was his mother tongue); his translating language was lively and full of images and the villagers liked to listen to him. Furthermore he had lived for sixteen years in the village. It

1 Ivory Coast Democratic Party -26-

was he who had started the school and he was a close friend of the village chief.

During the first two programs this teacher, established and respected in the village, did his job in a sure and efficient manner.

Nevertheless he expressed the regret that his work done late at night was not recompensed by a salary raise. At the third program and till the last one he was absent from the village in the evening. Teacher B replaced him at first. He came from the same village which might have presented an advantage. But the principal said that he had a lot of difficulty expressing himself "in French as well as in his own language. Even I who don't come from this region speak his language better than he does." In fact, the villagers complained that teacher B did not explain things very clearly. As an animator he was amorphous, content with pointing to the next speaker but never himself intervening.

Although everybody seemed to be unhappy with teacher B (who himself did not seem to enjoy the job) no other animator was proposed to replace him.

Slowly, nevertheless from the discussion emerged a young villager who, on his own, began to explain what he understood of the program to his fellow willagers. Teacher B let him, apparently not bothered by this voice which became more and more often heard and listened to.

This new animator never officially replaced Teacher B. Proposing such a step would be delicate. So he remained seated in the crowd while the teacher kept his place at the center of the room. What is special about this young villager loader?

He never went to primary school. He had some schooling a few years before thanks to evening courses given by Teacher A. His level ~27-

of instruction may be CEI (third grade): the principal adds: "he even writes his letters himself without asking a student for help".

He represents a link between young and old people, peasants and intellectuals. He is a planter and he goes to work in his fields everyday. He represents the student's parents when his uncle is absent from the PTA meetings. He respects the old people's customs and he often visits the teachers and "the intellectuals"0 He expresses himself well in French as well as in his language and he is at ease in both milieus.

Here is the portrait of the young villager whom the Party Leader and the whole population seemed to prefer as an animator. It is an interesting example because the question had been raised at the outset of the present study: who, beside the teacher, could do the animation in the villages? Some even ventured to say that the teacher was to do the job temporarily, the ideal being a natural leader from the village who would take up the responsibilities. The case presented here shows that this latter situation can happen.

111.3. Presence of a Foreign Observor

Each researcher has the duty to find out with the tools at his disposal how his presence on the scene of the observed activity may have modified it. Concerning the observation of the goings-on at the out-of-school educational evenings, the fact that "People from the

Complex", furthermore, white people came in their car in the evening to a non-electrified village, with all the children running to greet

them, the fact that those visitors went to shake hands with all the village leaders, -all that gave an exceptional character to those -28-

evenings.

The researchers took some precautions in order to reduce the chances of biasing the situation to be observed or of making inaccurate observations. The first precaution was to visit always the same village. What happens in an African village is difficult for people exterior to the community to comprehend and remains at a relatively superficial level. In limiting one's population to the same community we hoped to increase the chances of knowing and comprehending it better. There is in this decision the phenomenon of acceptance which dictates a certain attitude: the community will accept the visitor and confide its problems and its reactions insofar as it trusts him.

The precautions entailed two other elements. All the researchers introduced themselves in their respective village before the broadcast of the first program in order to declare to the village leaders their intention to come regularly; this was to accustom the population to the idea of having continuous visits. They also visited the village on days with no adult TV program to get acquainted with people on a more routine basis and get to know them. Also each visitor was told to note carefully the way in which he saw himself perceived by the villagers.

Each of the four teams visiting a school was composed of a white evaluator and an indigenous interpreter. Without exception each team had the impression that the presence of the white man (or the

"person from the Complex" as they were referred to by the teachers) disturbed the situation.

First of all, the outside observor influences the number of -29-

viewers. Their arrival in a village may provoke a human rush to the school. In one case the teacher put the TV set outside of the classroom because the white man had attracted more than three hundred people. In another case an animator confidentially said to the observor: "When you come, the whole village comes to see the program. If you can't come, they are not interested." In a third case an observor said, "The school principal who knew about an out-of-school program had not warned the population. He only switched on the TV receiver when he saw us arrive on the scene".

In brief, a foreign observor's presence has meant the difference between putting the TV on or not, between a crowd and a handful of people. This influence goes even further because it has an impact on the discussion that follows the program. We know that in a TV audience it is not natural that a program prompt an ensuing discussion, and we know that animation necessitates some training and some practice. In the case where an animator does not know how to animate a discussion, the observor can be used as a catalytic agent in order to initiate it. In the following example only the presence of the white evaluator and of an Ivorian nun prevented the viewers from leaving after the program.

"Half of the viewers left as soon as the

program went off the air. I really think

everybody would have gone if the three

nuns and myself had not been there.

About fifteen women stayed for the

discussion but there was no spon-

taneous conversation--only when one -30-

of the nuns asked the animator to

start the discussion was there an

exchange of views that lasted about

ten minutes."

It is hard to tell if the presence of the "people from the Complex" inhibits frankness and spontaneity in the discussion. In some cases at least, we had the impression that the public expressed itself freely because we heard severe criticism of the administrative leaders from such and such a place. Sometimes people were curious about the one who was taking notes during the discussion. They wanted to know who was going to read to them.*

Once this curiosity or this normal request for justification became a mark of mistrust. The European evaluator and his interpreter went one evening on a dirt road to their village about 20 kilometers away--it was the first program in 1973. The interpreter heard an old man say to his neighbor, "is

it true that those big wigs came all that way for a simple story? There is certainly more to it then meets the eye." As the team returned regularly to the village, they no doubt managed to assuage the villagers' suspicion.

It is a fact that even if one explains to the audience the observor's exact purpose, the presence of white people in a bush school raises expectations that go for beyond the domain of passive observation. The animator or a viewer often calls on the observor to intervene in the discussion either to revive the discussion or to give his viewpoint.

*In this case the observor explained that he and other collegues brought back all sorts of information about the way the program was received in the listening centers so that the people responsible for the out-of-school -31-

It is hard for the observor to ignore those calls especially when such audiences are not used to "specialists" who limit their role to watching and nothing else.

Confusion arises between audience and observor in that the latter is perceived as a master in audio-visual techniques as well as a master in the subject presented through this medium. Realistically he is not asked many questions about TV but he is about program content. The diversity of the subjects presented and the technical questions that might be asked often put the observer in an awkward position as he feels he is often unable to provide satisfactory answers. To furnish an example of this uneasiness we shall reproduce the dialogue between an animator and an observor after a program in the Health series.

Animator: "When they see you here for those

programs and at the discussions

that follow, they think you can

bring some solutions to their

problems. So you should answer

their questions as much as

possible and give them satisfaction.

Observer: "Yes, I understand perfectly.

But I would have liked to

explain that we are not doctors.

Only doctors can cure their

ills. But the people here

do not know we are not doctors.

Only the doctors or the people -32

who made the programs can

answer their questions. You

should explain that to them.

It is not ill-will on our

part; it is only that we are not

qualified for that. We do not know

more than they do".

It is up to the observor in such a situation to make the public understand what ho is there for and the limits of his expertise. This may seem obvious but it is not easy. We said above that for the village viewer the white man who regularly comes from the Complex can speak for all out-of-school education. But if there is not on the premises an extension worker from the Ministry or from the development agency concerned, the person from the Complex, in the peasant's eyes, is knowledgable about

every field. He is asked questions that come naturally from the discussion

but which may go beyond his competence. If the questions deal with elementary notions or repetitions of what was said on the program, the observor should be able to manage. But technical questions mean double

frustration: the villager's expectations are unsatisfied and the observor

is sorry not to be able to answer.

What can be done in order to avoid the frustration? Unfortunately, the

number of specialized agents (Health, Agriculture, etc.) on hand is insufficient to provide a presence in every village. The teacher/animator and

the observor can only clearly point out the limits of their role and transmit -33-

the technical question to the sector authority. To conclude, we can say that these requests are rarely transmitted to the concerned Ministry and that the audiences begin to complain that after "programs of sensitization", no one shows any interest in them anymore. Let us hope that with the

"co-animation" planned for the experimental phase of out-of-school education in 1975-1976, in which field follow-up action will be required, these defects will be corrected.

111.4. Selection of the Viewers

Who comes to watch the out-of-school programs? When we presented this question to the out-of-school program directors we received a short and impatient answer: "why, everybody comes to watch the programs!" We tried to point out that classrooms would not hold the whole population and that we should find means of finding out the actual composition of the audience. We wondered if the chosen recruitment channel had either privileged or neglected some sectors of the population.

We had been impressed by the importance given to terms of "democrati- zation", "under-representation" and "unprivileged sectors" at the Third

International Conference on Adult Education organized by UNESCO in Tokyo in 1972. We noticed that one of the main criticisms of the projects in out-of-school education was to have neglected in their programs some of the groups that needed most to be touched, for instance: isolated communities women and young girls, young men who have not yet joined the labor force, school dropouts, unemployed people, migrant workers, and the physically and mentally handicapped. We do not pretend that these traditionally under- -34-

privileged groups should be the target audiences of the Ivorian project.

But we must remind the decision makers that in spite of their will

"to reach everybody" a certain selection of the public will be made and that we must know what it is in order to evaluate whether it is justified.

What can we say regarding the viewers of the 1973 out-of-school programs? The feedback files give only partial indication about the approximate number of viewers at each session and about their distribution by age or sex. We learn for instance that numerous women come to watch the programs. That does not mean that they take an active part in the discussion (see Aspects of Animation at the beginning of this report).

We also learn that young school children are often turned away from the listening room, because their programs come during the day so in the evening they have to make room for adults who otherwise would not benefit from the TV. Let us cite the humor of an old Party delegate who stood up during the discussion following a program and beating violently the ground with his stick said: "we want it quiet and if children do not let us talk, tomorrow we, the old people, we'll come in the school yard to make noise during their program!" If, for different reasons, the adults do not fill up the room, the school children are let in, in a crowd.

School dropouts are the least privileged. It is considered that they lost their chance and that they must make room for others. An animator has called dropouts "the most recalcitrant group in the village. They are the ones who make noise in the yard during the program and we are often forced to leave the room to chase them away".

Beside the inequalities we noticed at the level of the same village -35-

audience, there is also the problem of the villagers who come from villages more or less distant from the village where the school and TV set are. We know that many children walk 3, 5, or even 10 kilometers both ways to come to school. Do the parents of these children know that the out-of-school program will be on such and such a day at such and such a time? Will they undertake the walk at night in order to see the program?

Our information on this issue is fragmentary. In one case the principal of the TV school announced information about the programs via the children. And every program evening, villagers (adults mostly) walked the 5 or 6 kilometers back and forth to join the villagers where the TV set was located. In this context one understands why animators beg the out-of-school authorities to start the programs on time. Such criticism was voiced especially after the program about cooperatives which came on the air over an hour late.

Another totally different case shows the irregularity in the reception of out-of-school programs. The situation is more serious than mere geographical distance or the difficulty in notifying people. We are talking about the unavoidable inequality between a TV village and another which considers itself as unfavored and about the discontent that results from it. When answering the observor's question "do the surroun- ding village people come to the out-of-school programs?" One teacher gave the following answer.

"It is appropriate to point out that the villagers from the neighboring villages pay their share of dues raised for buying goods for -36-

construction and upkeep. They pay for the same services but they do not benefit from the same advantages as the people in the village where the school is located, particularly from the TV offered by the

government. Often they are not notified about the programs or the' distance does not allow them to come here and go back after the program.

And also the few people who venture here are often made fun of because the people from this village think they own the TV and the school. They are extremely arrogant. They treat the other villagers as "inferior".

Other information allows us to think that this case of inequality

is not exceptional. As long as it is impossible to have a school in each village, the people at the periphery will be at a disadvantage.

There is currently an exploitation of these people that the privileged villagers disparagingly call "bushmen." This exploitation does not only

imply access to TV but an opportunity to socialize their children. The

parents who are unfortunate enough to live in a village without schools

have less chance to get an education for their children and to educate themselves through the adult programs. Nevertheless, they are asked to contribute fully to the construction of the school and the teacher's

housing!

The chief of the TV village shed additional light on the absentee

rate among the faraway villages. "Yes, the three neighboring villages which I also govern are always in an open conflict with the inhabitants of this village. Even the day before yesterday, for the reception organized in honor of the "Sous-Profet" I asked one of the villagers to bring me a sheep as a gift to the Sous-Profet but they refused -37-

pretending that we were the ones who benefited from the activities.

Therefore, if those people do not come, I think that this is one of their arguments." This attitude confirms the situation such as the teacher had assessed it: the jealousy and the misunderstanding which reign between privileged and underprivileged villagers have repercussions on the attempt to educate the masses through school and through TV.

III.5. Integration of the Teachers in the Village

The teacher's job makes him responsible for the intellectual, psychomotor, affective and moral development of his pupils. The traditional teacher's training does include a section especially for

"adult education" or "out-of-school animation." A few teachers through the years have shown some interest in adult education, however especially through the initiation of night literacy classes. With the development of the TV program for adults, once again the teachers were called on, but they were not prepared for the special task of communicating with the village illiterates. How would the teachers be fit for their new tasks in villages where they had been appointed by the government, where they were not born or raised and where most of the time they ignored the vernacular language or did not speak it well? When the teachers have been trained in the CAFOPs or at the ENI their program included or was supposed to include an initiation to the techniques of group animation. At the ENI "field studies" had a major place in the curriculum and the students graduated knowing that a regular substantive contact with the people of their assigned village was expected from them. -38-

The rapport of the teacher with the villagers and the degree of his insertion in the village is indeed a very interesting sociological question; when we talk of out-of-school education this rapport becomes an invaluable prerequisite for success if the teacher is to be regarded as the main hope for bringing change. The experience gained in 1973 already underlines a few existing elements about the rapport teacher/villagers which can form the basis for future research on the question.

The double conclusion which we come to is that teachers sometimes have professional or psycho-social problems in their primary classes; these problems increase greatly when the teachers have to deal with adults.

First in most cases the teachers make it known that they are not helped by the villagers in their task of educating the children.

Whether it be refusal to provide notebooks, pens, and slates, negligence in the purchase of the required uniform, etc., the teachers complain that the villagers send their children to school without any consideration for the conditions necessary for their proper instruction. This lack of support of school needs is equaled only by their lack of general interest in what their children learn. It would be interesting to determine an indicator measuring the degree of appreciation villagers have for teachers. One of the indicators a teacher used to measure. his popularity is the number of gifts he received. He laments, "I've spent sixteen years in this village and the number of chickens I have been offered does not go beyond ten!" Thus one notices a certain bitterness on the teacher's part when they evoke their rapports with the village people. This attitude may be reciprocal from the villagers -39-

point of view toward somebody they did not choose but who was assigned to them: this question requires further inquiry.

The teachers feel that their good will toward the adults in the rural development context is not always appreciated. Some villagers at least consider that the teachers go beyond their mandate if they tackle other problems than the pupils.

Teacher/animator: "the villagers think that if we acquired some knowledge, it is limited to children's education and does not apply to them. For us, teachers, what we do in the classroom is enough, we do not have the right to enter into their private or political lives." If this situation is found to be general, the teacher can expect personal frustrations and the authorities can expect failures if they count on the teacher as an agent for development.

A concrete case will illustrate this danger. In one of the villages we studied for a long time, villagers have been complaining about the lack of water, about the long distance to walk to go to the water hole when there is only unsafe water to be had. Official requests for a remedy prompted no results. We reproduce below a villager's intervention during the discussion that followed the program "danger of unclean water."

Villager: If we talk up, what will they do for us?

It is not today that our husbands started

initiated official requests so that we could get wells

dug in our villages. But the situation always remains

the same. -40-

Teacher/animator: This does not prevent you from talking

about it! On the contrary, it should

give you an incentive to talk! In regard

to the well, we can manage to dig our

wells ourselves. All we need is to raise

some money; that's all. I am sure that

with such funds we could dig at least one

well here. Mr. B, please go now to see

the village chief so that he will contact

the committee so that they are reminded

about solving this problem. Otherwise

it is not this man who visited us tonight

nor I who are going to see the "Sous-

Pr4fet" or the Mayor so that somebody

will come to dig a well. This is not our

business. Besides, we teachers, "have

dirty names in your mouths." If one of

us tries to take such a responsability

he will certainly be criticized and

denounced to political leaders. We

know you well enough. Some will even say

that the teacher came to take lots to

build houses for himself. He does not

teach our children well. We all fear

such a reaction and we do not want to mix -41-

with village business although it is

also our business. The village author-

ities should take this problem into con-

sideration. If you think that chatting

and complaining will do any good, you

are wrong!

Let's look schematically at the situation in which this teacher is caught. He comes from the outside and his first remark is about the lack of wells in the village, his second is that the authorities seem indifferent to this state of things and that the villagers are discouraged. The teacher as a change agent thinks he will be able to bring a solution to the problem. He is sure it will not come "from above," for the villages have already solicited in vain the administration to intervene. Besides, his job is not to contact political leaders.

His suggestion bears on internal organization where the villagers can react to his catalytic action and raise the necessary money for at least one well.

The above description is classical in the genesis of any innovation: there is a real problem but the people involved are not able to resolve it, someone comes from the outside and proposes a solution. The way the teacher views his task and the way the villagers view it is capital in the analysis of this situation. The teacher recognizes his ambiguous position when he says "we do not want to mix in the village affairs although they are also ours." Although the teacher does not come from -42-

the village, he does live there. And walking long distance to get the water, risking disease with the unclean water, the teacher is subjected to the same afflictions as the villagers are. He would personally benefit from the well water just as much as the other village residents.

A successful solution is in everyone's interest. Nevertheless when the teacher proposes a solution he feels he will be criticized by everybody. If this impression is real and true of the general villagers' attitude toward a teacher from the outside, we are drawn to analyze the causes of the felt distrust. If on one hand we discover that conflicts between teacher and villagers are frequent, we ought to look for alternatives in the person to whom one should entrust the job of change agent. Or on the other hand if the choice of the teacher is maintained, it would be useful to examine how the rapport teacher/villagers might improve.

111.6. The Villagers and The Well-to-do

The villagers' attitude toward authority, toward the city dweller, and toward the rich is one of accustomed acceptance. Despite a feeling of resignation, it seems that they have a parallel tendency to expect that the solution to their problems will come from the outside, from those same sources. One animator considers that "they want to be imposed on. They want somebody to come and tell them to do this or that, even somebody from outside the community." This dependence on an outside person which can reduce the villagers' initiative to look for, to adopt, and to aDolv their own solution to a given problem is not founded upon -43-

absolute trust. They count on him for a direction and for support but at the same time they distrust him in his role as bearer of assistance.

This distrust is apparently based on discouraging experiences with the authorities or the city people. Here are three examples showing how villagers recall a specific contact with an "exploiter" and how they consider themselves exploited and abandoned victims.

A) - A teacher: "The peasants are afraid of educated people because

they found out that they could not trust them. Let's take the

example of a village not far from here: a clerk ordered his fellow

villagers to create a cooperative. The villagers listened to him

and did just that. With the money they got from the sale of their

products and frcm other work, they were able to build a shop in

their village which works now. But then the clerk came to tell them

to build a house which would later bring more money; the rest of the

money from the construction, 800,000 CFA francs, was put in the bank.

After some time they saw that the house had been rented. They asked

the clerk about it, and he answered, "I gave it to the priests."

They knew it was rented but they did not say anything. Instead

they went to the bank to check on the money: it was gone. Since

then village people are afraid of clerks. They do not believe in

educated people because for them the clerk was a crook".

B) - The son of a village chief: "I am shocked because city people come

to buy things here at a cheap price and they sell us things at

rocket high prices; and when we try to do something to complain, -44-

they abuse us. Therefore, we decided we would not sell our products

anymore because they think we are stupid. Needless to say, without

us those people would have a hard life because it is thanks to us

that they can eat".

C) - A member of the PTA association: "We should not forget about the

authorities who discourage us. Sometimes there is somebody from

the "Town Hall" or the "Sous-Prefecture" who comes to raise money

so that they'll do something good for us, or so they tell us. We

cannot refuse and we collect the money. A few years later nothing

is done and they have forgotten us. When we present ourselves to

them in order to inquire what they meant to do with our money, they

tell us to wait and we wait endlessly. Our literate brothers from

the cities should come and provoke meetings so the villagers will

agree on something and go see the authorities about receiving

guarantees. But which ones? This behavior on the part of the

authorities discourages us. We think it is a way to brush us aside

because we can't read or write. So now when they tell us to do

anything, good or bad, we refuse; we can't stir up enough good

will to do it".

In this flow of grievances, the villagers pronounce themselves against the rich, the leaders, the educated who exploit them, who cheat them, who rob them. This state of affairs is even more intolerable, the peasants say, because they are abused by people who live from the fruit of their labors! The villagers seem to adore much of what comes from the

"evolved" world but doubt the honesty of the people who come from the big -45-

centers in order to "help" them.

111.7. Discussion versus Action

The adult programs can lead to lively discussions in the listening centers if two conditions are fulfilled: the subject matter must be relevant to the viewers and the animator must be skilled in leading the discussion. However, if a good discussion may be regarded as a prerequisite for the adoption of new behavior it does not mean at all that the newly expressed attitudes will be put to practice. In each attempt to inculcate new habits through educational TV, we must eventually find out how a subject acts when he is in his natural milieu and be careful not to fool ourselves because the viewer in the classroom understood the message or answered well.

When the observor hears several exclamations and intentions to concretely apply the advice or suggestions given through the media, he may rejoice. The viewers say they thank the government and the authorities from the Complex for having sent programs to them, they insist they have understood the message and they will put it on practice.

One teacher warned against premature rejoicing:

"For the inhabitants, everything they are told is always right.

They say yes because the white people have never lied to them, they say.

The proof of what I say is that they will never.say no, but they will never do anything, either. Perhaps they will understand, but they will never put anything to practice".

This judgment appears severe. Here again we see the model of the -46-

white: all that he does is good, therefore, one has to do as he says.

But the teacher doubts whether the villagers understand the TV message and even if they do, the teacher thinks they won't change anything in their way of life. The experience of one teacher/animator reveals how difficult it is to get villagers to apply what has been suggested in the program. The animator had been discouraged trying to get the people to discuss essential problems on how to go about creating a cooperative: the group was happy discussing what they could do with the money once they had earned it! The teacher listened to a final comment from the floor. "All we've just seen is good. Therefore, we are going to get organized to form a cooperative, that's all I see.* Thereupon he lost patience.

Animator: All you have been saying is worthless. This one

gets up and speaks. So does the other one over

there. You have a foot in the well but you have not

fallen in it yet. You do not ask the basic question:

how to go about creating a new cooperative!

Everybody: Yes it is true, but we have not thought about it.

We'll think later.

Animator: Later but when?

Student's Parent: We must first have a meeting and we leave it up to

our village leader to decide on a meeting date.

The villagers put off to an indefinite time ("later") the serious -47-

discussion about the creation of a cooperative. Since he wanted to know if the villagers were planning to follow through on their project, the next day the observor asked the Party delegate, who answered, "we are going to meet next Saturday on this project." The meeting was never called that.Saturday and three months later it still had never been.

Ther&'s evident reason to doubt an automatic action after a discussion or any change after a single program.

Returning to his village four months after the experimental series of out-of-school programs, an observor noticed that apparently nobody in the village had taken any account of the recommendations that were given in the Health programs (weaning, infant feeding.) This remark about the ineffectiveness of single programs was shared by the two

Catholic nuns who worked educating village women. They had watched the programs and had tried to encourage the women to follow the advice given on the programs.

In another village there were discussions after the program "the cooperative" but no concrete application followed. In this instance young men refused to work on the collective plantations of their elders because in their gerontocratic system they were going to spend all the money for themselves without giving any explanations.

Consequently, either because of the absence of discussion on the essential problem, or because of an obstacle due to the existing socio- economic system, we learn that the teacher/animator's worries and fears are justified: improbable change in attitude or application in the field following a simple program. One should be happy if the villagers include -48-

the given theme to their discussions outside of school in other contexts.

To conclude, we want to underline once more the necessity of tying the programs to a technical follow-up on the part of the local extension workers from the institutions involved in the program production (Public

Health, Agriculture Ministry, animation groups, etc.). One program on cooperatives, say, might well sensitize a part of the population and point the way toward certain actions. But if a village group possessing some motivation does not know to whom it should address questions and requests for advice, a negative attitude toward the out-of-school broadcasts could develop.

111.8. Program Relevance and Viewer Expectations

Both animators and spectators spoke up during interviews or discussions about their preferences in out-of-school programs. They were unanimous to say they preferred the second program "the cooperative" to the first one, the folktale, "the tree of misery." One animator said the story was childish. He could not see the link between the story and the villagers. On the other hand even before the second program was broadcast he said "I am looking forward to this program because it will be of some use to the villagers since there already is a cooperative in the village".

A student's parent in another center commented along the same line:

"the best program is 'the cooperative' because it taught us a lot and we can get a lot out of it. The folk story is amusing that's all!"

In a third villdge the viewers closely associated their own lot to that -49-

of the women in the program "the cooperative" because they walk long distances in order to fetch water. "The film gives a good idea of women's suffering," said one spectator.

Toward the end of the 1973-1974 program series the feeling of prefering a practical and realistic program like the cooperative is still valid. In January 1974, a school principal suggested a link between the participation rate and the subjects presented. He noted the reception difficulties which finally seemed to decline. Then he insisted that the utmost care should be taken in the choice of program subjects so that they were completely relevant to the people's needs. He then underlined the necessity of making a thorough inquiry in the villages in order to know what people wished to see for their evening programs. To go on with the present practice in which "Abidjan decides" what is good for the peasant is nonsense for that school principal whom we cite now.

"I also tried to figure out what caused the absence of the villagers at the last programs and here is the conclusion I came up with: the present programs do not have much to do with our peasant life. Only the cooperative program interested us a lot. Without looking further,

I think they are right. I know those people and I know the programs are not relevant. This is the reason why sometimes they are discouraged.

Otherwise, at the beginning, crowds of people came and this prevented optimal listening conditions. But now it is no l'onger the case; the situation is different. Personally, I would reproach the out-of-school people responsible for the programs in Abidjan for having falsified the situation from the beginning. First I thought they had conducted a survey -50-

beforehand with the peasants and the school teachers since they themselves say that the village teacher knows the village life as well as his own business. Therefore, if they had interviewed us, too, they would have done better. This survey would have consisted of interviewing the peasants and the school teachers in order to elicit propositions and wishes about the programs; they would have studied them and selected the best ones for their programs. As long as they stay in Abidjan and choose the programs according to their own psychological conception, it won't work".

This demand for a survey on the perceived needs of the viewer is also underlined in the work program that the External Evaluation Unit plans to fulfill in 1975.

An observor noticed another element that might compromise the chances of applying the TV message to the adults: the gap between the milieu presented on the screen and the milieu in which the viewers live.

An example is given in one of the Health programs which shows a modern

PMI* in which baby delivery is performed in ideal conditions. The nurses wear white frocks, the mothors come from a comfortable background and the babies are clothed in nice baby clothes. Thus the images reflect an urban milieu. (We realize it was a conscious objective to aim the program at urban dwellers, but we point out that the urban milieu presented was one of well-to-do urban elite, inaccessible to most city residents.)

It is only through the feedback, through talks with city teachers and school principals that we could conclude that in the cities no one opened

*PMT - Mn+ax-nnl -- ~A T- .. a L -51-

their TV at night in the schools! If people watch the program "TV for

Everybody"* it is at home and with the family. This does not mean that

no one in town is interested, it only means that it is almost impossible to monitor their listening and their reactions. If we limit ourselves to the observations done in the bush and to the feedback files (almost

exclusively from rural areas) we find negative reactions to the nice

comfortable milieu which is shown on the screen. And since the peasants

tend to consider the kind of life shown on the screen out of reach,

consequently, they tend to consider the lessons inapplicable to their own

condition. In a place where there is no doctor, no nurse, no hospital,

no dispensary, no PMI, the following reaction is often observed: "All

this is good for the town intellectuals, but it has nothing to do with

us." "All this" may entail hygienic principles, nutritional habits,

the clothing worn, the setting, the French spoken. The message itself

joined with the decor constitute a foreign and far-away world. For

the woman who sells fish at the market or comes out of the bush "with

latex juice or banana stains on her breasts" (as a student's parent

described the everyday reality) certain hygienic rules like breast washing

before each feeding that may be practiced if she stayed at home, is out

of the question. The pressure to do what the parents have done before

is much stronger than to adopt foreign ways. When we teach, "give fish,

meat or eggs to an eight-month-old baby," we are told: "this isn't done

* The title given the adult education TV program. -52-

here".

A villager and an observor think that a practical demonstration of the attitude to be acquired is a necessary pre-condition to its adoption. The villager cited the case of a woman who could not breast feed her baby although she had seen a doctor about it. "The doctor told her orally what she was to do but he did not show her in practice

--the doctor gives advice only this way." What is criticized here is the administrative organization of the hospital which expediates patients with a bureaucratic rapidity instead of aiming at real effectiveness through education of the population.

The observor also suggests that the reason the proposed lessons are not adopted may be explained by the lack of concretization in the teaching. He thinks that a program in which food preparation is shown would be much more effective if before or after the program, a village woman would demonstrate preparing the food. It certainly would be more direct means to initiate the discussion and to persuade people to follow the example. The two conclusions we come to after the preceding observations are: first, the program should reproduce a way of life (a milieu) closer to that of the target audience and second, a human effort should be made around the programs in order to concretize the teaching given through the TV.

111.9. The Out-of-school Program Setting

At the end of this report we insist on making a few observations on the way in which the program "TV for everybody" was announced and on -53-

the setting of its presentation. We are persuaded that the general context in which the program for the rural world is presented has its importance just as does the content of the program.

A first example of how the importance of rural education is belittled is illustrated in the TV program announcer's introduction. The announcement before the second program on "Health" went like this: "Your program tonight is 'la piste aux 6toiles' (a French serial) and while we're waiting, here is 'TV for everybody."' We can consider that this dis- credit (by saying "while we're waiting") of a program conceived and made in Ivory Coast in a global effort to raise the whole population's standard of living as opposed to an irmported film ("la piste aux 6toiles") which will provide some amusement to only a few privileged people, represents nothing but tho personal taste of the speaker or the collective feeling of the company which employs her. At any rate it appears that the official attitude is to devalue the peasants, it seems that their program does not belong to the program, that it is something secondary or even concessionary.

A second example is lack of respect for the pre-announced program times. The second and the fifth programs of the series started each over an hour late. The organization of out-of-school animation entails a campaign in which through the national papers, the radio, the TV, and written instructions to the teacher/animators each program is described beforehand, the date and hour are announced and the villagers are reminded to come in great numbers. Some have to walk several kilometers on bush paths at night in order to come. If once they are seated in the class- -54-

room they have to wait for the program and when it does come if there is neither an apology or explanation for the delay, they may begin to doubt the seriousness of the whole thing. If because of the delay, they have to stay until 10:30 or 11:00 P.M. it is understandable that they avoid such experiences in the future, as they still have the trip back to their village and in the morning they have to rise with the sun. Can any success be expected under these conditions?

A third element which has to be taken into account in regard to concentration on rural education is what is shown on the TV right before or right after the program. Before there is the evening news which is oriented toward the upper-class urban viewers. Before he gets his program, the villager is dazzled by images that are foreign and inaccessible to him: official receptions and banquets at the Hotel Ivoire, for instance. If the decision has been made to produce programs for illiterate people, these programs should be inserted between others that would relate and interest their world. For instance, the news could be given in two forms: the one currently in use and another directed to the rural world, with simple words and subject matter relating to rural areas. There is a precedent of two types of news programs for different audiences. In the

United States, recently, broadcasts in sign language for the deaf have been added to the regular news program. This represents a modest effort in order to reach a small minority of viewers from a disadvantaged group.

In Ivory Coast with the increase of the TV sets in the rural zones, the peasant world will stop being a small minority of viewers; thus they merit special attention and care. "-55-

We also noted an example of a program following "TV for everybody" which caused disturbance. Several listening centers which do not have electricity or kerosene lamps had to keep the TV on in-order to have some light in the room for the discussion. At the mercy of such dis- tractions, one evening audience saw but did not hear a program about

President Senghor after which teachers who had to animate the discussion expressed frustration because they would have rather watched the higher level cultural program.

Finally, some programs were announced and not broadcast; this disturbed the development of the pre-experimental phase of out-of-school education. Toward the end of the program called "Our Children Learn to Read," the announcer said that "due to numerous technical incidents the program would be shown again." It never was. Another disturbance worse than the first, was the announcement of a series of five programs on the school TV which was stopped after the second one. We will not evoke here the causes of this decision nor what the consequences were for the out-of-school management. We only mean to imply that for both teachers and viewers, who had been led to expect a certain program at a certain time, dissatisfaction was expressed. The difficulties in starting an out-of-school education program through TV are enormous anyway. But each incident that hinders its progress is to be regretted. -56-

APPENDIX--EXAMPLES OF TRANSCRIBED DISCUSSIONS

First Village Program: "Baby feeding at age five to six months"

Animator: Now what do we have? Uh... what should we talk about?

A Teacher: Before we open the discussion, I'd like to say a word.

The program we just watched interests women more than

men. I want to present to you Mr. M who comes from

the TV Complex where the programs are made. I also

asked you last time to say what you would like to

see because all these papers are sent back there.

We are not forgotten, because they take into account

everything that is said here. And Mr. M is here

tonight to work with us. He is going to write and

to tape so that the next programs will be good ones;

the programs we ourselves want.

It is too bad we do not have electricity but I

will ask you not to watch the screen but only to

concentrate on the program you've just seen so that

we can get something out of it. Because there are

many things we do not know and because we see many

women and children who are sick and we do not know

why but those programs are made so that we learn

now how to take care of and how to feed our child

so that he too will be in better health than we are. -57-

Now we have just watched a program. We saw

mothers and children, a nurse and women who prepared

food for their children. We are used to thinking

that a five to six month-old baby will never be

tired of only his mother's milk but you have to

give him something else. The child who drinks only

from the breast, you have seen him next to the other.

Now it is your turn to speak about what you have seen

and about what you think about it so that everybody

will get something out of it. What doctors know is

what they told us and we understand well and we are

happy about it. We are waiting so that everybody

will say something about the program we have just

seen. If someone wants to speak, he should raise

his hand and I will give him the floor because if

everybody talks at the some time we are not going

to hear anything and the work will be useless.

A man: Yes, this program is very good. Since we ignored all

this before that is why the majority of our children

were never very well. But as we now have seen it on

the TV, we are going to follow the advice and improve

the eating habits of our children so that they have

better health. Therefore, all we saw has registered

in our heads. -58-

Another Man: What we were shown, in my conception, is this: the

man who has the means can do it, because we do not

have money. If it's our child and we must buy him

all that, would we be able to do it each time as we

were shown?

Teacher: Here is a question Mr. B has raised. He said "If

one does not have the money to buy milk and fish,

what should he do?

A Woman: Yes, for somebody who does not have money, I think

that corn flour can be found with everybody. He can

take some to give it to the child because this pre-

paration does not require one's being rich to do it.

Teacher: I think that when one has a child he must know he will

have to spend money. It is better than to wait until

the child is sick and spend the money for medicine.

If you want to feed your child you must do every-

thing for him. It is not the first day the child

was born; it is when he is five or six months old

that he needs more than milk. Why do you have coffee

in the morning and at noon eat "t8" or yam "foutou?"

It is because at noon you need something solid. We

adults manage to find that to eat. But for the child,

when he is little, mothers have to make sacrifices,

don't they?

A Parent: All we have been told or shown is very good but as -59-

we do not have any money what are we going to do?

But as we have just been told, we'll follow the advice.

Animator: We have just seen that when a child is not well fed

he gets sick, we saw his sickness on TV. They want

to educate us so that now our children will be in

good shape and live long without any sickness. Should

we follow this advice, or not? Is it good, or not?

If it is good you say right away: "Yes, I am going

into the bush, gather fagots and when they are sold

I am going to buy things for my child, because I

want him to be like the one I saw on TV".

Teacher: Before you saw this program on TV, how did women here

used to feed their babies?

Another Parent: Before we saw this program, we used to sow corn and

when the husks were dry we had it pounded into flour

and with it we prepared food for our children. We

did not use milk.

Teacher: It is especially to the women that I address this

question beciause the man who talked may have seen

his wife prepare food this way but we have women

here; I want them found. Madame, how old is your

child?

Woman: One year old.

Teacher: But when did you start to give him food?

(Same) Woman: When he was five months old I gave him flour pap -60-

and when he was nine months I gave him foutou.

Besides, he was still breast feeding.

Another woman: Me, too. From the fourth month on I began to give

him some pap and when he started to crawl, I gave him

foutou but I was still breast feeding him.

Teacher: Did you see in the program something that one should

do to one's child? Is it only to feed him well that

is important?

Another woman: We also saw that even if you give the child fish

mixed with mashed food or milk mixed with flour, we

also must take the child to the hospital once in a

while.

Teacher: We saw that milk was not enough for a baby from five

to six months old, that if he did not eat well his feet

were swollen, that you should give him things to eat

like mashed yam, flour, milk, etc., but who saw some-

thing else?

Another woman: We saw that the children who were not well fed were

not nice .to look at. And we saw that we have to

take the child to the hospital regularly.

Teacher: How many times must you take him to the hospital?

Woman: If I am not wrong, we should take him twice a month.

Teacher: Why was the child sick?

Same woman: Because he was not well fed since breast feeding could

not fill him. -61-

Another Woman: Because the woman did not take good care of him.

And his meal was always bad.

Teacher: OK, you know why the child was sick but at the end

of the program you heard two women talking. One was

saying "why is your child big and mine small?" And

the other answered, "well when he was five to six

months old I used to give him milk and also other

things to eat." Is it all the woman said?

Woman: The other gave her advice; she told her to go to

the hospital each time to see the doctor.

Teacher: It is not enough to feed the child, one must go to the

hospital. The children's hospital is in Bouak6, it is

called the PMI or the social center. It is in the

Central Hospital. The child is weighed and if there

is anything wrong, the doctor will say "Madam, your

child is sick, he has such and such a sickness." Your

child is weighed once a month. There the doctor can

tell you what to give him according to his age.

Woman: We understand.

Teacher: Now that you have seen this program, what will you do?

Woman: When I have a baby I'll do as was said on TV. I'll

follow their advice.

Another Woman: Even if I don't have money to buy him that, I'll do

my best to do as we were told on TV.

Teacher: Did you enjoy the program you saw? -62-

Everybody: We did enjoy it because TV does not only teach the

children but everybody. We are very happy about

the programs because they teach us things.

Teacher: For instance, it is said that children in Africa

die younger than white people'children. It is

because there are things we do not know and now we

are told about them and we can do everything to avoid

them. Children are fragile, they are not tough;

therefore, we cannot give them just anything: that

is what we are told here. If you follow their advice

you'll see what will become of your children in the

future.

To be noticed in this dialogue:

- insufficient part played by animator

- skilful part of the teacher who was trained in group animation

during three years at the ENI

- the observor was presented so that his presence was justified

- difficulty with the lighting system

- people expressed intentions to follow the advice given. -63-

Second Village Program: "It's your turn to speak up"

Animator: Now it's your turn to speak. What do you think of

this program?

Party Delegate: What should we say?

Animator: Anything you want to. For instance, your difficulties

or the problems that upset you most.

Parent: We wish the State would take care of our roads, especially

the road to A. We're ashamed to see foreigners covered

with mud or wet with dew when they arrive.

Chief: Before, A was a touristic place and a training center

for extension agents. I wonder why they do not come

anymore? Is it because we are backwards, or is the

VIPs fault? Is it the Deputy or the Party Secretary

who tell them not to come?

Woman: Should we abandon our traditional way of breast feeding

our children?

Another Woman: Those of us who do not have children would like a film

about sterility shown to us. We want to know why some

women are sterile? How can we cure that? What is it

from?

Other Woman: Here we are told to give both breasts to the child to

suck, but according to the old women one breast has

milk and the other contains natural water. I'd like

to know if it is for this reason that the doctor said -64-

to give both.

A man: I'd like them to show us the way to have good crops.

Another man: Before the Kossou Dam was built, it rained a lot here.

I would like to see a film explaining why we don't have

rain anymore since the dam was built.

Party delegate: I'd like a dispensary here, because if somebody is in

a coma before we get to the road and in a taxi, our

patient is already dead: that's why we'd like a dis-

pensary.

Parent: Before, Health agents used to come regularly to give

us first aid. I'd like to know why those agents do

not come anymore?

Chief's wife: We have no money and no possibility to travel. What

are we going to do in order to feed our children if it

does not rain anymore here? What can we do to get rain

and grow our vegetables, eggplant and tomato, which are

for us women our only resource?

Parent: Before independence everything was cheap: coffee and

cocoa were sold at a good price. How is it that it is

different now?

A man: Now everything is expensive in Ivory Coast, each year

if we see an increase in our crops we also see an

increase on products we need to byy. I'd like to know

if this happens only in Ivory Coast or if it is the

same everywhere in the world? -65-

Parent: Before when our children left us to go to Abidjan

we said that they went to have fun or to fool around

in the streets. If our children were doing that it's

all right, for the city workers think we are crazy.

After hard work in the fields, you return hoping to

have a good meal, and your wife tells you there is no

meat. Why is that? Because we are forbidden to kill

animals. But those of us who are not government em-

ployees how can we manage to have meat to eat? In the

film they say, "eat food with vitamins," and "good

food makes your muscles strong." When we eat well we

are in good shape and we are not sick, but as they

forbid us to hunt, what will they do for us?

Chief's wife: We have not traveled and we have not been to school

either. And now that there is no rain, what can we

do to help our husbands? Therefore, we want a film to

help us about that.

A man: What shocks me is that city people come here to buy

our products cheap but at the end they resell them at

high prices but when we try to react they insult us.

So we decided not to sell them our products because

they think we are stupid. Needless to add that without

us those people would suffer because it is thanks to us

that they can eat in the cities. -66-

Parent: Yes, as my friend just said, coffee and cocoa were bought

at better prices. But since independence, everything is

different. There is no rain and there is no money.

Prices are too high. The Party card costs more every

day.

Parent: If thanks to our President we know the white man's

civilization we want literacy classes so that we'll

know it too. That's why we are going to try to be

aware of what you have shown us. So we thank you a

lot.

Another parent: I like particularly the film about cooperatives. This

film impressed me a lot. I like the film about rural

exodus and the new coffee policy, too.

A man: People thought good to ask us about the films we'd like

to be shown-dance folklore does not educate us. But

films like baby feeding, cooperatives and the new coffee

policy are very instructive.

Woman: Right now, I have a three-month-old child. Sometimes

I have sore breasts; what shall I do to feed him? We

have neither dispensary nor pharmacy here. And if the

child is starving and crying what should I do?

A man: We were told in the film that things in this world

change every day. So we want adult classes. And we

want to have teachers for our classes just as our

children have during the day. -67-

Party delegate: What leaves us a little indifferent is the TV education.

We do not know if it is the same for children as for us.

We do not know, so we want a concrete explanation about

that.

Parent: Before we built this school, we raised the money among

us, and I'd like to know if the State expects the same

from us for the dispensary.

Notice: - Animator very weak, divergent discussion

- Demands for programs on several subjects:

. sterile women

. how to have successful crops

. weather conditions in Ivory Coast

. price increases (economy)

. literacy class

. information about school TV

- Wishes expressed:

. road upkeep

. dispensary building

. health agents' visit

. hunting reopening. -68-

Another Program in the Second Village: "Our children learn to read"

Animator: We have just seen together the teaching in TV classes.

What were your impressions? Some say that TV is not a

good teacher, that children in TV classes do not know

much. Others say that children go only to see the

pictures. What do you think about all those opinions?

A man: I think that traditional teaching is better. The proof

is that the program we came to watch was cut off. For

me a TV set is something that is damaged very easily

and often breaks down. And if we have not seen the

whole program, it's too bad; it won't be repeated.

Another man: Children in TV classes are very intelligent but they

can't read and write. If the teachers adopt the tra-

ditional method, that is to beat the child when he

does not know how to write, he would be better corrected

than he is while watching TV. Before when the children

were given beatings at school, they were more intelligent

than those of today and they could write.

Party delegate: The TV school children don't know that they're doing.

They go there only to see movies. What's more some

of them sleep all the time! Before, TV school children

did not sleep much like today's. Therefore, traditional

education is better. If you watch the screen too much,

your eyes will hurt and you will be sleepy. So, TV -69-

A man: I think it's good, because if it's spoken French,

they speak it well but writing is like an art drawing

for them, they don't know anything about it. As a

conclusion, I would say that TV education is a slight

improvement.

Party delegate: If people insist on teaching through TV, I wish they

would teach Baould to the children and then give all

the teaching in the Baoul6 language. I also wish they

would teach them good things so that they know they came

to school to do something.

Animator: What about the teacher who does not know Baoul6? What

would he do?

Parent: As Y said, TV children have a fluent and better way of

speaking. We're talking about writing.

Another parent: Since the film goes very fast on the screen, how will the

children manage to know what they are supposed to do?

How will they retain anything?

Animator: Between each program there is one hour of pause or waiting.

It is at that moment that the teacher has to teach the

class the way he was told on TV.

A man: If I say that TV education is no good, it is because

once the set is on, the images disappear right away. If

a child did not follow the program because he was sleeping

how will he manage? All the images disappear and are

not written on the blackboard. Before the teachers wrote -70-

on the blackboard they read to the children and it went

very well. Even if the child had not followed the lesson,

with his friend's help he could learn how to read. With

all that, teachers complain that we don't do one thing

for our children at home! That's all I know and all I

have to say.

Another man: I think that if Ivory Coast really wants to keep TV

teaching, it should be done in the higher classes like

CM1 and CM2.* Because at that level, the child knows

what he is doing when he is in the classroom.

Other man: If we want to continue TV teaching our children will lose.

They will never succeed like their big brothers who had

a traditional education.

Man: If a child is sleepy and does not follow like my friend

said, who is going to show him? For me, TV is cinema.

TV is no good for children's education. Traditional

teaching is better: after four months at school, a child

can write his name and even count.

Animator: Each one of you ought to remember what he has said

because one day or another he will be asked again.

Do you, parents, think there is a difference between

today's children who are in TV classes and yesterday's

* cours moyen 1 and 2 = fifth and sixth grades. -71-

who were in traditional classes?

Parent: Before in the CE2*, children could not express them-

selves in French. Now in CP1** they can already.

Animator: I'd like to know if the children at TV school are

disciplined at home or if they are disobedient and

hard to manage?

A man: We see a difference because before, the children came

home from school with books and they studied very hard.

But now, when the TV students come home they are empty

handed. When you say, "Kouams, bring me your book, I

want you to read to me," he answers, "I don't have a

book. Do you think that we work with a book at school?"

And he goes out to play. I'd say they are more turbulent

than before; they are very cheeky.

Parent: On one hand, the children do not have books but on the

other, we can't read or write either. So how do you

expect us to help them at home?

Animator: Some of you said right away that TV school was good

and some said it was bad, some also said that the children

could speak French well and some said, they could not

write.

* cours 616mentaire 2 = fourth grade

** cours praparatoire 1 = first grade. -72-

A man: To speak French fluently is not what we are asking for.

Rather someone who can talk and write; we consider him

an intelligent man. To speak French without writing

it is of no use.

Party delegate: Here we call somebody a clerk when he can read and write.

A man: Here in Ivory Coast, the man who can read and write is

the man who can find food more easily but a man who talks

too much can become a thief.

Another man: Before, when there was no TV, we were doing everything

the way they say on TV. Each time there was a lesson

on fish, sheep, etc., they had the animal brought into

the class to show it to the children. Therefore, I don't

see the usefulness of TV in primary schools. Once you

see the object on TV it disappears. Therefore, TV

education is no good.

Parent: Since up to now my children don't have a book what will

they do on Sundays and on Thursdays in order to learn

reading? Since everything is done on TV and TV is shut

off on Sundays and Thursdays?

Another parent: We say TV is not good because every time the set is

broken down.

A man: A person does the teaching, but the day the TV set is

broken down, what will our children do? We all know TV

is a fragile machine just like radio sets.

Party delegate: Before, we did not know anything. But our brothers who -73-

improved our way of living. Among the teachers some

are from the Baoul4, B4t4, Dioula tribes, etc. I wish

they would teach our children in Baouls so that they

won't have difficulties with the pronunciation. I'd

like them to make a film on what I just said. In

conclusion, TV is all right, I guess.

Notice: - the teacher/animator is not a TV teacher. He does not take

sides in favor of the TV system

- the arguments for traditional school

- the wish that the local language be taught in the TV school

- the doubt expressed that the children could follow and

understand fleeting pictures

- the general doubt about the usefulness of TV education.