Socio-Anthropological Perspectives in Alternative Education

Social Anthropology Proponent: Harry F. Walcott is the branch of Anthropology that studies how currently living human beings behave in social groups it explores the role of meanings, ambiguities and contradictions of social life, patterns of sociality, violence and conflict and the underlying logic of social behavior. According to Walcott, unlike children and teenagers, adults have many responsibilities that they must balance against the demands of learning. Barriers in Participating in Learning Lack of time Money Confidence or interest Lack of information about opportunities to learn Scheduling problems Problems with child care Transportation Motivation factors Educators of Alternative Education should Enhance the learners reason for enrolling Decrease the barriers in learning

Elements of Learning 1. Motivation - Learners must recognize the need for the information Motivation is the inner drive that energizes you to do something. It is the strength of the drive toward an action. TYPES OF MOTIVATION: 1. Intrinsic when the source of motivation is from within the person himself/herself or the activity itself. 2. Extrinsic when that which motivates the person is someone or something outside him/her. ROLES OF EXTRINSIC MOTIVATION: It is necessary to develop the love for learning among poorly motivated learners. After motivating the students to learn with extrinsic motivation, hopefully, they may gradually develop intrinsic motivation in themselves. 2. Reinforcement Instructors must encourage correct modes behavior and performance Reinforcement is anything that strengthens the desired response or behavior. of

 Positive Reinforcement is any stimulus that is given or added to increase the response. Negative Reinforcement is any stimulus that results in the increased frequency response when it is withdrawn or removed. It is NOT a punishment. A negative reinforcement is different from a punishment because a punishment is a consequence intended to result in reduced responses or behaviors. 3. Retention - Learners must see a purpose for the information and understand and be able to interpret and apply it Retention is the ability to remember a behavior that has been observed. It is a necessary condition for effective modeling to occur. One way of increasing retention is using the rehearsal technique.

4. Transference - The learners must be able to use the information taught in the course but in a new setting Positive Transfer - occurs when learning in one context improves performance in another context. Negative Transfer - occurs when learning in one context impacts negatively on performance in another. Near Transfer - refers to transfer between very similar contexts. Far Transfer refers to transfer between contexts that, on appearance, seem remote and alien to one another