Retention + Organizational Culture Matter

Background
In 2021, amidst pandemic challenges for Out of School Time (OST) youth program delivery, I offered a series of online learning experiences for youth and families through Cornell Cooperative Extension of Cayuga County that was intended to provide project-based opportunities for youth and caring adults to learn together and explore nature and STEM.    The activities were promoted through the county office (to 4-H clubs/families and to contacts connected to the EFNEP program) and through a local school district parent-teacher organization’s Facebook page.  While the promotion and experience were offered broadly and to all families, participation was reasonable, and program evaluation indicated that objectives were met, it was observed that youth and family participation lacked demographic and family SES diversity.  That observation inspired me to review literature in a parallel nonformal education field – the field of inclusive science communication as well as literature around other educational theories on teaching and learning.  I found many interesting insights – including the realization that some may not feel comfortable or have time for family OST activities but may be making time for informal learning at home.  In this post, I’ll focus on idea of weaving together informal and formal education so that those who may not be likely to opt for signing up for OST science or nature activities, could still identify as learning from friends, neighbors, and family and be acknowledged for the communal learning that is happening out of school.

Cultural Learning Pathways Framework
One theoretical framework that explains what is learned,  how learning happens, and where it is likely to happen is the  Cultural Learning Pathway Framework.  The Cultural Learning Pathway Framework (Bricker et al., 2008, Bricker & Bell, 2014) describes how the layers of experiences and attributes of one’s culture are involved in a person’s knowledge growth and development.  The Cultural Learning Pathway Framework demonstrates the value of many other learning models including instructional design models that acknowledge affordances and engagement (Nolen & Koretsky, 2018; Norris, 2003), theory of person’s model (Dreier, 2009), social practice theory which recognizes the value of community in shaping identity (Calabrese Barton et al., 2013), and situated learning (Lave & Wenger, 1991).  Ole Drieier’s theory of persons is a particular influence as it recognizes the value of socio-material objects (how objects like toys or access to sport equipment can encourage social engagement and growth) in activities and arrangements.  The Cultural Learning Pathway Framework considers the value of informal, nonformal, formal, family/cultural experiences and attitudes, and ties to recognized learning in formal education.  The framework emphasizes that learning is lifelong and life wide, it doesn’t only happen in the classroom – and for some who may not be seen for their academic achievements – there learning at home or through informal learning channels may not be seen at all.

Potential Connections to Formal Education
Research indicates that informal learning can, particularly when prompted and acknowledged by others, be impactful on science literacy/competency development.  This understanding and approach may be of particular interest to those who are educators because while formal and non-formal educators may aspire to provide opportunities for skill growth; self-driven play can lead to some of the same outcomes – and in some families – informal lifelong experiences are more likely to be the place where enrichment will occur.  And, because informal outcomes are not written in an educational plan, the development may not be recognized.

If acknowledgment of informal learning were a part of the non-formal and formal instruction, might otherwise marginalized participants identify as science/nature enthusiasts?  The report Learning in and Out of School in Diverse Environments (Banks et al., 2007) considers questions like this.  The report acknowledges the value of situated and everyday learning that is mediated by cultural practices/perspectives in homes and communities.  The authors suggest that when formal education better understands the picture of everyday learning for a student, educational achievement gaps can be reduced.  The report includes principles and practices intended to help educators facilitate discussion and recognize informal, situated learning.   A checklist of questions like, “Does your institution provide professional development programs to help teachers and instructors develop the knowledge and skills needed to create new pedagogies that incorporate and take into account the life-long learning of students?” (Banks et al., 2007, p.29) can assist formal education institutions in assessing their approach.

Non-Western or Indigenous Approaches to Learning
In the literature about adult education theories, there is research and writings about teaching and learning with a non-western or indigenous approach.  These approaches are often discussed interchangeably to represent a philosophy of education where learners learn from the community and the lines of teachers and learners is less structured.  These ideas align with the Cultural Learning Pathways Framework and may explain why youth and adults from non-dominant populations may not choose to join learning experiences intended to build up the individual.  In general, Western approach learning theories refer to teaching to transfer facts and information and developing cognitive reasoning for individuals.  That said, literature about Indigenous teaching and learning includes cultural education norms for indigenous populations not individual.  Commonalities in the writings about Non-Western or Indigenous approaches to learning include: community above self, valuing informal and at home learning, a wholistic approach (valuing learning as mind, body, and spirit), and balancing the scales between teacher and learner, deemphasizing the power of formal learning (Merriam & Baumgartner, 2020).  What if there were opportunities for formal education to listen and acknowledge families and community learning?  Would the youth involved be proud of their family heritage and the experiences learned outside of school in a way that helps them identify as a learner?

Implications for Youth and Family Work
The Non-Western or Indigenous ideas for program development, design, and implementation could have positive program implications for youth and adults, informal and formal learning.  If youth involved were asked to seek out family, friends, neighbors, community members to listen for stories and ask questions, and then retell the stories to others in the classroom – youth and teachers in a formal environment might better acknowledge the community knowledge of the earth and be inspired to learn more from their lived experience.  The youth become the teachers in sharing with their classmates and teachers, the family/community recognizes the value of their contributions to youth and to each other, and formal education partners find value in OST informal education.  In this case, Extension or others working in this space may listen and facilitate more, weaving in dialogue, experiences that seek conversations between youth and family or community, and helps add in additional community partners and experts as needed.

Possibilities?
While the idea of Non-Western or Indigenous approaches may fit the general gap presented in the background, the likelihood is that in the example that I shared the approach would not be used with Non-Western or Indigenous families.  In the experience shared about the online family learning experience – it was SES and Race demographics that were missing – but the missing families were not indigenous.  That said, there are unique factors about the community where the noted experience was offered.  The rural community noted is full of families that are connected to the earth and to nature – hunting, fishing, gardening, farming, hiking, camping, harvesting wood.  Given that, could the literature still apply?  How can we help families and youth have conversations that translate to youth identifying as learners of life sciences, facilitating conversations so that their informal experiences OST can also be validated in the classroom?

Celeste Carmichael is a program development specialist for Cornell Cooperative Extension Administration and a Ph.D. student with the Cornell Department of Natural Resources and the Environment.  Celeste is interested in studying the experiences that help youth and families to connect to each other around nature education, setting the foundation for youth, families, and communities to seek and choose conservation practices.

References:
Banks, J., Au, K., Ball, A. F., Bell, P., Gordon, E., Gutierrez, K., Brice-Heath, S., Lee, C. D., Mahiri, J., Nasir, N., Valdes, G., & Zhou, M. (2007). Learning in and out of school in diverse environments: Life-Long, Life-Wide, Life-Deep.

Bricker, L. A., & Bell, P. (2014). “What comes to mind when you think of science? The perfumery!”: Documenting science-related cultural learning pathways across contexts and timescales. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 51(3), 260–285. https://doi.org/10.1002/tea.21134

Calabrese Barton, A., Kang, H., Tan, E., O’Neill, T. B., Bautista-Guerra, J., & Brecklin, C. (2013). Crafting a Future in Science: Tracing Middle School Girls’ Identity Work Over Time and Space. American Educational Research Journal, 50(1), 37–75. https://doi.org/10.3102/0002831212458142

Dreier, O. (2009). Persons in Structures of Social Practice. Theory & Psychology, 19(2), 193–212. https://doi.org/10.1177/0959354309103539

Lave, J., & Wenger, E. (1991). Situated Learning: Legitimate Peripheral Participation. Cambridge University Press.

Merriam, S. B., & Baumgartner, L. M. (2020). Learning in Adulthood: A Comprehensive Guide (4th edition). Jossey-Bass.

Nolen, S. B., & Koretsky, M. D. (2018). Affordances of Virtual and Physical Laboratory Projects for Instructional Design: Impacts on Student Engagement. IEEE Transactions on Education, 61(3), 226–233. https://doi.org/10.1109/TE.2018.2791445

Think of a time that you have had to write objectives for something.  What was it that you were writing for?  What was the experience like?

For those of you with a teaching background, it was likely a piece of cake, but if you, like me, came into Extension from a content background the task may have caused more anxiety…what.is.enough?

This blog post is intended to provide some tips and tricks for writing measurable objectives so that CCE Educators, when required to write objectives for programs, requests for proposals  or presentations, or even activity promos can do so with greater ease and confidence.  Educators who practice these tips will reduce the amount of time taken to write objectives and will be more likely to clearly articulate desired outcomes. Yup – I snuck in an objective about writing objectives.

Tip one:  Where to start?   I typically start by asking myself two questions:

1. What will successful implementation of an outcome look like?
2. Are there standards that I need to be aware of in the program/proposal that I’m working on?

Thinking about question 1 helps me write something that is plain language – so important as we want others to understand our intent.  If the answer to question 2 is yes – then I research and review the document that has the standards – for example, I would use the CCE Plan of Work/Program Development Reporting Tool if it is for a local plan of work, or the actual RFP if it is for a proposal.  If you have a document that outlines the standard of what you are working towards, be sure that the objectives references or nests within whatever the standards say and that it is clear enough to the reader that there is a connection.

Tip two:  Pull out Bloom’s Taxonomy for a handy list of verbs that can help clarify exactly what you want your participants to be able to achieve.  If you haven’t used Bloom’s Taxonomy before – know that the columns align with logic model thinking…columns one and two are very typical for the participants in a short term experience.  For example, at the end of a workshop about home composting you might expect that participants will be able to identify several ways to compost in their backyard.  Columns two and three align with behavior change – so review the verbs in those columns to consider options for verbs to write reasonable, measurable objectives.  In the same example in a series about backyard composting my objective include: participants will integrate a backyard compost unit into their food waste strategy.  The real benefit to using Bloom’s Taxonomy is that objectives written this way are clear and measurable – you will have a built in start on an evaluation plan.

Tip three: If acronyms help you remember to put something into practice – you might like references (or just the acronym) SMART.  SMART goals and objectives will help you to hit on some key factors.  SMART goals and objectives are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound.  Depending on what you are writing objectives for – meeting all of those key elements in a SMART objectives might be necessary.  So a SMART objective for the above example might say – during the next year, public participants in home composting workshops will identify home composting practices that they intend to put into place, discuss new ideas with two other friends, neighbors, or relatives, and will demonstrate how they are putting home composting practices into place in their home gardens by using #mastergardener on social media.

I hope that these tips and tricks are helpful to you.  Thank you for the educational work that you are doing in your work on behalf of Extension!  Share your program development practice suggestions and questions here or by reaching out by e-mail to me, Celeste Carmichael.

Resources:

• CCE Program Development “Online at 9” resources: https://staff.cce.cornell.edu/units/orgdev/program-development-webinars-online-9-2022-series
• Bloom’s Taxonomy
  • https://uwf.edu/media/university-of-west-florida/colleges/ceps/support-and-resources/axis/documents/Measurable-Verbs.pdf
• SMART Goals
  • https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/smart-goals.htm
• CCE Programmatic Plan of Work/Report: https://staff.cce.cornell.edu/plans-and-reports

What experiences in your background led you to want to spend time “doing” science or being outdoors and wanting to protect the natural world?  Who helped inspire you?

This fall I took a class on public engagement in science with Dr. Bruce Lewenstein at Cornell.  My interests are in studying ways to build a more diverse audience for youth and family science/outdoor activities.  Literature on inclusive science communication points to engaging audiences before creating experiences, addressing language barriers, ensuring that the intended diverse audience is not sought as a token, and transforming organizations to be inclusive (see references below).  And theoretical frameworks about learning like the Cultural Learning Pathway Framework (Bricker et al., 2008, Bricker & Bell, 2014) note that learning happens in informal/at home spaces throughout life, which if acknowledged that not all learning is formal or even nonformal like youth organization work, could be a key for designing experiences meaningful for  more audiences.   While I was working on the literature review for the topic, John Bowe, our colleague from CCE Warren County, suggested that I read Black & Brown Faces in America’s Wild Places.  The book put many of the ideas and theories into perspective.

Black & Brown Faces in America’s Wild Places was written by professional photographer, Dudley Edmondson to help people of color to see other people of color that have chosen a path to explore, enjoy, protect, and work in the outdoors.  The book consists of 20 interviews, framed similarly – including questions about memorable moments in childhood experiences related to nature, mentors and heroes, and minorities in wild places.  While the interviews were not completed or published as research, they provided an opportunity to better consider how life experiences and the cultural fabric of one’s upbringing can shape interests, decisions, and in some cases, career choices.

The interviews revealed a strong connection between situated learning experiences, interest preferences, influential people, and places.  Notably all interviewees talked about informal experiences in their upbringing being significant determinants in what they chose to study or do.  Of interest, camping with family or friends was the most frequently noted activity that influenced an interest in the outdoors.  Reading books and time with family were the next most frequent activities.  Help on the family farm was another frequent  activity – which often referred to visiting grandparents, or other family – so a novel but not regular farm experience.  Outdoor play, travel, hunting/fishing, and hiking were the next most mentioned experiences.  Travel was noted by several interviewees – including family military experiences, or vacations or day trips.  While two interviewees talked about influential teachers, over half did not mention their formal K-12 education related to influencing their interests in nature and the outdoors.  In terms of non-formal experiences, three interviewees talked about scouting, and four mentioned camps as having an influence.

In terms of influencers – fathers, mothers, and grandparents were most often cited as being heroes or mentors, with famous people including historic figures, writers and actors also playing a significant role in encouraging outdoor exploration.  Historic figures provided role models and heroes to role play to some degree.

The interviews also provided some insights into how the interviewees feel about being people of color in careers and interests that are centered in the outdoors.  Most mentioned wanting to see more black and brown faces, like their own, in national parks, on committees, and engaged with environmental work. This reflection is consistent with inclusive science communication research pointing to humans wanting to see others that look like themselves as role models and participants in order to be more comfortable or feel motivated to try.  Interviewees indicated that they assume that the factors that keep African American audiences from being more present in outdoor adventures include fear of racism while alone in the wild, lack of previous experiences, and lack of resources like transportation.  Several of the interviewees are working on mentoring and leadership programs for black and brown youth to help provide resources, experiences, and connections with other more experienced adventurers.  Woven into the reflections about who participates, the majority of the interviewees talked about the restorative power of nature .  Interviewees shared how time in nature made them feel whole and many suggested that others could benefit from outdoor experiences.

Reflecting on the book and readings left me thinking a lot about what experiences that we, in Extension, create for our youth and families.  In what ways are we allowing for play, creativity, and experiences that value the people that we are serving?  When I think about what inspired me as a young person – it also happened at home, very informally – fishing with a neighbor, hiking a family friend’s rural land, building lean-tos and forts…practicing behaviors for things that were yet to come.  When I think about programs I’ve designed…they have been more formal than informal and perhaps for my goals and not my audience’s needs.  The reflections on the book and the literature review were certainly eye-opening about my own practices and experiences.

If you are interested in seeing the paper and lit review about this topics, let me know – I’m happy to share and would love to discuss.  My program design work intended to be inclusive continues to be a work in progress.

Selected References:

Banks, J. A., Au, K. H., Ball, A. F., Bell, P., Gordon, E. W., Gutiérrez, K. D., Heath, S. B., Lee, C. D., Lee, Y., Mahiri, J., Nasir, N. S., Valdés, G., & Zhou, M. (2007) Learning In and out of school in diverse environments. 40. https://education.uw.edu/cme/LIFE

Bricker, L. A., & Bell, P. (2014a). “What comes to mind when you think of science? The perfumery!”: Documenting science-related cultural learning pathways across contexts and timescales. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 51(3), 260–285. https://doi.org/10.1002/tea.21134

Canfield, K., & Menezes, S. (2020). The State of Inclusive Science Communication: A Landscape Study. 78.

Dawson, E. (2014). Reframing social exclusion from science communication: Moving away from ‘barriers’ towards a more complex perspective. Journal of Science Communication, 13(02), C02. https://doi.org/10.22323/2.13020302