today’s complex agricultural problems, but the added dimension of
information, education and interpretation of public policies, emerg-
ing issues and government regulation is also required. Today’s prob-
lems require that we reach beyond the university and extension
walls and seek cooperation with other agencies (Smith).
When looking at Smith’s model, consider it from a different per-
spective. Look at the curved lines describing the demands as pro-
duction education, enabling education and public issues education,
or, using the popular analogy, catching the fish for them, showing
them how to fish or letting them figure out how fishing is done.
Extension faculty, if they are going to be successful, must analyze
their style of teaching, and the learning styles of their audience.
They must be able to adjust their facilitation and teaching styles to fit
the learning styles of their clientele. I suggest borrowing on Hershey
and Blanchard’s leadership model (Hershey and Blanchard) to view
issues education from the styles of the teacher∕facilitator and Iearn-
er∕participant (Figure 2).
Q
CS
2
Figure 2. Issue Education Styles
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£
O
|
High Subject Matter Expertise Low Process Skills |
High Subject Matter Expertise High Process Skills |
|
Low Subject Matter Expertise |
Low Subject Matter Expertise |
|
Low Process Skills |
High Process Skills |
Low
High
Process Skills
123