HISTORY OF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNICATIONIntroduction to Development Communication

History of Development Communication

Dr. Nora C. Quebral, known as the mother of development

communication.

The term ‘development communication’ was first coined by Dr. Nora Cruz Quebral in the 1970s.

But even before the term was coined many scholars and theorist were exploring the concepts of devcom.

“We must embark on a bold new program for making the benefits of our scientific advances and industrial progress available for the improvement and growth of underdeveloped areas” – President Henry Truman (1948)

The end of world war II was the point when major aid, interventions, and beginning of modernization planning and scheme commenced.

History of Development Communication

Technical Cooperation Administration

its goal was to improve the lives of inhabitants of the peripheral regions of the world but it remained unchanged and some cases become worse.

The plans and hopes of northern hemisphere elites of economic and cultural growth failed to materialize in the southern hemisphere.

Scholars began to seek for new theories and paradigms

History of Development Communication

The Latin America School (1940)The Bretton Woods School (1950) The Los Baños School (1950s)The African School (1960)The Indian School (1970)The Post Freire School:

Participatory Development Communication (1980)

Schools of Development Communication

History of Development Communication

Bretton Woods SchoolTheorists: Daniel Lerner, Wilbur Schramm, Everett Rogers, and

Jan Servaes A western-driven systematic and strategic

employment of linear communications in Third World development experiments.

The School’s development paradigm propagated production and planning of development in indigenous and uncivilized societies.

The failure of many development projects from 1960’s despite the increasing donor aid compelled the school to re evaluate its top-down methods.

History of Development Communication

Latin America SchoolTheorists: Luis Ramiro Beltrán, Juan Díaz Bordenave, Miguel

Sabido, and Paulo Freire Radio Sutatenza for rural education and Miners’

Radio Network in Colombia pioneered the employment of systematically

designed radio communications in empowering economically and socially marginalized people, helping them to lead decent and healthy lives.

changed the approach in designing educational broadcast dramas focusing on social development issues.

History of Development Communication

Los Baños SchoolTheorists: Felix Librero, Alexander Flor, Ely Gomez, Nora Quebral, Juan

Jamias

When Bretton School was still exploring the poverty and its depths within the different parts of the world (1950) and searching for appropriate communication interventions, the Los Baños school was already conducting ground breaking participatory communication research experiments in and as development interventions.

Thus pioneered the design and implementation of communication tools in promotion of sustainable development that were based in the coherent method and theory.

History of Development Communication

African School (Anglophone Africa)Theorists: Penina Mlama, Christopher Kamlongera, Zakes

Mda, Robert MacLaren, and Ngugi wa Thiong’o Rural radio and theatre for development

History of Development Communication

After the post colonial and communists movements in early 1970s African scholars began to rethink concepts of culture, communication, and development began “taking the theatre to the people”.

Indian SchoolTheorists: Mehra Masani, George Verghese Keval Kumar,

University of Poona, Joseph Velacherry, Delhi University, University of Kerala Central to this school are radio/television for

rural development and development journalism.

Indonesia and Sri Lanka also used the academe to experiment development communication.

History of Development Communication

Post Freire School: Participatory Development Communication

Theorists: UPLB College of Development Communication, IDRC, FAO Communication Project, UNESCO, Rockefeller Foundation, Ford Foundation, World Bank

collaboration between the first world and third world devcom organizations.

modern devcom is characterized by diverse methodological and theoretical trajectories but still centres around participatory production and utilization of indigenous knowledge in local development

Communication involving community participation formulates a very important fact in the promotion of sustainable development.

History of Development Communication

Beginnings of DEVCOM in UPLB

History of Development Communication

The University of the Philippines was established in 1908 with four colleges: College of Fine Arts, College of Medicine and Surgery, College of Liberal Arts, and School of Agriculture in Los Baños.

In 1954 the Extension and Publications of the College of Agriculture was established wherein some of the staffs began to carry out research in how communication could address problems of rural development.

History of Development Communication

1960- the first devcom courses were introduced in the Agriculture curriculum.

1962- the extension and publications office was elevated to Department of Information and Communication.

1968- the department was renamed as Department of Agricultural Communication.

1974- it was renamed again as Department of Development Communication

1987-1998- transition of the department to an institute and later to a college.

History of Development Communication

The pioneers of Development Communication in UPLB: Nora Quebral, Felix Librero, Juan Jamias, and Ely Gomez first defined devcom as:

Later on they would realize that Devcom ‘cannot really change people’ but can only help them change themselves at their own enlightened pace, and there is no ‘speedy transformation’ of societies as development is a protracted and long process.

History of Development Communication

“an organized and systematic art of human communication applied to a speedy transformation of a country and a mass of its people from poverty to a dynamic state of economic growth to achieve greater social equity.”

March 11, 1974- BS in degree curriculum in Development Communication was approved and first offered in S.Y. 1974-1975.

The course was comprised of:

Introduction to Devcom, Fundamentals of Devcom, Community Broadcasting, Audio Visual Communications, Communication and Society, Com Campaigns and Programs, Testing and Evaluation of Com Materials, Com Research, Basic Photography, Broadcast Speech and Performance for Community Radio, Play Writing, Science Reporting, Publications Writing and Editing, Management and Production of Community Newspaper, Advanced Development Writing, Visual Aids Planning and Production, Radio Drama and Documentary, and Educational Broadcasting.

History of Development Communication

3 cornerstones of Devcom UPLB Agriculture Since the department of development

communication emerged from the college of agriculture, its early researches and experiments on development communication have agricultural orientation. Such as dairy farming, forestry management, agricultural leasehold, livestock, etc.

History of Development Communication

Rural development journalism Quebral describes it as a kind of journalism

which a) circulates knowledge that will inform the people of the

significant events, opportunities, and changesb) provide a forum where issues affecting national/community

life may be airedc) teach ideas, skills and attitudes that people need to achieve

better lifed) create and maintain a base of consensus that is needed for

the stability of the state Participatory development- indigenous people are

conceived as capable of taking an active part in planning, implementing and evaluating interventions.

History of Development Communication

Educational broadcasting Community broadcasting and educational programming The role and nature of community radio in community

development Localized programming and personalized broadcasting

can encourage audience involvement and participation.

DZLB, also known as the Voice of the Village, was established for the purpose of non formal education in the rural setting. Farmers and villagers were able to produce programs that are designed to help farmers diagnose their problems and clarify their objectives.

History of Development Communication

Development Communication

Sustainable development is the process of maximizing the use of

available resources in order to ensure the long-term well-being of present and future beneficiaries. Sustainable Development is a continuous progress which aims for and maintains a constructive state of living in society as preserved by social institutions and systems. However, sustainable development entails

1. Economic sustainability2. Social sustainability3. Cultural sustainability

Development Communication

Community/people participation is a voluntary involvement of an

informed and motivated community while being equipped with proper knowledge and training in which they are equally gratified.

It is the active involvement of members of a particular social unit in all aspects of developmental procedures (planning, decision-making, evaluating, monitoring, etc.)

Development Communication

“ Is an art and science of human communication linked to a society’s planned transformation from a state of poverty to one dynamic socio-economic growth that makes for a greater equity and larger unfolding of individual potential.” – Quebral (2002)

“ The science of human communication linked to the transitioning of communities from poverty in all its forms to a dynamic, overall growth that fosters equity and unfolding of individual potential.” – Quebral (2012)

“an organized and systematic art of human communication applied to a speedy transformation of a country and a mass of its people from poverty to a dynamic state of economic growth to achieve greater social equity.”

Thank you for Listening!