Your Audience

EXTENSION

“While we cannot give people power and we cannot make them empowered, we can provide opportunities, resources and support that they need… in extension we strive to teach people skills and knowledge that will motivate them to take steps to improve their own lives—to be empowered.”(Page & Czuba 1999)

What Does It Mean to be Empowered?

• capable

• willing

• enabled

• having authority

• determined

• I could…• I can…• I will!

Will

The Path to Empowerment“Empowerment as a process of change…

becomes a meaningful concept.” (Page & Czuba 1999)

SupportKnowledg

eEnthusias

m

Moving From Could to Can

BeliefAccessDesire

input Education

Values, Beliefs, Expectations, Cultural Norms, Family Tradition, etc.

Barriers

Moving from Can to Will

Motivation and engagement

Self concept• Self Worth• Self EfficacyLocus of ControlBelief System• Me vs. World

outputEducation

Possible Barriers

Will

Barriers• Psychosocial• Economic

• Physical• Environmenta

l

• Cultural• Psychological

“Every human being has a belief system that they utilize, and it is through this mechanism that we individually, “make sense” of the world around us…If a stimulus is received, it may be interpreted through the belief system to be whatever the belief system might lead the recipient to rationalize.”

-–Uso-Domenech & Nescolarde-Selva

World view informs thought:Is the world just?Is the world safe?What or who is the ultimate authority?How do I interact with the world I see (my

world)?

Beliefs must exist in harmony even if that harmony is created superficially

Beliefs are developed through:Experience and ObservationFamily, societal or cultural

teachingsDemonstration of power or

AuthorityAssociation and observation of

othersLife events that challenge or

confirm

“Self efficacy is concerned with perceived capability…Self esteem is a judgement of self worth.” (Bandura, 2005)

Identity:Who Am I?What are the specific qualities of my personality and

character?

Self -Worth/Self Esteem:

Am I Good?Am I Bad?What Do I Deserve?

Self –Efficacy:Am I Capable?Can I do It?

“Behavior is better predicted by people’s beliefs in their capabilities to do whatever is needed to succeed”

(Bandura, 2005)

“Locus of control is concerned, not with perceived capability, but with belief about outcome contingencies—whether outcomes are determined by one’s actions or by forces outside one’s control.” (Bandura, 2005)

Reactive

Proactive

External Locus of Control

Internal Locus of Control

What the world does to me:

How I influence the world:

Barriers

Now What?

• Know your audience and potential barriers• Listen!• Focus on ownership and choices• Reward free thinking and problem solving• Engage• Create a shared vision• Break it down• Make expectations real• Model capability through real life examples• Focus on successes

“powerful mastery experiences that provide striking testimony to one’s capacity to effect personal changes can produce a transformational restructuring of efficacy beliefs

that is manifested across diverse realms of functioning. Extraordinary personal feats serve as transforming experiences.” (Bandura, 2005)

“Empowerment is a multi-dimensional process that helps people gain control

over their lives” (Page & Czuba, 1999)

Reading ListAnand, P & Lea, S. (2011). The psychology and behavioral economics of poverty. Journal of Economic Psychology, 32, 284- 293. doi: 10.1016/joep.2010.11.004Bandura, Albert (2006). Guide for Constructing Self-Efficacy Scales. Self-Efficacy Beliefs of Adolescents (14, 307-337). Retrieved from: http://www.ravansanji.ir/files/ravansanji-ir/21655425BanduraGuide2006.pdfChildren, Youth, and Families & Socioeconomic Status Fact Sheet. American Psychological Association. Retrieved from: http://www.apa.org/pi/ses/resources/publications/ factsheet-cyf.aspxClay, Alexa & Camfield, Jon (2012). 4 Principles For Creating Change, and 4 Barriers That Make It Harder. Retrieved from http://www.fastcoexist.com/1679609Hopson, L.M. & Lee, E. (2011). Mitigating the effect of family poverty on academic and behavioral outcomes: The role of school climate in middle and high school. Children and Youth Services Review, 33, 2221-2229. doi:10.1016/j.childyouth.2011.07.006Page, N. & Czuba, C.E. (1999) Empowerment: What Is It? Journal of Extension, 37. Retrieved from: http://www.joe.org/joe/1999october/comm1.phpSingh, R. & Sarkar, S. (2015). Children’s experience of multidimensional deprivation: Relationship with household monetary poverty. The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, 56, 43-56. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.qref.2014.06.007Uso-Domenech, J.L. & Nescolarde-Selva, J. What Are Belief Systems? Retrieved from: Department of Applied Mathematics. University of Alicante. Spain. http://www.vub.ac.be/FOS/cfp/what-are-beliefsystems.pdfWeiner, B. (1985) An Attributional Theory of Achievement Motivation and Emotion. Psychological Review, 92 (4), 548- 573.