How farmer videos trigger social learning to enhance innovation among smallholder rice farmers in Uganda

A Review of Social Learning as a Function of Student-centered Outreach in African Universities

“…This earlier conceptualization of social learning shows the existence of feedback mechanism between learners and their environment. That is, learners change the environment and at the same the environment influences their learning behavior (Pahl-Wostl et al, 2008) To-date, the concept of learning has also been extended to S-C-O through the analysis of farmer learning behaviors (Karubanga et al, 2017;Kalule et al, 2019b) however, with limited attention on how such behaviours are influenced by social learning processes. For instance, Kalule et al (2019), in their study on contextual determinants of learning behavior differentials amongst host farmers of the University-Student Outreach in Uganda describe four main farmer learning behaviors indicators as reported by Edmondson (1999).…”

“…Social learning extends from the theory of situated learning which emphasizes that, for learning to occur, there must be interaction between people (Lave and Wenger, 1991;Karubanga et al, 2017). Learning through interaction is expected to lead to some kind of behavioural change and this qualifies it as social learning (Cai and Abbott, 2013;Karubanga et al, 2016).…”

“…Social learning that leads to innovations is situated in double loop learning (Sol, 2013). Innovations are thus ultimate outcomes of the social learning processes and can be defined as learning to do things differently as a result of exposure to S-C-O programmes that initiate and sustains the interaction processes (also see Karubanga et al, 2017). In this case social learning through S-C-O can be viewed as an exploratory process that seeks to overcome challenges of farmer learning for innovation (Tran et al, 2018) through enhancing interactive learning for behavioural change.…”

“…In this case, practices are developed through interactive observations, imitations, adapting and developing new practices that are in line with community norms (Handley et al, 2006). It is reported that all these occur through social learning for innovation (also see Karubanga et al, 2017) Community Social learning occurs within individuals belonging to particular communities where they interact and learn from each other in order to change. In the process of interaction, a community instils a sense of belonging to various actors; in this case farmers, students and other actors in the S-C-O programme.…”

“…Our review has indicated that the construction on an identity in social learning goes beyond just changing the mind but a complete involvement of the whole human body explained in terms of heart, brain, relationships, aspirations and human experiences involved in meaningmaking (Wenger, 2010: p.181). These are critical for critical reflection, adaption and application of the acquired knowledge and skills as affirmed by Karubanga et al (2017). According to Handley et al (2006), learning is not merely a matter of developing a person's knowledge and practices, but includes an understanding of who we are and whether we belong and are accepted in a given community of practice.…”