Kehe 102

UNIT II
Understanding Family,
Community and Society
The chapters in Unit I were all addressed to you
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for the understanding of self and of the factors
that influence your decision making. Let us
now move on to understanding the family, the
community and the society that you are a part of.
In the first section – Chapter 9 the focus will be
on relationships and interactions with ‘significant
others’, i.e., those important to you in these
contexts. The second section – Chapter 10 will
discuss concerns and needs, such as those of
health, work, resources, education
and textile tradition in the adolescent’s
diverse social contexts.
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Human Ecology and Family Sciences – Part I
Relationships
and Interactions
with ‘Significant
Others’ 9
A. Family
Learning Objectives
After completing this section the learner is able to—

106 • understand the meaning and definition of family.
• explain the importance of the family and its functions.
• describe the functions of family for overall development of the
individual.
• gain knowledge of the family life cycle.
• analyse dynamics within the family.
• understand the importance of effective communication in the
family.
Importance of family
The pictures show you scenes of children in their homes. Notice that there
are adults taking care of children, including some older people. In some
pictures there is only a mother or father and children. They are all related
to each other by blood or through marriage or adoption. One thing common
to all situations regardless of the socio-economic or cultural variation is
that there are at least two or more than two generations of persons staying
together, i.e., mother and children, grandparents and children, parents
and adult unmarried children, related to each other by blood or marriage.
An exception is that of two adults, a husband and wife, who are of the
same generation, and yet they form the beginning of a family.
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Relationships and Interactions with ‘Significant Others’
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9A.1 Introduction
You and all of your classmates live with your families. Families are basic
units of society. Families are needed to meet the needs of individuals,
both children and adults. The family also helps to continue the culture
of any society. It provides care and nurturance to all the children, thus
contributing to their wholesome development. In the earlier chapters you
have studied how adequate nutrition and other experiences contribute
to the physical well-being of the child. Similarly, for a baby to grow into
a caring and productive member of the society, she must have positive
socio-emotional experiences, relationships and a feeling of belongingness.
Through parenting, families attempt to provide all these experiences to
children. You could recall incidents in your family when you were down
with fever. How did your parents take care of you? Or the times when
you were not feeling cheerful and happy, and the other members of your
family may have tried to make you feel better. There are numerous such
examples in everyone’s life where parents, or siblings or other members
may have given a comforting hand or encouragement. Thus families not
only nurture, they also provide stability and support in times of need.
Every child has a right to be reared in a family.
108 Not all children are so fortunate to have families with both parents
staying together, under one roof. In your neighbourhood, you may know
that there are some children who have lost a parent due to death. In such
cases, the other parent, usually fulfil the tasks of father as well as mother,
may be helped by an aunt or grandmother. We are also aware that many
times mothers and fathers have problems living together and decide to
separate. In such circumstances children may be cared for by a single
parent.
As far as possible, children should not be removed from their families.
You may now think about those children who, due to unfortunate
circumstances, such as flood or earthquake, may become destitute. How
can they seek experiences of living in a family? In such instances adoption
or care in an institution are the available options. It is the responsibility of
the state to care for these children.
You may be familiar with the sight of young children or adolescents
who appear to be homeless. Some of them have left home or children’s
institutions on their own in search of livelihood. Some others may have
been abandoned by families or may have got lost. Such children are referred
to as ‘street children’. They usually do live in their families of origin, but
the other children they live with on the street become like family to them.
Sometimes, these children return to their families.
We could hence define the term family as “a group of persons united by
– the ties of marriage, blood or adoption constituting a single household,
interacting with each other in their respective social roles of husband and
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wife, mother and father, son and daughter, brother and sister or any other,
creating a common culture”.
When you fill up your examination forms, you had to write the name
of the head of the family. Whose name did you write? Reflect on your own
name; your first name is a name given by your parents but the second
name for many, that is surname, is common for all family members. This is
mostly the father’s family name. Among tribes in the North-East and South,
the second name is that of the mother. The families that use father’s name
for identification are called Patrilineal and the ones that use the mother’s
name are known as Matrilineal. Being patriarchal or matriarchal decides
the authority, i.e., father’s or mother’s, and more importantly the rules of
inheritance are also governed by this.
Patrilocal and matrilocal residence refers to the living arrangement
where patrilocal families are those that reside in the father’s native home
and matrilocal ones are those where the residence is in the mother’s native
home.
On the basis of who all live together, the family could be identified as
nuclear or extended. If you are living with your parents, brothers and
sisters, then it is called a nuclear family. Some of you must be having
grandparents and/or uncles and aunts living with you, which is called
an extended family. A joint family is one where several generations of
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members live together; specifically a couple with married children (usually
sons) and unmarried children and their offspring live together as a joint
household. These can be of a very large size, and are often also joined
by the same occupation. In families where there are adults other than
parents, usually work and responsibilities are shared, especially the care
of children. In nuclear families, the parents are largely on their own for
the care for their children. In some families you will see that though the
grandparents or other family members do not stay with the family, they
keep coming regularly to stay. Sometimes if both the parents are going
out to work, they may leave the children at a relative’s place. Therefore,
even when children are living in a nuclear family, they have the experience
of interacting with others. There are advantages and disadvantages of
having large families, but the well-being of members depends mostly on
the individuals concerned.
9A.2 Functions of the family

Whatever the structure or number of members or location of the family,
this institution is committed towards providing some essential functions
for its members, especially children. These are:
1. Providing nurturance: All families provide legitimate platforms for
couples to live and reproduce, and continue the lineage. Recalling
your own experiences as children, you would know that all families
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make efforts to provide nurturance to their children by looking after

their needs. The provision for emotional needs through affection and
care are equally important in nurturing a sense of belongingness. As
we grow older our need of being wanted and loved does not diminish.
These needs for affiliation and affection are present at every age,
although the expression and manifestations can be different. A young
adolescent boy may not appear as if he needs to be nurtured due
to sudden physical change in his body and the need for autonomy,
but he does not stop needing the loving support of a caring family.
A grandmother may also be eagerly awaiting the arrival of her
grandchildren to share her time and do things with them. Thus the
family attempts to provide love, care and support to its members at all
ages, and through various experiences and situations.
2. Socialisation: This is the process of teaching the young generation
about social processes through everyday interactions. We can see that
the family is in a unique position to act as a link between continuity
and change through the process of socialisation. The ‘We’ feeling
within the family is helpful in transmitting attitudes and sentiments.
How often have you heard your
mother or father saying “No, you Activity 1
can’t do this because it is not
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done in our family” or “In our Make a list of do’s and don’ts in your
family children have to study very family for boys and girls. Discuss
hard”. The values that families these in class and make comparisons
pass on to the young ones are with children from other families. This
often filtered and adapted from should help you to understand that
the general social scenario of the although there are similarities, each
community, the region and the family provides a unique experience to
nation. Although there are many its members.
common practices, each family
adopts these in its own unique way.
3. Conferring a status and role to individuals: Do you realise that here
in school, you have the status of a student regardless of your gender;
but in your home setting, you have a different status which can vary
from family to family. An adolescent
Activity 2 boy may be playing the roles of a son,
a brother and a brother-in-law. Each
Convene a debate in the class on the role carries certain responsibilities
topic, “Traditions are a hindrance to and features that are socially defined.
modern living”. These arrangements bring stability
Conclude in the class by noting the and predictability in an individual’s
positive and negative dimensions of life because of which it becomes easier
traditions. to perform day-to-day responsibilities.
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4. Economic function: Parents all over the world are busy earning
a livelihood to generate income to provide for the family. Families
provide for their children and also for other adults, older persons, and
developmentally challenged children/adults, who may be temporarily
non-productive. Your own experiences in and around your family and
community can substantiate this point.
The family is a primary unit of society. Maintaining relations with
the community and the society are also within its purview. Thus
the family also needs to spend resources for maintaining relations
with relatives, friends, the
community and the country. Activity 3
For instance, we contribute to
different groups like panchayats Interact with your parents and make
and welfare associations, give a note of a recent expenditure that
gifts at marriages and birthdays, was special, like a gift for a relative or
and we participate by giving our friend. Note the amount and choice of
time to social events. These are all gifts, and any comments your parents
examples of active participation of may have.
families in the larger society.
5. Fulfilling the need for psychological support: Everyday, family
members travel out of the home to various places, for example, children 111
go to school and parents go to their workplaces. Yet at the end of the
day there is often a feeling of comfort of returning to the familiar space
of the family. Along with the basic needs of food, clothes and shelter,
a person needs intimate human response, acceptance and love. This
feeling of security is known to be quite important for the development
of a healthy all-round individual. The absence of a positive atmosphere
at home can be a likely cause of stress and disturbance at any age.
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Thus, maintaining harmonious relationships and supportive roles for

all of its members remains one of the significant responsibilities of
the family. Within a family, members are likely to have caring and
reciprocal relationships. We learn to give and take affection from each
other. This formulates the basis for later development. Most societies
rely almost entirely upon the family for affectionate responses.
It is important to reiterate here that there is a small minority of
street children who lack social and psychological support from their
biological family. They may seek such support from their peers or
adults in similar situations. Many children who are abandoned or
orphaned may find themselves in children’s homes run by the state
or various NGOs. All of them have a right to care and education.
6. Other functions: The family also fulfils other functions which are
recreational, religious and social and are important for the continuity
of society.
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Families usually visit others (family or friends) for social functions like
birthdays, puja ceremonies or other such activities.
Another important task that the families have been doing is in socialising
its young ones for community duties. Family is the ‘school’ of civic values.
Can you recall your first lessons regarding ownership of property or things
when, by mistake, you may have brought home another child’s pencil or
eraser, and you were asked to return it? Similarly if you look back at your
childhood experiences you will be able to recollect incidents which are
evidence of families providing opportunities for learning to share, love,
cooperate, tolerate, sacrifice and obey. These qualities enable one to grow
into a healthy citizen.
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9A.3 Family Life Cycle

Saguna had gone to the wedding of her elder sister. She came back home
and asked her mother. “Could Sudhadi and jijaji be called a family? Or are
they a couple?” Her mother took some time to reflect and then said that
“Look Saguna, Sudha and her husband are a couple; yet they are at the
beginning stage of the family”. Now does that make you wonder about the
stages in family life? Look around and you will find that there are families
at different stages. If we continue the example of Sudha and her husband
they may soon have children who will grow from infancy to adulthood and
then they are likely to establish their own families. When they are old,
Sudha and her husband will probably be left as husband and wife in the
household. The cycle that started with their being a couple brings them
back to being a couple again. Thus, you will see that the entire family life
is cyclic in nature. That is why it is called the “Family Life Cycle”. In the
box you will find the different stages of the family life cycle. Each stage
has challenges and tasks to be performed which are beneficial for the
development of its members, at that phase of family life.
The family life cycle adopts a longitudinal view of family life. It is based
on the recognition of successive phases and patterns as they happen 113
over the years.
Stages in the family life cycle of a nuclear family

The family life cycle generally consists of seven stages. These include–
1. Married couple (without children)
2. Child bearing family
3. Family with preschool-age children
4. Family with school-age children and adolescents
5. Family launching young adults into higher education/work
6. Middle-aged parents with grown up/married children
7. Ageing couple—retirement to death of both spouses
9A.4 Family Developmental Tasks

Shri and Shrimati Kumar live in Ravi’s neighbourhood. They are taking
care of their newborn baby and their older daughter goes to school. The
Patels who stay upstairs have school going children and they are always
worried about the marks the children are getting in school. In Ravi’s family
the maid who comes to help is anxious because her daughter wants to
pursue her studies further, but she does not have the money. In all these
stories you will notice that the parents are performing different tasks for
the family. The variety in the tasks that the parents perform depends
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Activity 4
Pick out the family developmental tasks related to the stage which your family is in and
observe the tasks that your parents have been doing. Report in the class noting the
variations in the performance of tasks due to family structure, number of children and
adults present.
on the age group of their children. Therefore, we can say that family
developmental tasks are those responsibilities that are specifically related
to the needs of the family members.
9A.5 Family dynamics

Family members perform their roles while interacting with one another.
Each family has its own patterns of interaction. These are called family
dynamics. They are influenced by factors such as the structure of the
family — the number of children and adults, and how they are related
– the personalities of family members, cultural background, values, and
personal or family experiences.
114 Understanding and relating with parents is one of the most important
activities in the family. Parents have a very powerful influence over children’s
personality and future life. When parents and adolescents share an easy
communication based on positive understanding together they could
build a happy, successful family life. To accomplish this understanding all
members need to value and respect each other.
Activity 5
How well do I know my mother/father?
• What is your mother’s full name? Note for the
• What is her birth place? teacher–
• What is your father’s full name? By the end of this
• Who gave you your last name? session the students will
• Where did your mother spend most of her childhood? be able to assess their
• Where did your father spend most of his childhood? own understanding and
• What is your mother's level of education? knowledge of their parents
• What is your father's level of education? as individuals. Moreover
• What makes your mother happy? this is likely to sensitise
• What makes your father happy? them to their parents’
• What does your mother want you to become? needs, perceptions and
• What does your father want you to become? aspirations.
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9A.6 Handling Situations

Parents’ advice to young people is sometimes seen as interference by
children. However, it is important for children to realise that parenting
is a difficult and challenging task that requires life-long commitment.
Similarly, parents and other adults also need to realise that children have
a need to make their own place in the family and society. It is important for
each member to appreciate the responsibilities of others without conflict
and tension. Career choices, dresses young people wear, choice of friends,
sharing household responsibilities and television watching are some areas
of family disagreements and conflicts. Each family has different ways of
handling such conflicts. In single parent families where either parent is
absent for one reason or the other, the responsibility of the remaining
parent becomes more crucial. As a young person one needs to show extra
sensitivity and understanding to a mother/father who is trying to do the
job of both the parents. Understanding the other person’s perspective is
an effective way of conflict management.
Activity 6
Perspective taking 115
1. Choose a conflict situation, e.g., career choice.
2. Teacher could point out that there are four perspectives to it — (1) Adolescent’s
(2) Mother’s (3) Father’s (4) the fourth perspective could be that of the teacher/
school counsellor.
3. All four perspectives could be role-played by the students in class.
4. After 10 minutes of role play the parts should be exchanged, i.e., the student
who played Father shall now play the part of an Adolescent and the one who
became the counsel or could be the Mother.
5. The activity could be concluded by discussing how the experience may have
helped them in having better insights into the other persons’ perspectives.
9A.7 Support and Strength to Members

You have learnt in the earlier unit on development of self that one of the
developmental tasks of a person of your age is learning to act as adults
among adults. Middle-aged parents may develop problems such as poor
health, a set-back in career, transfer of either parent to a distant place,
death in family, added responsibility of an older relative, financial crisis,
etc. The understanding and contribution of young people and children
during difficult circumstances cannot be underestimated. The presence
and company of children have the potential to help families through even
the most difficult crisis.
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Let us now see what helps family members understand one another’s
needs and emotions. It has been found that communication has an
important role in this.
9A.8 Communication in the Family

You must have often heard that human beings are social animals. But,
did you know that 70 per cent of our active time, that is waking hours,
are spent communicating in some form or the other? Perhaps your day
begins with someone in the family or an alarm clock waking you up to
get ready for school, and then go to school with friends, all this while
talking to someone or the other. From morning assembly, to interacting
with school teachers, class mates and the principal, the entire learning
experience involves formal and informal communication. The ability to
communicate effectively in a variety of settings is essential for leading a
happy and productive life.
Similarly, while we are at home, we communicate differently with elders,
our siblings—younger or older, grandparents, neighbours and helpers
at home. Thus family communication is the way verbal and non-verbal
information is exchanged between family members. These interactions
116 develop over time among a group of related individuals who share common
living space.
Communication within the family is extremely important because
it enables members to express their needs, wants, and concerns to one
another and offer social and emotional support. It is a unifying element
since speaking and listening behaviours are intertwined. Communication
involves the ability to pay attention to what others are thinking and feeling.
In other words, an important part of communication is not just talking,
but listening to what others have to say. It is through communication that
family members are able to resolve the unavoidable problems that arise
in all families. Open and honest communication creates an atmosphere
that allows family members to express their differences as well as love and
admiration for one another.
Four styles of communication have been identified which are as
follows—
(i) Clear and direct communication: Clear and direct communication
is the healthiest form of communication and occurs when the message
is stated plainly and directly to the appropriate family member. An
example of this style of communication is when a father, disappointed
about his son failing to complete his chore, states, “Son, I’m
disappointed that you forgot to take your grandmother to the doctor
today”.
(ii) Clear and indirect communication: In this second style of
communication, the message is clear, but it is not directed to the
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person for whom it is intended. Using the previous example, the father
might say, “It’s disappointing when people forget to complete their
chores.” In this message the son may or may not know that his father
is referring to him.
(iii) Masked and direct communication: Masked and direct communication
occurs when the content of the message is unclear, but directed to
the appropriate family member. The father in our example may say
something like, “Son, people just don’t pay attention as they used to.”
(iv) Masked and indirect communication: Masked and indirect
communication occurs when both the message and intended recipient
are unclear. In unhealthy family relationships, communication
tends to be very masked and indirect. An example of this type of
communication might be the father stating, “The youth of today are
very lazy and irresponsible.”
It is important to note here that the communication styles are also
mediated by culture. For instance, direct and open communication
may be more acceptable in a western society (e.g., U.S.); however in the
hierarchical structure of Indian families, indirect communication may be
preferred as direct communication with older persons may be considered
disrespectful.
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9A.9 Keys to Building Effective Family

Communication
With increased professional commitments for urban families and anxiety
and competition experienced by young people in rural areas, it is important
that our communication behaviour equips us to face these daily challenges
rather than feel. There are many approaches that families can adopt to
become more effective communicators, and in turn, to improve the quality
of their relationships. Following are some suggestions for building effective
family communication.
• Communicate frequently: One of the most difficult challenges facing
urban families today is finding time to spend together. With our
busy schedules, it is difficult to find sufficient time to spend with
one another in meaningful conversation. It is extremely important for
members in families to make time to try and communicate regularly to
and directly. Sometimes, eating meals together is a good idea, without
the TV turned on. It can be a good idea to switch off the TV and eat
dinner together; or sit together on a Sunday afternoon to talk about
important issues that effect the family. Similarly, spending time with
elders in the family will strengthen family bonds, and talking with
them will help young persons relax and make the elders feel that they
are important, thus inducing a feeling of mutual love and respect.
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• Communicate clearly: It has been found that families that appear

happy, usually communicate their thoughts and feelings in a clear
manner. This is especially important while attempting to resolve
problems that arise between family members (e.g., between spouses,
parents and children). Indirect and vague communication will not only
fail to resolve problems, but it will also contribute to a lack of intimacy
and emotional bonding between family members.
• Be an active listener: An essential aspect of effective communication
is listening to what others are saying. Being an active listener involves
trying one’s best to understand the point of view of the other person.
It is important to pay close attention to the verbal and non-verbal
messages and cues. As an active listener, one must acknowledge
and respect the other person’s perspective. Another aspect of active
listening is seeking clarification. This can be done by simply asking,
“What did you mean when you said?” or “Did I understand you
correctly?” Active listening involves acknowledging and respecting the
other person’s point of view.
Family will always remain a significant context for an individual. With
development; however, the child’s universe of interaction widens. After the
family, for most children school is another vital context which offers the
opportunity to interact with other people who are likely to have a significant
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influence on their lives. The school also provides the opportunity to build
multiple, significant non-family relationships. The next chapter on ‘School:
Peers and Educators’ discusses this aspect.
Key Terms
Family, Patrilineal, Matrilineal, Nuclear family, Extended family, Family life cycle,
Family developmental tasks, Communication in family
Review Questions
1. Define the term family. Discuss the different variations in family types.
2. Discuss any three functions of the family with examples.
3. Write short notes on—
(a) Family life cycle
(b) Family developmental task
(c) Family dynamics
(d) Conflict situations in the family
4. What is the significance of communication in the family? Using your own
family as an example, describe the communication patterns. Suggest how
communication between family members can be improved.
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Practical 8
Family
Theme Areas of agreements and disagreements with family members, friends
and teachers.
Tasks 1. Listing the areas of agreements and disagreements
2. Identifying ways of resolving disagreements
Purpose of practical: Adolescence is a time when you are forming a sense of

your identity. Often, but not always, this process may bring you in conflict with
your family members and significant others as your views on particular aspects
may be different from theirs. This can cause stress in relationships. This practical
will help you to identify sources of disagreements and will also encourage you to
reflect on how you can minimise and resolve these differences.

Conduct of practical: Form yourself into groups of 4-6 students. For the first
10 minutes, reflect individually upon your interactions with your family members,
friends and teachers in the past few months. Use the following format to record
the areas of agreements and disagreements.

Person Area of Agreement Area of Comment 119
Disagreement
Father
Mother
Sister
Brother
Friends
Teachers
Now share your data with the other members of the group and discuss the
following—
1 (a) Whether there are areas where most of you have disagreements with
a particular family member, friends, teachers.
(b) Why do you think this happens?
(c) What are you doing presently to resolve the disagreements?
(d) What can be done to resolve/minimise the differences?
2. (a) Whether there are areas where only you seem to be having differences
while the rest of the group members do not have disagreements in that
area?
(b) What could be the reason for this?
(c) Can you do something to resolve the disagreements?
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3. (a) Which are the areas where most of you are in agreement with
the family members, friends and teachers.
(b) Can you use these areas of agreement to build a stronger relationship
with the persons around you and thus reduce the areas of
disagreements?
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B. School 9
Peers and Educators
Learning Objectives

• discuss the role of school in developing new relationships.
• understand how relationships with peers transform as the
child grows.
• know the importance of developing friendships. 121
• analyse the influence of education and teachers on students’
development and achievement.
9B.1 School
In your view is school just a place to study or something more? What is the
first thing that comes to your mind when you hear/read/think of the word
‘school’? Studies and examinations, most of you would say! Hard work
and some degree of fear, you may want to add! But school is also a place
where you meet friends and some of these friendships lead to lasting, even
life-long relationships. You also meet adults in the role of teachers and
many of them shape your attitude towards learning, towards new subjects,
and in fact towards life! Most of you would have a special feeling about one
or more teachers who have taught you during your school life – teachers
whom you admire and look upto. Thus school, apart from serving an
academic function in our lives, is also a network of social relationships
that influence our values, behaviour and thinking, both directly through
the process of teaching-learning, and indirectly, as we interact with peers
and educators in the school. In other words, it is one of the agents of
socialisation. In this chapter we will focus on the role of school as a place
for developing relationships and interactions with ‘significant others’ in
our life.
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9B.2 Peer Relationships

Infants as young as six months show an interest in other infants. When
placed together they may attempt to touch each other, smile and look at
each other. But at this time they treat the other just as an object – they
do not respond to or see them as persons in the ways that we understand.
Between one and three years of age, the child begins to realise that other
children are persons and begin to have social interactions with them. In
the early years, a friend is someone who lives close to you; in other words
one who is available for play. These friendships usually have nothing to do
with liking the person or her/his qualities. At this age, most children do not
show a preference for any one playmate. They play together occasionally,
using the same toy or interacting with each other, but most of the time
they play on their own.
In the preschool years the child starts relating to others in a more
sustained manner. But early friendships are superficial. They are quickly
formed and quickly broken – the child may be friends with another child
who has a toy that she wants; however, the friendship may not carry over
to the next day, unlike the friendships of an older child. Thus during the
preschool age, a friend is someone with whom the child ‘does things’ such
122 as playing with toys. During the later part of preschool years, interactions
between children become more sustained. Older preschoolers play with
each other, cooperate and take turns during play. They may also prefer
some peers over others. By the beginning of middle childhood years,
the child begins to realise that friends are those with whom one shares
common interests and feelings and not just those who have things one
likes. The child begins to realise that trusting each other, responding to
each other’s needs and presence of desirable qualities such as kindness
and considerateness in friends are critical features of friendship. They
understand that friends help each other. During the middle childhood
years the child’s circle of friends usually increases – the child spends
more time with friends and their influence also becomes more powerful.
By adolescence friendships become deeper and friends share each others’
innermost thoughts and feelings.
You have read in the chapter on ‘self ’ that by the time the child becomes
an adolescent, friends may become even more important than the parents.
Most adolescents usually have a small group of close friends – called ‘clique’
– and a larger number of friends who are at some distance – called ‘crowd’.
The crowd is a loosely organised group of peers who tend to be together
because of shared interests and activities. However, members of the crowd
are not close to each other as members of cliques are. Thus young people
watching a stage show form a crowd and a group of adolescents planning an
outing together are part of a clique.
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9B.3 The Importance of Friendships

Friendships at every age are important because they help the child feel
accepted by people who are like her. This gives the child a sense of emotional
security which is important for the development of social and emotional
relationships in adult life. Children who are rejected by peers are likely to
show aggressive behaviour and are also likely to interrupt group activities
through deviant behaviour. They tend to remain alone or; may join deviant
subcultures whose values and activities may be markedly different from
those of the mainstream culture. This can cause a lot of harm to the child.
During adolescence there is a tremendous pressure on the adolescent to
conform to the values held by the peer group and behave in ways considered
appropriate by them. These values and behaviours may be contradictory
to parental values, and this coupled with decline in conformity to parents’
values and demands by the adolescents, can lead to tremendous conflict
with the parents. However, it is important to understand that experiencing
such a peer pressure to conform is a normal feature of growing up. In fact,
being able to express feelings and experiences with friends which the
adolescent would not be able to share at home helps the adolescents
feel ‘normal’ and not alone, as they realise that their friends have similar
concerns and experiences. Also, by the end of adolescence, peer pressure 123
tends to decline and the growing adult is able to look at issues from multiple
perspectives. However, it is also true that under pressure to conform many
adolescents can get involved in anti-social activities which are dangerous
to the self and the society. These include experimenting with drugs and
sex without adequate protection and information. Adolescents and their
parents need to understand each others’ points of view and concerns. This
can happen when there is free-flowing communication between parents
and adolescents – something which both parties have to work towards.
It is also important to remember that in many cultures peer values
may be quite similar to values held by adults in the society, in which case
adolescents would not experience as much conflict with parents. In such a
situation, peers would serve to reinforce the values held by the society.
Activity 1 Activity 2
You have read about many aspects of As adolescents, are there aspects in
friendship in various stages of a child’s which you agree with your friends but
development. Reflect upon your own disagree with parents? Discuss these
experiences and think of friends who in the class.
have influenced you in different ways.
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9B.4 Influence of the Teachers

Teachers are a major influence in the school. Like parents, they set limits,
make demands, communicate values and foster development. Teachers
are powerful role models and often impact a child’s development. Children
are most likely to imitate the behaviour of teachers they like and value,
and they also tend to enjoy subjects taught by teachers whom they admire.
Teachers’ expectations of students often, but not always, have a major
influence on student performance and behaviour. It has been found that
teachers’ expectations influence student achievement, motivation, self-
esteem, expectancy for success and actual achievement. This has both
positive and negative aspects. The positive aspect is that, by and large,
teachers may behave more positively towards students from whom they
have high expectations. They smile at them more frequently, praise them
more often, supervise their work more closely, and press them harder to
find answers. And when they perform poorly, the teachers are likely to
encourage them to work harder. Thus they communicate to these students
that they are expected to succeed. The negative aspect is that the teachers
are not likely to press or motivate the students from whom they have
lower expectations. The teachers’ expectations become a self-fulfilling
124 prophecy, with the children becoming, achieving and behaving as the
teacher expect them to become. Studies have shown that if a student has
average ability, but the teacher is informed that the child has tremendous
potential, the teacher modifies her/his ways of relating to the child so that
the child actually improves upon past performance.
The implication of the above discussion is that teachers need to be
conscious of the harmful effects of low expectations. There is need to avoid
pre-judgment of children’s abilities. Also, even if the child is not performing
adequately at any given time, there is every chance that the child can do
better in the future, given adequate support and encouragement. Teachers
need to have reasonably optimal demand of achievement from all students
and not merely from a few. Children’s achievement needs to be judged
against their own past performance and not compared only with the class
average.
The teacher-taught relationship is the essence of the teaching-
learning process. Philosophers and educators in India and the world have
visualised the teaching-learning process as one where knowledge is co-
constructed between the teacher and the learner. The Guru in the ancient
learning tradition of India had a vibrant role – his role as revealed in the
Upanishads was to make the pupil completely independent and himself
completely superfluous. However, this independence was believed to be
achieved after years of hard work, learning, dedication and devotion. They
encouraged questioning, probing and sustained enquiry by the students
so that the students’ own creativity came to the fore. In the contemporary
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Indian context, the role of the school and educators is mediated by factors
such as the pressure of ensuring that students get high marks in their
examinations. There are teachers who merely dictate lessons to their
students, allowing no questioning. When students do not experience
the school and the learning process as one of psychological safety, it is
doubtful that the education system would succeed in helping them form
healthy relationships with their teachers. However, there are teachers who
play a very constructive role in the education of their students, and act as
their mentors and guides for future.
School is thus a significant context influencing the adolescent’s
development. In the next chapter we shall learn about Community and
Society, the larger contexts in which the micro-contexts of family and
school are situated.
Key terms and their meaning
Clique: a group of a few close friends

Crowd: a larger number of peers who are at some social distance from
each other
Peer pressure: pressure on the adolescent to conform to the values held by the
peer group and behave in ways considered appropriate by them.
125
Co-construction: when the teacher and the student both contribute to the
development of understanding and knowledge, it is a perspective that holds
that knowledge is not a static body of information that is passed on from the all
knowing teacher to the ‘empty’ student; rather both the student and the teacher
recreate knowledge during the teaching-learning process as they bring their own
experiences and understanding to the teaching-learning situation and try to
re-discover and re-interpret the knowledge as stated in the books or as being
stated by the teacher
Psychological safety: an atmosphere where the person does not experience
threat to her/his self-esteem; where the person experiences a sense of self-worth
and a positive regards of her /his abilities. In such an atmosphere the person is
able to participate freely with a sense of security about the negative reactions of
others.
Here is a brain teaser for you. Check your skill in solving the puzzle
In Column 1 are some words you have read in the chapter above. Unjumble the
words and match them with the meaning after locating it in Column 2.
Column 1 Column 2
1. dowcr …………. • larger number of friends who are at
some distance
2. quelci …………… • a group of small number of close
friends
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3. repe repsruse ……… • need to conform to the values and

behaviours
4. fles-uliflflgin oprhpcey ….…. • children becoming, achieving and
behaving as the teacher expected
them to become
5. urug ……….. • encourages questioning, probing
and sustained enquiry by the
students
Review Questions
1. Explain how the school is a place for forming relationships and interacting
with significant others?
2. Explain how the nature of friendship changes from infancy to adolescence?
3. Why are friendships important?
4. What is meant by the term ‘peer pressure’? How can this be a source of
stress for the adolescent?
5. Discuss how teachers and their behaviour can influence students’
achievement and motivation?
126
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c. Community and 9
Society
Learning Objectives

• discuss the concepts of community and society.
• describe the significance of society in the lives of individuals
and families, and its relationship to culture.
• explain the role of media as a social influence. 127
• elaborate on the responsibility of individuals towards
community living.
9C.1 Introduction
In the preceding chapters, you have learnt about the importance of the
family, school and friends in the lives of individual people. Human beings
are a social species; we live in close connection with other people in our
lives. After birth, the human infant is the most dependent of all newborns
across all mammals, and remains so for the longest period in comparison.
This period of dependence allows for close interactions between the
caregiver and infant and facilitates important developments in early life
that lay the foundations for the future. Sociability is a critical attribute
in human life. We like to be among other people, we build our idea about
ourselves from listening to others and seeing their reactions to us, we
learn about our society and culture by engaging with people around us;
and we develop a sense of right and wrong by looking around us. These
are some of the examples of the ways in which groups can influence
individual development. This does not imply that the reverse cannot be
true. As sentient living beings (beings that have sensory organs) we are
deeply affected by what we experience. This is one of the primary reasons
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why we are deeply affected by our experiences; our dealings with other
people are one of the main influences on our lives.
9C.2 Community
The idea of a community is of a group that shares common values, beliefs,
spaces, interests and a common heritage. The size of the group does not
matter; a community can be a small group of people who share common
activity, or even a group of people who may temporarily gather for common
purposes like a chat community on the internet, or a group of children
getting together to play regular sports in a field. The term ‘community’ is
also used to refer to people who live within a common area and share a
common environment. Due to these shared features, community members
are of importance to each other, whether they are aware of it or not.
The terms society or ethnic group also imply the same shared reality as
‘community’. In common usage, these terms can be used interchangeably.
From ancient times, individuals have lived in clusters where work, food,
shelter, children’s care and many other activities are shared with other
people. Although the family has sustained as the longest standing group
over centuries, people outside the family also provide very important input
128
in people’s lives. Even people whom you never meet may play a critical
role in your life. In some sense, people living in a country, and indeed,
people of the world can also be considered as a community. For instance,
if we wish to speak about the consequences of global warming, we can
discuss the consequences of collective action on the people of the world as
a community. Citizens of a country share a government, a constitution,
and an economy. Thus community is an abstract idea of a collection of
people, and is not limited to any one shared characteristic. In Sociology,
the terms community and society have slightly different meanings. Society
implies a larger, more abstract concept of human grouping, whereas, a
community is defined as a grouping with a more cohesive unit. Family
and kinship are considered examples of communities, with a great deal of
shared knowledge and experience, beliefs and values.
Different types of communities

Let us consider examples of communities around us, that is, people with
whom we share certain experiences. The simplest starting point after the
family is the neighbourhood. A neighbourhood is an important social unit
since these are the people among whom we live, with whom we share
our daily activities. Of course this does not imply that all members of
a neighbourhood are exactly the same. Far from it! However, there is a
sharing of life circumstances that makes us similar in some ways. For
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instance, most neighbours use services of the locality that are provided,
like marketplace, health care, schooling and play areas for children. This 129
brings people together, and often results in conversations, friendships and
even cooperation. During festival time, for example, people belonging to
different religious groups may bring food specially prepared for families to
share their celebrations with others. Neighbours are also very important
in times of crises. In emergencies, sometimes neighbours are the first
people towards whom we can turn, even before family and friends. People
usually help each other in such moments, although there are differences
in the extent of support that different people are willing to offer. It is true
that we will be more willing to assist someone living near us, whom we
know, than we are to help a stranger on the street, about whom we may
know nothing. At this point, it is important to discuss the organisation
of community living and social institutions that are different in different
ecological settings like a village and a city.
There are differences between cities, towns and villages in the way the
homes, the services and the society are organised. We do find that homes
in a neighbourhood of a big city can become quite distant and many people
do not often talk to or know each other very well, although there are many
exceptions to this. In villages and towns, in contrast, there is a greater
sense of belonging and closeness among neighbours. People usually know
all the families living in their locality in a village, and if the village is small,
then they would even know all the families that reside within. People would
recognise each other by name, at least of the head of the family, and any
stranger would be spotted instantly. This does not mean the city people
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are not friendly; sometimes the pressures of dual incomes and city life
can leave little time for interactions such as these. Further, the increasing
mobility in urban spaces, where everyone does not own the house they live
in, can also result in lower interaction. In villages, on the other hand, it
seems that everyone knows everyone else. Families are identified by their
members, and not by address. Life in townships is somewhere in between
these extremes, where some of the character of village life sustains, since
people do know each other reasonably well; and yet there is some mobility,
higher employment outside the home, and other factors common with city
life. That is why social scientists tend to differentiate between rural, urban
and tribal societies, since these are organised somewhat differently from
each other. Another important feature to note is that social institutions,
like schools, community centres, health clinics, local political bodies, are
also differently organised in rural and urban areas. There is a greater sense
of anonymity in urban spaces, which remains an important characteristic
in the social interactions, social control and changing social reality.
Apart from the neighbourhood, village, town or city, we also have other
kinds of communities. For example, people who speak a common language
or belong to the same native place (in a large city, for example) get together
for specific occasions. For instance, we can see that during the period
around September/October, Durga Puja is an important event for the
130
Bengali speaking community. We find several pandals put up for the days
of the prayer where people come and celebrate, eat and worship together.
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Children have fun and games in these

areas, young people dance for worship Activity 1
and older members sit and watch and
pray to the goddess for her blessings. List the names of a few communities
In the state of Maharashtra, as that you can think of including your
another example, the celebration of own. List the common characteristics
Ganesh Puja is performed with a lot of these communities. Discuss this
of pomp and show during Ganesh with your peers as well as the teacher
Chaturthi. People get together, collect to get ideas about the communities of
funds and organise special activities which you are members. Sometimes
regularly over a period of several you may not realise that these are your
days and then finally culminate the characteristics too.
celebrations with the immersion
of the Ganesha idols in sea/river water. Thus we can see that religious
membership, ethnic group and common language are some of the ways
in which larger society can be organised into smaller, more identifiable
groupings.
Note that one person can potentially be a member of many
communities. For example, a child from a Parsi family is also attending
a school, and automatically becomes a member of the school community.
She may also be learning dance under the guidance of a teacher, so she is
131
also a member of that dance group. This girl may be a part of a group of
people who have got together to prevent cruelty to animals on the street.
This makes her a member of that animal lovers group also. Thus, at any
given time, we are all members of several groups and communities and
sometimes we may not even be aware of these memberships. However,
these memberships are important for us in the formation of our identity
and our sense of belongingness to a group.
Functions of communities
As discussed already, communities play an essential role in a person’s life.
However, it is also true that communities cannot exist without people. Thus
there is a dynamic, co-constructive relationship between the individual
person and her/his community. Although the community provides a
person with identity, support, social control (what to do and what not to
do), goals and activities, individuals comprising a community do the actual
work in order to make things happen. Without the participation of the
individual members of a community, there can be no social organisation.
For instance, when a family gets together to fulfil the function of teaching
new members the rules of any given community, it is transacted through
the participation of individual family members. The mother is commonly
expected to fulfil the responsibility of bearing and rearing young
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children, the father often provides support to the mother for fulfilling
these responsibilities by providing for the family in terms of protection
and income. These responsibilities can be shared between fathers and
mothers, and with other members of the family, or even others like friends
and neighbours. For instance, when the mother goes out of the home for
employment, the care of her children may be shared with the father or/
and grandparents. Sometimes even neighbours can help to keep the child
until the parents return home. Often older members of a family who share
the home can be the caregivers of young children and therefore participate
actively in the care of the child. Let us now attempt to enumerate some of
the functions of a community, any community, whether it is a family, a
kin group, a residential community or a country. A community attempts
to do some of the following things for its members—
• Provide a sense of identity to a person.
• Provide opportunity for survival, learning, livelihood, entertainment,
security and care. This is especially true during periods of vulnerability
(when a person is at risk), for
example, illness during old age.
Activity 2
• Prepare younger generations for
social participation. For each of the above functions,
• Ensure the survival of the group.
132 discuss with a classmate examples
• Participate in the transformation from your own life. Share them in the
of a person into a functional class as a whole.
member of community and society.
9C.3 Society and Culture

As discussed in the previous section, the concept of society is more flexible
in comparison with community. Society can be seen perhaps as people in
general, without the notion of sharing specific features, the way we define
a community. However, the two terms can also be used interchangeably
in ordinary language. The term culture refers primarily to the way of living
of a people. Culture consists of all those elements of a person or a group’s
environment, both tangible (material things) as well as intangible (beliefs,
values, practices) that are created by people for their own use. This term
(culture) is also used in different ways in ordinary language. Sometimes,
culture is used to imply ‘high society’ when we refer to a person as very
‘cultured’ for example. This is not the way the term is used in our subject.
We use culture to simply mean the beliefs of people and their ways
of living. It includes the food we eat, the clothes we wear, the language
we use and the celebrations that we participate in, among other things.
Culture also consists of ideas of people. Thus we can say that culture is a
dynamic and complex construction of a variety of things that are part of
our present, our past, as well as our future. Like a community, a cultural
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group is seen as a group that has shared ideas about things, usually living
in close proximity to each other. Also culture should not be confused with
country, especially in a country as large as ours where there are countless
ethnic groups, several ecological settings and thousands of languages. Our
country can be called a multi-cultural society. Officially our country has
22 scheduled languages as per the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution
of India when four new languages were added. These are: Bodo, Maithili,
Santhali and Dogri. For each scheduled language, there are many other
dialects that are spoken in the concerned states. These official languages
can be counted very easily on a 10 rupee note (see Activity 3). You will find
only 18 languages on it since this note was printed prior to the addition of
the last four. In your counting, do not forget that Hindi and English appear
in larger fonts on the note.
Activity 3
Take a 10 rupee note and look very carefully at all the images and words printed on it.
You will see the term Ten Rupees written in both Hindi and English. Note that there are
many other languages listed, all of which say the same thing: Ten Rupees. Try to identify
all the languages listed here. Hint: These are arranged in alphabetic order.
133
9C.4 Media and Society

Media is an important factor in modern society. Along with the legislature,
judiciary and executive, it is the fourth pillar of modern society. Whereas,
the other three are concerned with social organisation, social control and
functioning, media is the means whereby communication takes place at an
organised, group level. The different media that we have, keep us abreast
with the events, personalities, and advances in society, local, national and
international. Some of the different media that we encounter in our daily
lives in modern society include television, newspaper, radio and internet.
Each of these sources provides us with a window to the world. If it were
not for the media, then we would know only what we discover for ourselves
or what people tell us. Media provides us with information from the past
and the present, from near and far away. It also exercises an influence on
the social trends. For example, television advertisements have been found
to have an important influence on the consumption patterns of its viewers.
That is why businesses use television for advertising their products.
Advertising is now a powerful and vibrant career today.
Media also provides us with information about events related to
education and careers. For example, information about examination dates,
careers and scholarships are all advertised in national dailies. This way we
can access possible places to apply for further education or occupation.
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134
However, it is important to note that the influence that media information

has upon an individual depends on several factors like the person’s age,
sex, education, ethnic background and of course, temperament. Whenever
a new technology is introduced (take for instance mobile phones) it is
usually seen that younger generations are more impacted by the invention
if it is available to them.
Activity 4
From a recent newspaper/magazine, identify one article in each of the following areas
and bring to the class:
1. Article related to sports
2. Article related to entertainment
3. Matrimonial advertisements
4. Advertisement for a product
Discuss the articles collected in the class. You may classify them in different ways.
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Apart from TV and newspaper, we are also connected with the world
through the internet. Today, we find cyber cafes even in small towns and
villages. The information available on the internet is much more varied
and detailed than any other media source. Like every powerful medium,
there is as much potential harm the internet sources can do; and like any
other media source, the most important factor that determines its positive
impact on society is the judicious use of the internet. For instance, when
we access information on the internet, we can also access sites that have
material that may be potentially damaging to the minds of young people.
Internet is also a powerful source of sharing information by criminals who
work towards harming other people and therefore society in general. It is
very important for parents and other concerned adults to be aware of the
media accessed by their children. Without being overly strict, parents,
teachers and others can guide children towards the optimal use of media
sources, and can thus gather important information, receive entertainment
and also network with other people.
Thus we can say that no medium is harmful in and of itself; it is the
way in which it is used and the purpose for which it is used that makes
it good or bad. In the following box, there are a few simple guidelines to
parents or caregivers for facilitating responsible television viewing among
children.
135
In order to facilitate responsible TV viewing the following points are helpful for
caregivers.
• Always be aware of what programmes your children are watching; preferably
watch WITH them rather than using the TV as a substitute for you.
• TV viewing is a habit, so set the trend early.
• If you expect the child to be watching limited hours, remember your own pattern of
watching TV is the biggest guide for the child.
• Recommend to the child the programmes that are fun and informative for children.
• It is often useful to place a TV in a central place so that everyone can watch.
• Do not use the TV as a punishment (switching off) or reward (can see all the
time); this adds unnecessary complication to the dynamics around viewing for
long hours.
• During exams, children want movement and entertainment; let the child watch
some TV, BUT ensure that the child gets adequate outdoor activity. This is good
for the memory and emotional stability during exams.
• Explain to the child that the violence and bloodshed (even if it is the news) is
hurtful for the people experiencing it, even if you cannot feel the pain.
• Limit TV viewing to a few programmes a day rather than leaving it on all the time.
• Avoid viewing late into the night with young children, since many of the
programmes are unsuitable for children.
• Have a variety of activities like indoor games, board games, stories and book
reading along with TV.
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Another important social influence on individuals is films. India is

the largest producer of films and it is no surprise that some of the most
influential role models are film stars. The fan following of Amitabh
Bachchan must include millions of people. These fans look up to
him as a role model and try to follow his actions, his appearance and
sometimes even his lifestyle. People want to become like him. Actors
are therefore charismatic and have a lot of influence on the society.
Their conduct is always under scrutiny and our newspapers and TV
channels follow their every move very closely. We also listen carefully
to news items about them and discuss their lives with our family and
friends. Apart from actors, films both reflect and affect social reality.
For example, over the years, the image of women in movies has changed,
and we are now accepting a greater variety of stories in film. Meanwhile
we also see that a number of films are banned by the censor board or
a religious community. If films were inconsequential, no one would
ban them. The truth is that the multicultural fabric of Indian society
provides rich material for film scripts, as well as multiple challenges
to movie makers. Films also bring home to us the cultures of different
countries. Through foreign films, we learn about new places and people
and may know some of their ways
136 of living, whether it is in Europe or Activity 5
America or Australia.
In this manner, different media Name the latest film you have seen or
provide us with windows to the world, heard about, recall the story of the film
through which we are entertained, and focus on any one character/role
informed, emotionally moved and that you liked and one that you did not
socially networked with people around like. List the reasons for each of your
and all over the world. It is thus a choices.
critical dimension of social reality and
cultural dynamics.
9C.5 The Individual Child, Community and

the Society
Individual children enter into the world, in the company of several members,
that comprise a family. In previous chapters, you have been able to grasp
the importance of the family in the lives of individuals. The family is the
primary unit of social life that forms the intersection between the larger
social reality, the community life and the individual. It is family members
who decide (consciously or unconsciously) what values and practices of
larger society they will adopt and which they will oppose. In this manner,
every family of a community or a culture will not have identical values.
Human beings are diverse on account of personal experiences, social
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historical factors and individual temperament, that makes each individual

unique.
In same instances, like due to natural or man-made disasters,
personal constraints or social difficulties can sometimes lead to the
absence of a caring group for the child to grow up in. Sometimes, a
family may also be too poor to care for the child adequately. In situations
like these, it is important to remember that the State or Central
Government is responsible for providing adequate care for the child.
The Fundamental Rights in our Constitution state the basic provisions
for individual needs. Due to the economic situation in our country, the
lack of resources, inadequate distribution and sometimes also lack of
outreach, the care of children and families in difficult circumstances
by the Government remains unfulfilled. This is a distressing fact of the
Indian society; despite the many success stories that we have in the
field of technological and educational development, we have not been
able to ensure that all children receive adequate food, and that every
child has access to schooling and health care. In India, we have a long
way to go before the community becomes organised and is involved more
effectively in the care of people in difficult circumstances. Undoubtedly,
the NGO sector has provided an alternative movement for developing
programmes and advocacy for such situations, but we need a more
137
concerted will of the Government machinery along with improved
work ethics and better funding to take responsibility for health care,
education, entertainment and overall well-being of children and people
in difficulty.
All of us have to be aware that if a community provides us with security,
and if we have rights in any community, we also have individual and group
responsibilities. Giving back to society and communities from where
we have taken is a very important duty of every individual member.
Remember that communities cannot survive without individual will and
participation. Therefore, you must resolve to be an active member of your
family, community, society, country and the world, in order that you can
play your role in the betterment of the future for the generations to come.
That is the strength of the relationship between any individual and the
group; that there is an exchange of mutual dependence, of rights and
responsibilities which we all have to fulfil.
In the next four chapters we shall learn about some crucial concerns that
are relevant to all individuals in society. These are – health and nutrition,
work and work place, resource availability, learning and education and
textile heritage of our country.
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Key Terms
Community, Society, Culture, Social control, Television, Internet, Rights and

responsibilities
Review Questions
1. Briefly discuss the meaning of a community. What are some of the functions
of a community?
2. What do you understand by the term society? How is it different from
community or similar to it?
3. What is culture? Discuss using examples.
4. How do TV and internet impact society?
5. Discuss the ways in which an individual can contribute to the society.
Practical 9
Community and Society
Theme Observing and recording group dynamics in different situations

Tasks Observing group dynamics at home, eateries, playfield, school,
138
recreation areas
Purpose of practical: Each of the above constitutes distinct communities.

People in a community have certain ways of responding and interacting with
each other, depending on the purpose for which the community is organised, the
degree of closeness of the community members and the duration for which they
are together.
Conduct of practical: Spend one hour each at each of the following locations
and observe the group dynamics that takes place while you are present:
Home, eateries, playfield, school, recreation areas
You are not required to interact with the people present – just observe; however if
someone initiates interaction with you, respond in a natural manner. Some of the
aspects you can note in each of the above communities are the following–
• Number of people present at the location
• Whether all the people were together as a cohesive group or were there
many smaller groups of people
• The age range of people in the group
• What was the role of different members? Were some members of the group
more active as compared to others? For example, was someone the leader
in the group and others were following him?
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• What was the communication style among the group members:

formal–informal; democratic-hierarchical?
• What was the language used for communication among the group members-
mother tongue, English? Was the language used formal or informal?
• The duration for which the group members were together: Will the group
form again on another day with the same members or was it a one-time
coming together of people?
Record the observations using the following format :
Community Group Dynamics

Number Role of Comm- One time
of people members unication group or
present; age style; sustained
range language group
used
139
In the class, form groups of 4-5 students and present your findings to each other.
Discuss amongst yourself whether the group dynamics were similar or different in
different communities. Each group should then make its presentation to the entire
class.
2021-22
Concerns
and Needs in
Diverse Contexts
A. Nutrition, Health 10
and Hygiene
Learning Objectives

• discuss the importance of health and its dimensions.
• understand the interrelationship of nutrition and health.
• identify the consequences of undernutrition and
140 overnutrition.
• select appropriate and healthy food choices.
• identify the interrelationship between nutrition and
disease.
• explain the importance of hygiene and sanitation for
preventing food- borne diseases.
10A.1 Introduction
Every person wants to live a good quality life and have a sense of well-
being. As far back as 1948, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
stated: “Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the
health and well-being of oneself and one’s family including food”. Yet, many
of the environmental conditions and our own lifestyles affect our health,
sometimes having harmful effects. At the outset let us define “health”.
The world’s premier organisation concerned with health, the World Health
Organisation (WHO) defines health as “a state of complete mental, physical
and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease”. Disease
means impairment of body health, alteration/disruption/derangement in
function of some part or organ of the body, interrupting normal functions
and deviating from a state of complete well-being. Health is a fundamental
human right. All persons, irrespective of age, gender, caste, creed/religion,
place of stay (urban, rural, tribal) and nationality, throughout their lives,
2021-22
Concerns and Needs in Diverse Contexts
should have the opportunity to achieve

It is the aim of every health
and maintain the highest attainable
professional (persons who deal with
state of health.
various aspects of health) to promote
good health; in other words, to
10A.2 Health and Its promote maintenance of well-being

or wellness, quality of life.
Dimensions
You must have noticed that the definition of health includes various
dimensions–social, mental and physical. Let us briefly deal with all three
dimensions before we discuss physical health in greater detail.
Social health: It refers to health of individuals and of a society. When we are
concerned with society, it refers to a society in which there is equal opportunity
and access for all citizens to the goods and services essential for good health.
When we refer to individuals, we refer to each person’s well-being – how well the
individual gets along with other people and with social institutions. This includes
our social skills and the ability to function as a member of the society. When we
are faced with problems and stress, social support helps us to cope with them
and solve the problems facing us. Social support measures contribute to positive
adjustment in children and adults, and encourages personal growth. Emphasis
on social health is gaining importance as scientific studies have shown that 141
persons who are socially well adjusted, tend to live longer and recover faster
from disease. A few social determinants of health are:
– Employment status
– Safety in workplaces
– Access to health services
– Cultural/religious beliefs, taboos and value systems
– Socio-economic and environmental conditions
Mental health: This refers to emotional and psychological well-being. An
individual who experiences a sense of well-being can utilise his/her cognitive
and emotional capabilities, function well in society and meet the ordinary
demands of daily life. The box below lists the indicators of mental health.
A person who has positive mental health–

• feels that he/she is capable and competent.
• can handle normal levels of stress he/she faces in daily life.
• has satisfying relationships.
• can lead an independent life.
• if faced with any mental or emotional stress or events, he/she can cope with them
and recover from them.
• does not fear things.
• does not feel defeated or depressed for unusually long periods of time when small
difficulties/problems are encountered.
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Physical health: This aspect of health encompasses physical fitness

and functioning of the body. A physically healthy person is able to
undertake normal activities, does not feel unusually fatigued and has
adequate resistance to infection and disease.
10A.3 Health Care

Every individual is responsible for his/her own health, but it is also a major
public concern. Thus the government assumes considerable responsibility
and provides health services at various levels to the citizens of the country.
This is because good health is the foundation for good quality of life and
standard of living for the individual and the family, and is the key for ensuring
social, economic and human development of a community and a nation.
Health care consists of all the various services provided to individuals
or communities by agents of health services or professions for the purpose
of promoting, maintaining, monitoring or restoring health. Thus health
care includes preventive, promotive and therapeutic care. Health Care
services are delivered at three levels – primary care, secondary care and
tertiary care levels.
Primary Health Care: The first level of contact between individuals
with the health care system is known as Primary Health Care.
142
Secondary Health Care: When patients from primary health care are
referred to specialised hospital also like district hospitals, it is called as
Secondary Health Care.
Tertiary Health Care: When patients are referred from primary and
secondary health system for specialised intensive care, advanced diagnostic
support serious and medical care, then it is called as Tertiary Health Care.
10A.4 Indicators of Health

Health is multidimensional, with each dimension being influenced by
several factors. Therefore, several indicators are employed to assess health.
These include indicators of mortality, morbidity (illness/disease), disability
rates, nutritional status, health care delivery, utilisation, environment,
health policy, quality of life, etc.
10A.5 Nutrition and Health

Nutrition and health are intimately interlinked. In the global campaign
of ‘Health for All’, promotion of nutrition is one of the primary elements.
Nutrition is concerned with maintenance of body organs and tissues in
structure and function. It is also concerned with growth and development
of the body. Good nutrition enables the person to enjoy good health, resist
infection, have adequate energy levels and perform daily tasks without
2021-22
feeling fatigued. In case of children and adolescents, nutrition is vital for

their growth, mental development and achieving their potential. For adults,
adequate nutrition is crucial to lead a socially and economically productive
and healthy life. In turn, the health status of an individual determines the
nutrient requirements of a person and food intake. During illness, nutrient
requirements increase, and breakdown of nutrients are higher. Therefore,
illness and disease adversely affect nutritional status. Hence, nutrition is
a ‘fundamental pillar’ of human life, health and development.
10A.6 Nutrients
There are more than 50 nutrients in food. Nutrients are broadly
classified into macronutrients (required in relatively larger amounts)
and micronutrients (required in small quantities) based on the
amounts required by the human body. Macronutrients are generally
fat, protein, carbohydrate and fibre. Micronutrients include the
minerals such as iron, zinc, selenium and the various fat-soluble and
water-soluble vitamins, each of which performs important functions.
Some of them function as co-factors and co-enzymes in the various
metabolic reactions that occur in the body. Nutrients can also influence
gene expression and transcription. Different organs and systems
143
play a critical role in the digestion, absorption, metabolism, storage
and excretion of nutrients and their end products of metabolism. In
essence, each and every cell in all parts of the body requires nutrients.
Nutrient requirements in the normal healthy state vary according to
age, sex and the physiological state, i.e., during periods of growth
such as infancy, childhood, adolescence, and pregnancy and lactation
in women. Level of physical activity also determines requirements for
energy and nutrients involved in energy metabolism, e.g., vitamins
like thiamine and riboflavin.
Knowledge about nutrients, their metabolism and sources as well as
functions are vital. One should consume a balanced diet which includes
foods that will provide all the necessary
nutrients in required amounts.
The science of nutrition is
concerned with access to, availability
and utilisation of food and nutrients
for life, growth, development
and well-being. Nutritionists
(professionals who work in this field)
are concerned with myriad aspects.
These range from biological and
metabolic aspects to what happens
Balanced meal in disease states and how the body
2021-22
is nourished (clinical nutrition). Nutrition as a discipline studies the

nutritional needs of populations and their nutritional problems, including
health problems caused by lack of nutrients (public health nutrition)
and prevention of diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, cancer,
hypertension.
We all know that when one is ill, one may not feel like eating. What and
how much is eaten by a person not only depends on taste but availability
of food (food security) which in turn is influenced by purchasing power
(economic factors), environment (water and irrigation), and policies at the
national and international levels. Culture, religion, social status, beliefs
and taboos also influence our food choices, food intake, and nutritional
status.
How do good health and nutrition help? Look around you. You will
notice that people in good health are generally in a happier frame of mind
and are more productive than others. Healthy parents are able to take
adequate care of their children, and healthy children are generally happy
and do well in school. Thus, when one is healthy, one is more constructive
for oneself and can take active part in activities at the community level. It is
therefore obvious that one cannot achieve good health and be productive,
sociable and a contributory member of society if one is starving and
undernourished.
144
Table 1: Optimum nutritional status is important because it—

maintains body weight provides resistance to infection
maintains muscle mass helps to cope with physical and
mental stress
decreases risk of disability improves productivity
Productivity
Good
Food Environ-
ment
Optimum Education
Nutrition and Skills
Access
Positive
Sanitation to Services/
Health
and Health Facilities
Figure 1: Health and Nutritional inputs required for Productivity
2021-22
Figure 2 summarises the benefits of good nutritional status for

children’s education.
Good nutrition has positive influence on
Brain development General state of health Vision
Which affects cognitive Active interaction with the Reduce risk of

development environment, therefore, visual impairment
reduce absenteeism and
reduce risk of failure and
dropout
Attention 145
Memory
span
Concentration
Figure 2: Benefits of Good Nutritional Status for Children’s Education
What is malnutrition? Malnutrition is a deviation from the normal

state of nutrition. When the intake of nutrients is less than the amount
that is required by the body, or in excess of the requirements, malnutrition
results. Malnutrition can take the form of overnutrition or undernutrition.
Excess intake of nutrients results in overnutrition; inadequate intake
results in undernutrition. Wrong food choices and combinations can be a
very significant cause of malnutrition in adolescents.
10A.7 Factors Affecting Nutritional

Well-being
The World Health Organisation has listed four main factors (as shown in
the diagram) that are important for nutritional well-being.
2021-22
Nutritional Well- being
Food and Care for the Good Health Safe

Nutrient Vulnerable for All Environment
Security
Food and nutrient security means that each and every person
(regardless of age) has access to and can obtain adequate food and nutrients
throughout the year, as per his/her requirements to enable him/her to
lead a healthy life.
Care for those who are vulnerable means that each individual needs
loving care and attention reflected by caring behaviour. In the case of
babies it means whether the baby receives the correct type and amount of
food as well as care and attention. In case of expectant mothers, it refers
to whether they get all the care and support they need from the family, the
146
community and in case of working mothers, from employers. Similarly,
persons who are ill and suffer from any disease require care and support
in various ways including food, nourishment, medication, etc.
Health for all includes prevention of disease and curing disease when
it occurs. Special attention needs to be paid to infectious diseases since
they can deplete the body of nutrients and lead to poor health and poor
nutritional status. Every citizen should get a minimum amount of health
care. Health is a basic human right. Some of the diseases that take their
toll in India, especially among young children are diarrhoea, respiratory
infections, measles, malaria, tuberculosis among others.
Safe environment focusses on all aspects of environment including
physical, biological and chemical substances which may influence health.
This includes safe, potable drinking water, hygienic food, and prevention
of environmental pollution and degradation.
10A.8 Nutritional Problems and Their

Consequences
In India, there exist several nutritional problems in the population.
Undernutrition is a major problem which is reflected in the high numbers
of pregnant women who are undernourished and have small babies with
low birth weight as well as young children (below 3 years of age) who are
2021-22
underweight and stunted. One-third of the babies born in India are low
birth weight, i.e., less than 2500 gms. Similarly, considerable percentage of
women too are underweight. There are other nutrition-related deficiencies
such as iron deficiency anaemia, vitamin A deficiency and consequent
blindness and iodine deficiency. Undernutrition has several negative
effects on the individual.
Undernutrition not only reduces body weight but has devastating
effects on children’s cognitive development, immunity and can also result
in disability, e.g., blindness due to vitamin A deficiency. Iodine deficiency
is a threat to health and development, specially for young children and
pregnant women since it results in goitre, still birth, and miscarriage in
women, and deaf-mutism, mental retardation and cretinism in children.
Iron deficiency also has negative impact on health and well-being.
In infants and young children, its deficiency impairs psychomotor and
cognitive development, and thus adversely affects scholastic performance.
It also decreases physical activity. Iron deficiency during pregnancy affects
the growth of the foetus and increases risk of morbidity and mortality for
the mother.
Conversely, overnutrition is also not good. Intake in excess of
requirements leads to several health problems. In case of some nutrients
if may lead to toxicity, and the person may become overweight and even
147
obese. Obesity in turn increases the risk of several diseases such as
diabetes, heart disease and hypertension. In India, we face problems at
both ends of the spectrum, i.e., undernutrition (nutritional deficiencies)
and overnutrition (diet-related chronic, non-communicable diseases). This
has been termed “double burden of malnutrition”. In our country, the third
National and Family Health Survey shows that 28.9 per cent men and
22.2 per cent women from urban areas are overweight or obese, the
percentage being much lower among rural men (8.6 per cent) and women
(7.3 per cent).
Nutrition and infection: Providing enough food to fulfil nutritional
requirements is not adequate. The influence of environment is also
important. Nutritional status does not depend only on sufficient supply of
food and nutrients but also on the person’s health status, to a great extent.
Nutrition and infection are intimately interlinked. Poor nutritional status
decreases resistance and immunity, and thus increases risk of infection.
On the other hand, during infection, the body loses considerable amount of
its nutrient reserves (through vomiting and diarrhoea), while the nutrient
requirements are actually increased. If nutrient intake is insufficient
compared to the requirement due to loss of appetite or inability to eat
(if there is nausea and/or vomiting), infections will affect the nutritional
status adversely. Thus the risk of another infection increases, and all
persons, especially children, the elderly and those undernourished are at
the risk of contracting more infections/diseases.
2021-22
In developing countries, food-borne illnesses such as diarrhoea and

dysentery are major problems since they can lead to dehydration and
death. Many of the infectious and communicable diseases are due to poor
environmental sanitation, poor household, personal and food hygiene. The
key therefore is to look into how these diseases can be prevented.
10A.9 Hygiene and Sanitation

Prevention and control of disease has to address both intrinsic and
extrinsic factors which are linked with various diseases. The box below
lists these factors.
Table 2: Intrinsic and Extrinsic factors linked with various diseases

Intrinsic/host factors Extrinsic/environmental factors
Age, sex, ethnicity, race Physical environment – air, water, soil,
housing, climate, geography, heat, light,
noise, radiation
Biological factors such as heredity, blood Biological environment includes the human
groups, enzymes, levels of various being, all other living beings such as
148 substances in blood, e.g., cholesterol animals, rodents, insects, plants, viruses,
Functioning of various organs and systems micro organisms
Some of these act as disease-producing
agents, some as reservoirs of infection,
intermediate hosts and vectors of disease
Social and economic characteristics, e.g., Psychosocial factors-emotional well-being,
occupation, marital status, housing cultural values, customs, habits, beliefs,
Lifestyle factors, e.g., nutrition, diet, physical attitudes, religion, lifestyle, health services,
activity, living habits, use of addictive etc.
substances such as drugs, alcohol, etc.
Among these factors sanitation and hygiene, nutrition and immunisation

are key inputs. When we speak of hygiene we are concerned with essentially
two aspects: personal and environmental. Health depends to a great extent
on the social environment as well as on lifestyle and behaviour, including
food intake. It is also closely related to hygiene. Poor hygiene leads to
several infections and infestations such as worm infestations.
Environmental hygiene comprises external matter, both organic and
inorganic, at the domestic hygiene (home) and community levels. This
includes physical factors such as water, air, housing, radiation, etc.,
as well as biological factors such as plants, bacteria, viruses, insects,
rodents and animals.
2021-22
Personal
Hygiene
149
Figure 3: Personal Aspects of Hygiene
Water supply Disposal

Food
of human
sanitation
excreta
Vector Disposal of
Environ-
control, liquid
mental
e.g., mosquitoes wastes
hygiene
and malaria and sewage
Garbage
Sanitary
disposal
practices Housing (solid waste
management)
Figure 4: Environmental Aspects of Hygiene
2021-22
Environmental health needs attention so as to create and maintain

ecological conditions that will promote health and prevent disease. Among
these, safe drinking water and sanitation, especially feaces disposal, are of
great importance. Similarly air and water pollution are of concern. Water
quality is important as contaminated water is the cause for many diseases
such as diarrhoea, worm infestations, skin and eye infections, guinea
worm, etc.
Food Hygiene: Food-borne illnesses occur when we consume food that
contains disease-causing (pathogenic) micro-organisms. Several factors
are needed for a food-borne illness to occur.
• Either the organism or the toxin must be present in the food eaten.
• The number of pathogenic micro-organisms must be in sufficient
numbers.
• The contaminated food must have been consumed in sufficient quantity.
The illnesses that are caused include diarrhoea, dysentery, amoebiasis,
infective hepatitis, typhoid, listeriosis, botulism, cholera, gastroenteritis.
Most of these are traced back to poor personal and food handling practices
as outlined below.
Use of food items that are spoiled/infected/unsafe, include water,
spices, seasonings, mixes.
150 Improper storage leading to multiplication of disease causing micro-
organisms.
Not practising insect and vermin control.
Use of contaminated equipment, utensils and plates, spoons, glasses
Inadequate cooking.
Storage of foods at temperatures favourable to growth of microorganisms
( 4 to 600C).
Improper cooling.
Improper/inadequate heating/reheating of cooked foods/left overs.
Cross contamination.
Leaving food uncovered.
Use of contaminated substances for garnishing.
Poor hygiene and sanitation of persons handling food, such as unclean
clothes, not washing of hands, dirt and grime under the nails.
Effective practices related to nutrition, health and hygiene are essential
to be productive in the work that one does, within home or outside the
home. The next chapter discusses the relationship between work, worker
and workplace.
Key Terms
Health care, Nutrients, Malnutrition, Hygiene and sanitation, Food hygiene.
2021-22
Exercises
1. Look up the following websites and discuss them in the class

• UNICEF’s report on State of the World’s Children
http://www.unicef.org/sowc08/
• Human Development Index
http://hdr.undp.org/en/statistics/
• WHO’s World Health Report
http://www.who.int/whr/en/
2. Identify at least 5-6 key indicators that you think are important for health and
see how India ranks among the various countries in the world.
Or
Alternative for rural students: Interview two mothers of young children
in your village. Ask each mother how many episodes of diarrhoea have
occurred in the case of her child in the last one year. Give your comments
on the reasons given by the mothers.
3. There are so many dimensions of health. List the various occupations or
professions which are involved in providing services for health and
nutrition – including prevention of health problems, promotion of good 151
health and therapeutic services.
Review Questions
1. “Nutrition affects productivity, income and quality of life”. Write your opinion
about this statement.
2. How is nutrition linked to mental and visual disability and quality of life?
3. Divide the class into groups. Each group should visit a food service
establishment, e.g., canteen/cafeteria, restaurant, street food vendor.
Identify the poor hygiene practices related to (a) food hygiene (b) personal
hygiene.
4. Have a class discussion on how hygiene can be improved and food can be
rendered safer.
Or
Divide yourselves into three groups. One group will study the ‘Food’ aspect,
the second will study ‘People’ and the third will assess ‘Unit, facilities and
equipment’. After listing the various aspects/parts/activities that increase
risk of illness, the groups can be asked to give a presentation followed by a
discussion on remedial measures.
2021-22
Note for Teachers

Teachers may guide students to organise an exhibition on Health, Nutrition and Hygiene
for the school children, parents and members of community.
Note for students
In the vicinity of (a) your school (b) your home, observe and rate as very good, good, fair,
poor and very poor at least three factors that are related to environmental hygiene.
Practical 10
A. Nutrition, Health and Hygiene

Compare the energy, protein, calcium and iron content of 150 g. edible portion of
foods using the food composition tables provided—
(a) Cereals
Name of Cereal Energy Protein Calcium Iron content
content content (g. content (mg (mg per
(Kcal. per 150 g.) per 150 g.) 150 g.)
per 150 g)
1. Bajra
2. Rice (raw, milled)
152
3. Maize (dry)
4. Wheat (whole)

(b) Pulses
Name of Pulse/ Energy Protein Calcium Iron content
legume content content (g. content (mg (mg per
(Kcal. per 150 g.) per 150 g.) 150 g.)
per 150 g)
1. Bengal gram dal
2. Black gram dal
3. Lentil
4. Soyabean

(c) Vegetables
Name of Vegetable Energy Protein Calcium Iron content
(Kcal. per 150 g.) per 150 g.) 150 g.)
per 150 g)
1. Spinach
2. Brinjal
3. Cauliflower
4. Carrot
2021-22
(d) Fruits
Name of Fruit Energy Protein Calcium Iron content
(Kcal. per 150 g.) per 150 g.) 150 g.)
per 150 g)
1. Mango (ripe)
2. Orange
3. Guava (country)
4. Papaya (ripe)

B. Identify the rich sources of carbohydrate, protein, fat, vitamin A, iron
and calcium in your family’s diet. Can you suggest improvements? Use the
following formats to record your answer.
Sources Sources of Sources of Sources of Sources of Sources of

of carbo- protein fat vitamin A iron calcium
hydrate
153
Diet practices Suggestions
which need
improvement
Note for Teachers

Teachers can encourage students to calculate the nutritive value of foods in their
own region (which may not be listed in the table provided). A useful reference
published by Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) is as follows.
2021-22
FOOD COMPOSITION TABLES

(Nutritive Value per 100 g edible portion)
Cereals
Name Energy (Kcal.) Protein (g.) Calcium (mg.) Iron (mg)
Bajra 361 11.6 42 8.0
Rice (raw, 345 6.8 10 0.7
milled)
Maize (dry) 342 11.1 10 2.3
Wheat (whole) 346 11.8 41 5.3
Pulses
Name Energy Protein (g.) Calcium (mg.) Iron (mg)
(Kcal.)
Bengal gram 360 17.1 56 5.3
dal
Black gram dal 347 24.0 154 3.8
Lentils 343 25.1 69 7.58
154 Soyabean 432 43.2 240 10.4
Vegetables
(Kcal.)
Spinach 26 2.0 73 17.4
Brinjal 24 1.4 18 0.38
Cauliflower 30 2.6 33 1.23
Carrot 48 0.9 80 1.03
Fruits
(Kcal.)
Mango (ripe) 74 0.6 14 1.3
Orange 48 0.7 26 0.32
Guava (country) 51 0.9 10 0.27
Papaya (ripe) 32 0.6 17 0.5
(Source : Nutritive Value of Indian Foods (1985), by C. Gopalan, B.V. Rama Sastri and S.C.
Balasubramanian, Revised and Updated (1989), by B.S. Narasinga Rao, Y.G. Deosthale
and K.C. Pant (Reprinted 2007))
2021-22
B. Work, Worker 10
and Workplace
Learning Objectives

• identify the components of work.
• define work, worker and workplace.
• describe the importance of workplace design for better work
efficiency. 155
• explain the interdependence among work, worker and
workplace.
10B.1 Introduction
All of us work for long hours daily – while children study and attend to
other essential tasks, parents earn livelihood and manage the home.
Although we perform a lot of activities everyday, have you ever thought of
the number of ways in which you can perform one activity? Why is it that
you perform well in certain activities and not so well in others?
Nisha, a skilled labourer, is unable to perform well because of her
inconsistency in work. Her place of work has a very poor work environment.
The place is uncomfortable and the work-stations are also poorly designed. As
a result, she has lost interest in her work. She can deliver better results and
optimally utilise her resources (skills and knowledge) if the work environment
improves. There can also be factors other than work environment that may
affect work performance. Let us try to understand these.
For optimal performance, it is important to understand work in relation
to the environment in which it is performed — the workplace and those
who perform it — workers. This understanding helps to reduce the energy
used and time spent on the task, thereby increasing work efficiency. At
the same time, it will also prevent fatigue and other health problems. It is
2021-22
therefore necessary to create a healthy work environment for the worker

instead of forcing the worker to perform the task in an uncomfortable
workplace.
For example, your mother works in the kitchen and has to bend again
and again to pick up utensils which may be kept at a distance from the
kitchen counter. In this case, she would be using more energy and spending
more time to take out the utensils and will also experience fatigue and
backache. On the other hand, if the utensils are kept near the counter and
at a suitable height she will be able to work more comfortably, thereby,
increasing her work efficiency!
WORKER
156
WORK WORK PLACE
Figure 1: Relationship between work, worker and workplace
The diagram above clearly shows the interdependence between work,

worker and workplace. To understand this relationship well, the following
three components should be studied in detail.
10B.2 Work
To create a better match between worker, workplace and the equipments
or tools used, understanding work is of prime importance. Work is defined
as the activity directed towards making or doing something. Work is to
exert oneself physically and/or mentally in order to do or complete a task.
It forms the basis for accomplishing our goals. It is something that is done
or performed, especially a duty, task or an activity. For a student, work
primarily means studying to gain knowledge.
2021-22
Work comprises many smaller jobs, tasks or sub-tasks. Such tasks

become instrumental in achieving desired goals. But before deciding the
tasks and sub-tasks one should be clear about goals or else work will suffer.
Work performed will be of good quality if the
(a) Worker understands the goal well.
(b) Worker sets certain standards for herself/himself for personal
satisfaction.
(c) Work is organised as per the goal.
However, there are certain forces like ‘time’ and ‘attention requirement’
which affect completion of certain tasks. To avoid this, work simplification
is necessary. It is the management of both time and energy. Work
simplification may be defined as accomplishing more work in the given
amount of time and energy.
Therefore, it is essential to make the activity simple, perhaps, more
interesting. If one likes the activity one gets involved in it and finishes it
faster and more efficiently. (You will study about this in detail in the next
chapter.)
10B.3 Worker
157
A worker is a person who performs a particular task or activity to achieve
productive outcomes. A student doing her/his school work, and a
homemaker cleaning the house, are examples of a worker. The following
aspects are involved in any work done by an individual.
Physical
It is related to the body of the worker. It includes human energy, physical
activity, and growth.
– Energy : We all need energy to live and to work. Where does this
energy come from? Energy is supplied by the food we eat. The dietary
energy needs depend on the factors that include age, sex, body type,
type of work and duration of work.
– Physical activity : The amount of energy needed by the individual
to do any work depends on type of activity, intensity of work and
duration of time, age and sex of the individual. The more the number
of muscles used and the longer the duration of work, the greater is the
energy demand or energy requirement.
The following table shows the energy required to perform different
common activities that most of us perform on a daily basis.
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Table 1: Energy costs of some common activities

kcal per minute per kg
body weight
S.No. Activity Males Females
General Personal Activities
1 Sleeping 1 1
2 Lying 1.2 1.2
3 Sitting quietly 1.2 1.2
4 Standing 1.4 1.5
5 Dressing 2.4 1.6 - 3.3
6 Plaiting hair 1.8
7 Eating and drinking 1.4 1.6
8 Walking slowly 2.8 3
Activities involving household tasks
1 Dusting 7.6
2 Mopping 12.2
3 Washing clothes 10.5
4 Ironing 7.9
158 5 Cooking 6.4
6 Storing water 13.9
7 Grinding masalas 9.7
Source: Varghese, M.A., Atreya, N., Bhatnagar. A, & Chatterjee, L. (1989):Ergonomics in

the home, DRS Report, Mumbai, S.N.D.T Women’s University.
– Growth : Energy is also required for growth. Hence when growth at a

particular stage of life is faster, energy requirements are greater. For this
reason infants, children and adolescents have higher energy needs.
Cognitive
Cognitive or mental aspect includes the psychological features of the worker.
These are attitudes, skills, knowledge, etc. To reach our goals we require
ability and aptitude. Also we need to gain knowledge on the subject,
develop skills by undergoing formal training and repeated practice, and
have the willingness to improve performance — attitude. Significance of a
positive mind-set can be seen in the following case.
Shobha, a young talented girl with a fertile imagination and drawing
skills, aspired to be an artist. She had enrolled herself in a course where
she improved her skills and acquired the knowledge she needed to achieve
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her goal. With her efforts, hard work and available resources she achieved
her goal to be a successful teacher of art.
Affective
It includes likes, dislikes and preferences a worker has towards work. It
concerns the worker’s personal feelings about the activity and contributes
towards achieving goals. Dissatisfaction leads to a feeling of fatigue,
whereas satisfaction contributes to work efficiency.
Temporal
This is concerned with time management. Sometimes the number of
activities that one has to perform in a specified time period is large. This
requires good management of time, which you will study in the next
chapter.
Thus, an understanding of these components of the worker is an
indicator that every worker is different and has different physical, cognitive,
affective and temporal compositions. Perhaps tools, equipments and work
spaces should be designed according to different body types. For example,
tools such as scissors must be designed in order to suit both left-handed 159
and right-handed workers. Equipments should also be designed such,
that they fit the safety needs of all workers.
Activity 1
Make a list of activities under the following headings—
• Physical activities that require extra energy expenditure.
• Activities which require mental work and skills.
• Activities you like and dislike.
• Activities that require time management.
10B.4 Workplace
This is the place where a worker performs a job. Some examples of
workplace are school, office, study room, kitchen, etc. A well designed
workplace is important to prevent health problems related to poor working
conditions, as well as for ensuring work performance and productivity.
Every work station should be designed with both the worker and the task
in mind so that the work can be performed comfortably, smoothly and
efficiently with minimum energy expenditure.
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A work place includes the following components–
Physical and Chemical Environment

Workplaces typically contain a number of physical and chemical
environmental factors. We cannot completely avoid being exposed to these
factors, but we must ensure that we are not exposed to them to such an
extent that our health is adversely affected.
The environmental factors which are of concern while selecting or
designing a workplace are—
Noise : Exposure to high levels of noise affects our concentration
while performing a task. The source of noise can be indoor (like TV
volume, whistle of a pressure cooker, running of a tap, machines, etc.),
or outdoor (like road traffic, loud speakers, processions, etc.).
Illumination : Illumination is the amount of light that falls on the
work surface. A workplace should be well-illuminated depending
on the task to be performed, age of the worker, duration of activity,
placement of light fixture, colour scheme of the work area, etc.
Climate : The four important factors which influence climate are
air temperature, radiation temperature of hot and cold surfaces, air
160 velocity and relative humidity. These factors also influence the energy
cost for the individual at work. The indoor climate can be controlled
by artificial means like fans, exhaust fans, room heaters, coolers and
air-conditioners.
Radiation : As you may have studied in Physics or Chemistry, when a
substance sends out rays or waves that are electromagnetic in nature,
it is called radiation. Radiation has some benefits and some harmful
effects, depending on the type (alpha, beta, gamma, X-rays, UV rays),
intensity and duration of exposure.
Microbiological pollution : We are constantly exposed to micro-
organisms in the environment because they are present in air, water,
food, as well as in our bodies. When individuals do not maintain good
standards of hygiene and cleanliness, it promotes micro-organisms.
If they are harmful, they can cause disease. For example, a person
preparing food should wash her/his hands before starting work or
else the food will be contaminated with the micro-organisms on her/
his hands.
Chemical substances : At any given point of time, we are surrounded
by chemical substances present in the environment in the form of
liquids, gases, vapours, dust or solids. Some of these may cause
discomfort and some may be hazardous to health.
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Work Surface
Apart from the physical and chemical environment of a workplace, work
surface design also affects a worker’s comfort and health. This concept is
concerned with the height, width and depth of the work station. Appropriate
storage design and equipment design are also important factors which
affect work surface design.
While designing the work place the following points should be kept in
mind—
• What tasks are done?
• How the tasks are done?
• How many tasks are done?
• In what order are the tasks done?
Workplace design is concerned with the workstation, the equipments
and the body positions of the worker. Good workplace design reduces
stationary positions, repetitive movements and awkward body positions,
thereby improving the work quality.
Following points should be kept in mind while designing a good
workplace—
• Equipments or tools should be kept in places and at positions where
the worker can easily reach them. For example, in a kitchen, used 161
utensils and washed utensils should be kept on either side of the
washing area. Utensil detergents and cleaners should also be within
easy reach of the worker.
• For work that needs detailing, the workbench should be at a lower
position than for heavy work.
• Hand tools and other equipments used should be comfortable to
handle and should not cause injury.
• While performing a task the worker should not stay in difficult
positions, such as reaching or bending for long periods of time.
For most of the tasks that are performed, a worker may not have the
option to choose her/his workplace. However, she/he can design it as per
her/his needs and requirements.
A well designed workplace of a student should include a well lit study
area, preferably with a table. Room temperature should be comfortable
and there should be minimum noise
in the room. If using a chair, the Activity 2
height of the chair should neither be
too high nor too low, but according to Design your study area as per your
the height of the study table. Books requirements, keeping in view the
and stationery cupboards shelves three components–work, worker and
should also be placed nearby and workplace.
easily accessible to the student.
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The interface between work, worker and workplace can thus be

strengthened by judicious use of resources such as time and space. Let
us learn more about these two important resources in the next chapter on
Resource Availability and Management.
Key Terms
Work, Worker, Workplace, Work environment, Energy cost.
Review Questions
1. What is work? List the components of work.

2. What components of a worker facilitate efficiency of work?
3. Discuss the environmental factors that can inhibit a student’s work-related
activities.
4. How will you explain the interdependence between work, worker and
workplace?
162
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c. Resource
Availability and 10
Management
Learning Objectives

• describe time and space as important resources.
• analyse the need for managing time and space.
• discuss ways of managing time and space.
• discuss tools in time management. 163
• explain the principles of planning space.
As you have learnt in the previous chapter, resources are possessions,

material or funds which can be used to achieve goals. You have also learnt
that money, time, space and energy are some examples of resources. These
resources are assets for an individual. They are rarely in abundant supply
and are also not equally available to everyone. Therefore, to achieve our
goals appropriate management of all the resources that are available to us
is important. If these resources are wasted or not utilised properly we may
be hindered in reaching our goals.
Timely and efficient management of resources enhances their
optimism utilisation. In this chapter, you will learn about time and space
management. Money as a resource and its management will be dealt with
in Unit IV.
10C.1 Time Management

Time is limited and irreversible. Time is measured in years, months, days,
hours, minutes and seconds. We are provided with 24 hours of time each
day to use it as we like. The key is how we use that time. If not managed
properly, time keeps slipping away inspite of our effort to control it. No
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matter how important and valuable an individual may be, one cannot stop
time, nor slow it down, or speed it up. Once passed, time can never be
regained.
In today’s fast changing lifestyle, our demands and responsibilities at
home, at school and at work have increased. This has made the need for
managing time very important. To be successful it is essential to develop
time management skills. People who use these techniques become high
achievers in all walks of life, from agriculture to business to sports to
public service in all other professions and personal life. Time management
allows one to have adequate rest and recreation along with work.
The principle of time management is to concentrate on results, not
on being busy. People often spend their days getting anxious about the
unfinished task, but achieve very little, as they do not concentrate on what
matters the most– time. For example, some students may spend their time
worrying about examinations rather than actually studying for them.
All time management begins with planning. A time plan is necessary.
A time plan can be defined as an advance schedule of activities to be
performed in a given time period.
How good is your time management?

164
Before understanding the steps in time and activity planning, it is essential
to determine how effective your own time management is. How often are
you able to complete the task planned? Are you able to efficiently complete
your weekly, daily or hourly work? For most of us, it seems that there is
just never enough time in the day to complete all our activities.
Activity 1
The activity given below will help you identify your own time management skills.
Instructions: Score the questions given below and determine how well these statements
describe you. The following are the ratings for your answers:
Not at all =1
Rarely =2
Sometimes =3
Often =4
Very often =5
Examples: If for the first question the answer of your choice is ‘often’, then write a score
of ‘4’ in the respective box, and if your answer is ‘rarely’ you may write your score as ‘2’
and so on.
After answering all the questions add your scores across all the questions to get the
final total.
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Question Not at Rarely Some- Often Very

all times often
1. Are you able to complete your highest
priority tasks during the day?
2. Are you able to place all your tasks
according to their priority?
3. Are you able to perform your tasks in
the given time period?
4. Do you keep separate time for planning
and scheduling?
5. Do you keep track of the time spent on
the jobs done by you?
6. How often are you able to work without
distractions and interruptions?
7. Do you do goal setting to help you
decide the various tasks you would
work on?
8. Do you keep extra time margin in your
schedule to deal with ‘the unexpected’?
9. Do you prioritise the importance of any 165
new assignment given?
10. Are you able to complete your task
without being pressured by deadlines
and commitments?
11. Are you able to work effectively
on important tasks because of
distractions?
12. Are you able to complete your work
at the work place instead of taking it
home?
13. Do you prepare a “To do” list or an
action programme before carrying out
the tasks?
14. Do you consult persons with
experience before setting priorities for
a given task?
15. Do you consider whether the task
would be worth the time put in, before
you start your task?
Total =
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Score Interpretation
Score Comment
46-75 You are managing your time very effectively! However, check the section
below to make it even better.
31-45 You are good at some aspects, but there is scope for improvement
elsewhere. Focus on the key issues in the section below and you will most
likely find that work becomes less stressful.
15-30 The good news is that you have a great opportunity to improve your
effectiveness at work for long term success! However, to realise this you
have to improve your time management skills.
Steps in time and activity plan

(a) Start your work as quickly as possible. Do not waste time in avoiding
or delaying the task. When a student reaches home, she/he should
relax for a while, have a meal and then start with the school work
without postponing it for the end of the day.
(b) Get into a routine every day. Choose a time to accomplish certain
tasks, such as completing school work, doing household chores;
166 and then stick to the routine activities. The student should make an
everyday routine to complete work in time, without any delay.
(c) Prioritise your tasks. Before picking up any new task make sure it
does not impact the already existing activities. Do not undertake
too many activities at a particular time. If the time available is less
and work is more then keep the optional tasks for a later time and
complete compulsory activities first. For example, if the student has
a class test, she/he should first study for the test, then do homework
and later get involved in other activities.
(d) Do not commit yourself to unimportant and low priority tasks. Learn
to say ‘No’. If you have less time and more tasks in hand, you should
be able to say ‘No’ to the tasks which are not very important. For
example, the student can avoid watching television, if she/he has to
complete a task for the next day.
(e) Divide the big tasks into a series of small manageable activities. The
day’s school work (big task) can be divided into smaller tasks by
dividing the work as per different subjects.
(f) Do not waste energy and time on tasks which do not need much
attention.
(g) Deal with a task one at a time till it is completed or decide when to
deal with it. Do not put it aside before completion.
(h) Arrange ‘start’ and ‘stop’ times to schedule activities. Appropriate time
should be allotted to each subject without spending too much time on
each subject.
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(i) Make a schedule of your activities and tasks. This will help to effectively
manage time allocated to each task. A proper time schedule should be
prepared for the entire day, which must always include leisure time.
Types of Activities
Compulsory Optional
Example: Going on a
journey, planting trees and
Daily herbs at home, participating
in some functions, etc.
Example: Daily dusting and
cleaning of house, school
assignments, preparing for
school, cooking, resting, etc.
167
Weekly
Example: Washing clothes,

ironing clothes, weekly
cleaning of house, buying
grocery, preparing for weekly
school assignments, etc.
Monthly
Example: Paying monthly

school fee, rearranging
cupboards.
Yearly
Example: Final examination,

annual school events, health
check-ups, etc.
Figure 1: Types of Time Schedules
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Activity 2
An example of a time and activity plan of a student studying in Class XII, who lives in a
small town and lives near the school, is given below. In the next column write your own
time and activity plan.
Time Plan of a Student Your Time Plan

5:00 am wakes up
5:00 am – 6:00 am daily personal activities
6:00 am – 7:00 am studying/helping in kitchen
work
7:00 am – 7:30 am bathing and getting ready
for school
7:30 am – 7:50 am breakfast and reading
newspaper
7:50 am – 8:00 am reaching school
8:00 am – 2:00 pm in school
2:00 pm – 2:10 pm reaching home
2:10 pm – 3:00 pm changing clothes, washing
168 hands and face, eating
lunch, etc.
3:00 pm – 4:00 pm Resting/sleeping
4:00 pm – 6:00 pm studying and completing
school related work
6:00 pm – 8:30 pm playing outdoor, leisure
time, watching TV,
spending time with
parents, siblings, and
friends, etc.
8:30 pm – 9:00 pm Dinner
9:00 pm – 10:00 pm studying and preparing
school bag for next day
10:00 pm – 5:00 am Sleeping
Time plans are made according to the individual needs of a person.

Every individual has different goals and requirements, and therefore, a
different routine. For example a time plan for a student is very different
from a time plan of a person who goes out to work.
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Activity 3
Time Plan of a Rural Your Mother’s Time

Homemaker Plan
4:00 am wakes up
4.00 am – 5.00 am feeds and milks the cow
5:00 am – 5:30 am bathes and offers prayer
5:30 am – 7:00 am cooks and serves meal to
family
7:00 am – 9:00 am works in the fields
9:00 am – 10:30 am finishes other household
chores like cleaning the
house, utensils, washing
clothes.
10:30 am – 12:30 pm rest period which includes
activities like knitting,
chatting with family
members and neighbours,
watching TV
169
12:30 pm – 1:30 pm serves lunch to the family
and self
1:30 pm – 3:00 pm afternoon rest
3:00 pm – 4:30 pm fetches water for cooking
and drinking
4:30 pm – 6:00 pm other household chores
6:00 pm – 7:30 pm prepares dinner
7:30 pm – 8:30 pm serves dinner and has it
herself
8:30 pm – 9:30 pm finishes the remaining
household chores and
winds up
9:30 pm – 10:00 pm watches T.V., goes to sleep
Tips for effective time management

1. Create a simple “To Do” list
It helps you to identify the activities, reasons for doing them and a timeline
for completing them.
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S.No. Activity Day/date of Reason for carrying

completion out the activity
2. Daily/weekly planner
DAY Hours
A.M. P.M.
7-8 8-9 9- 10- 11- 12- 1-2 2-3 3-4 4-5 5-6 6-7 7-8 9- 10-
10 11 12 1 10 11
Mon
Tue
170
Wed
Thur
Fri
Sat
Sun
3. Long term planner

Use a monthly chart so that you can plan ahead. Long-term planners will
also serve as a reminder to constructively plan time for oneself.
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
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Tools in time management

Following are the tools which help in managing time effectively—
(i) Peak load period: It is the maximum load of work during a specified
period of time. For example, early morning time or dinner time.
a c BREAK
WORK
TIME
171
(ii) Work Curve: A device to trace the work against time.

Here, a to b is warming up period, c is plateau of maximum ability to
do work and d is maximum fall due to fatigue.
(iii) Rest periods/break periods
are defined as unproductive Activity 4
interruptions of working time.
The frequency and duration of Identify your daily peak load and rest
rest period is very important. It periods.
should neither be too long nor too
short.
(iv) Work simplification can be defined as the conscious seeking of the
simplest, easiest and quickest method of doing work. It implies proper
blending and management of two important resources, namely time
and human energy. It aims at accomplishing more work with a given
amount of time and energy, or at reducing the amount of either or
both to accomplish a given amount of work. In order to bring change
in work procedure as well as to simplify it, three levels of changes are
important. These include the following—
Change in hand and body motions: It involves changes in hand
and body motion only, keeping the same work tools and product.
Many tasks can be completed with less effort by—
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(i) Eliminating and combining certain process as, for example

• Allowing dishes to dry on utensil racks eliminates the
need to dry them by wiping.
• Making a list of all the items required from the market
and buying them together rather than getting each item
separately.
(ii) By improving the sequence and rhythm of work, for example
• Doing like tasks together – while cleaning the house, all
the processes of dusting, sweeping and mopping should
be done in continuation in all rooms together, rather
than cleaning each room separately. This also helps in
maintaining rhythm.
(iii) By developing skills at work – knowing and mastering a job
well help to eliminate extra motions thereby saving both time
and energy.
(iv) By improving body posture – i.e., maintaining a correct
and good body posture (see Figure 2 below), using muscles
effectively, keeping the body parts in alignment and finally
carrying the maximum weight on the bony framework, thus
releasing the muscles of all strains. For example, use of long
handle on the broom instead of bending and sweeping in
172
order to maintain a stable posture (see Figure 3).
Good Standing Posture – a good standing

position is one in which the head, neck,
chest and abdomen are balanced one upon
the other, so that the weight is carried mainly
by the bony framework and minimum effort
and strain is placed upon the muscles and
ligaments.
Similarly, Good Sitting Posture for work is
a well-balanced and poised position. The
weight is carried by the bony support of the
skeleton thus releasing the muscles and
nerves of all strain. The poise is such that as
much adjustment is done as is necessary to
carry out the work.
Figure 2: Figure showing alignment of body parts in line with gravity
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Broom with handle of comfortable length Broom with uncomfortable handle

leading to bending of back and
strain of back muscles
Figure 3
173
Change in work, storage space and equipment used: This requires
organising storage spaces, rearranging kitchen equipment,
planning work surfaces with proper height and width according
to the user, using labour-saving devices like pressure cookers,
washing machines, microwave oven, etc., which help in saving
time as well as hand motions.
Change in the end product: These changes result from the use of –
– Different raw materials – for example, using readymade
ground spices instead of whole spices, using organic seeds
to grow produce, etc.
– Making different products from same raw materials – for
example, making kulfi instead of ice-cream, lauki paranthas
instead of kofta curry, etc.
– Changes in both the raw material and finished product – for
example, using ball pen instead of ink pen, etc.
10C.2 Space management

Space is utilised by people to carry out various activities at home, outside
the home and at workplace. You must have observed that a well-designed
room gives a sense of spaciousness, while a room with similar dimensions,
if not managed well, results in the room looking apparently cramped or
cluttered. Space management involves planning of space, organising it as
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per the plan, implementing the plan in terms of its utilisation, and evaluating
it in terms of achieving functionality and aesthetic appeal. A well-managed
space not only offers comfort while working but also appears attractive.
Space and the home

Sitting, sleeping, studying, cooking, bathing, washing, entertainment,
etc., are the major activities to be carried out in the home. To conduct
each of these activities and the actions that may follow them, usually
specific areas are identified in the home. Wherever there is space available,
specified rooms are built to carry out such activities. Most urban middle
Socio-economic Status (SES) homes are likely to have sitting room/area,
bed room/rooms, kitchen, store room, bathroom and toilet, verandah/
courtyard (optional).
Besides the above, some homes may additionally have other rooms like
dining room, study room, entertainment room, dressing room, guest room,
children’s room, garage (for scooter, car), stairs, passages, puja room,
garden, terrace, etc. Let us learn, how to plan spaces?
Activity 5
174
Make a list of different rooms/areas in your house and the activities carried out in each
of these. For example–
Rooms Activities
Kitchen Cooking
Principles of space planning

Space must be planned for its optimal utilisation. Following are the
principles to be kept in mind while assigning/designing work areas in the
house–
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(i) Aspect: ‘Aspect’ indicates the arrangement of doors and windows in

the external walls of a building which allows the occupants to enjoy
the nature in the form of sunshine, breeze, scenery, etc.
(ii) Prospect: ‘Prospect’ in its proper sense, is the impression or impact
that a house is likely to make on a person who looks at it from outside.
Therefore, it includes the attainment of pleasing appearance using
natural beauty, positioning of doors and windows, and covering up of
undesirable views.
(iii) Privacy: Privacy is one of the most important principles in space
planning. Privacy requires consideration in two ways:
Internal privacy : Privacy of one room from another is referred to
as internal privacy. It is attained by careful planning in the house
with respect to grouping, positioning of doors, provision of small
corridor or lobby, etc. Internal privacy can be also be achieved
by setting up screens and curtains. In some homes with large
families separate sitting area is provided for women, ensuring
their privacy.
External privacy : This means privacy of all parts of a house from
the neighbouring buildings or houses, public streets and by-ways.
It can be a shade secured by carefully planning the entrance and
covering it with a tree or creepers. 175
External privacy – A house secured by fence and shrubs
Activity 6
Talk to members of your family from different age groups and ask them what they
understand by privacy.
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(iv) Grouping: It implies the outlook of rooms with respect to their relative
position with each other. For example, in a building, the dining area
must be close to the kitchen and the kitchen must be away from the
toilet.
Livingroom
Bedroom
176
Toilet
Kitchen
House plan
(v) Roominess: It is the spacious effect a room gives to those who live
in it. The available space should be made use of fully. For example,
one can have built-in wall cupboard, shelves and storage area so that
the floor of the room is left free for various activities. In addition,
the size and shape of the room, the furniture arrangement as well
as the colour scheme used have a bearing on its roominess. Well
proportionate rectangular room looks spacious compared to a square
room of similar dimensions. Light colours make a room look more
spacious than dark ones.
(vi) Furniture requirements: The rooms must be planned with due
thought to the furniture to be placed there. Every room in a building
should serve its purpose well. Care must be taken to place only
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required pieces of furniture. Furniture must be arranged in such a

way so that one gets free circulation spaces.
177
Unfurnished rooms, which are later furnished, meeting all the furniture requirements
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(vii) Sanitation: Sanitation consists of providing ample light, ventilation,

facilities for cleaning and sanitary conveniences in the following
manner:
(a) Light: Light has two-fold significance, firstly it illuminates, and
secondly, it helps maintain hygiene. Light in a building may be
provided by natural or artificial sources. Windows, bulbs, tube-
lights are some sources of light.
(b) Ventilation: It is the supply of the outside air into the building.
Good ventilation is an important factor which affects comfort in
the building or room. This is generally achieved by placing the
windows, doors and ventilators such that they may allow as much
breeze as possible. Windows, if placed opposite to each other,
provide good ventilation. Lack of fresh air in the building may
lead to headaches, sleepiness, inability to focus attention, etc.
Ventilation may be natural or mechanical (using exhaust fan).
(c) Cleanliness and sanitary conveniences: General cleaning and up-
keep of the building is the responsibility of the occupants, but
even then some provision to facilitate cleaning and prevention of
dust are necessary in planning. Sanitary conveniences include the
provision of bathrooms, water closets and lavatories in a building.
Lavatories and bathrooms in rural houses are constructed as a
178
separate unit, usually in the backyard or the frontyard, away
from the other rooms, thus maintaining hygiene.
(viii) Circulation: Air circulation from room to room should be possible.
Good circulation includes an independent entry to each living space
through a common space. It also ensures privacy to members.
A School Building
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(ix) Practical Considerations: While planning spaces, one may consider

practical points such as strength and stability of the structure,
convenience and comfort for the family, simplicity, beauty and
provision for expansion in future. One should not economise by
creating a weak structure.
(x) Elegance: ‘Elegance’ is the effect produced by the general layout of
the plan. Without compromising on economy, the space plan should
be aesthetically appealing.
The above mentioned principles when considered, aid in space
planning and management.
In this chapter we learnt about two very important resources—time
and space, and the efficient ways to use them. In the next chapter we shall
learn about yet another significant resource – knowledge, and the ways
in which it can be acquired. The processes of learning, education and
extension are basic for knowledge acquisition.
Key Terms
Time management, Space management, Time plan, Activity plan, Work

simplification.
179
Review Questions
1. Describe time and space resources.

2. Why is time management necessary?
3. Discuss the steps in a time and activity plan.
4. What are the tools in time management?
5. Define space management. Discuss the principles of planning space inside
the home.
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D. Learning,
Education and 10
Extension
Learning Objectives

• discuss the meaning and types of learning.
• describe the role of education in the context of family, school,
community and society.
180 • explain the significance of extension education and methods.
• examine some of the extension programmes in India.
10D.1 Learning
Introduction: By now, so much learning must have taken place in your
life that you do not need to be told what it means. You would agree that
learning plays a very vital role in our lives. It is the key to our knowledge,
understanding and behaviour. We start learning from the moment we
are born. In fact, research has shown that the foetus learns even in the
mother’s womb! In other words, learning begins with life. Thus, learning
can be described as–
• the acquisition of new behaviour or the strengthening or weakening of
old behaviour as a result of experience.
The process of learning involves three main components–

• Learner, whose behaviour gets modified
• Training required for behaviour modification
• Resources, human and material.
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Learning can be of five types

(i) Verbal learning: Acquisition of verbal behaviour such as learning
of languages is the result of verbal learning. Normally, we use
communication devices such as signs, pictures, symbols, words,
figures, sounds and voices as instruments for this type of learning.
It also includes learning of semantics or procedural knowledge from
written or spoken prose. For example, learning by reading lessons in
a textbook.
(ii) Rote learning or memorisation: This is also a form of verbal learning.
However, this form gives less importance to understanding the deeper
meaning and inferences of the subject being learned; instead it
focusses on memorising the material. The major practice involved in
rote learning techniques is learning by repetition. Rote learning is
used in diverse areas, from mathematics to music to religion. For
example: learning poems and multiplication tables or the Surahs/
Shlokas (religious sayings) are examples of rote learning.
(iii) Motor learning: In this type of learning we learn to use all types
of muscles leading to physical dexterity and ultimately development
of skill. Some examples are learning to swim, drive, sew, knit, type,
181
play musical instruments, cycle, draw, paint, dance, etc. Acquisition
and mastering of various skills through this type of learning provides
confidence and satisfaction to the learner.
(iv) Concept learning: In concept learning an image is acquired in our
mind as a result of perception, previous experience, training and/or
certain cognitive processes. A mental image denotes a generalised idea
about something. For example, when we have developed a concept of
an animal called dog, every time the word ‘dog’ is uttered a mental
image with all the characteristics of a dog comes to our mind. Concept
learning is useful in recognising, naming and identifying things and
ideas. Gradually this enables learners to grasp theoretical concepts
such as justice, truth and heterogeneity.
(v) Problem-solving: As the name indicates problem-solving denotes
higher order learning. It requires cognitive abilities like thinking,
reasoning, discrimination, generalisation, imagination, ability to
observe, to infer, and draw conclusions. People of all ages are engaged
in problem-solving – an infant solves her/his problem of being hungry
by crying for milk, while a student solves her/his problem of finishing
an assignment by working on it in earnest. Thus in the process of
problem-solving one learns a lot.
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To sum up
Types of Learning
• Verbal Learning: e.g., learning a new language.
• Rote Learning: e.g., learning of poems, multiplication tables, religious
hymns.
• Motor Learning: e.g., driving, typing, sewing, cycling, swimming.
• Concept Learning: e.g., national flag, liberty, emotion.
• Problem-solving: e.g., maths sums, puzzles, crossing a busy road.
10D.2 Education
Have a look at the picture on this page and respond to the following
statements. In your daily experience does education mean:
(a) Reading a lot of bulky books and memorising

them?
Yes  No  Sometimes 
(b) Something that is taught in the formal
system using a pre-defined curriculum?
182 Yes  No  Sometimes 
(c) Acquiring new concepts?
(d) Realising one’s potential?
In this section we will see how education contributes to our

understanding of human ecology, i.e., the family, the school, community
and society.
Education facilitates our understanding of the world through
our physical, emotional, cognitive and transcendental
experiences. It also helps in unfolding the of
n tr al aim
potential that human beings have. Education The
c e in of
g
is th e build
can occur in various settings, both formal educati
o n
the hu
man
s o f
and informal. Formal education implies the po
wer is the
s p ir it… it
teaching through focussed instruction mind a
n d and
k n o wledge
whereas informal education refers to learning evokin
g o f
r to us
e
that is accomplished with relatively little o f th e powe a d
n
d
will, an c h a racter
input, in every day, unstructured settings. It dge ,
knowle
is critical to understand that teaching can only . 20th
culture b in do, a
be meaningful when learning has happened; A u r o
sopher
– Sri n Philo
and that learning is a process that a student y In d ia
Centur
undergoes rather than something that is ‘done
to’ a learner.
2021-22
As a student of Class XI you may wonder how the processes in

education mentioned above are linked to your education so far. In school,
you are a student in formal education, although a lot of your learning and
education take place outside school as well. The figure that follows provides
a graphic representation of the different components of institution-based
education.
Learner (Adult or Curriculum

Child/Male or Female/ (Content/ Themes/
Urban or Rural) Language)
Learning Environment Teacher/Educator/

and other Physical EDUCATION Facilitator
Settings
183
Research Extension
Activities Activities
Figure 1: Components of Education
Education and the family

You have read in the chapter on ‘Family’ in Unit II A that the family begins
to perform the function of ‘socialisation’ from well before the child goes to
school, and also while she/he attends different educational institutions.
Socialisation includes ‘educating’ the child about the family’s ways of
living, its values, beliefs and attitudes. Thus the child not only learns
to speak the language of the family, but also learns, for example, how to
behave when visitors arrive, and what she/he must not do to displease the
parents and others.
Now, the question is how does education contribute to our understanding
of the family, its concerns and needs? From Figure 1 you can see that
all formal education has content, referred to as curriculum. Throughout
different stages of education, from primary to tertiary, there are many
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lessons and subjects that inform us about the family. Starting from writing
your first essay and drawing a picture of the family in a primary class, you
began to form the broad concept of a family. Then many aspects of the
184 Social Studies curriculum also provided information about diversity in
families in the world. Subjects like Sociology, and now Human Ecology
and Family Sciences enrich your knowledge further in this area. Thus,
we get to know that there are urban, rural and tribal families with varied
needs and experiences.
Activity 1
Recall the first time you may have written an essay on ‘My Family’. If you were to write
on this topic today which five points will you highlight in it?
1. ______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
2. ______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
3. ______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
4. ______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
5. ______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
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Education and the school

Most of you associate education first of all with school. You have read
about the significance of school in forming relationships in a chapter in
Unit II A.
In the present times the school is an important institution in providing
formal education to children from Classes I to Classes XII. In many parts
of the country, the preschool group is also attached to the formal school.
In many systems after Class X, the students join a college to complete
Classes XI and XII. We have used the term ‘formal’ education many times.
It is also possible for a student to be in ‘non-formal’ education. What is the
difference between formal and non-formal education? In what contexts are
the two systems relevant?
(a) Formal education: Formal education is systematic teaching-
learning activity, undertaken by institutions which may be run by the
government or by recognised non-government agencies. Thus schools,
colleges, universities, technical and professional institutions provide
formal education. All formal institutions of education share certain
characteristics. These are–
Formal education is chronologically graded starting from primary
schooling, reaching to higher secondary, and then tertiary 185
education at the university level. It implies that before moving to
a higher grade it is mandatory to formally pass the previous grade
or level.
The curriculum is pre-determined, although there is flexibility in
how the teacher transacts it in the classroom.
The learners have shared goals for seeking that particular kind
or level of education.
All learners are examined during the session and at the end of
completion of the curriculum. After successful completion, they
are awarded a certificate/diploma/degree.
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(b) Non-formal education: In India there are many children who are
unable to go to school due to various reasons. These are listed in the
chapter on ‘Care and Education’ of Unit-III. Then there are adults who
could not attend school or complete their education when they were
younger. The system of non-formal education provides opportunity to
these learners to receive education.
Thus non-formal education is a systematic educational activity that is
carried out outside the formal framework. There are non-formal centres
for street and working children, and adult education programmes for
older persons. While the goal of education here too is to gain knowledge
and develop skills, some of the characteristics are different from formal
education. These are given below:
Since the learners are heterogeneous in age, previous educational
experience and goals, the system is not rigidly graded.
The instruction is learner-centred and learners’ perspective is
given importance.
Teachers act as facilitators and the curriculum they impart is
need-based.
Local initiatives and self-help groups are encouraged to develop
such programmes for meeting the needs in their community.
The learners may receive certificates, however, diplomas and
186
degrees are not awarded.
Activity 2
Other than your school, name one formal government school and one private school in
your city.
1. ____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
2. ____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
Find out if there is any centre of non-formal education in your city, town or village. Write
down its name.
__________________________________________________________________
Education, community and society

All education that children, youth and adults experience must finally
help in the development of the community around us and the society as a
whole. Knowledge gain, personal development as well as skill acquisition
through processes in education empower individuals to contribute to
nation building, and at a global level to human development.
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If you can look up Figure 1 on Components of Education, you will note

that ‘extension activities’ are an integral part of education. The next section
deals with Extension Education and its relevance to the development of
communities.
10D.3 Extension
Three important processes in education besides learning are–

• Creating new knowledge through research
• Disseminating knowledge through teaching
• Putting knowledge into practice, and applying it through extension.
Thus there is a close link between education and extension. Today,

extension is a tool for national development through research, training
approach, communication and technology, NGO movement and government
interventions.
Extension and extension education

Extension means to extend knowledge from known to unknown. It is a 187
two-way process of sharing knowledge and experiences for mobilising
individuals and groups for personal and community development. For
example, Gram Sevaks and Gram Sevikas working in the community take
the problems of the people to the extension officers or other educational
institutions; after these are discussed at the block level the solutions are
carried back to the community.
Extension education is a full-fledged discipline, with its own philosophy,
objectives, principles, methods and techniques which must be understood
by every extension worker and others connected with community
development. When learning and knowledge are put into practice, and
extended to the community, it is referred to as extension education.
A look at the historical perspective reveals that this field has evolved
as a result of the efforts of social reformers. Social reformers attempted to
do reconstruction work to rebuild rural life through experiments.
Some of the examples are:

1. Sevagram in Maharashtra by Mahatma Gandhi in 1920 to provide basic
education and achieve self sufficiency
Website for more information: http://wardha.nic.in/htmldocs/sevagram.asp
2. Shantiniketan in Bengal by Rabindranath Tagore in 1921 to assist villagers in
solving their pressing problems. A full-fledged university called the Visva Bharati
University came up here later.
Website for more information: http://www.wb.nic.in/westbg/shanti.html
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Principles of extension education

(i) Principle of interest and need: Extension work must be based on
the needs and interests of people. As these differ from individual to
individual, from village to village, from block to block, and from one
state to another, there cannot be one programme for all people.
(ii) Principle of cultural difference: Extension work takes into account
the cultural background of the people with whom the work is
being done. This means that the extension worker has to know the
knowledge level, and skills of the people, methods and tools used by
them, their customs, traditions, beliefs, values, etc., before starting
any extension programme.
(iii) Principle of participation: Extension helps people help themselves.
Good extension work is directed towards assisting rural and urban
families to work out their own problems rather than giving them
ready-made solutions.
(iv) Principle of adaptability: An extension programme should be flexible,
so that whenever required, necessary changes can be made to meet
the varying conditions on the ground.
(v) The grassroot principle of organisation: Extension work should be
188 sponsored by the local community. The aim of organising the local
groups is to demonstrate the value of new practices or programmes
so that more and more people would participate to adopt them.
(vi) The leadership principle: More extension work is based on the
utilisation of local leadership. People have more faith in local leaders
and hence their identification and training is essential so that new
ideas are accepted in the community with least resistance.
(vii) The whole-family principle: Extension work will have a better chance
of success if it is carried out with the whole family, i.e., all men, and
women, children and the youth members of the family.
(viii) Principle of co-operation: Extension is a co-operative venture. It is
a joint democratic enterprise in which people co-operate with their
village, block and state officials to pursue a common cause.
(ix) Principle of satisfaction: The end-product of the effort of extension
teaching is the satisfaction that comes to the participants in the form
of solving a problem, meeting a need, acquiring a new skill or bringing
about some other change in behaviour.
(x) The evaluation principle: Extension is based on methods of science,
and it needs constant evaluation. Effectiveness of the work done is
measured in terms of the changes brought about in the knowledge,
skills, attitudes and adoption behaviour of the people, and not merely
in terms of achievement of physical targets. For example, when Gram
Sevikas inform women about immunisation of children against Polio,
then afterwards they must try to evaluate whether or not the incidence
of polio has gone down.
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Extension teaching methods

Extension work is carried out using several methods. These are:
(i) Farm and home visits: These constitute the direct or face-to-face
contact by an extension worker with the individual or/and the
members of the family to exchange information and to get acquainted
with their problems.
(ii) Result demonstration: Result demonstration is an educational test
to prove the advantages of recommended practices and to demonstrate
their applicability to the local condition. This method can be used to
show the superiority of certain practices, such as the use of fertilisers,
insecticides and pesticides and high yielding varieties of seeds in
farming.
(iii) Method demonstration: It is used to show the technique of doing
things or carrying out new practices, e.g., preparing a nursery-bed,
treating seed with insecticides and fungicides, line-sowing, taking a
soil sample, grafting fruit trees, etc.
(iv) Group discussions: All the farmers cannot be contacted by extension
workers individually because of their large number. It is convenient
and feasible to contact them in groups. This method is commonly
known as group discussion. 189
(v) Exhibitions: An exhibition is a systematic display of information,
actual specimens, models, posters, photographs, and charts, etc., in
a logical sequence. It is organised for arousing the interest of the
visitors in the items displayed. Exhibitions are used for a wide range
of topics, such as planning a model village or demonstrating improved
irrigation practices.
(vi) General meetings: These are usually held for passing on certain
information to the people for future action. For example to prepare
the community for celebration of Van mahotsav, a national festival.
(vii) Campaigns: Campaigns are used to focus the attention of the people
on a particular problem, e.g., rat control, village sanitation and plant
protection, the production of rabi crops and family planning. These
build up community confidence and involve the people emotionally in
a programme.
(viii) Tours and field-visits: Conducted tours for farmers are used to
convince them and to provide them with an opportunity of seeing
the results of new practices, demonstration skills, new implements,
etc., and to help them gain an idea regarding the suitability and
application of these in their own area.
(ix) Use of Audio-Visual Aids such as:
Printed matter (literature). Includes newspapers, magazines,
bulletins, leaflets, folders, pamphlets and wall news-sheets for
communicating information to a large number of literate people.
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Radio is a mass medium of communication and can reach a

large number of people at any given time involving the
least expense.
Television is one of the most powerful medium of communication.
It combines both audio and visual impact and is very suitable for
the dissemination of all kinds of information.
Motion-pictures (movies) are an effective tool for arousing
interest among the people, because they involve seeing, hearing,
and action, and sometimes to near life experiences.
Some of the Rural Employment Generation

and Other Schemes
There are many schemes planned by the government for improving the
quality of life of people in both rural and urban areas. Knowledge about
them will enlighten. Some of these are described below.
1. Swarnajayanti Gram Swarojgar Yojana (SGSY): This programme was
launched in April, 1999. It is a holistic programme covering all aspects
of self-employment such as organisation of the poor into self-help
groups, training, credit, technology, infrastructure and marketing.
190
The objective of SGSY is to provide sustainable income to the
rural poor. The programme aims at establishing a large number of
micro-enterprises in rural areas, based on the potential of the poor.
It is envisaged that every family assisted under SGSY will be brought
above the poverty-line.
2. Jawahar Gram Samridhi Yojna (JGSY) is the restructured, streamlined
and comprehensive version of the erstwhile Jawahar Rozgar Yojana.
Designed to improve the quality of life of the poor, JGSY was launched
on 1 April 1999. Its primary objective is the creation of demand driven
community village infrastructure including durable assets (e.g.,
training centre) at the village level. These assets are created to enable
the rural poor to increase opportunities for sustained employment. The
secondary objective is the generation of supplementary employment
for the unemployed poor in rural areas.
3. MP Local Area Development Programme: MPLADP was launched in
December 1993 as a central sector scheme to enable members of Lok
Sabha and Rajya Sabha to execute the schemes of their choice that are
developmental and based on locally felt needs within the guidelines
for this purpose.
The works which can be carried out under this scheme are
construction of buildings for schools, hostels, libraries and shelter
for old/handicapped, construction of link/approach roads, culverts/
bridges, public irrigation and public drainage facilities, etc.
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Expand the following acronyms

1. SGSY ______________________________________________________
2. JGSY ______________________________________________________
3. MPLADP ______________________________________________________
Locate one more extension programme in your area and write its name below.
___________________________________________________________________
Look up the following website for more information

http://www.krishiworld.com/html/agri_extension_edu1.html
Group assignment: (make groups of 6-10, each group to select a separate field of
study and target group)
1. Select an appropriate topic from the field of farming or agriculture or technology
or health and hygiene for one of the following groups–
• Adolescent girls from an urban slum
• Adolescent girls from a rural area
• Urban youth in the age group of 20-30 years
• Rural youth in the age group of 20-30 years
• Parents of primary school in rural/urban area
• Your own classmates 191
• Marketing management trainees to be posted in villages
• Housewives
• Working women
2. Search appropriate subject matter for the same.
3. Choose an extension method to teach selected topic to the selected group.
4. Give reasons for your choice of topic, subject matter and extension method.
One distinct advantage of being involved in extension activities at the

grassroot level is that it offers the valuable opportunity to know the cultural
heritage of our country. India has a rich and diverse cultural heritage. In
the next chapter we shall learn about one aspect of this heritage – the
Textile Heritage.
Key Terms
Learning, Education, Non-formal Education, Extension Education, Rural

Employment Generating Schemes
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Review Questions
1.
Explain the term—learning and its types.
2.
Describe any three components of education.
3.
Differentiate between formal and non-formal education.
4.
What do you understand by extension education? Enumerate its principles.
5.
Select and describe two most suitable extension methods for the following
situations. (Teacher’s guidance may be required)
(a) To popularise education for the girl child.
Or
(b) Importance of men sharing house work.
192
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E. Textile
Traditions in
India
10
Learning Objectives

• recognise the diversity of textile products produced in India
since millennia.
• identify the areas associated with production of cotton, silk
and wool fabrics. 193
• describe the concept of dyeing and its occurrence on textiles.
• explain the characteristic features of embroideries of different
parts of the country.
• discuss the significance of prevailing traditions of textile
production in the socio-cultural and economic setup of our
lives.
10E.1 Introduction
In the earlier chapter ‘Fabrics Around Us’ you became aware of the diversity
of the textile products and their usage. Have you ever wondered how these
came to exist, and how in India they are considered an important heritage?
If you ever visited a museum, you must have noticed a section where fabrics
and apparel are displayed. You may have realised that not only there are
fewer exhibits in this section, they are also not as old as other objects. This
is because fabrics decay much more quickly than bone, stone or metal.
However, archaeological records depicting clothed human figures on wall
and sculptures indicate that humans knew the art of making cloth even
20,000 years ago. We also learn about them from references in ancient
literature and paintings on walls in caves and buildings.
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Textile materials have fascinated humans since ancient times and have
been an essential part of civilisation. People of all ancient civilisations
developed techniques/technologies for utilising the raw material available
in their region. They also created their own distinctive designs and
produced elaborately designed products.
10E.2 Historical Perspective in India

The manufacture of sophisticated textiles in India is as ancient as the Indian
civilisation. Fabric has been used as a symbol while describing the creation
of the universe in the Rig Veda and the Upanishads. The universe, in these
texts, is described as ‘a fabric woven by the Gods’. The appearance of Day
and Night, as they bring light and darkness over the earth, are compared to
the movement of the shuttle in the loom by the weaver.
Weaving is one of the oldest arts and fine fabric products have been
made from very early times. Cloth fragments, as well as terracotta spindles
and bronze needles, that have been found at the excavation site at Mohenjo-
Daro, are evidence that the traditions of cotton spinning, weaving, dyeing
and embroidery in India are at least 5000 years old. India was first among
the ancient civilisations to discover colour and perfect the technique of
194 application on textile materials, especially on cotton. Dyed and printed
cotton fabrics were exported to other nations and they were known for
their colourfastness properties. Classical (Greek and Latin) literature has
reference to them, e.g., “colour on Indian fabrics is as lasting as wisdom”.
Throughout the period of recorded history there are references extolling
the excellence of Indian fabrics made from cotton, silk and wool. They
were known for their fabric characteristics as also for designs produced on
them through weaving, resist dyeing, printing and embroidery. They soon
became coveted items of trade, helped in political linkages and influenced
the establishment of such industries in other countries. From around 15th
century onwards India was the greatest exporter of textiles ever known. The
setting up of the various East India Companies by the European nations
was associated with textile trade from India.
10E.3 The Three Main Fibres

Traditionally Indian fabric production is associated with three main
natural fibres, which are cotton, silk and wool. Let us now discuss their
significance.
Cotton
India is the home of cotton. Cotton cultivation and its use in weaving
are known since prehistoric times. The spinning and weaving techniques
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developed here produced fabrics, which came to be known for their

extreme fineness and decorations. Cotton travelled from India to all over
the world. That it was a trade item is learnt from the material recovered
from archeological digs in the ancient land of Babylon with Harappan
seals. When the Romans and Greeks first saw cotton, they described it as
wool that grew on trees.
The legends associated with cotton weaving are many. Dacca (now in
Bangladesh) produced the finest fabric—the mulmul khas or the royal
muslin. It was so fine that it was almost invisible and thus had poetic
names; baft-hava (woven air), abe-rawan (flowing water), shabnam
(evening dew). The Jamdani or the figured muslin traditionally woven in
Bengal and parts of North India using cotton is one of the finest brocade
products of Indian weaving.
In regular weaving, the filling yarn passes over and under the warp yarn in a specific
sequence. But when brocade designs in silk, cotton, or gold/silver yarns are to be
woven, these yarns are transfixed in between regular weaving. Depending upon the
fibre content used for patterning there may be cotton brocades, silk brocades, or zari
(metallic yarn) brocades.
Besides the proficiency in making cotton fabrics, India’s crowning 195

textile accomplishment was the creation of pattern in the cotton cloth with
brilliant fast dyes. Until the 17th century, Indians alone had mastered the
complicated chemistry of cotton dyeing, which was not mere application
of pigments to the surface, but produced fast and lasting colours. Indian
Chintz (printed and painted cotton cloth) had revolutionised European
fashion and market. Indian craftpersons were ‘the master dyers to the
world’.
Cotton is woven universally all over India. Super fine yarn is still spun
and woven in many places, though the bulk production may be thick. The
materials are made in a variety of designs and colours and find specific
usages in different parts of the country.
Silk
Silk fabrics have been made in India since ancient times. We learnt in the
earlier chapter that the origin of silk was in China. However, some silk
must have been used in India as well. Silk weaving is mentioned as early as
the 3rd century BC., and distinction is made between Indian and Chinese
silk. The silk weaving centres developed in and around the capitals of
kingdoms, holy cities or trade centres. As the weavers migrated, it helped
in the development and creation of many new centres. Different regions
in our country have specific silk weaving styles. Some of the important
centres are–
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Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh, which has an old tradition in weaving special

styles. Its best-known product is the brocade or kinkhwab. Its splendour
and elegance and the high cost of the fabric gave it its name—kinkhwab
meaning something a person cannot even dream of or a fabric which is
seldom seen in a dream or the golden (kin) dream (khwab).
West Bengal is traditionally famous for its silk weaving. By using a
loom similar to that of Jamdani weavers, the weavers of West Bengal weave
a silk brocaded sari called Baluchar Butedar. This style originated from
a place called Baluchar in Murshidabad district. It is now successfully
being produced in Varanasi. Here the plain-woven fabric is brocaded with
untwisted silk thread. The most characteristic feature of these sarees is
their pallav or the end piece. It has unique designs, depicting scenes from
epics, royal court, domestic or travel scenes with riders and palanquins.
Mango motif is most commonly used in borders and pallavs.
Gujarat developed its own style of kinkhwabs. Very fine textiles were
produced in Bharuch and Cambay, which were popular in the courts of
Indian rulers. The Ashavali sarees of Ahmedabad are known for their
beautiful brocade borders and pallavs. They have rich gold or silver metallic
background on which patterns are woven with coloured threads, giving
the fabric an enamalled appearance. Human, animal and bird motifs are
196 frequently incorporated into the pattern as they are an integral part of
Gujarati folk tradition.
Kanchipuram in Tamil Nadu is a famous brocade weaving centre in
South India from ancient times. The traditional sarees display bird and
animal motifs with rich brocaded pallav. Dark colours like red, purple,
orange, yellow, green and blue predominate in South Indian fabrics.
Paithan, located on banks of Godavari River near Aurangabad in
Maharashtra, is one of the oldest cities in Deccan region. It is famous
for a special silk saree with gold inlay weaving for borders and motifs.
The tapestry weave used in Paithan is the oldest technique of decorative
weaving. It is known for its closely woven golden fabric. In the shimmering
gold background, various patterns (butas, the tree of life, stylised buds
and floral borders) are worked in red, green, pink and purple glow like
jewels.
Tapestry weave utilises the principle of discontinuous weft or filling yarns, thus
allowing multicoloured yarns to be used. It results in the fabric appearing the
same on its face and reverse side.
Surat, Ahmedabad, Agra, Delhi, Burhanpur, Tiruchirapalli and

Thanjavur are other traditionally renowned centres of zari brocade
weaving.
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From Kanchipuram
197
Kinkhwabs
Baluchar Butedar
Piathani
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198 Banaras Brocade Kullu Shawl
Kashmir Jamwar Shawls
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Wool
The development of wool is associated with the colder regions like hills of
Ladhakh, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, hills
of West Bengal, some N.E. states, Punjab, Rajasthan and a few places of
Central and West India. Specialty hair, i.e., the hair of animals other than
sheep, (mountain goats, rabbits and camels) have also been used in India.
The earliest references of wool make mention of very fine hair obtained
from mountain goats and some deer like animals.
Kashmiri literature of 11th century confirms the weaving of multicoloured
woolen fabrics during the period. From the 14th century, the Persian
influence led to the production of shawls. It utilised the most complex
tapestry weave in a multitude of colours and intricate patterns. The best
shawls were made from pashmina and shahtus, the hair of mountain
goats. The Mughal emperors were responsible for promoting this art and
shawls of Kashmir became world famous. Like the printed cotton these
were a major export item from 18th century. Later embroidery was also
introduced in shawls. The designs of the shawls copy the beauty of nature
of Kashmir. The mango motif, also known as paisley, is seen in countless
varieties and colour combinations.
199
Akbar is said to have introduced the style of Jamawar shawls. These were
large shawls designed in a manner, which were also suitable for making
garments (Jama, i.e., cloak and war meaning yardage). You may have noticed
in paintings in museums or illustrations in books, the Mughal rulers usually
have large shoulder wraps in intricate designs.
The shawls of Himachal Pradesh are mostly woven in angular geometrical

motifs grouped in straight horizontal lines, bands and stripes, one or two
placed vertically as well. Kullu valley specifically is known for shawl weaving
and several other woollen fabrics like pattu and dohru (wraps for men).
In the recent years shawl weaving in other places have also gained
importance. Special mention can be made of Amritsar and Ludhiana in
Punjab, Uttrakhand and Gujarat.
10E.4 Dyeing
We have already learnt that the history of dyeing in India is very old. Before
the middle of 19th century the dyes were obtained only from natural
sources. Most of the dyes used were from plants – roots, bark, leaves,
flowers and seeds. Some insects and minerals also yielded colour. The
analysis of the old samples confirms that Indians had a deep knowledge
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of chemistry of dyes and techniques of dye application to produce fabrics,

renowned for their colourfastness properties.
Resist dyed fabrics

The oldest form of designing with colour is resist dyeing. Having perfected
the art of dyeing, it must have been discovered that if certain parts of
material were prevented from absorbing the dye, it would retain its original
colour and thus appear designed. The resist material could be thread,
pieces of fabric, or substances such as clay and wax that offer physical
resistance. The most common method of resist is tying with thread. There
are two methods of tie and dye fabrics produced in India; fabric tie and
dye and yarn tie and dye. In both cases the part where design is required,
is tied up by tightly winding a thread around it and dyeing. During the
dyeing process, the tied areas retain the original colour of the ground. On
drying, some tied up parts are opened and some more tied and dyed again.
The process can be further repeated for more colours, always proceeding
from light to dark colours.
Tie and dye has a ritualistic significance. Among the Hindus, the thread
tied around the wrist before any religious ceremony is white, yellow and
200 red tie-dyed. Tie and dyed fabrics are considered auspicious for marriage
ceremonies; the dress of the bride and turbans of male members are
generally of these fabrics.
(i) Fabric tie and dye: Bandhani, chunari, laheria are some of the names
of materials in which the pattern is created by tie-dyeing the fabric
after it is woven. A typical tie and dye design is bandhej where the
patterns comprise innumerable dots; another is the laheria type where
the pattern is in the form of diagonal stripes. Gujarat and Rajasthan
are the homes of this type of fabrics.
(ii) Yarn tie and dye: This is a complicated process of producing designed
fabrics. These are known as Ikat fabrics. Fabrics are produced by a
technique in which the warp yarns or filling/weft yarns or both are
tie-dyed before weaving. Thus, when the fabric is woven, a specific
pattern appears depending on the dyed spaces of the yarns. If only
one yarn, i.e., only warp or weft yarn is tie-dyed, it is called single Ikat;
if both yarns are so treated, it can be combined Ikat (both are creating
separate patterns) or double Ikat (a unified pattern is created).
The Ikat artisan is not only proficient in the art of dyeing; she/he also has
the technical knowledge of weaving. The process consists of calculating the
amount of warp and filling yarns required for the article to be made. The tying
of the yarn and weaving it after dyeing require great expertise so that warp and
filling yarns match to produce the design.
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201
Ikat Fabrics
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202
Ikat Fabrics
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Gujarat has the richest tradition of Ikat weaving. Patola is the most
colourful double Ikat sari made in silk. Its manufacture is concentrated
in Patan, in Mehsana district. Apart from geometrical design patterns
inspired from local architecture, other designs are flowers, birds, animals
and dancing dolls. The colours most commonly used are red, yellow, green,
black and white. They tend to flow into one another without the harshness
of outline.
Orissa is another region where Ikat saris and fabrics of cotton and silk
are produced. The process here is known as Bandha, which may be single
or combined ikat. Compared to Patola, the designs here have a softer and
curvilinear quality. They are also characterised by the addition of extra
weft yarn woven in small figurative designs.
Pochampalli and Chirala in Andhra Pradesh have the tradition of
production of cotton ikat fabrics called Telia Rumals. These were designed
75–90 cms. square pieces of fabric usually woven as a pair. The coarser
ones were used as lungis, shoulder cloth or loincloth by the fishermen
community and the finer ones as dupattas or veils.
10E.5 Embroidery
203
Embroidery is the art of surface ornamentation of fabric with threads of
silk, cotton, gold or silver using needle or needle like tools. Embroidery,
an ancient art form, referred to as painting with a needle, was practised in
many parts of the world. In India too it has been practised from very early
times and there is evidence to indicate that embroidery was prevalent all
over the country–
• at all socio-economic levels – from the nomadic cattlemen to members
of royal households.
• on all kinds of fabrics – from the most coarse cotton and camel wool
to finest of silks and pashminas.
• with all materials and threads – cotton, wool, silk or zari along with
cowrie shells, bits of mirror and glass, beads, gems and coins.
• used in making varied articles – personal clothing, household use,
home decoration, offerings for religious places and decorative items
for their animals and cattle.
Embroidery is generally regarded as a homely handicraft, an occupation
that women undertake during their leisure hours, mainly to ornament
or decorate articles of apparel or household use. Nevertheless, certain
embroideries became items of trade within country and also in different
parts of the world. Let us now have a glimpse into some of the styles,
which are being commercially produced today.
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Phulkari
Phulkari is the art of embroidery of Punjab. It is the term used for both the
embroidery and the chaddar or shawl made with this type of embroidery.
Phulkari means ‘flower work’ or a bed of flowers. The other term bagh
(literally a garden) has also the same connotation. Phulkari was mainly
a domestic craft, executed by the girls and ladies of the household and
sometimes by women servants under their directions. The embroidery is
done on coarse cotton (khaddar) material with untwisted silk floss called
pat. In the heavily embroidered baghs, the embroidery covers the fabric
so completely that the base colour of the fabric can only be seen on the
reverse side. Traditionally, this embroidery was associated with wedding
ceremonies and baghs were made by the maternal grandmother for her
grand-daughter or by the paternal grandmother for her grand daughter-
in-law.
Kasuti
Kasuti is the term used for the embroidery of Karnataka. Kasuti word is
derived from the Persian word kashida, which means embroidery. Like
204 phulkari, it is also a domestic craft mainly done by women. This is the
most subtle form of embroidery, where the embroidery threads follow
the pattern of the weave of the fabric. It is done on silk material with
fine strands of silk threads. Even the colours used tend to blend with
the background material. The main designs seem to be inspired from the
temple architecture of the area.
Kantha
Kantha embroidery of Bengal is done on a base prepared by 3-4 layers of
old cotton sarees or dhotis. The embroidery is like quilting – small running
stitches going through all the layers of the base material. The article thus
produced are also known as Kantha. This embroidery may have had its
origin in darning to strengthen the worn-out areas, but now the stitches
fill up the shapes that are drawn on it. It generally has a white base with
embroidery in multi-coloured threads, which were originally pulled out
from borders of old sarees. The articles made vary from small comb case
and wallet to shawls of various sizes. There are also kanthas with ritualistic
importance made for presentation to religious places or for use on special
occasions.
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205
Tie and Dye Fabrics
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206
Phulkari Embrodery
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Kashida
Kashida is the general term used for embroidery in Kashmir. The two most
important embroideries are suzani and zalakdozi. Kashmir being the land
of wool, the embroidery is done on woollen fabrics – from the finest of
shawls to medium thickness cloaks like ‘pherans’, to thick namdas used
as floor coverings.
On shawls and fine woollens, perhaps the embroidery had its origin
in repairing the defects that occurred during weaving. Later the multi-
coloured weaving patterns were copied, to which were added the styles
of Chinese embroideries like satin stitch and long and short stitch. The
suzni embroidery includes all the stitches that lie flat on the surface and
also show uniformity on both sides of the material. This embroidery is
done with silk threads, in a multitude of colours, and shades to make the
designs look natural.
The twill tapestry technique that was used for weaving often required small
corrections and alterations. This was done like embroidery repeating the
pattern of the weave, thus was called darning. The embroiderers in Kashmir
are still referred to as rafugars, i.e., darners.
207
Zalakdozi is the chain stitch embroidery done with ‘ari’ – a hook like the
cobblers use. Originally it was done mainly on namdas, but now it is done
on all kinds of materials, including shawls. Unlike the other embroideries
discussed so far, Kashmir embroidery is a commercial activity, done by
men folk and thus caters to the demand of the buyers.
Chikankari
Chikankari of Uttar Pradesh is the embroidery, which was commercialised
at a very early stage. Although ladies do the main work, the master craft
persons and organisers of the trade are mainly men. Lucknow is considered
the main centre for the work. Originally it was done on white material with
white thread. The main effects produced are shadow work by embroidering
on the wrong side of the material, net like surface by tightening the yarns
of the fabric with embroidering, and raised patterns on the face of the
fabric by knotting stitch resembling rice or millet grains. The past few
years have also seen the inclusion of zari threads, small beads and shiny
discs (sitara) incorporated in the designs. Since it is a commercial activity,
the designs and styles keep changing with fashion.
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Gujarat has a very rich tradition in embroidery

It has basically been a land of nomadic tribes who have thus been
responsible for amalgamation of designs and techniques of various cultures.
Here embroidery is used for all aspects of life; decoration of the doorways
with torans or pachipattis and walls with chaklas or chandrawas, ganesh
sthapnas (all these are important in a nomadic lifestyle), garments for
men, women and children in styles specific to various tribes, coverings
for cattle, horses, elephants. Many of the embroideries are known by the
names of the tribes – Mahajan, Rabari, Mochibharat, Kanbibharat, and
Sindhi. Most of the colours used are bright and loud.
Appliqué work in Gujarat has its own style. It is a patchwork, in
which the pieces of fabric with different designs are cut in different sizes
and shapes and sewn on a plain background. This is used mainly on
household items.
Bead work of Saurashtra and Kutch is also an important art. It is
not an embroidery, but interlacing of different coloured beads through a
network of threads to create coverlets for utensils, hangings, purses, etc.
The close proximity of the states of Gujarat and Rajasthan, and because
Rajasthan also has a tribal population has resulted in embroidery in a
208 similar style. The colours and the motifs used vary between the tribes and
the occasions for which they are produced.
Chamba rumals
Chamba rumals, from the erstwhile hill state of Chamba in Himachal
Pradesh were made mainly for covering trays of gifts, when being presented
to dignitaries or special guests. They depicted mythological scenes similar
to Pahadi Paintings, by using running stitch in outline and darn-stitch in
filling. At their best, the scenes appeared the same on either side of the
textile.
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209
Kasuti Embrodery
Chikan Kari Embrodery
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Kantha Embrodery
210
Chikan Kari Chakla
Toran
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10E.6 Conclusion
India has beautiful textiles which have been recognised the world over
for their beauty and craftsmanship. Repeated and persistent invasions,
migrations, political upheavals and many other ups and downs led to
a synthesis that enriched the textile craft of India. The richness and
diversity of contemporary form of art practised in India owes much to the
coexistence of numerous cultural strains on its soil.
Specific geographical regions in India have age-long traditions
associated with fabric production. This is in terms of different fibre groups
– cotton, silk and wool and different manufacturing processes – spinning,
weaving, dyeing and printing and surface ornamentation. With changing
times, the production centres have evolved their own grammar in terms of
colour, design and ornamentation and their usage for specific products. A
large number of such centres continue to be important in the social and
economic life not only for the production of items associated with religious
and social rites, also in their effort to make a statement which fits into
contemporary usage. Thus they are making an effort to go in for product
diversification and alternate usage of traditional textiles. Gradually the
emphasis is also shifting from customised products to mass production.
Almost all the traditions of Indian textiles have survived. New design 211
development has only enriched these age-old traditions. Numerous
government and non-government organisations, along with many academic
institutions, have joined hands to preserve, revive and contemporarise the
textile traditions.
Key Terms
Brocade, Mulmul, Jamdani, Kinkhwab, Shawl, Tapestry, Tie and Dye, Ikat, Patola,
Embroidery, Phulkari, Kashida, Chikankari.
Review Questions
1. From which historical sources of information can one learn about the
antiquity of Indian textile art?
2. What are the two aspects of cotton production which made the Indian
fabrics world famous?
3. Name some of the areas associated with silk brocade weaving. What are
the special characteristics of each?
4. Why were the Indians called ‘master dyers’ to the world?
5. What do you associate with the following terms: phulkari, kasuti, kashida,
kantha and Chikankari.
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Practical 11
Textile Traditions in India
Theme Documentation of traditional textile art/craft of neighbouring area

Task Make a folder or catalogue giving information and pictures of traditional
textile art and craft of any one selected area.
Purpose of the practical: Indian craft and its millions of prastising craft people
are a huge and important resource of traditional knowledge and indigenous
technologies. It will help the students to understand and appreciate the craft
traditions of India. They will be able to collect relevant information and develop
their creative skills in expressing textile traditions. Also it is a means of linking
rural and urban youth.
Conduct of the practical: Visit a nearby exhibition or craft mela or museum

to collect information on selected textile craft in terms of origin/history, fabrics,
techniques, colour, design and products of the selected craft. Present it in the
form of a folder or a catalogue.
212 Craft could be associated with any one more of fabric production processes
– spinning, weaving, dyeing, printing or embroidery.
2021-22

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UNIT II

After completing this section the learner is able to—

9A.2 Functions of the family

make efforts to provide nurturance to their children by looking after

Thus, maintaining harmonious relationships and supportive roles for

9A.3 Family Life Cycle

Stages in the family life cycle of a nuclear family

9A.4 Family Developmental Tasks

9A.5 Family dynamics

9A.6 Handling Situations

9A.7 Support and Strength to Members

9A.8 Communication in the Family

9A.9 Keys to Building Effective Family

• Communicate clearly: It has been found that families that appear

Purpose of practical: Adolescence is a time when you are forming a sense of

After completing this section the learner is able to—

9B.2 Peer Relationships

9B.3 The Importance of Friendships

9B.4 Influence of the Teachers

Key terms and their meaning

Clique: a group of a few close friends

3. repe repsruse ……… • need to conform to the values and

After completing this section the learner is able to—

Different types of communities

Children have fun and games in these

9C.3 Society and Culture

9C.4 Media and Society

However, it is important to note that the influence that media information

Another important social influence on individuals is films. India is

9C.5 The Individual Child, Community and

historical factors and individual temperament, that makes each individual

Community, Society, Culture, Social control, Television, Internet, Rights and

Community and Society

Theme Observing and recording group dynamics in different situations

Purpose of practical: Each of the above constitutes distinct communities.

Home, eateries, playfield, school, recreation areas

• What was the communication style among the group members:

Community Group Dynamics

After completing this section the learner is able to—

should have the opportunity to achieve

10A.2 Health and Its promote maintenance of well-being

A person who has positive mental health–

Physical health: This aspect of health encompasses physical fitness

10A.3 Health Care

10A.4 Indicators of Health

10A.5 Nutrition and Health

feeling fatigued. In case of children and adolescents, nutrition is vital for

is nourished (clinical nutrition). Nutrition as a discipline studies the

Table 1: Optimum nutritional status is important because it—

Figure 1: Health and Nutritional inputs required for Productivity

Figure 2 summarises the benefits of good nutritional status for

Good nutrition has positive influence on

Brain development General state of health Vision

Which affects cognitive Active interaction with the Reduce risk of

Figure 2: Benefits of Good Nutritional Status for Children’s Education

What is malnutrition? Malnutrition is a deviation from the normal

10A.7 Factors Affecting Nutritional

Nutritional Well- being

Food and Care for the Good Health Safe