INTRODUCTION

Every idea, fact or opinion is static until communicated and understood. In today’s information driven society it has been acknowledged time and again that communication is as important as food, clothing and shelter. In this chapter we are looking at communication as it is related to organisations and business establishments. Corporate communication is considered as an important tool of management which has evolved over the years.

Corporate communication is described as the set of activities involved in ‘managing and orchestrating all internal and external communications’ which are designed to create favourable starting points.

Corporate communication is based on giving out of information by a variety of specialists and generalists in an organisation. It is concerned with people, organisational processes, activities and media.

SIGNIFICANCE

A major variable for the success of any organisation is the perception of the public. What the general public, competitors, employees “perceive” about the organisation is what defines its respectability, its position and ultimately its success. The primary objective of corporate communication is to establish a perception (true or otherwise) in the eyes of all its stakeholders. That is the significance of corporate communication; ‘controlling how the world sees you’. For example, in a crisis, regardless of what actually happened, it is the public’s and employees’ understanding of the crisis and how it was tackled that will define their reaction to the organisation. If a company does not present itself as quiet, dignified and peaceful, and projects aggressive behaviour it will be questioned by the stakeholders.

The company’s fortune is influenced by the public’s assessment of whether aggressive behaviour was necessary or not. The significance of the corporate communication team is to understand how the stakeholders will react to such behaviour. They have to ensure through press releases, newsletters, ads and other modes of communication so that public gets only that information which the organisation wants them to have.

PR is a very important function or activity of any organisation. Therefore, it must be entrusted to effective and experienced executives. Each public relations programme can have different objectives, strategy and plan. For example, to create a positive image of a company, to handle a company crisis, to motivate the employees, to create curiosity about a product, to advertise a product and to inform about an event in advance. PR plans to achieve each of the above mentioned objectives with different approaches. Some of these are: press conferences, press releases, parties and gettogethers before any special event. Public Relations and advertising and media are inter-related and may have common characteristics and activities.

BASIC CONCEPTS

Corporate Communication

Corporate communication creates an efficient and effective avenue of communication with employees, consumers, investors and many others, locally and globally. A great deal of management’s current concern for employee productivity and the need to empower people has revolved around the use of teams. But more often what is required is the simplest need of all - communication. This is illustrated in the following study:

When a group of industrial engineers were asked in a 1990 study how to improve productivity, communication concerns drew the strongest response to any question on survey. More than 88 per cent of the engineers strongly agreed that lack of communication and cooperation among different components of a business leads to reduced productivity (“P and Q Survey” 1990).

CEOs have also recognised the importance of communication. In a study by A. Foster Higgins and Company, an employee-benefits consulting firm found that 97 per cent of the CEOs surveyed believe that communicating with employees positively affects job satisfaction. Furthermore, the survey found that 79 per cent think that communication benefits the bottom line; surprisingly, only 22 per cent communicate with employees weekly or more (Farnham 1989).

Source: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1038/is_n5_v36/ai_14723295/

Public Relations

Public relations (PR) is both an art and a science. It has the beauty and emotionality of art and the system of science. It may mean different things to different people. Though it is of recent origin in India and the world over, it is used in Government, public and private sectors and other institutions. The PR techniques, strategies and practices vary from organisation to organisation.

“The fundamental way of getting public approval is to deserve it” Arthur W. Page

Following definitions of PR will give you some idea about its nature and scope.

“Establishing a bond of relationships and contacts between two groups of public”

“Deliberate, planned and sustained effort to establish and maintain mutual understanding between an organisation and the public”

“PR is an attempt, through information, persuasion, adjustment and contacts, to seek for some activity, cause, movement, institution, product or service”

Code of ethics is a very crucial requirement in any profession. PR professionals are no exception to this requirement. They have access to information or knowledge about events to come; pressure or temptation to commercialise this information must be avoided at all costs. While serving the interests of clients and employees, PR professionals must ensure that they adhere to a code of ethics and a code of conduct so that they are not labelled as fixers or manipulators.

Corporate communication is important primarily as it creates:

• Positive and favourable public perception
• Effective and efficient avenues of communication
• Strong corporate culture, corporate identity and corporate philosophy
• Genuine sense of corporate citizenship.

Functions of Corporate Communication

Corporate communication builds a healthy organisational environment. In an organisation information is to be disseminated by specialists and generalists to a variety of people besides sharing information with employees, stockholders, media and customers. Corporate communication creates and maintains the brand and looks after the organisation’s reputation. It projects the company’s brand within and beyond the organisation. Thus, the process of corporate communication ensures a liaison between an organisation and outside bodies. Nowadays it is used as a public relations tool to project a positive corporate image, to build strong relationships with stockholders, to inform the public about new products and achievements. A smooth and affirmative relationship with all stakeholders helps in maintaining and sustaining a positive corporate image. Be it a corporate body, company, organisation, institution, nongovernmental organisation or a governmental body-all of them need to have a respectable image and reputation. Increasing competition, accessibility of information and the media explosion have made ‘reputation management’ a priority for most organisations. This is handled in a professional manner by corporate communicators. Dealing with crisis control, enabling sophisticated approaches to global communications, and comprehension and utilisation of complicated communication tools and technologies are also important functions of corporate communication.

Functions of PR

Functions performed by corporate PR Departments and PR agencies have many factors in common. Given below are most of the common functions:

1. Public Relations Policy: Develop and recommend corporate public relations policy and share it with top management and all departments. This is truer for PR agencies.

2. Statements and Press Releases: Preparation of corporate statements, sometimes speeches for executives and press releases are to be prepared by the PR personnel. In the process, they are in a position to articulate and project positive image of the company or product or policies.

3. Publicity: Issuing announcements of company activities and products to media and community. Planning promotional campaign using media is also a vital function. Handling inquiries from press and people at large is a part of the function.

4. Maintaining Relations: The PR personnel are expected to maintain liaisons with Government units at local, national and international levels. They are expected to uphold good relations with the community as ‘good neighbours’. This includes compliance with environment protection standards, giving employment opportunities to locals, and cooperating and participating in locality development programmes. Communication between company and shareholders and with other investors is also an important part of maintaining relations. Sometimes the PR agency may have to prepare annual/quarterly reports and planning meetings of stockholders.

5. Publications: Preparing and publishing in-house magazines is also sometimes the function of a PR agency.

Major Areas of PR Activity

1. Press Relations: PR persons have to maintain cordial relations with the press at all levels, from editor to reporter. Press and PR are both dependent on each other for their bread and butter. Providing well written and well-timed press releases, helping the correspondent to write their articles, easy accessibility, forbearance of press criticism, avoiding biases and undue favours to some papers are some of the features of press relations. The PR man should project the culture of the organisation while disseminating information about the product or service. Journalists need news to remain in the business, and PR needs publicity. Thus, there is a give and take between the two. This interdependence of PR and press should be understood.

2. Advertising: A product does not sell on its own merit, it needs to be advertised. The purpose of advertising may be to disseminate information, persuade or influence people to consume the product. There are many media for advertising like newspaper, radio, TV and so on. Usually, it is the PR person who decides the budget and which media to use for advertising.

3. Publications: Bringing out brochures, folders, pamphlets, circularletters, in-house-magazines and similar materials are the responsibility of PR department. While preparing the material simplicity, clarity, cost, true image of the organisation and attractiveness are the points to be remembered.

4. Other Media coordination: Use of other audio-visual media, films, exhibition, hoardings, puppetry and folk-songs come under the range of operations of PR department. Good public speaking and courteous speaking over the phone can also add to the positive image as spoken words are still one of the best modes of communication. They have to maintain good relations with other publicity media like radio and television.

5. PR with Constituents: Along with the local press, PR persons also have to have a liaison with local community, financial analysts, bankers, major leading institutions, share-holders and potential investors. Internal PR activities include maintaining relations with all employees including executives and other senior personnel, so the PR man gets all the information, keeps himself informed of all the happenings in the organisation.

Seven Principles of Public Relations

Arthur W. Page practised seven principles of public relations management as a means of implementing his philosophy.

• Tell the truth. Let the public know what is happening and provide an accurate picture of the company’s character, ideals and practices.
• Prove it with action. Public perception of an organisation is determined 90 per cent by what it does and 10 per cent by what it says.
• Listen to the customer. To serve the company well, understand what the public wants and needs. Keep top decision makers and other employees informed about public reaction to company products, policies and practices.
• Manage for tomorrow. Anticipate public reaction and eliminate practices that create difficulties. Generate goodwill.
• Conduct public relations as if the whole company depends on it. Corporate relations is a management function. No corporate strategy should be implemented without considering its impact on the public. The public relations professional is a policymaker capable of handling a wide range of corporate communications activities.
• Realise that a company’s true character is expressed by its people. The strongest opinions good or bad about a company are shaped by the words and deeds of its employees. As a result, every employee active or retired is involved with public relations. It is the responsibility of corporate communications to support each employee’s capability and desire to be an honest, knowledgeable ambassador to customers, friends, shareowners and public officials.
• Remain calm, patient and good-humored. Lay the groundwork for public relations miracles with consistent and reasoned attention to information and contacts. This may be difficult with today’s contentious 24-hour news cycles and endless number of watchdog organisations. But when a crisis arises, remember, cool heads communicate best.

Two types of communication are used more in corporate communication - Internal and External Communication.

Internal Communication: It takes place between and among the employer and employees of an organisation. It is considered a vital tool for binding an organisation, enhancing employee morale, promoting transparency and reducing slow destruction. The root cause of most internal problems faced by a company is ineffective communication.

Internal communication flows in different directions - vertical, horizontal, diagonal, across the organisational structure. Internal communication may be formal or informal. It helps in discharge of managerial functions like planning, direction, coordination, motivation etc. The broad policies and objectives flow downward from top management to lower level. Both written and oral or verbal media can be used to transmit messages. Written media consists of instructions, orders, letters, memos, house journals, posters, bulletins boards, information racks, handbooks, manuals, activity reports.

External Communication: It takes place between members of an organisation and the outside world. External communication is also very important as it enhances and enables significant functions of creating positive image, brand preservation and maintaining public relations. In a global society, external communication helps in marketing as well.

External communication is concerning transmission of messages, desirable information outside the organisation with Government, its departments, customers, dealers, inter-corporate bodies, general public etc. External communication promotes goodwill with the public. Certain facts and information must be shared and exchanged with outsiders. Both written and verbal media can be used. Written media consists of letters, memos, in-house magazines, posters, bulletins, annual reports and so on.

Two major areas of communication activity are:

1. Composing message

2. $\quad$ Transmitting message

The following 7 Cs of communication should be kept in mind while composing a message:

1. Conciseness: The message should be concise in nature so that it is easy to catch the readers’ attention.
2. Concreteness: Message should be concrete as having all the meanings conveyed in it but should be short in length.
3. Clarity: It must give appropriate and explicit meaning that would not diversify and confuse the reader at any instance.
4. Completeness: Also it is important that the message must have complete meaning that will provide sufficient information to its reader.
5. Courtesy: Another important feature is that the sender must emphasise on courteous tone and must give some compliments and benefits to its readers.
6. Correctness: The message conveyed must be checked for correctness and should be free from all grammatical errors.
7. Consideration: There must be proper consideration in the message and it should emphasise on your attitude rather than ‘I’ and ‘we’ kind of words.

Source: http://www.articleclick.com/Article Importance-of-communication-inorganisation/914799

KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS REQUIRED

Skills equip you to be a better and effective communicator. They help you in composing and transmitting messages successfully. Listening skills can be self taught; interpersonal skills, negotiation skills and rapport establishment skills can be learnt by observing successful and effective people; presentation skills involve use of software-hardware which requires formal training. Similarly, there are training programmes for accent neutralisation, public speaking, telephone etiquette, basic writing skills, decision making and stress management. Time management may require some training or many executives develop it through experience.

1. Listening Skills: Listening is an active process involving three parts: hearing, understanding and response. Hearing is the physical aspect of your body receiving and interpreting sounds. You may hear these words as part of a conversation. Hearing is critical to listening, but it is only the first part. Understanding is where your brain processes the words that you hear and derives meaning from them in the context of the entire conversation. Information is communicated to you at this stage. Once you understand what you are hearing, the last part is responding. Responding in a conversation shows that you have heard what was said and that you understand the intent of the speaker. Responding may involve making a decision to act on the information you have understood and perhaps replying with your opinion or comments.

2. Interpersonal Skills: Interpersonal skills refer to the measure of a person’s ability to operate within business organisations through social communication and interactions. These are the skills that one uses to interact with other people. Having positive interpersonal skills increases productivity in the organisation since conflicts are reduced. In informal situations, it allows communication to be easy and comfortable. People with good interpersonal skills can generally control the feelings that emerge in difficult situations and respond appropriately, instead of being distressed by emotion.

3. Negotiation Skills: Negotiation is a process in which both the parties have unacceptable points regarding an issue or deal. Through negotiation, each party tries to convince the other. There will be usually more issues and variables than could be used for such a trading; both the sides must be fully prepared. Through good negotiation it is possible for both the sides to come out of a deal happy. Each of the negotiators will, if done properly, be concerned with trading concessions against each other. Good negotiator should consider all the possible variables before meeting, calculate or do estimate what each will cost, then decide which he/she will prefer to use and which others would be prepared to use if it came to a crunch.

4. Presentation Skills: These are used for communicating ideas and information to a group. A presentation carries the speaker’s personality better and allows immediate interaction between all the participants. A good presentation has: content, structure, packaging and human element. Content contains information that people need. The information must be as much as the audience can absorb in one sitting. Structure has a logical beginning, middle, and end. It must be sequenced and paced so that the audience can understand it. The presenter must be careful to hold the attention of the audience. Packaging refers to the treatment given to content. There is scope to use technologies like software, PPT with use of software.

5. Human Element: A good presentation will be remembered because it has a person attached to it. You still need to analyse the audience’s needs and select an approach. For example, in many offices cards are sent on employee’s birthdays or special occassions. Along with the card if the superior wishes him/her personally, it always makes one feel better.

6. Rapport Establishment: “Rapport is the establishment of trust and harmony in a relationship. It is the key element in the art of obtaining the support and co-operation of other people. Around $93 %$ of communication is transmitted by your body language and the way that you speak (analogue communication). Only $7 %$ of the message is carried by the words (digital communication). Most of the time your analogue communication is unconscious. By developing an ability to work at both the conscious and unconscious levels of communication, you will learn how to establish deeper rapport and build trust and harmony - with virtually anyone, in a much shorter time frame. Most of us are able to establish rapport with certain types of people but a master communicator has the ability to establish rapport with a wider range of people.”

7. Effective Decision Making: Decision making can be a complex process; all the same, every successful person must have this skill. There are human and material elements involved in decision making. One has to assess or prioritise all these factors, anticipate the outcome and take decisions in the best interest of all parties concerned. For example, as students you get a certain amount of pocket money. There are always many options like food, movies, gifts for friends/family members, Xeroxing study material and so on. How you spend it to make yourself happy and take care of your needs will depend on your decision making skill. You also have a few hours per week to pursue your hobbies and other pastimes. Your ability to decide the order of importance of activities will guide the decision about activity selection. In corporate houses managers have the challenge of effective decision making because they are faced with situations of balancing between efficiency, profit, satisfaction of stakeholders, employees and owners.

8. Telephone Etiquette, Basic Writing Skills (Writing Email and Notes, etc.), Public Speaking Skills: You must have been exposed to these three skills and by now must have acquired reasonably good proficiency. Telephone etiquettes create good impression and puts the other person at ease. Basic writing skills are part of your English Curricula. Many of you must have participated in elocution competitions, won prizes and heard speeches of good orators, lecturers. As a corporate communicator you have to develop and apply them for success in your business.

9. Accent Neutralisation: A language is spoken with an accent according to the cultural bearing. We all have experienced the different English accent of Indians and also from the British, Americans, and Australians and so on. There is a difference in the accent of all. In accent neutralisation one pronounces the words in such a way that the listener is able to understand what is being spoken. There are many other reasons such as: to increase personal and professional opportunities, improve professional image of your company, engaging in extensive conversations, presentations, and telephone calls, be more confident and effective, both socially and professionally, greater understanding from listeners.

10.Time Management: Time is a matchless and valuable resource that you need in order to do your work, accomplish your goals, spend time with your loved ones, and enjoy everything that life has to offer. Utilising time to achieve your goals is a skill that can be developed if you don’t have it. There are ways to learn or improve this skill. Time management is a set of principles, practices, skills, tools, and systems working together to help you get more value out of your time with the aim of improving the quality of life. It leads to the development of processes and tools that increase efficiency and productivity. Time management enables each of us to improve and be more productive and to be fulfilled individually, so logically the effects across whole organisations of good or poor time management are enormous. Time management leads to less stress.

11.Stress Management: Although most of us experience some kind of stress on a daily basis (even if it’s only from something like reaching school on time, preparing for test, deciding how to look attractive for a special occasion), few may actually know what stress actually is. What is Stress? A situation that causes pressure or strain is stress. Stress is our physical, mental, and emotional response to the various demands, changes, and events in our life. In some cases, stress motivates and encourages us to complete a task we find difficult so that we can take pride in ourselves and what we achieve. Stress symptoms begin to manifest themselves when we feel that life demands are exceeding our ability to deal with them. Before stress begins to take its toll, we should do something to reduce, manage, and even counteract the negative side-effects of stress. Managing stress is all about taking charge of your thoughts, your emotions, your schedule, your environment, and the way you deal with problems. The ultimate goal is a balanced life, with time for work, relationships, relaxation, and fun; plus the flexibility to hold up under pressure and meet challenges head on.

In PR work, besides composing messages, transmitting through appropriate media, characteristics of the target audience have to be kept in mind. Use of language will be depending on the target group. PR persons have to take care of their disposition and inter-personal skills.

Use of Technology to Communicate

Technology has revolutionised the scope of communication. It has opened doors to a variety of information, knowledge and news all over the world.

The more popular term is Information and Communication Technologies. Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) is an umbrella term that covers all technical means for processing and communicating information. While this technically encompasses predigital technologies, including paper-based writing, it is most often used to describe digital technologies including methods for communication, transmission techniques, communications equipment, media, as well as techniques for storing and processing information. The term has gained popularity partially due to the union of information technology (IT) and telecom technology.

SCOPE

• Corporate offices and other organisations need PR to cover all the communication that takes place between employer and employees.
• PR officer to extend communication with stockholders, media, press, NGOs, Government, customers and the general public. PR plays a crucial role in dealing with outside agencies.
• Innovation in use of media and technologies.

Communication; extension; corporate communication; internal and external communication; public perception; ICT (Information and Communication Technology); IT (Information Technology); stress management; time management; Accent Neutralisation; listening skills; negotiation skills; interpersonal skills; presentation skills; rapport establishment skills; Public relations; Press release; Press relations; Advertising; Public perception.

Review Questions

1. What is the significance of corporate communication in today’s times?

2. Enumerate functions of corporate communication.

3. Compare internal and external communication.

4. Describe the single most factor that has revolutionised the scope of communication.

5. Enlist verbal and non-verbal skills and briefly explain with examples any three from each category.

6. Explain the meaning and significance of Public Relations today.

7. In your opinion which two areas of PR work are important? Why?

8. What are the principles of PR work?

9. What is the relationship between corporate communication, PR and Media?

AssigNMENT

I. Prepare Case-Study of a PR agency based on the following points:

1. Description of the situation in the client’s company

2. Formulate objectives to resolve the situation.

3. Study the plan of action to achieve the objectives.

a. Target group orientation

b. Message selection

c. Media selection

d. Creativity and innovation

e. Resource assessment

f. Man-power review

4. Understand implementation of the plan and the results thereafter.

II. Present a case-study from a book/magazine or any other source. REFERENCES

http://www.awpagesociety.com/site/resources/page_principles

http://www.abbyeagle.com/nlp/seminar-rapport.php

PROJECTS

NOTE : Any one of the following projects may be undertaken and evaluated.

PROJECT 1: ANALYSIS OF TRADITIONAL OCCUPATIONS

Analysis of traditional occupations prevalent in one’s own local area, their beginnings, present status and challenges faced. Analyse gender roles, entrepreneurial opportunities, future careers and family participation.

Content of the Project

Identify the traditional occupations prevalent in your region. Interview some craftsmen about their beginnings, present status, and problems and challenges that they face.

Purpose of the Project

You have read in Unit 1 about traditional occupations in India. Doing this project will give you insights into the origin and history of the craft, the changes that have emerged in the modern context, its marketability and the challenges faced by craftsmen. You may also learn about how some of them have become entrepreneurs. It is intended that this will enable you to think of entrepreneurial possibilities in the modern context.

Procedure

1. Teacher to initiate brainstorming session in the class by asking students to identify different occupations prevalent in their region or state.

2. List all the occupations on the black board. For example,

(i) Occupations related to food industry - pickles, jams, snacks, sweets, traditional festival specialty cuisines etc.

(ii) Occupations related to garment industry - weaving, stitching, embroidery, knitting etc.

(iii) Occupation related to handicraft industry - carpet making, pottery, bamboo art, traditional paintings, paper art, assessor making etc.

(iv) Any other occupation prevalent in the local area.

3. The class can be divided into groups consisting of not more than 5 students per group.

4. Each group will identify a specific traditional craft or art or product.

5. Each group will identify artisans/craftsmen practising the selected craft/art.

6. Develop an interview format based on the list of points given below under ‘Discussion Points’.

7. Students will interact with approximately 2-3 such persons and discuss with them the following points:

Discussion Points

i. Origin of the specific art or craft, if they know any historical perspective

ii. Types of products made, raw materials used, the source of raw materials, process of manufacture and skills required at various stages, training acquired, any formal training required

iii. Costing and profitability

iv. Production per month and approximate earnings, customers, profitability

v. Changes that have occurred in the modern setting and challenges or problems faced

vi. Remedial actions and support required, if any

vii. Government or private schemes available and availed of

viii. Gender aspects in relation to (a) type of products made (b) specific tasks assigned for production (c) family support and participation including children (d) payment to males and females

ix. $\quad$ Marketing strategies adopted

x. Assistance, support and funds required

xi. Self-employment and entrepreneurship possibility

Responses of the persons interviewed should be recorded and a project report prepared.

Each group will then draw conclusions in relation to entrepreneurial possibilities and gender roles in the modern context as well as child labour.

Each group will make a presentation to the class, which will be evaluated by the teacher(s).

Outline for project report - Introduction to the profession, job description and skills required, etc., followed by presentation and discussion.

PROJECT 2: $\quad$ DOCUMENTATION OF ANY PUBLIC/MASS CAMPAIGN

Documentation of any public/mass campaign being implemented in own area, with reference to:

(a) Purpose of campaign

(b) Focal group

(c) Modalities of implementation

(d) Stakeholders involved

(e) Media and methods used

(f) Comment on the relevance of the campaign.

Content of the Project

Documentation of a public or mass campaign implemented in your own area.

Purpose of the Project

You have learnt about the use of media for various purposes. This project will enable you to gain firsthand experience in how campaigns are conducted.

Procedure

The class is divided into four groups. Class should identify and select two public or mass campaigns that have been or are being conducted in their locality or region. For each campaign, one group should interview some members of the organising committee and the other group should interview some members of the focal or target group.

1. Each group should prepare a file which contains the record of the event in detail.

2. Record should be kept of the interviews regarding the following details: i. Purpose of the Campaign

ii. Focal or target group intended to be covered

iii. Methods of implementation

iv. Media used

v. Methods of communication

vi. Duration of the campaign

vii. Persons/organisations involved in planning and implementation (stakeholders)

viii. Actual coverage of focal and target group in terms of number or geographic areas/age groups

ix. Amount and type of planning required

x. Sources of funds

xi. Responses to the campaign

xii. Evaluation done by the organisers

Each group should present their observations in brief to the class. Teacher and students can discuss in classroom whether the purpose has been served and whether any aspect could have been dealt with differently.

PROJECT 3: STUDY OF AN INTEGRATED COMMUNITY-BASED PROGRAMME

Study of an integrated community-based nutrition/health programme being implemented in own area, with reference to:

(a) Programme objectives

(b) Focal group

(c) Modalities of implementation

(d) Stakeholders involved

Content of the Project

Study of a community-based nutrition/health programme being implemented in your own area.

Purpose of the Project

You have read that there are several nutrition problems that the country has to tackle. This practical will enable you to gain some knowledge and insight into programme(s) that are currently being implemented.

Procedure

Divide the class into 4-5 groups. Each group should study one of the following programmes/schemes:

• ICDS
• Mid-day Meal Programme
• Pulse polio programme
• Programme for reproductive and child health
• Programme for safe/clean water and sanitation
• Any other programme that is being implemented in the area

1. Each group should prepare a file which contains the record of the programme in detail.

2. Each group should visit the site where the programme is being implemented and interact with the persons in charge e.g., Child Development Project Officer (CDPO) in ICDS, the field workers (e.g., anganwadi sevika/worker), observe the activities that are going on and interact with the participants/beneficiaries.

3. Observations, understanding of the manner in which the programme is implemented, number of participants/beneficiaries, services given and benefits perceived by participants, suggestions of participants for improvement of programme.

4. Each group should make a presentation to the class and give their comments and suggestions as to how they can contribute to the programme.

A Note to the Teacher

It should be ensured that students are guided to cover and understand details regarding programme objectives, partners/stakeholders involved, focal group/target group and strategies of implementation, source of support(financial) costs and benefits, total coverage.

PROJECT 4 : PERCEPTION OF ADOLESCENTS AND ADULTS REGARDING PERSONS WITH SPECIAL NEEDS

Visit to the neighbouring areas and interviews with two adolescents and two adults regarding their perception of persons with special needs.

Content of the Project

Identify two adolescents and two adults in the neighbourhood and interview them, using the given interview schedule, about their perceptions of persons with special needs.

Purpose of Project

You have read that one of the career options that you can take up after specialising in the Human Development/Child Development stream is working with children and adults with disabilities. Doing this Project (and the next one) will help you to develop some ideas of this career option. Specifically, this Project will help you to understand what people in general think about persons with disabilities. Talking with people may also cause you to introspect about your own beliefs and perceptions. You may find that there are many similarities in your thinking. Think about whether you need to change some of your beliefs.

Key Concepts in the Project/Learning Points in the Project

Some important terms in this area include - adolescents, adults, neighbourhood, interview, interview schedule. We can say that these are the key concepts that we want you to understand through the Project. Why are you being asked to interview adolescents and adults? Why in the neighbourhood? And what is an interview and how is it different from talking to a person? You know:

1. That adolescence is the time when the person starts to focus on the self and others in a very deliberate and conscious manner. Recall your reading about the Development of Self in Class XI. The ability for abstract thinking makes it possible for the person to think of various possibilities. This is also the time when many values are in the process of being formed. The adolescent’s values and beliefs regarding diversity in humanity is important as it shapes everyday interaction.

2. That adults often have well established opinions and beliefs - all of which may not necessarily be humane and just. Adults are also the ones who shape the attitude of children by their words and actions, directly and indirectly. Knowing their beliefs is important.

3. That you have been asked to interview adolescents and adults in your neighbourhood rather than interview people by visiting a centre or institution for people with disabilities. This means that persons with disabilities are a part of the society and we expect that most people would have some experience of interacting with people with disabilities. Therefore, we are asking you to interview people in the neighbourhood - we are not asking you to go to special places to look for people who would have interacted with people with disabilities.

4. You have to find out perceptions by interviewing the people - not simply by talking to them. What is the difference between an interview and a talk? Interview is a major method of collecting information or ‘data’ and doing this Project provides you exposure in this. Talking is an informal interaction between people. An interview is a conversation which is planned to some extent by the person who conducts the interview. The person doing the interview follows some rules in directing the talk. There is a certain way in which the interview should be conducted as well as there are ethics of an interview. We shall discuss these aspects in detail a little later.

5. To conduct a good interview so that you get all the information that you want, you need to have some advance preparation. You need to think of the questions that you will ask. These are written out in the form of an interview schedule. While for now we are providing you the schedule that you will use to conduct the interview, in another section, we will talk about the guidelines for developing interview schedules. This will help you to understand why we have constructed the interview schedule the way we have.

Preliminary Activities for the Project

1. Read the relevant section in the textbook of Class XII. You should be familiar with the persons with special needs.

2. Locate one adolescent and one adult. It would be good if you can identify one male and one female.

3. Become familiar with the interview schedule we have provided which you will use to collect the required information for this Project.

The Interview Schedule

Instructions: Read out the instructions before starting the questions.

Introduction: I am a student of Class XII. We are conducting interviews with the public regarding their views about persons with disability. Please assist by answering the questions below:

1. Have you met or heard about anyone with a special need or disability? Yes or No? If Yes, who and where? Describe the problems.

2. Can you describe what you felt when you met or saw this person?

3. What did you first notice about the person?

4. What do you think were the abilities the person had?

A Note to the Teacher

Conduct a guided discussion in the class on:

I a) Interviewing

b) Recording the answers given by interviewees

c) Why was this activity done in your neighbourhood?

d) Activities towards disability

II Report from the students should have:

a) answers to interview

b) concluding points

PROJECT 5: PROFILING A PERSON WITH SPECIAL NEEDS

Profile any one person with special needs, child or adult, to find out their diet, clothing, activities, physical and psychological needs.

Content

Profile any one person with special needs, child or adult, to find out his/her: (i) Diet

(ii) Clothing

(iii) Activities

(iv) Physical needs

(v) Psychological needs

Procedure

Identify a child (11-18 years) or an older person who has a disability. Ensure that the child/adult is willing to be a participant and can answer your questions; alternatively his/her caregiver/family member can answer on his/her behalf.

Develop a set of questions in the form of an interview schedule that can elicit information in the areas listed above.

Note: Include questions, and ask them in a manner that you do not make the child/adult feel awkward, excluded or being labelled.

Conclusion

Draw up a brief profile of the child/adult, focussing on how he/she is similar to children/people who do not have a disability.

A Note for the Teacher

This project is expected to develop in students the ability to frame relevant questions, plan and conduct an interview and also write up a case profile.

PROJECT 6: PLANNING AND EXECUTING AN EVENT IN SCHOOL

Plan and execute any event in your school. Evaluate the same with respect to:

(a) Its relevance

(b) Resource availability and mobilisation

(c) Planning and execution of the event (d) Financial implications

(e) Feedback from stakeholders

(f) Suggest modifications for the future.

Purpose

To enable students to plan an event efficiently.

Procedure

Using your knowledge about team members required for an event, plan and allocate duties to different personnel in the team. Make three columns and discuss duties such as, pre-event, during-event and post-event activities.

1. Plan and allocate work to different team members for an event you wish to plan in future. List the pre-event, during-event and post event activities.

After doing this activity you will be able to allocate duties to different personnel involved in organising the event for successful execution.

2. Divide the students into groups.

3. Assign groups the following tasks :

• Designing an invitation card
• Making copies of invitations and distribution
• Choose a theme for the event (if desired)
• Decide on a budget
• Decide on a menu for refreshments
• Make decisions about the decorations of the venue
• Choose the music, activities, etc., to happen during the event (Programme)
• Conduct the event
• Record of income and expenses

4. Post-event evaluation to be done using the following points:

Name of Event

Date

Location

Type of Event

• Did you enjoy the event? If no, then please state the reason.
• What did you like most in the event?
• What did you like least in the event?
• What are the problems you faced during the event?
• What could have been done to make this event better?
• How do you rate the various services provided by us (please tick one option):

• Would you like to participate in our next event?

Note: Collect invitations of ten different events and understand the programme schedule in detail. Based on the information gathered, design the invitation card

For card evaluation or design, students can use the following checklist to ensure that all critical attributes are included.

A Note to the Teacher

Teacher can ask students to bring invitation cards for different events and discuss the aspects important in card designing like -

• Relevant text such as, the venue and its location map or the significant landmarks, time, occasion, programme details, etc.
• Layout of information
• Appeal of the card
• Clarity in information
• Theme of the event and expectation from guests
• New design concept
• Organising team and their contact numbers

PROJECT 7: PLANNING MESSAGES FOR NUTRITION, HEALTH AND LIFE SKILLS

Planning messages for nutrition, health and life skills using different modes of communication for different target groups.

Content

1. Identification of a target group for education

2. Identification of needs and problems that are specific to the selected group

3. Planning a suitable message to educate the group

4. Selecting a mode of communication

5. Developing the educational material.

Purpose

This practical is intended to enable the students to plan suitable messages for health and nutrition education of different groups of the community and to select an appropriate mode of communication to deliver the message.

Procedure

1. The class can be divided into groups of 4-5 students in each group.

2. The first task is to identify the focal/target group for whom the message is to be made. The different focal groups could be adolescents, school children, pregnant mothers, adults.

3. Once the focal/target group is selected, identify the nutritional problem or a topic about which you would like to educate the group.

4. Identify a suitable message (aimed at the selected group) which will help in improving the nutrition and health profile of the selected group. This will depend on the needs and the existing problems specific to each group. For example, the message to be delivered to pregnant mothers could be improvement in their diet during pregnancy. For adults it could be increasing physical activity to maintain weight, and enhance fitness and well being.

5. Select a suitable mode of communication to deliver the message. A variety of modes are available like poster, charts, flipbooks, puppet stories and short skits to convey the message. The learners can select any one depending on the availability of time and resources.

6. Each group should discussion about the target group they want to select and the message that they want to deliver. They are assisted by the teacher in this process. Then they decide as to how they will deliver the message. Once the plan is finalised, the group works on the message and develops the final product.

7. Each group will present its product to the teachers and classmates.

8. Group Evaluation of the product and presentation.

PROJECT 8 : MARKET SURVEY OF PROCESSED FOODS

Content

Market survey of processed foods, their packaging and label information

Purpose

This practical is intended to familiarise students with the variety of processed foods available in the market, create awareness about the different types of packaging materials used for processed foods and to generate interest in the study of label information.

Procedure

The students will work in groups comprising 4-5 students in each group.

1. Each group will go to a different market and collect information on the following:

A: Availability of the following foods:

• Cereal foods like breakfast foods, noodles, atta.
• Dairy products - milk, cheese, butter, ghee, ice-cream.
• Preserves - jams, pickles, squashes, ketchup, sauces.
• Snacks - chips, bhujias, biscuits,
• Nutrition Supplements such as Complan, Bournvita, Horlicks, Milo, Boost and other branded products.
• Beverages - fruit juices, carbonated soft drinks, bottled water.

B: Note the packaging material used for these products.

2. Make a table comparing the types of packaging materials used for different types of foods.

Name of product	Packaging materials used	Label information

3. Compare costs of different packaging for the same product (if available).

Result/Conclusion: The collected information to be tabulated on a chart and displayed. The findings can be discussed in a classroom session where the teacher can point out the relative merits and demerits of the different packaging materials used.

FEEDBACK QUESTIONNAIRE (HUMAN ECOLOGY AND FAMILY SCIENCES TEXTBOOK)

Please give your comments on the textbook by filling this feedback questionnaire. You may please send the questionnaire by post, or through email, to Dr. Tannu Malik, Assistant Professor, Department of Education in Social Sciences, NCERT, Sri Aurobindo Marg, New Delhi-110016. Email: tannu_malik@rediffmail.com

We welcome feedback from teachers, students, parents and any other user of the textbook. You may attach a separate sheet as per your requirement.

Teacher/Student/Parent/Any other (please specify)

Name_________________________________________

School address _____________________________________________

1a. Is the cover page and printing of the textbook attractive? $\quad$ Yes/No

lb. If not, please specify

1c. Do you find the language simple and easy to understand?$ \qquad $ Yes/No

1d. Mention the chapters/pages where the language is difficult to understand.

2a. Do you find the content of the textbook adequate to meet the requirements of the syllabus?$ \qquad $ Yes/No

2b. Mention the chapters which are lengthy. _______________________________________________

2c. Mention the chapters which are too sketchy. _______________________________________________

3a. Does the textbook explain the scope and significance of each domain of HEFS? $ \qquad $ Yes/No

3b. If no, please specify. ___________________________________________

4a. Certain practical and activities have been suggested in the textbook. Which of them have you undertaken in your class? Mention those which you found useful, engaging and enriching _______________________________________________________________

4b. Mention difficulties, if any, faced while organising/doing these practical/ activities. _______________________________________________________________

5a. Do you find the illustrations helpful in understanding the content?$ \qquad $ Yes/No

5b. Mention the illustrations which are not helpful in understanding the content.

6. Mention the printing errors, if any.

7. Any specific comments/suggestions for overall improvement of the textbook. _______________________________________________________________