Position of Extension in Development with an Emphasis on Participation

As an educational institution, "Extension Organization" was established to facilitate a development process, and it is thus virtually expected to follow views and policies reflected in most common development theories which are deemed to be changed occasionally; and now it is time for emerging participation rather than modernization paradigm. Hence, it seems inevitable to redefine nature and position of extension organizations, responding to the changes. In brief, this paper attempts to: 1) describe the meaning of development and participation; 2) compare the nature of extension organizations in modernization and participation paradigms; and 3) illustrate the position of extension organizations in the participation paradigm with regard to its communicative nature.