FARMERS WERE CLASSIFIED INTO FOUR GROUPS ACCORDING TO THEIR TENDENCY TO ADOPT FARM PRACTICE INNOVATIONS. PARTICIPATION IN EDUCATIVE ACTIVITIES WAS POSTULATED TO BE RELATED TO THEIR OPENNESS TO NEW IDEAS AND PRACTICES. A STRUCTURED INTERVIEW SCHEDULE WAS USED TO DETERMINE THE FARMERS' PARTICIPATION IN EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES--READING BOOKS AND MAGAZINES, ATTENDING ADULT CLASSES, CONFERENCES, INSTITUTES, TAKING CORRESPONDENCE COURSES, AND VIEWING SELECTED TELEVISION PROGRAMS. CHI SQUARE ANALYSIS REVEALED THAT THIS PARTICIPATION WAS NOT INDEPENDENT OF THE TENDENCY TO ADOPT NEW PRACTICES. ONE WAY ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE SHOWED SOME RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN OPENNESS AND AGE, FORMAL SCHOOLING, AND SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS. MULTIPLE COVARIANCE WAS DONE ON PARTICIPATION SCORES, REMOVING THE EFFECT OF THESE VARIABLES. IT WAS CONCLUDED THAT ASSOCIATION BETWEEN EDUCATIVE BEHAVIOR AND OPENNESS CANNOT BE EXPLAINED BY CHARACTERISTICS COMMONLY ASSOCIATED WITH EDUCATIONAL PARTICIPATION. IT WAS SUGGESTED THAT EDUCATIVE BEHAVIOR IS IMPORTANT IN DEVELOPING AND MAINTAINING AN OPENNESS TO NEW IDEAS. THIS ARTICLE APPEARED IN THE JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH, VOLUME 60, NUMBER 10, JULY-AUGUST, 1967. (AUTHOR/PT)