LEARNING FACILITATION WORKSHOP
Item
- Title
- LEARNING FACILITATION WORKSHOP
- extracted text
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CLP
lC
SOCIETY FOR COMMUNITY HEALTH AWARENESS, RESEARCH AND ACTION
CHC/CPHE
LEARNING FACILITATION WORKSHOP
26th TO 28™ JULY 2011
VENUE : SOCHARA ANNEXE
PARTICIPANTS: Learning facilitators CHC/CPHE Bangalore, CHC Tamilnadu, CPHE Bhopal
Objectives
1. To understand and explore the foundational philosophy and principles of community Health
learning programmes of SOCHARA.
2. To reflect on terminologies used in learning facilitation practice
capacities .
process, content, skills and
3. To understand CH learning praxis from review/reflections of key SOCHARA learning
programmes- past and current initiatives
4. To review existing capacities for learning facilitators /mentorship at individual and team levels
and to evolve plans of action to build further knowledge, skill and capacity as learning
facilitators.
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5. To reflect and review on existing strategies to clarify and formulate a training frame work and
strategy for the evolving school of public health with a civil society link and perspective.
Resource Persons from SOCHARA pool
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Prof. D. K. Srinivasa, Consultant Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences ( DKS)
Ms. Valli Seshan, Development Trainer, SEARCH/BNI (VS)
Dr. M.K. Vasundhra, President, SOCHARA ( MKV)
Dr. Shirdi Prasad Tekur, Ex Coordinator and Community Health Trainer ( SPT)
Mr. S.J. Chander, Program Director, HLFPPT - ( SJC)
Dr. Mani Kalliath, Program Coordinator, Basic Needs India.( MK)
Dr. Thelma Narayan, Coordinator, CPHE, Secretary, SOCHARA ( TN)
Dr. Ravi Narayan, Community Health Advisor, SOCHARA . (RN)
Methodology:
The overall ethos will be interactive /nartic.inatnrv /raflnc.tive workshop with full team sessions; panel
discussions; group disci
Community Health Library and
Information Centre (CLIC),
SOCHARA
359,1st Main, 1st Block, Koramangala,
BENGALURU - 560 034.
Phone: 080 2553 1518
email; clic@socliara.org
website: www.sochara.org
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Date
26.07.20TT
(Tuesday)
Time___ _____________________ Program me
T
THE PHILOSOPHY OF LEARNING FACILITATION
Theme for the
day:
9.30 am > Introduction
10.30am __
> Self Assessement ( Training facilitation Score)
Tea Break
10.3011 .QOam
11.GOSession -I : Exploring Building Blocks in Learning Facilitation
12.00pm
( RN)
( Dichotomies and Paradigms: content and process issues, skills,
and capacities)
12.001.00pm
Session -II : Challenges in Learning Facilitation : Context,
Values and Conflict resolution. (VS)
1.00-2.00
2.00-3.00
____________ Lunch and Fellowship________________________
Session - III : Inspiration for Learning Facilitation ( RN)
(Exploring training resources/inspiration that provoked /supported
SOCHARA experiments ( An interactive session)
3.00-3.15
3.30-4.45
_______________________ Tea Break____________________
Session - IV Group Discussion-I
Identifying challenges from praxis in Bangalore /Chennai/ and
Bhopal teams. ( Check List)______________________________
____________________ Staff Get together_________________
Assessing Training experiences
(Am I a good learning facilitator/field mentor/ mentor - A self
assessment and reflection)______________
MANAGEMENT AND METHODS OF LEARNING
FACILITATION
4.45-5.30
(Home work)
27th July 2011
(Wednesday)
Theme for the
day:
9.30- 10.30
10.30- 10.45
10.45- 11.45
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11.45- 1.15
1.15-2.00
2.00-3.15
____
3.15-3.30
3.30-4.30
4.30-5.30
Reflections on Day One - Key learning /more questions________
_______________________ Tea Break______________________
Session- V : Learning facilitation - (RN)
Why/Who/What/HowAVhen/Where - Evolving a check list
Session VI: Exploring and understanding structure and frame
work- basic concepts-(DKS)
(Curriculum/Syllabus/ Objective/ Modules/ methods / assessment/
evaluation)
_____________ Lunch and Fellowship__________________
Session VII - Challenges in Community based training
strategies for Health and Non Health Groups - ( SPT)
_________________ Tea break__________________________
Session- IX: Civil Society School for Scholar Activists ( TN)
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Strategies towards a school for scholar activist
Revisiting what we are doing with a new SPH Lens
Role and definition of a scholar activist___________________
Group Discussion on SOCHARA - Website ( CLIC team)
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28th July 2011
(Thursday)
Theme for
the day:
9.30-10.30
10.30- 10.45
10.45- 11.45
LEARNING FROM SOCHARA PRAXIS /FUTURE
PLANS
( Reflections of Day Two)
(Key learning / more questions)_________
____________________ Tea Break________________
Session VIII: Planning a learning program - An A- Z
Check list (RN)
11.45-1.15
Session X
Chairperson : Dr. M.K.Vasundhra
Exploring SOCHARA Praxis ( Principles / Learning)
Case studies:
1. Health for Non Health Group - ( MK)
(Textual - Contextual)
2. VVomen’s Health Empowerment Training -(TN)
( Perspective/Manuals/ToT/ Arogya Mela/ Evaluation)
3. Community Health Trainers Network - (RN)
( Frame work/Manuals/Learning network meetings)
1.15-2.00
2.00-3.00
________________ Lunch and Fellowship_________
Session X ( Contd)
4. Lessons from interactive programmes- Life Skill
Education and Joyful Learning series - ( SJC)
(adapting learning to group/joyful learning series)
3.00-3.15
3.15-4.00
____________________ Tea break
Session - XI : ( Group Discussions)
Setting individual and collective group goals
a. Bhopal Plan
b. Bangalore Plan
c. Chennai Plan
4.00- 5.00
Concluding session and winding up :
SOCHARA Plan - Finalizing Strategies: (To be reported at
AGBM)
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Learning Facilitation Workshop ( SOCHARA)
26th, 27th and 28th July 2011
A - Background Papers and Documents.
1. Health and the Right to Health - from Limits to Medicine - Ivan illich
2. The Hierarchy of Needs - Maslow and other models
3. Banking Education and Liberating Education- Pedagogy of the oppressed. Paulo Freire
4. Approaches to Training — ( EL), John’s Staley
5. Our ideas about Training
6. The learning model - Action- reflection
7. Training and Learning
8. The individual in the Group
9. Do we listen? - A questionnaire
10. How are we doing ? Widening evaluation
1 I. Looking inwards - The individual ( Values, Empathy and Feedback- from People in
development, John Staley, SEARCH
12. A perspective on conflict
13. Managing conflict in an organization
14. Dealing with Conflict
15. Approaches to planning
16. Our approach to planning - A questionnaire
17. Planning a training program - from Helping Health Workers Learn - David Werner and Bill
Bower
18. SEARCH training papers
a) Respect for other people
b) The conditions for learning
c) Leadership Quiz
d) Solving problems and making decisions
e) Elements of team work
f) Group discussions and meetings
g) Empathy and Sympathy
h) Feedback
i) Case studies - episode and cases
j) Setting goals
19. Education Policy for Health Sciences-A statement of shared concern and collectivity
from Community Health Trainers dialogue - 1991, (SOCHARA)
20. A tollective approach to Training - The CHC / SOCHARA model ( from the trainers network
Project)
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B - BASIC READING LIST FOR SOCHARA LEARNING
FACILITATORS
1. Limits to Medicine - Medical Nemesis: The expropriation of Health, Ivan Illich, Penguin
books
2. Pedagogy of the Oppressed, Paulo Friere, Penguin education
3. Writing for Distance Education : A Manual for writers of distance teaching texts and
independent study materials, The international extension College 1979
4. Teaching for better learning - A guide for teachers of Primary Health Care staff , F.R.
Abbatt, World Health Organisation, Geneva, 1980
5. People in Development - A trainers manual for groups , John Staley , SEARCH, 1982
6. Helping Health Workers Learn - A book of methods, aids and ideas for instructors at
village level, David Werner and Bill Bowers, The Hesperian Foundation, 1982
7. From development worker to activist- A case study in participatory training, Desmond A.
D’Abreo , Deeds, 1989
8. Community Health Trainers Dialogue, Oct 1991, CHC SOCHARA workshop report
9. Enticing the learning - Trainers in development, John Staley, University of Birmingham,
UK, 2008
10. Learning programmes for Community Health and Public Health - Report of the
National Workshop - April 2008 (A CHC Silver Jubilee publication)
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Limits
to Medicine
Medical Nemesis:
The Expropriation of Health
IvanlUich
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Penguin Books
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The Politics of Health
desirable to base the limitation of industrial societies on a shared
system of substantive beliefs aiming at the common good and
enforced by the power of the pol.ee. It is possible o find he
needed basis for ethical human action without depending on
shared recognition of any ecological dogmatism now in vogue.
This alt^iv^Q- a^^PJeg^1 re^lRn, 9r
Xal
based -S^agreerpepL about basic values and on procedural
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Ine Recovery of neumi
specificgoalsj^k-sharc..’
on their useofle^al and political
■^TU'rTTThat permit individuals and groups.to resolve conn^lShromSeir^m: ‘-mteent goals. Better mobility
depend not dn some m- kind of transportation system
Cut on conditions that make personal mobility under personal
control more valuable. Bern.; learning opportunities will de
pend not on more inform.mon about the world better disKibu’ted but on the Umitatmo of capital-intensive product.on
for the s’ake of interesting wotkmg conditions. Better health care
ihcrapcjlic standard, but on the
will depend, not on some iK'*: to engage in self-care. The
level of willingness and competence
recognition of our presrecovery of this power depends on the
t
TTmu be demonstrated that beyond a certain point in the
expansion of industrial production in any major field of value
marginal utilities cease to be equitably distributed and ovcral
effectiveness begins, simultaneously, to decline,Ifthemd^trial
mode of..product ion expands-beyond a certain ^ge and com
tinues to impinge on-the autonomous mode, increased perso
suffering and social dissolutiomset in. .In the interim bet
the point of optimal synergy between industrial and au’on°rnous production and the point of maximum tolerable industrial
hegemony - political and juridical procedures become necessary
(o reverse industrial expansion. If these procedures are con
ducted in a sp.r.t of enlightened self-interest and a des.re for
survival and with equitable distribution of social outputs and
equitable access to social control, the outcome ought to be a
recognition of the carrying capacity of the environment and
of the optimal industrial complement to autonomous action
needed for the effective pursuit of persona! goals. Political pro
cedures oriented to the value of survival in distributive and
participatory equity are the only possible rational answer to increasing total management in the name of ecology.
TMlSSSaSIXof ;>£>suijal au-tmtomy. wiTtlms bc.lhe reAulLp
political action reinfprcipg^aii_eLhica.LAwakeniiig..Ecop
. \ want to limit'.ransporution because they want to move eflic entI I |y freely and wiih equity; they will limit schooling because they
I want to share equally the opportunity, time, and motivation to
' learn m rather than about the world; people will limit medical
I' therapies because they want to conserve their opportunity and
power to heal. They will recognize that only the disciplined
I limitation of power can provide equitably shared satisfaction.
The recovery of autonomouj_agUfta^Ul^epen^jaat--00-<iaw
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ent delusions.
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The Right to Health
Increasing and irreparable damage accompan.es present mdustX expansion in all sectors. In medictne th.s damage
appears as iatrogenesis. Uttogenes^ ts clmtcal^hen pam
ness and deathjasultlrgm medical careak !S.social when W
no'licies reinforce an industrial o.rgamzatiop that generates dlheakh- it is cultural and symbolic when med.cally sponsored
behaviour and delusions resiricLihe s ital. autonomy of peop
£ un^SininniTr competence m growmg up. caring or
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each other, and ageing, o. when medical mtervent.on cripples
personal responses to pain, disability, impairment, angmsh. and
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^Most of the remedies now proposed by the social engineers
___ include
and economists to reduce iatrogenesis
include aa further
further increase
increase
: so-called rcmcciies.generaLe~se.c.ondof medical controls. These
---<hev
order iatrogenic ,11s on cac
eachh of the three critical levels:
levels, they
rente clinical, social, and cultural iatrogenesis self-rein forcing.
The most profound iatrogenic effects of the medical techno
structure are a result of those non technical functions whic^
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support the increasing institutiomtlixation o va
technical and the non-teclmical consequences of institutional
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Tiie Recovery of Health
The Politics of Health
tion would tax medical technology and professional activity ’■ '
until those means that can be handled by laymen were truly ;
available to anyone wanting access to them. Instead of
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plying the specialists who can grant any une of a variety of sickroles to people made ill by their work and their life, the new ■
legislation would guarantee the right of people to drop out and
to organize for a less destructive way of life in which they have
more control of their environment. Instead of restricting access^
to addictive, dangerous, or useless drugs and procedures, such :
legislation would shift the full burden of their responsible use
on to the sick person and his next of km. Instead of submitting
the physical and mental integrity of citizens to more and more j *
wardens, such legislation would recognize each man s right to ;
define his own health - subject only to limitations imposed by
^es^ct’fo/his neighbour's rights. Instead of strengthening^the
medicine coalesce and gen^ajc^Aew-km^Qf^u^
lhelized. impoicnt,.and solitary survival in a world turned into a
hospital ward. Medical nemesis is the experience of people who
are largely deprived of any autonomous ability to cope with
nature, neighbours, and drcams, and who are technically main
tained within environmental, social, and symbolic systems.
Medical nemesis cannot be measured, but its experience can be
shared. The intensity with which it is experienced will depend on
the independence, vitality, and relatedness of each individual.
The perception of nemesis leads to a.choice,^‘^her dtenatural
boundaries of human .endeavour are estimated^recogmzed^a nd
transf^x^^
or^^^^Xsur'
vivliYn 1 planned and engineered.hellj’s^^te£asjhealurnative KTSfnction. Until recently the cho.ce between the
poiitics'of'voluntary’poverty and the hell of the systems en
gineer did not fit into the language of scientists or politicians.
Our increasing confrontation with medical nemesis now lends
new significance io the alternative: either society must choose
the same stringent limits on the kind of goods produced wnhm
which all its members may find a guarantee for equal freedom,
or society must accept unprecedented hierarchical controls to
provide for each member what welfare bureaucracies diagnose
licensing power of
specialized
government
agencies,
-ould
give the peers
publicand
a voice
in the election
of JJ
new legislation wc— w
healers to tax-supported health jobs. Instead of submitting their
performance to professional review organizations, new legisla- ;
tion would have them evaluated by the community they serve.
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Health as a Virtue
as his or her needs.
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In several nations the public is now ready for a review of its
heahh-care system. Although there is a serious danger that the
forthcoming debate will reinforce the present frustrating medicalization of life, the debate could still become fruitful if atten
tion were focused on medical nemesis, if the recovery of per
sonal responsibility for health care were made the central issue,
and if limitations on professional monopolies were made the
major goal of legislation. Instead of limiting the resources of
doctors and of the institutions that employ them, such legisla-
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Health designates a process of adaptation. It is not the result
of instinct, but of anj^ojxQWO^yetxulm^
t0^S0.cialb:..c^L£d4^y. It designates the ability to adapt to
changing environments, to growing up and to ageing, to healing
when damaged, to suffering, and to the peaceful expectation of
death. Health embraces the future as well, and therefore in
cludes anguish and the inner resources to live with it.
Health designates a process by which each person is respons
ible, but only in part responsible to others. To be responsible
may mean two things. A man is responsible for what he has
done, and responsible to another person or group. Only when he
feels subjectively responsible or answerable to another person
will the consequences of his failure be not criticism, censure, or
3 The Honourable James McRurr. Ontario Royal Commission Inquiry into
Cru/Jdg/rrstToromo: Queen s Poorer. t968. 1969. t97t). On self-governmg
professions and occupations, see chap. 79. The grant,ng of ^Ho^nmen
is a delegation of legislative and judicial funcuons that can be justified only
as a safeguard to public interests.
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272
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The Recovery of Health
The Politics of Health
punishment but regret, remorse, and true repentance.4 The con
sequent states of grief and distress are marks of recovery and
healing, and are phenomenologically something entirely differ
ent from guilt feelings. Health is a task, and as such is not com
parable to the physiological balance of beasts. Success in this
personal task is in large part the result of the self-awareness,
self-discipline, and inner resources by which each person reg
ulates his own daily rhythm and actions, his diet, and his sexual
activity. Knowledge encompassing desirable activities, com
petent performance, the commitment to enhance health in
others - these are all learned from (he example of peers or
elders. These personal activities are shaped and conditioned by
the culture in which the individual grows up: patterns of work
and leisure, of celebration and sleep, of production and pre
paration of food and drink, of family relations and politics.
Long-tested health patterns that fit a geographic area and a
certain technical situation depend to a large extent on longlasting political autonomy. They depend on the spread of
responsibility for healthy habits and for the socio-biological
environment. That is, they depend on the dynamic stability
of a culture.
The level of public health corTg§.po£ds tq^the degree to which
the means and responsibility for coping with illness are dis
tributed among the total population. This ability to cope can be
enhancedTJut never replaced by medical intervention or by the
hygienic characteristics of the environment. Iii.at_society which
can reduce professional intervention to the minimum will pro
vide the best conditions Tor-health. The greater the potential for
autonomous adaptation to self, to others, and to the environ
ment, the less management of adaptation will be needed or
tolerated.
A world of optimal and widespread health is obviously a
world of minimal and only occasional medical intervention.
Healthy people are those who live in healthy homes on a healthy
diet in an environment equally fit for birth, growth, work, heal-
ing, and dying; they arc sustained by a culture that enhances the |
conscious acceptance of limit- to population, of ageing, of in- J
complete recovery and ev<
eminent death. Healthy people
need minimal bureaucratic interference to male, give birth,
share the human condition, arid die.
Man’s consciously lived Lagility,Jncj.ivyu^^d^rdatedness make the experience of pain, of sickness, and of death an
^Tnte'gral pari of his life. The ability io ccpe with this trio autono
mously is fundamental to his health. As he becomes dependent
on the management of his mtimacy, he renounces his auto
nomy and his health must decline. The irue miracle of modern
medicine is diabolical. It consists in making not only individuals
but whole populations survive on inhumanly low levels of per
sonal health. Medical nemesis is the negative, feedback of a
social organization that set out to -improve.the
opportunity for each man to cope in autonomy andended by
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destroying it.
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4. Alfred Schutz. ‘Some Equivocations in the Notion of Responsibility',
in Collected Papers, vol. 2, Studies in Social Theory (The Hague: NijhofT,
1964), pp. 274-6.
274
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A
THE HIERARCHY OF NEEDS
I: ORIGINAL PROPOSITION
(ABRAHAM MASLOW)
Self actualization need
Esteem needs
MATURATION PROCESS:
REALIZATION OF
GENETIC POTENTIAL
Belongingness needs
Safety needs
Physiological needs
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II: EXPANDED PROPOSITION - THE Y MODEL
(Y. YU)
GENETIC
EXPRESSION
GENETIC
TRANSMISSION
Self actualization
need
Esteem needs
Belongingness needs
Parenting
needs
Reproduction needs
Sexual needs
Safety needs
GENETIC
SURVIVAL
Physiological needs
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III : GENETIC EXPRESSION CHANNELIZED
IN CONTRASTING SOCIETAL SYSTEMS
NEED
LEVEL
COLLECTIVISTIC INDIVIDUALISTIC
SOCIETAL
SOCIETAL
SYSTEM
SYSTEM
Self
actualization
Contributing
Personal
to community
development accomplishment full potential
Esteem
Primacy of
social esteem
Primacy of
self esteem
Belongingness Cohesion in
relationships
Self interest
through
relationships
Safety
Physiological
I
GENETIC
EXPRESSION
Unlikely
differentiation
GENETIC
SURVIVAL
Unlikely
differentiation
IV : REVISED PROPOSITION
(KUO-SHU YANG)
COLLECTIVISTIC
GENETIC EXPRESSION
DOUBLE Y MODEI^
GENETIC TRANSMISSION
INDIVIDUALISTIC
GENETIC EXPRESSION
CSA
Parenting
needs
CE
ISA
Reproduction
needs
C
CSA: Collectivistic
self actualization
ISA: Individualistic
Self actualization
CE:
Collectivistic
esteem
IE:
Individualistic
esteem
CB: Collectivistic
belongingness
IB:
Individual ictir
belongingness
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Sexual
\ needs /
IE
IB
— Safety needs
Physiological needs
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Chapter 2
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Pedagogy
of the Oppressed
Paulo Freire
Translated by Myra Bergman Ramos
A careful analysis of the teacher-student relationship at any
level, inside or outside the school, reveals its fundamentally.
namitivc character. This relationship involves a narrating
Subject (the teacher) and patient, listening objects (the students):
The contents, whether values or empirical dimensions of reality,,
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tend in the process of being narrated to become lifeless and
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Penguin Education
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petrified. Education is suffering from narration sickness.
The teacher talks about reality as if it were motionless, static,
compartmentalized and predictable. Or else he expounds on a
topic completely alien to the existential experience of the
students. His task is to ‘fill’ the students with the contents of
his narration - contents which are detached from reality, dis
connected from the totality that engendered them and could
give them significance. Words are emptied of their concreteness
and become a hollow, alienated and alienating verbosity.
The outstanding characteristic of this narrative education,
then, is the sonority of words, not (heir transforming power,
‘.(•'our limes four is sixteen; the capital of Para is Belem.’ The
student records, memorizes and repeats these phrases without
perceiving what four times four really means, or realizing the
true significance of ‘capital' in the affirmation ‘the capital of
Para is Belem,' that is, what Belem means for Para and what
Para means for Brazil.
Narration (with the teacher as narrator) leads the students to
memorize mechanically the narrated content. Worse still, it
turns them into •containers’, into receptacles to be filled by the .
teacher. The more completely he fills the receptacles, the better a
teacher he is. The more meekly the receptacles permit them
selves to be filled, the better students they are.
Education thus bccom.es an act of depositing, in which the
students are the depositories and the teacher is the depositor.
Instead of communicating, (he teacher issues communiques
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and ‘makes deposits’ which the students patiently receive,
memorize, and repeat. This is the ‘banking’concept of educa
tion, in which the scope of action allowed to the students
extends only as far as receiving, filing, and storing the deposits.
They do, it is true, have the opportunity to become collectors or
cataloguers of the things they store. But in the last analysis, it is
men themselves who are filed away through the lack of creativity,
transformation, and knowledge in this (at best) misguided
system. For apart from inquiry, apart from the praxis, men
cannot be truly human. Knowledge emerges only through
invention_.and re-jnvention, through-the..restlessT"impatient,
continuing, hopeful inquiry men pursue in the world, with the
world, andwith each other.
In the banking concept of education, knowledge is a gift
bestowed by those who consider themselves knowledgeable
upon those whom they consider to know nothing. Projecting
an absolute ignorance onto others, a characteristic of the
ideology of oppression, negates education and knowledge as
processes of inquiry. The teacher presents himself to his students
as their necessary opposite; by considering (heir ignorance
absolute, he justifies his own existence. The students, alienated
like the slave in the Hegelian dialectic, accept their ignorance as
justifying the teacher’s existence - but, unlike the slave, they
never discover that they educate the teacher.
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5. The teacher disciplines and the students are disciplined.
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8. The teacher chooses the programme content, and the students
(who were not consulted) adapt to it.
9. The teacher confuses the authority of knowledge with his
own professional authority, which he sets in opposition to the
freedom of the students.
10. The teacher is the subject of the learning process, while the
pupils are mere objects.
It is not surprising that rhe banking concept of education
regards men as adaptable, manageable beings. The more
students work at storing the deposits entrusted to them, the less
they develop the critical consciousness which would result
from their intervention in the world as transformers of that
world. The more completely they accept the passive role im
posed on them, the more they tend simply to adapt to the world
as it is and to the fragmented view of reality deposited in them.
The capacity of banking education to minimize or annul (he
students’ creative power and to stimulate their credulity serves
the interests of the oppressors, who care neither to have the
world revealed nor to see it transformed. The oppressors use
their ‘humanitarianism’ to preserve a profitable situation. Thus
reconciling the poles of the contradiction so that both arc
simultaneously teachers ^//z/students.
This solution is not (nor can it be) found in the banking
concept. On the contrary, banking education maintains and
even stimulates the contradiction through the following attitudes
and practices, which mirror oppressive society as a whole:
2. The teacher knows everything and the students know nothing.
3. The teacher thinks and the students are thought about.
4. The teacher talks and the students listen - meekly.
6. The teacher chooses and enforces his choice, and the students
comply.
7. The teacher acts and the students have the illusion of acting
through the action of the teacher.
The rG/5o/^/’e£rejo£liber^aj2i<UT_educatiom on the other hand,
lies in its drive_towards_reconciliation. Education must begin
with the solution of the_ teacher-studen_t_ conFradiction, by_
1. The teacher teaches and the stncicnis arc taughL
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they react almost instinctively against any experiment in educa
tion which stimulates the critical faculties and is not content
with a partial view of reality but is always seeking out the ties
winch link one point to another and one problem to another.
Indeed, the interests of the oppressors lie in ‘changing the
consciousness of the oppressed, not the situation which op
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presses them' (Simone de Beauvoir in La Pensee de Droite
Aujuurd'hili') for the more the oppressc'd-cim be led to adapt to
that situation, the more easily they can be dominated. To
achieve this end, the oppressors use the hanking concept of
education in conjum-tion with a paternalistic social action
apparatus, within which the oppressed receive the euphemistic
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/ title of ‘welfare recipients’. They are treated as individual
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cases, as marginal men who deviate from the general con
figuration of a ‘good, organized, and just’ society. 1 he op
pressed are regarded as the pathology of the healthy society,
which must therefore adjust these ‘incompetent and lazy folk
to its own patterns by changing their mentality. These mar
ginals need to be ‘integrated’, ‘incorporated into the healthy
society that they have ‘forsaken’.
The truth is, however, that the oppressed are not marginals,
are not men living ‘outside’ society. They have always been
iT
ZIdT -^lnside the structure which made them ‘beings for
inside
'others\~The solution is not to * integrate’ them into the structure
of oppcession, but to transform that structure so that they can
become^ ‘ beings fo r themsely^^Such _ t cans form a t i o rg^ f
course, would undermine the oppressorXd?Urpos^Xi-hSJlQfe.kh£ir
utilization..ofdhe. banking concept of education to avoid the
threat of student conscientization.
The banking approach to adult.education, for example, will
never propose to students that they consider reality critically. It
will deal instead with such vital questions as whether R.oger
gave green grass to the goat, and insist upon the importance of
learning that, on the contrary, Roger gave green grass to the
rabbit. The ‘humanism’ of the banking approach masks the
effort to turn men into automatons — the very negation of their
ontological vocation to be more fully human.
Those who use the banking approach, knowingly or un
knowingly (for (here are innumerable well-intentioned bank
clerk teachers who do not realize that they are seiving only to
dehumanize), fail to perceive that the deposits themselves con
tain contradictions about reality. But, sooner or later, these
contradictions may lead formerly passive students to turn
against their domestication and the attempt to domesticate re
ality. They may discover through existential experience that their
present way of life is irreconcilable with their vocation to become
, fully human. They may perceive through thenj-Qlations
ality that reality is really a process, undergoing constapUxausv ‘Tormatj^ii^ iFmen are searchers and their ontological vocation
is humanization, sooner of later they may perceive the contra
diction in which banking education seeks to maintain them, and
43
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/hen engage thcmselvc in the struggle for their liberation.
But the humanist, revolutionary educator cannot wait for
this possibility to materialize. From the outset, his efforts must
coincide with those of the students to engage in critical thinking
and the quest for mutual humanization. His efforts musCbc
imbued with a profound [rust in men and their creativejpoy^er.
Trr^EiewrTFHs^
be a partner of the students injijg
relations with them.
The banking concept does not admit to such a partnership and necessarily so. To resolve the teacher-student contradic
tion, to exchange the role of depositor, prescriber, domesticator,
for the role of student among students would be to undermine
the power of oppression and to serve thecause of liberation.
Implicit in the. banking concept is the assumption of a
dichotomy between man and the world: man is merely in the
world, not with the world or with others; man is spectator, not
rc-creator. In this view, man is not a conscious being (corpo
consciente)} he is rather the possessor of a consciousness; an
empty ‘mind’ passively open to the reception of deposits of
reality from the world outside. For example, my desk, my books,
my coffee cup, al) the objects before me - as bits of the world
which surrounds me - would be ‘inside me, exactly as I arn
inside my study right now. Tins view makes no distinction
between being accessible to consciousness and entering con
sciousness. The distinction, however, is essential: the objects
which surround me are simply accessible to my consciousness,
not located within it. I am aware of them, but they are not
inside me.
Ji follows logically from the banking notion of consciousness
that the educator’s role is to regulate the way the world ‘enters
into’ the students. His task is to organize a process which
already happens spontaneously, to ‘ fill ’ the students by making
deposits of information which he considers constitute true
knowledge.1 And since men ‘receive’ the world as passive
J. This concept corresponds to what Sartre calls the ‘digestive’ or
‘nutritive’ concept of cdu-. ■.iion, in which knowledge is ‘fed’ by the
teacher to the students to Till them out’. See Jean-Paul Sartre, ‘Unc
ideeTondamcntale de la pl;.aomiinoiogic de Husserl; 1 intentionality ,
Siiuaiiotis I.
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endt es education should make them more passive stin. and
adapt them to the world. The educated man is the adapted man
b^^^s more7H^oTnje^^
’
whcsL tranqu^lny rests on how well men fit tlw wofd the
The more completely tne majority adapt to the purposes
which the dominant minority prescribe for them (thereby
depnvmg them of the right to their own purposes), the more
eas.Iy the mmonty can continue to prescribe. The theory and
practice of banking education serve this end quite efficiently
Verbabstic lessons, reading requirements? the methods for
evaluating ‘knowledge’, the distance between the teacher and
the taught, the criteria for promotion: everything in this ready-
to-wear approach serves to obviate thinking.
The bank-clerk educator does not realize that there is no true
security in his hypertrophied role, that one must seek to live
>w//i others in solidarity. One cannot impose oneself, nor even
merely co-exist wKh one’s students. Solidarity requires true
communication, and the concept by which such
an educator is
guided fears and proscribes communication.
Yet only throygh communication can human life hold
meaning. The teacher’s thinking is authenticated only by the
authenticity of thestudents’ thinking. The teacher cannot think
for h.s students, nor can he impose his thought on them
Anthemic.^km^^m^thaHs concerned about
^2HykyPlace
ivory-tower isolatioTTl^^”
™™«!ion7mt IS true that thought has ^ffi^TT'\^hen
generated by action upon the world, the subordination of
students to teachers becomes impossible.
Because banking education begins with a false understanding
o men as objects, it cannot promote the development of what
Fromm, m The Heart of Man, calls ’biophijy’, but instead
produces its opposite: ‘necrophily
While life is ehimictcfized-by growth in a structured lunctiomi! man
ner, the necrophilous person loves all that docs not’grow, all' tha't is
2. For example, some teachers specify i.uheir reading lisls lh,,
book should be -d from pages «0 to ! 5 - n„d do this ,o ’IJ!p
students’
mechanical. The necrophilous person is driven by the desire to trans
form the organic into the inorganic, to approach life mechanically,
as if all living persons were things. . . . Memory, rather than experi
ence; having, rather than being, is what counts. The necrophilous
person can relate to an object - a flower or a person - only if he
possesses it; hence a^threa£td his possession is a threat to himself;
if he loses possession he loses contact with the world. ... He loves
control, and in the act of com roll mg he kills life.
Oppression - overwhelming control - is necrophilic; it is
nourished by love of death, not life. The banking concept of
education, which serves the interests of oppression, is also
necrophilic. Based on a mechanistic, static, naturalistic,
spatialized view of consciousness, it transforms students into
receiving objects. It attempts to control thinking and action,
leads men to adjust to the world, and inhibits their creative
power.
When their efforts to act responsibly are frustrated, when they
find themselves unable to use their faculties, men suffer. ‘This
suffering due to impotence is rooted in the very- fact that the
human equilibrium has been disturbed’, says Fromm. But the
inability to act which causes men’s anguish also causes them to
reject their impotence, by attempting
■ ■ • to restore [their] capacity to act. But can [they], and how? One
way is to submit (q_and identify with a person,ot_£rc>iip~having
power. By this symbolic participation in another person’s Tile,~[mcn
Kave] iHeTnusToF of acting, when.m reality .[they] only submTto'and
become a part of those who act.
Populist manifestations perhaps best exemplify this type of
behaviour by (he oppressed, who, by identifying with charis
matic leaders, come to feel that they themselves are active and
effective. The rebellion (hey express as they emerge in the
historical process is motivated by (hat desire to act effectively.
The dominant elites consider the remedy to be more domination
....and repression, carried out in the name of freedom, order anrf
social peace (the peace of the elites, that is). Thus they can
condemn - logically, from (heir point of view - ‘the violence of a
strike by workers and [can] call upon the state in the same
breath to use violence in putting down the strike’ (Niebuhr’s
Moral Man and Immoral Society),
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Education as the exercise of domination stimulates the
credulity of students, with the ideological intent (often not
perceived by educators) of indoctrinating them to adapt to the
world of oppression. This accusation is not made in the naive
hope that the dominant elites will thereby simply abandon the
practice. Its objective is to call the attention of true humanists
to the fact that they cannot use the methods of banking educa
tion in the pursuit of liberation, as they would only negate that
pursuit itself. Nor may a revolutionary society inherit these
methods from an oppressor society. The revolutionary society
which practises banking education is either misguided or mis
trustful of men. In either event, it is threatened by the spectre of
1 •
reaction.
Unfortunately, those who espouse the cause of liberation
are themselves surrounded and influenced by the c 1 i ma tew h ich
gene7atesTt:he banking conceptt and often do not perceive^its
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true "significance or its dehuniariizing pQwer• Paradoxically,
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t h e n, t hey utili^ this very instnjmentpjalienat ion in what they
consider an effort to liberate. Indeed; some ‘revolutionaries’
brand as innocents, dreamers, or even reactionaries those who
would challenge this educational practice. But one does not
liberate men by alienating them. Authentic liberation - the
process of humanization - is not another ‘deposit’ to be made
in men. Liberation is a praxis: the action and reflection of men
upon their world in order to transform it. Those truly com
mitted to the cause of liberation can accept neither the mechanis
tic concept of consciousness as an empty vessel to be filled, nor
the use of banking methods of domination (propaganda,
slogans - deposits) in the nameof liberation.
The truly committed must reject the banking concept in its
entirety, adopting instead a concept of men as conscious beings,
and consciousness as consciousness directed towards the world.
They must abandon the educational goal of deposit-making and
replace it with (he posing of the problems of men in their re
lations with the world. ‘ Problem-posing' education, responding
to the essence of consciousness - intentionality - rejects com
muniques and embodies communication. It epitomizes the
special characteristic of consciousness: being conscious oj\ not
only as intent on objects but as turned in upon itself in a
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Ja-sperian ‘split’ - consciousness as consciousness of conscious
ness.
Liberating education consists in acts of cognition, not transferrals of informat io:,. Jt is a learning situation in which the
cognizable object (far from being the end of the cognitive act)
intermediates the cognitive actors - teacher on the one hand and
students on the other. Accordingly, the practice of problem
posing education first of all demands a resolution of the teacher
student contradiction. Dialogical relations - indispensable to
the capacity of cognitive actors to cooperate in perceiving the
same cognizable object - are otherwise impossible.
Indeed, problem-posing education, breaking the vertical
patterns characteristic of banking education, can fulfill its
function of being the practice of freedom only if it can over
come the above contradiction. Through dialogue, .the teacherof-thc-students and the students-of-the-teacher cease to exist
and a new term emerges: teacher-student with studentstcachers. The teacher is no longer merely the-one-who-teaches^
but one who is himself taught in dialogue with the students, who
'n their turn while being taught also teach. They become joindY
responsible for ajrocess in which all grow. In this process,
arguments based on ‘authority' arc no longer valid; in order to
function, authority must be on the side q/Trcedom, not against
it. Here, no one teaches another, nor is anyone self-taught. Men
(each each other, mediated by the world, by the cognizable
objects which in banking education arc ‘owned ’ by the teacher.
The banking concept (with its tendency to dichotomize
everything) distinguishes two stages in the action oftheeducator.
During the first, he cognizes a cognizable object while he pre
pares his lessons in his study or his laboratory; during the
second, he expounds to his students on that object. The students
arc not called upon to know, but to memorize the contents
narrated by the teacher. Nor do the students practise any act of
cognition, since the (fl>jccrTov.ard?TvMcirthat act should be
dirccled is the property ofdhc Reacher rather than a medium
evoking the, critical-rrJUr.tinn__Q£_Lp(h~~tcacher and students.
Hence in the name of the ‘ preservation ofculture and knowT”
ledge' we have a system which achieves neither true knowledge
nor true culture.
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The problem-posing method does not dichotomize the
activity of the teacher-student: he is not ‘cognitive' at one point
and ‘narrative’ at another. He is always ‘cognitive’, whether
preparing a project or engaging in dialogue with the students.
He does not regard cognizable objects as his private property,
but as the object of reflection by himself and the students. In
this way, the problem-posing educator constantly re-lorm^his
reflections in the reflection of the students^ The students - no
longer docile listeners - are now critical co-;nvestigators in
dialogue with the teacher. The teacher presentsjhe material to
the students for their consideration, and re-examines his earlier
considerano.hs^dM.sludents express their own. The role o f the
' problem-posing educator is to erdate, together with the students,
the conditions under which knowledge at the icycl^of the doxay
is superseded by true knowledge* al the level of the logos)
Whereas banking educat ion anaesthetizes and inhibits creative
power, problem-posing education involves a constant unvc;hng
of reaIity. The former attempts tp maint.ai.n.1 he submersion af
consciousness; the latter strives for the emergence o! consciousness and critical intervention in reality.
'Studems, as t Key" are'increasingly faced with problems re
lating to themselves in the world and with the world, will feel
increasingly challenged and obliged to respond to that challenge.
Because they apprehend the challenge as interrelated to other
problems withmTnolafcorifext, not as a theorcdeal .question,
the resultmg^mprchTnsibn^tends to be increasmgly cridca! and
thus constantly "less" alienated^ Their response to the challenge
evokcs~nev7 challenges, followed by new understandings; and
gradually thestudents come to regard themselves as committed.
Education as the practice of freedom - as opposed to educa
tion as the practice of domination - denies that man is abstract,
isolated, independent, and unattached to the world; it also
denies that the world exists as a reality apart from men. Aullicn. tic reflect ion..CQ.n5 ide rs neither, abstract man nor the world
without~mcn? but men in their rHandrTs'wnii ghe WQ'r^^ Ihese
relations consciousness and world are simultaneous: conscious
ness neither precedes the world nor follows it. 'La conscience et
le monde sont dormes d'u/i meme coup: exterieur par essence d
la conscience, le monde est, par essence re lot if a elle', writes
1
Sartre. In one of our culture circles in Chile, the group was
discussing (based on a codification)3 the anthropological con
cept of culture. In the midst of the discussion, a peasant who by
banking standards was completely ignorant said: 'Now I see
that without man there is no world.’ When the educator re
sponded: ’Let’s say, for the sake of argument, that all the men
on earth were to die, but that the earth itself remained, together
with trees, birds, animals, rivers, seas, the stars ... wouldn’t all
this be a world?' ‘Oh no,’ the peasant replied emphatically.
‘There would be no one to say: “This is a world .
The peasant wished to express the idea that there would be
lacking the consciousness of the world which necessarily implies
the world of consciousness. ‘I’cannot exist without a‘not I’. In
turn, the ‘not L depends on that existence. The world which
brings consciousness into existence becomes the worldTTTKaf.
^nTciS^ngs'. Hence'thc previously cited affirmation of Sartre:
~L a consdTtce et le monde sont dormes d'un meme coup.'
As men, simultaneously reflecting on themselves and on the
world, increase the scope of their perception, they begin to
direct’ their observations towards previously inconspicuous
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phenomena. Husserl writes:
In perception properly so-called, as an explicit awareness [Ge^/iren],
I am turned towards the object, to the paper, for instance. 1 appre
hend it as being tins here and now. The apprehension is a singling out,
every object having a background in experience. Around and about
the paper lie books, pencils, ink-well and so forth, and these in a
certain sense are also ‘perceived’, perceptually there, in the ‘field of
intuition’; but whilst I was turned towards the paper there was no
turning in their direction, nor any apprehending of them, not even
in a secondary wnse. They appeared and yet were not singled out,
were not posited on their own account. Every perception ol a thing
has such a zone of background intuitions or background awareness,
if ■ intuiting’ already includes the state of being turned towards, and
this also is a ‘conscious experience’, or more briefly a ‘consciousness
of’ all indeed that in point of fact lies in the co-perceived objective
background.
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Thai which had existed objectively but had not been perceived
in its deeper implications (if indeed it was perceived at allU
3. See chapter 3. (Translator s note.'}
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begins to ‘stand out’, assuming the character of a problem and
therefore of challenge. Thus, men begin to single out elements
from their ‘background awarenesses’ and to reflect upon them.
These elements are now objects of men’s consideration, and, as
such, objects of their action and cognition.
Ill problem-posing education, men develop their power, to
perceive critically the way they exist in the world wjh
In whiditf\eyft iid tTemsdv^IIEcy-C.o me.t3-see.tbe..wo ddnoXas
iFstatic reality, but as_ajeality in process, in transformation.
Although the dialectical relations of men with the world exist
independently of how these relations are perceived (or whether
or not they are perceived at all), it is also true that the form of
action men adopt j££o jJ^rge_e^er^^
perceive themselves in the world. Hence, the teacher-student and
the stmder^teach^^ff^sim^HQ^QusTy^on^Jb^nselveFand
the” wo rid w i th ou t dichmomjz[ng t his refleetjony fro m _act ion,
a nd thus establish an authentic form of thought and act ion.
Once again, the two educational concepts and practices,
under analysis come into conflict. Banking education (for
obvious reasons) attempts, by mythicizing reality, to conceal
certain facts which explain the way men exist in the world;
problem-posing education sets itself the task of de-mythologizing. Banking education resists dialogue; problem-posing
education regards dialogue as indispensable to the act of cog
nition which unveils reality. Banking education treats students
as objects of assistance; problem-posing education makes them
critical thinkers. Banking education inhibits creativity and
domesticates (although it cannot completely destroy) the in
tent ionality of consciousness by isolating consciousness from the
world, thereby denying men their ontological and historical
vocation of becoming more fully human. Problem-posing
education bases itself on creativity and’stimulates (rue reflection
and action upon reality, (hereby responding^tojhe vocation of
men as beings who are authentic onjy when cngaged^inJnayiLy
and; creative transformation. In sum: banking theory and
p ract ice, as i mm o b i I izi ng and fi xa t i n g forces, fail to acknowledge
men as historical beings; problem-posing theory and practice
take man’s historicity as (heir starting point.
Problem-posing education affirms men as beings in the pro-
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cess of becoming - as unfinished, uncompleted beings in and
with a likewise unhni: iicd realiiy. Indeed, in contrast to other
animals who are unfa.: .hed, but not historical, men know themselves to be unfinished; they arc aware of their incompleteness.
In this incompleteness and this awareness lie the very roots of
education as an exclusively human manifestation. The un
finished character of rr.cn and the transformational character of
reality necessitate that education be an ongoing activity.
Education is thus constantly remade in the praxis. In order
' to be. it must become. Its ‘duration’ (in the Bergsonian meaning
of the word) is found in the interplay of the opposites per
manence and change. The banking method emphasizes per
manence and becomes reactionary; problem-posing education
- which accepts neither a ‘well-behaved’ present nor a pre
determined future - roots itself in the dynamic present and
becomes revolutionary.
Problem-posing education is revolutionary futurity. Henceit is prophetic (and, as such, hopeful), and so corresponds to the
historical nature of man. Thus, it affirms men as beings who
transcend themselves, who move forward and look ahead, for
whom immobility represents a fatal threat, for whom looking at
the past must only be a means of understanding more clearly
what and who they arc so that they can more wisely build the
future. Hence, it identifies with the movement which engages
men as beings aware of their incompleteness - an historical
movement which has its point of departure, its subjects and its
objective.
The point of departure of the move men t lies in men themselveTTBuTsTncc men do not exist apart^ from_the world, apart
froni^reality^llic^jrioscinent must begin^with the men-world
re 1 a t io ns h i p. Acco rd i ng I y, t he po i n t o f departure m us t a ly^iys
Ik with nienjn the ‘here and now’, which constitutes the si.luation within which they arc submerged, from which they emergc,
aiidjji which they intervene. Only by starting frorn Uiis^imation
- which determines their perception of it — can they begin%to
nTo^JiLjdb-lhis...authentically they mus,t jyerce.ive their state
not its fiH.cd.and unalterable, but merely asJiniiting - and-therc_f< > rc challenging,___
Whereas the banking method directly or indirectly reinforces
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men’s fatalistic perception of their situation, the problem
posing method presents this very situation to (hern as a problem.
i
interests of (he oppressor No oppressive order could permit the
or magical perception v/hich produced their fatalism gives way
oppressed to begin to question: Why? While only a revolu
tionary society c?.n carry out this education in systematic terms,
the revolulionatj. leaders need not take full power before they
to perception which is able to perceive itself even as it perceives
can employ the method.
reality, and can thus be critically objective about (hat reality.
leaders cannot utilize the banking method as an interim measure,
As the situation becomes the object of their cognition, the naive
In the revolutionary process, the
A deepened consciousness of their situation, leads men to
justified on grounds of expediency, with the intention of later
apprehend that situation as an historical reality susceptible of
behaving in a genuinely revolutionary fashion. They must be
transformation. Resignation gives way to the drive for trans
revolutionary - that is to say, dialogical - from the outset.
formation and inquiry, over which
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men feel themselves in
control. If men, as historical beings necessarily engaged with
other men in a movement of inquiry, did not control that move
ment, it would be (and is) a violation of men’s humanity. Any
situation in which some men prevent others from engaging in
the process of inquiry is one’ofxdolencc. The means used are not
1
important; to alienate men from their own decision-making is to
change them into objects.
This movement of inquiry must be directed towards humani
zation - man’s historical vocation. The pursuit of full humanity,
however, cannot be carried out in isolation or individualism,
but only in fellowship and solidarity; therefore it cannot unfold
in the antagonistic relations between oppressors and oppressed.
No one can be authentically human while he prevent others
from being so. The attempt to be more human, individualisti-
cally, leads to having more, egotistically: a form of dehumaniza
tion. Not that it is not fundamental to have in order to be
I
human. Precisely because it is necessary, some men's having
must not be allowed to constitute an obstacle to others' having,
to consolidate the power of the former to crush the latter.
Problem-posing education, as a humanist and liberating
praxis, posits as fundamental that men subjected to domination
i
must fight for (heir emancipation. To that end, it enables
teachers and students to become subjects of the educational
___ process by overcoming authoritarianism .and an alienating
intellectualism; it also enables men to overcome their false
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perception of reality. The world - no longer something to be
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described with deceptive words - becomes the object of that
transforming action by men which results in their humanization.
Problem-posing education docs not and cannot serve the
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; Approaches to 1 rammg
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> In tm years lime I may haveforgotten the content but I will remember the approach.
This section is directed mainly towards trainers. The section sets out four approaches
-to tramingandTearning, .with their characteristics
and their advantaged disadvan
________________________
. . ■ ,lg
all perspective for people who have training ■
tages. The purpose is to provide an over; „
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responsibilities, and a rationale for the experience-based approach of this manual.
members also. If members "I
Course trainers may want to offer the material to course
’ ; it will add perspective to
become familiar with the approaches and their characteristics
understanding or us
their experience of their own course, and will increase their
l..
y;
methodology.
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topic js offered to coe.e members, it is best dealt wrth after th ee 0^4 weeks,
by which time members will be able to relate jt to the.r own expe,ence ol Jte cow.
The information and ideas can be conveyed through a short presentation: do n|st g,ve a ■
continuous lecture (see page 158).
The short questionnaire Our Ideas about Training (page 163) can be used to opln up the j
.■7?
is light-hearted in style, but it will help members to g
. _i__ 4.mlp nf th^i trainer.
and the ro,e ortlWner
When we consider the education and training of adults as development workerjs\ we can
lit
four
identify four different approaches, each with advantages and disadvantages.. (The
_
approaches can be illustrated with a simple diagram which has two axes.'
The first axis has Theory as one extreme and Practice as the other. I he seconji axis has . |
»
Content as one extreme and Process as the other? The two axes produce tout
|
quadrants each representing an approach to training. Please refer to die diagram on die |
next page.
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1 Academic
<3
In the first quadrant which lies between Content and Theory, the approach can ■be|
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described as ‘academic’. The main tool here is ‘teaching’. The purpose of academic^
teaching is to convey information and to pass on theoretical unders tan ling.
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characteristic method is the lecture, supported by individual reading and the writing of,J
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I After Rolf P. Lynton and Udai Pareek. Training for Development, Taraporevala.
t
y\hat a group is^g
^~e. observe
*
observe ho v the group isS
working or discussing, we are focussing on the process.
1
156
I.
i i
1
1
I Approaches to Training
«T’V
SaysvThe goals are contained in a syllabus or curriculum. Appraisal is by means of
Jexafninations, usually written and competitive. The principal roles are lecturer or
er, and student or pupil.
I fth
Vfhc approach assumes that education is an intellectual process o; acquiring knowledge.
j|s|M'wledge-ia -to-be- passed-frorm those-who ‘know’ (the teachers), to those who xlorft
students), who are ‘ignorant’. A further assumption is that when students acquire
:§qiowlcdge they are then able to transform it into effective action in the ‘real world’.
'I I
■
giving attention
and importance to
Content
11 1
i'M i.
I
aJi Ii
Activity
Academic
•'vy
^giving attention
giving attention
and importance
to Practice
and importance
to Theory
giving attention
and importance to
Process
The formal education systems, with their schools and universities, fall in this quadrant.
These systems are usually individualistic and competitive. Authority and responsibility
for the learning process and for appraisal lies mainly with the teachers and lecturers.
The approach is attractive to teachers and lecturers because it ensures they have higher
T status? Furthermore, the process of teaching is predictable, and normally remains
f within the teachers’ control.
■ The approach is useful for disseminating information and strengthening theoretical
• thinking. But on its own it may not lead to .better professional’practice or more
,• effective development work. Too many practising workers attend academic courses,
■ listen to lectures, acquire a lot of information, pass exams, and gain qualifications —
■ and then carry on working as before, without any improvement in effectiveness or in
the quality of their work. The links between academic learning-and practice are weak.
■■ Practitioners need an approach to training which emphasizes change in practice.
r
Iw
Action-Reflection
Laboratory
.
J'f
3. There are parallels in development work: the worker who 'knows', the 'villagers’ who do not know, and the top-down
one-way communication.
157
I
'n
■rt
§I
1I
I
II
' ji
I
h.'.
The principal academic method, the lecture, is also inefficient. If a lecture goes on,
without a break, for more than 20 minutes (as most do) it is said that students carry
away only 40% of what they have heard and half of that has been forgotten one week
later. Confucius is supposed to have said, What we hear, we forget.’
■
“t
ti
H Activity
! ft
•gj
The second quadrant lies between Content and Practice. This approach can be called
‘activity’. Its purpose is to teach and improve practical skills. This is the kind of learning
__ __
often found in traditional societies.
Those who have acquired skills from their elders in a previous generation ‘pass them
>n. An obvious example is children who learn adult roles and
down’ to the next generation.
Ld grandparents. Anomer
Another is the
me young person learning a bimi
sldll
skills from their parents and
craft from an older practitioner
who
has
the
required
expertise
and
experience.
:actitioner
who
has
the
required
expertise
and
experience.
or
lies are. «-V»o
the apprentice, tliA
the nr»^rirp
novice, rbp
the intprn
intern, nnd
and the
the dl^Cinle.
disciple.
Typical learning roles
the
‘
master
’
,
the
demonstrator,
the
instructor,
and
the
expert.
The
Teaching roles are t
methods include observation, instruction, copying, and practice under supervision.
1
. *
*
.
.a
i
i'll •“
f* •
A •^T ft Cl
IA
Training-on-the-job, field placements, coaching, secondment and counterparts are
refinements of such methods.
-■&
■
i
aj
f
x
> gL'
y-'" ‘
: J
V
B||gf
IB
Confucius is supposed to have said, What we see, we remember.’ The approach leads
to the learning of whatever skills, procedures and expertise have been expounded or ■I
Remonstrated, but it may not go further. It assumes that whatever apprentices have
1 ihvB?.
tire regul:
regular demands of the .]
seen or been told will enable them to) deal, not only with rhe
job, but also with unfamiliar and unexj:pected challenges. But those who follow and rely A
•I IS
qn regular and routine procedures may find they lack the theoretical understanding or
the insight to deal with situations outside their previous experience. And many of the2
situations we encounter in development work will be outside our previous experience. |
It has been said that practice without theory is blind.
• . I ii
I'flt
1
i
<■
- Despite its limitations ‘activity’ is long established and widely rec(:ognized as the
simplest way to train the staff of organizations. Much of the training conducted by
yoluntary development agencies and NGOs follows this approach. One advantage is
that it is cheap. Another is that it does not require’any specialized training facilities or
^taff.
tylany development workers have been inducted into their work through ‘reading the | ! wir
flies’, or ‘sitting with colleague X’, or ‘going on visits with Y’, or ‘seeing how Z does
the work’. Such induction may allow the newcomer to ‘get the feel’ of the job and get
started; but later he or she will be faced by new and greater demands, and may end up
by resorting to trial and error methods and repeating the past mistakes of others.
Some training courses combine the academic with activity, so that
t— the two
—
approaches then complement and inform each other.
I
!
I
158
S.w
11'
■■
6.1 Abproachet to Training
i
H 'fhe third approach emphasizes Process and Theory, and is known as ‘laboratory’
; ^training. This is represented in die third quadrant of the diagram.
I
f''
'• - -
J' | Laboratory
■
. ..The name laboratory is used because there are parallels with the working of a scientific
'^laboratory. One parallel is the experimental nature of what takes place. Individuals or
t 'groups try tilings out and observe what happens. For example, they may take new
brisks, express hidden feelings, practise new roles, experiment with new behaviour, and
explore how they are relating to others and how others perceive them. Another
parallel with a laboratory is the separation of the work from the rest of the world.
Attention can then be concentrated on the task or process under study, and what is
’.not relevant can be left ‘outside’. This makes it easier to focus on particular factors,
l^trace their effects, and draw conclusions.
^..Another name which is sometimes used is ‘unstructured’.
P;i
I
-• The approach is essentially person-centred and group-based. The task of the group is
"to. observe and study the way the group is functioning while this is actually happen'■ ing. The task of the individual is to examine his or her own behaviour and personal
role within the group, and the impact that he/she is having on others, again while
'.actually engaged with the group. Attention is therelore on the present moment. This
a; .
wS'lji
is often referred to as ‘working in the here and now’.
The reference points, and the data for study, come from within the group itself.
Outside forces, back home situations, and formal designations are all left outside the
‘laboratory’. There is little or no external accountability. The learning is the concep
tual understanding and insight which comes from this experience, together with
increased self-awareness, improved sensitivity, and enhanced skills in relating to
• r.
I
S'
others.
• The role of the trainer, typically called a facilitator here, is to help members to focus
on the way the group is working, and on the issues facing the group. He/she also
’ helps individuals and the group to examine and understand experiences within the
group. The ‘methods’ include group dynamics, sensitivity training, personal growth
laboratory, T-groups, community change laboratory, and group relations conferences.
■ji-'
If the focus is mainly on the working of the group, rather than on individuals, then
the dynamics of participation, decision-making, leadership, power, authority and
conflict are all likely to be examined, along with other dimensions. These are all central
issues in any organizational or community setting, and development workers need, not
only to recognize them, but be able to work with them.
If the focus is mainly on individuals within the group then the members become, more
aware of themselves and how they are perceived by others, understand more about
1
>
159
Ih
also centrahin development work.
The approach assumes that a person’s inner psychological realities are relevant to
learning and to their work in die outer world. It makes more explicit the link betwe^i
the assumptions, aspirations, values, etc of die inner world, and the roles, dcasiom
making, leadership, and action of the outer world. It also assumes
".nit
4«e»ee
'»» "™
tag » te
at P^0P
‘
°f '“■'kl"S
when they return home.
’ The learning has a deep and lasting quality, which is often personal to the learner,
o«
■'^
1
H-4
he
s^-.l 'th!
mdivrdual who joins such a training group may be expected to disclose mom o
him/herself, and to receive more feedback, than in other approaches. Feehngs are
often exposed. The experience can be exciting and challenging; it may also have
disturbing and even painful moments. Some people say that if learning is to be effective
1
li
it should disturb us!
handle effectively, and requires trained facilitators.
ig
Such training can be difficult to
■
,
------—
gS
Teachers and trainers who are used to a morei conventional academic approach may
■ I,
.predictable
and
complex.
find this approach open-ended, unj
.ally offered to those who want to increase their own
.This kind of training is usui
own skills. It is particularly helpful in situations and
awareness and improve their
are systemic disparities in power, such as community and ||g
professions where there
and youth work, prison and probation services, and managedevelopment work, social
Many develonment workers who have experienced such training have gained ||
ment. Many development workers who have ex[
«eatlv improved the quality of their work with others
others. It
important insights and have gready
Sa
.
___
. .
is especially useful for those with responsibility for training.
i|
wt
lvJf
I®
III Action-Reflection
,iaisiaata:iKa!m!lil^^
,
Finally there is the quadrant which lies between Process and Action. Training here |||
consists mainly of providing course members with alternating opportunities for action
and reflection’. They experience an action, and then they reflect on it. They work at a tas -
|| |
|, j
which is related to some aspect of development work, and then they flunk about the g ;•
process. What happened? How did it happen? Why did it happen? How is it relevant.
4
1
P Rj
IM
w
w
The approach is also referred to as experience-based or experiential. Learning arises ||
w%
from the direct experience of the course member, but that experience has to be g
f'l
analyzed. Simply doing something is not enough. We need to look at ourselves in e
process of doing it. Experience that is not analyzed and reflected, upon is like food ,|g
we eat but which passes through our system undigested — it does us no good.
!
T(. •; ‘IT” ’
'
The basic tool for the approach is alternations which reinforce learning. Action is
followed by reflection, group events alternate with individual work, personal invo ve- J||
160
“CBi
I !
1I
'W-T'r':/’-
i
o
’ ---- ----------6^ I Approaches to Training
»ent alternates with impersonal analysis and input. We move
fcthe general. We do something and then talk about it between the specific
•lt tice2C
t0 bUild UP tbeOry- 8nd und«3tand th. and vice versa. We
eery by putting it into
* sjs&y P c nee,
' ■ . '1HlerS take Up suPP0rtwg and interactive roles as much as leading roles TT
fcZn
mf"‘Z XToZZeBT
“ Z ““h of the -p”—v r™
I Lee .ed ,eSo„,„S.Z
md XiZb
ebe, |e„„ Z
mid
and they
much
from each other
gpe«ep..o„s end
Thclearn
fal^
g pTOesj
w,,„
’nsV
“ '
“ ,h””S
aPProach assumes that train!.
legend'earning embrace many aspects of tbe person
J~ attitudes, assumj'P ■' ons, "feelings,
"
values, motivation, behaviour, creativity — as well
®s knowledge and skills. Learning is
k r “c L™016 than inteIlecnw1’it: is ^holistic. ‘Education
® is not for knowing more, L„
fop behaving
OI
butv for
differently.’5
i|A climate in the group which e
encourages exploration, and supports divergent
I thinking, is more important than a 1
a consensus around ‘right answers’. ‘Right answers’
Bin development work are often dan;
----------- igerous.
f
'irnited t0 a sPecifi‘
mwZinf fnd'cf0'
or situation but
with many situations.^"! to tolTXn’tT^l'"" “
to think.6
‘
be a ess Potent learning than how
TJe lining from this .ppt0„h is often deep. Confueio. is SoppoSed „ h„e mid
j X”
1
i
i
»lw%
The outcomes, of such training, when successfol, include greater effectiveness in
::h “S' rtt "T”
greater sensitivitvtoT a
?
organisational roles and relationships;
C Z1W- ™
r
°
S; greatCr self-confidence; more listening and
into rhe f ‘ & r unde«tandmg of power, conflict, and change; a clearer inflght
Z
?o“Zh T”"' ’I p,”idp,"i“,i “d
I"””*
fXX”
“
-nd ~ » some -
£
>wu»
i; 4. Lynton and Pareek page 45.
^'l»wn^nni&i<lrs«WlOTU;,W¥MJTOA.
; 5. Attributed to John Ruskin, British educationist and writer.
6. Lynton and Pareek page 45.
: 7. John Staley, ‘Participation in Trainii
ing or Training in Participation?' The Pure/ .Extension Bufet/n. Number 6. pages 13-15.
is
161
iI
In conclusion, and perhaps needless to add, approaches to training cannot be separated
into quadrants as neatly astthe
L“ diagram
J:"
suggests. ''
Most courses include elements from
more than one approach. The DSC itself
------ was a combination of the academic with
action-reflection.
It is the events and methods which contributed
to the action-reflection approach that
are included in this manual.
► the action and reflection method has emphasised our own feelings, beliefs, opinions, strengths
and weaknesses. This method increases creativity and self-confidence. It addresses the whole human
beings.
> Not a day has passed without some exercise, simulation, role play, case study or visit, followed oh
course by refection and sharing. Ves, by now we all refect in our sleep, f expressed his preference for
this type of training. I too think it is an excellent method. But I have done these activities in other
courses with little or no success. I realise the importance ofpreparation, and I would say that the
reason this process has been such a success is that our tutors have prepared and developed the course...
► wePe been challenged and questioned, sculpted and directed, we’ve planned and presented, talked
and persuaded...
> ...the varied training methods make each day different and interesting.
...the day has been a real cocktail.
Some days it isjust too much, with all this group work.
J
■5
162
I ____J
3
Questionnaire: Our Ideas about Training
Indicate which statement in each pair (a or b) fits better with your own
ideas about training.
a(
b(
) The main focus of training should be the job which has to be done.
) The main focus of training should be the person who has to do the job.
) It is most important that a trainer should understand the subject
pi
6
and its applications.
) It is most important that a trainer should understand the course
members and their situations.
a(
) One of the trainer’s tasks is to ‘cover’ the topics ar d issues
b(
which are to be studied.
) One of the trainer’s tasks is to ‘uncover’ the course members’
experience of the topics and issues which are to be studied.
a(
b(
) One of the trainer’s tasks is to provide answers which course
members can apply to their own situations.
) One of the trainer’s tasks is to raise questions which course
members can apply to their own situations.
a(
) An outcome of training should be that course members do
b(
more things right
) An outcome of training should be that course members do more
right things.
Discuss your choices in groups of three or four.
Adapted in part from ‘Approaches to Training’ in Management Self-Development
A Practical Guide for Managers and Trainers, MSC, pages 314—316
163
1
I i
I
The Learning Model
)
■ Present the following simple model of expe rience-based learning. It shows the learning
process as a continuing spiral in six stages.
^^■■f
C’L
—£ -•
— — -- -
ACTION
i
i
L
I
I
...
"— — - - - - -
tMh'
1. Action
REFLECTION
i
I
I
•
® doing; ’What did we do?’
I
a the experience: 'What happened?'
s the implementation; ’How did we do it?'
® may refer to events in fie course, or events back home.
I
I
I
I
I
I
f
I
I
I
I
6. Further action
:
■
i
i
i
i
- Oi ■■
f
5. Doing differently
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
® applying the learning; making changes;
new;
• doing better; improved effectiveness;
® further action ... and further reflection ...
... i
■;?i
.
.AL.FFfo
B . -
■
’ ■
.
.: .tfer A LFC'WlB
2. Describing the experience
- reviewing what happened: diking abounne
expenenct,
'" ■m"-;. |
a shanng with each other; comparing, notes;
® identifying feelings;
■
, ,
® How was I involved? What did I say/dq/feel?’
'What did others say/do/feel?'
' . f
What did you experience?
‘Who did what?'
o
i
i
i
i
i
® understanding how it happened;
making sense of it; yh■ /jTs;
; j
thinlzinn r-ri+i<~njlk/-
.
thinking critically: asking, questions:
Why did it happen like sW
ffi< ■
How were decisions made?.
made?’
Who had power?’
?W'-
•
i
i
i
i
i
•
•‘rt
‘How do we undqirsianci nr^..v
‘What does it mea
F, ■
'How does it re®
Be
’ ’ ‘5
I
.
Lradicfe
® seeing links and ’cb
“ns.
.■'•v
4. Identifying learning
® clarifying understanding; reachipgcbndu;
® increasing our awareness;
esWF:F. -F.5-f
> new perceptions and insights;.
-
conclusions do we come to?
rsn WP lp>rn?’
i
I
I
Ifw
O'
.
Analyzing the experience
« analysing what happened; !
1
i
i
i
i
i
i
i
i
i
i
i
i
i
i
i
I
•
itmt our previous;,understancing?’
-R ol’Mjons? Where does
sRali we move on?’
i
J
i
I
.1
a
A
i I
J BIIBj Introducing the Methodology
Itfe'
II
I
<r> 'i
i—"‘"‘S
► ...this course does notfocus on lecturing theoretical knowledge to individual students, but is based on
the whole group learning as one body ...
> I have the responsibility for learning. Nobody can learn on behalf of me.
(
I
With an ex-pgrience-hased
-thodrikigy the learning grows out of a cycle of actionnnd
reflection. The best way of understanding this iis to experienc e and re fl err upon, i t,
rather than to hear someone talk about it.
t
It
I
I
Nonetheless a short briefing, as a part of the general introduction on the first day of
the course, is helpful to members. It will satisfy those who already have an interest in
training and want to know what methodology will be used. It will also alert others,
who may be familiar only with academic and formal study methods, that experience
based learning is different, and that it may seem strange and even uncomfortable at
first.
I
Additional material follows in More about the Methodology (page 122), and car, be
used to continue the briefing a day or two later. Links can be made with other
introductory work such as The Course Diary (page 72) and Why Have We
SharingJExpecutiTn^ (page 77).
I
V
II
III Introducing the Topic
a Give an introduction to the topic based on the points which follow. This should not
take more than 20 minutes.
Training and Development
i
Development itself is often thought of as a process of learning. There are ^strong
.parallels and similarities between the process of development among peopkTift
I
in
community and the process nf learning among the members of an expe.rienre-ba ;ed
training course, such as this.
Much that applies to groups and communities generally applies to this training
group. Many of the issues and forces which we will experience in this group are
similar to the issues and forces which operate in any other group anywhere in the
world. This includes members’ own organizations and communities back home
i’-
I
>■
• Examples are
participation, gender relations, decision-making ?nd
leadership. These issues will become central to the Life of this group as members
begin to work together. The same issues are central in all development work.
■
67
11
* When these issues and forces emerge during our work together in this course, we
can use them as raw material for analysis, reflection and learning, and can then apply
that learning in other situations.
The Course Members
The learning needs of members of a course such as this are to increase their
g.ffective.Qess in work roles and improve professional practice These are different
from the needs of students in formal education.
Members know what rh^y want tn learp. This course should be guided more by their
needs, and by the trainers’ perceptions, than by any pre-set syllabus.-
&
fhe members are adults who are used-tn running their own lives and taking respon
sibility. for themselves. They are expected to take responsibility for their own
learning, helf-ie.liance is a component of experience-based learning and of the
development process.
Qoursn-members are rich in-experience of work and life, and rich in understanding
skdls and insight. These are resources for the course. Members will learn most from
each othsi, especially from those in similar roles.
Learning
©
It is often assumed that learni-ng is about information .and knowledge only An
expertcnce~based course is also about skills, artimdes, vahie? behaviour and action
We are less concerned with what we know, and more concerned with what we do;^
and how and why we do it,
1 he most important resource or tool each of us has in our development work is our
own self. To work more effectively we need to understand ourselves better. We
need to understand our own values, motivation, behaviour, the way we play our
.roles, and the impact we have on other people.
I
e If we are to become more effective in our roles, more skilled and sensitive in
working with others, and more competent in making decisions and contributing
leadership, we need to develop our-selves. Some trainers say that, unless we
ourselves are developing and changing, we shall not be able to encourage develop
ment and change among other people.
i
I
Development is about change. As professional development workers we expect
other people to change — to change food habits, to change farming practices, to
learn this skill, to adopt that attitude — but what about us? Are we willing to
change? If not, have we any right to expect others to change? Can we understand
change and its difficulties unless we experience it in ourselves?
Education is not for knowing more, but for behaving differently/1 If we attend a
I
I. Attributed to John Ruskin, British educationist and writer.
68
J •
i
j
j_
11
Build up the diagram on the board, using the headings and starting with I. Action.
Collect contributions from the group, adding in examples and questions at each stage in
the spiral. After explaining the model, continue with the points below.
The process summarized in the model is sometimes caked Learning from Doing.
The process is a continuing alternation of Action and Reflection.
©
«y
In normal life we often take action without reflecting on it afterwards. This is like
food which we eat but which we do not digest. The food passes drrough our sys cm
without giving us any benefit. Action must be rrfirrmd upon if it is to result in
learning.
Act
■ which is n<r dlectcd up< n may be repeated n ei
I over at aim \\ hciij ...
hear someone who says, ‘I have 20 years’ experience’ we may find drat he/she has
one vear s experience which has been repeated 19 times. It is the review and an.ib, us
ot .icuon, by means oi reticcdon, that leads
l.-.n-riing. ci.-.rig,^ iinppa c::u .ir -and fkwclopmeat.
is
During the course we shah imistandy reflect on action, whuher the actioiMs
something that happened in our work bank-heme, or an experience which we share,
together in the- course, or events elsewhere that someone has described in a case
^tudy. Tire Course Diary fits into tins methodology as a reflection on the previbus
day’s action.
&
ILdL-enon is a different process from evaluation. Tire difference will be further
explained (see More About the Methodology, page 122).
i
i
The Variety of Methods
J
Conclude’ by referring to the methods themselves.2
The principal methods of experience-based learning are discussions, group-work.
exercises, simuladons, role plays, case, snidies, visual materials, and field visits- Many
of these methods are active, and they..are often fan.
Individual styles of learning-.vary, and so same members will like one kind of
method and some will Eke another.
9
<a
The variety of methods allows for alternating opportunities in the training and
Inarning-pEeeess. For example, they make it possible to- switch between indivk|iiai
work and group worl-^. between small groups and large groups, between invo.
raettt and withdrawal, berwecn- demg-and' thinking. Such ’alternations-a»part of the
methodology
The trainers will change their roles according to the method. A trainer may gi4e a
lecture, manage an exercise, chair a discussion, and participate in a role play, a| in
the same day. Members who expect staff only to lecture may be surprised by this.
..
.
•
2. Members may be more familiar with the methods of formal education, such as lectures, reading, writing assignment^ and
so on. These are not dealt with here.
70
'•
III
ii
®S1 The Individual in the Group
tiwa^wic^WMWiW
uasj
As a course unfolds iudividual course members often become increasingly aware of the
roles they are playing within the course group. This .section introduces a simple mo
wfo h c.„“>P individuals » dunk about die,, foies (and sub-coles) and about how
foe, J bkl-vh' The model is applicable in informal groups, such as traminggroups.
It may not be so relevant in more structured groups.
The model is
as an aillQ^hs^^n. It can be used for Valuation,
but it should not-be usedIt may be introduced during foe early weeks of a course: half a session may be enoug
for fols. The model can then be referred to during reflection upon course events.
Objectives
to provide course members with a snnplemodel of indiyidual functioningina^
(,roup, wrthin which they can idenufyjheirownbeh_aviour and role orjuUrok.
«>
«
«
to help inembers-to-obAervc-how-tlieir own role-Or snh-role in the groupjnay
from timemime, and to reflecturuthejxaaonMo^m;
to ealout-ag^members to try t^cha.ngfi the. role or sub<ole tlaey are playing it
they wish to do so.
Introducing the Model
aBsosMsaiimB^^
B Introduce the idea of the roles we play in groups and other ^tings^Point out to
members that while on the course they are all^ib^ole of.coucse.rnembon but that
the way eachjoflihermplaysthat role yaELeifcQJTLQneundividuaLto-another. Furthermo
the same ind.vidual may play that role in different ways at different times.
Distribute the handout, and refer to. the five 'JeveJs’. Eacfofovdman be thought of as a
suhmole within the role nf course member, eoinfooulhow^acfcuif'.
sub-role we are comfortab^vand to funau^fo^oup^Ubtoel. Pomt out Jo .:
that sometimes we switch from one level to another. For example, any of us may
become a delmcW-.f w...ud Da or afieMM or if our.ne.Ms are noting
recognized^
If we want to develop leadership in ourselves, we can aim to function at progressively
too far or too fast.
higher levels, although it may be unrealistic to attempt to move
UMWM
1. After a model contributed by J.M. Foster.
2. See Functional Leadership page 418.
148
UUMbUliWUM
1i
I i
oo
5.7 The Individual in the Group
g iaking lasting changes in our behaviour, even to move from one sub-role to the next,
’ Wot easy!
Rlain that the model is offered as a way for members to think about their own sub-role
..behaviour. It is not intended to be a tool for evaluating the behaviour of others.
>Ask members to-identify their own usual sub-role or level, and to think of specific
fezampfes and occasions during the course which have demonstrated this, .hen ask them
share their thoughts in groups of three or four, and to consider the questions >n the
ftanctot.
Ifefer bad< to the model whenever it may be useful in later discussions about roles and
Vsub-ro!es in groups.
B
Guidelines: The Individual in the Group
i ................................................................ ........ ..........................
wrawnrv•i’tf) •- wmwm*
fielbw are five ways in which individual members may behave in the group.
Biese can also be understood as sub-roles or 'levels' of functioning.
"Leader (this literally means to go in front and show the way ahead)
*- attends and responds to others, and is involved
.
*
I
> seeks clarification of what is not clear
contributes his/her own learning, insights, concerns, feelings, etc
- draws attention to the group’s concerns, problems and needs
)
takes initiatives to help the group to solve its problems and meet its needs.
Contributor (this literally means to put in, or give for a shared purpose)
i- attends to what is happening in the group, and is involved
i - seeks clarification of what is not clear
- contributes his/her own learning, insights, concerns, feelings, etc.
» ' - draws attention to concerns of the group, and voices its problems and needs
Participant (this literally means to take a part in, or to have a share in)
attends to, and takes part in, whatever is happening in the group, but does not
take any initiatives
- responds to'others and reacts to the issues, but only when he/she is asked or
invited to do so
- does not contribute to the group on his/her own account
■
149
.
Qn-looker (this literally means to watch what is happening, to be a spectator)
■
- attends to what is happening, but is not actively involved
- often makes postive comments, but makes them aside to his/her neighbour, so
that the group as a whole does not benefit from them
4
Detractor (this literally means to take out, or take away from)
- often does not attend to what is happening in the group or to what others are
saying
- makes complaints, and sometimes destructive criticisms, but does this outside
the group, so that the group as a whole is not aware of them
Which of these sub-roles do you think you play most of the time? Think of
occasions in the course which demonstrate the sub-role you usually play.
Which sub-roles do you also play occasionally? What causes the change? Why do
you sometimes switch ‘levels'?
After reflecting on your own, discuss your thoughts in small groups of three or four.
Check with the other members whether they perceive your sub-role in the same
way.
Ask yourself whether you play similar sub-roles in other groups, and in your work
back home? Are you satisfied with your usual sub-role?
John Staley, 'Enticing the Eeaniing. Trainers in Development^ University of Birmingham,
pages 149—150 (After J.M. Faster)
■
/>
150
' \1
•M-
u
r
Questionaire: Do We Listen?.
Reflect on the following statements and indicate in one of the two boxes whether
you agree or disagree with them.
t
Statements
1. Listening is like breathing. We do it anyway;
we do not need to think about it
9
Agree
Disagree
! I
Ld
In effective communication, speaking
is more important than listening
3. Listening is an automatic process; it doesn’t
need our attention or any special effort
4. It is important that we give other people
a chance to speak; it doesn't matter whether
we understand them
5. Understanding the other person means
agreeing with him or her
6. The person who listens with understanding runs
a risk of being changed himself/herself
7. We can understand another person Well,
even if we don’t understand his or her feelings
8. If I am aware of my own feelings it will help
my communication with others
9. Our natural tendency to evaluate helps us to
listen more effectively
10. It is more difficult to listen when the subject
Is unfamiliar
134
-ss.
I
I
.
I 'Statements
Disagree
Agree
___ __ ___ ____
E... .•
|' 1. We tend to hear things which support our
||'
own opinions, and not to hear things which
T
contradict them
T
P ;12. It is more difficult to listen to people whose
; values are opposed to our own
r
1113. It is easier to listen to those in authority
o'er us than to listen to those who
are 'subordinates'
I
I it 14. Understanding about another person is more
important for effective communication than
any understanding with that person
11
15.1 can listen better to the people I work with
if we have shared our expectations of
each other
I
116. An effective listener pays attention to what
a person is saying and to what he or she is
ft '
not saying
t F 17. Effective listening includes 'listening' with
i|
the eyes
11■Hf. 18. Some things can only be said with the help
of the listener
Ei-
Hi '19. The best way to show that you are
listening to another person is to keep
I I
interrupting
j
11
W 20. Silence does not communicate
■
'
■■
m
'
' ■<
>
.
Us;
■ m
.
■
■
■
■. " r
a Adapted from E.H. McGrath, Basic Leadership Skills, XLRI, Jamshedpur, pages 45—47
135
i
f.!'$^1 How Are We Doing? Widening Evaluation
f
?In the interim evaluation it is interesting to listen to course members3 opinions and suggestions, not
l-only about development as a subject, but also as a course: its structure, methods, etc. It was useful
'sficdbackfor both tutors and course participants.
Die evaluation and monitoring of participatory training happens at three levels.
.‘Future Performance
•<Ultimately training must be judged by the future performance and effectiveness of the
• people who receive training. This can be tested only after they have returned to their
work, and perhaps only some time later.
■ Continuous Monitoring
A second level- is monitoring of the learning within the course itself. Ideally this is '
happening all the time. The trainers follow the process and interactions, they observe
the climate in the group and the roles members are playing, and they listen to feedback
from the course diary and other events. For an experienced trainer this process —
which is pardy internal and partly discussed with colleagues — becomes automatic. The
result is continuous adjustment to an always-changing situation. Flexibility in role,
iterative planning, an evolving timetable, and a repertoire of alternative inputs and
events make such adjustment possible.
Periodic Evaluation
The third level involves more deliberate and more explicit evaluations of progress.
Both trainers and members are formally involved, and the results are used, both by the
trainers who have organized the course, and by the members who share responsibility '
for it. Most courses include an evaluation at the end, by which time it is too late to J
change that particular course. If an interim evaluation can be arranged early in a course,
the results can be used immediately.
Interim Evaluation
Ppi
Bai
G53
Obvious items to be evaluated include the extent of progress towards the objectives,
the levels of satisfaction, the usefulness of particular sessions and events, the ejfectivenes^xif methods, how far expectations $re being-met, how much the learning is relevant
to member.s? work back-home, and practical arrangements.
It is more difficult to evaluate the role and work of individuals, both members and
trainers. In a participatory methodology, members share responsibility for the course.
243
t
ij
Each has a contribution to make to the life and learning of the group, and each is in
charge of his or her own participation, role and learning. So any course evaluation
should at least invite members to reflect on themselves, and on their role, commitment,
contribution and learning. Widening the evaluation in this way reminds members that
progress and satisfaction do not depend only on the trainers.
Trainers may have to decide how far they are willing to submit their own performance
for examination by the course members. To do this they need confidence in themselves
and trust in the judgement of members. The principle here is that we should not expect
others to change unless we ourselves are willing to change. Trainers need feedback tor
their own growth and change, even if this is sometimes painful. The more they ijre
willing to receive it, the more evaluation serves as a model for participatory evaluation
in development work.
The course group, as a whole, also shares in the responsibility. So there should be
questions about the process in the course group, the growth of the group, the climate,
the levels of participation, the ob§e££aPce °f QQtms, and any-c.nrrent difficulties.
e
responses to such questions are necessary before the members can even consider
whether they want to change the way their group is functioning. This also has paralie s
in development work.
Using a Questionnaire
One way of finding a balance between encouraging openness and retaining so ne
control is for the trainers to draft an evaluation questionnaire and distribute it to each
member for a written response.’
Members should be told that the results will be shared in the course group, and tpat
they will be expected to take responsibility for what they write. The principle here is to
keep responsibility close to the members, and not allow them to blame others and
‘walk away’. They should be ready to support and justify their.opinions, and should
have suggestions for improvement. A written evaluation is also an opportunity for
r .
♦
members to practise giving feedback in writing.
When
trainers use a questionnaire -it becomes
their responsibility
to see that the
WI1C11 U.iUUtXO UOV a.
—---------------X
responses are collected, collated and reported back. Yet another principle of develop-!;
went work is relevant here, which is that data should not be taken away from a
community to be used elsewhere, but should remain available to die community for its
.plete and frank, they
drey will
Will <
own purposes. If members find that the reporting back is complete
gain trust in the trainers.
When trainers report back on the responses to a question it does not mean that individ- |
ual members are exposed. ‘Three people wrote that the session on underdevelopment j
_ ___ ________
TZother~«ty « that course members are given the task, partly to evaluate the course and partly to obtain
experience in evaluation.
244
6.8 How A re We Doing? Widening Evaluation
f
tas disappointing’ allows those individuals to take responsibility and explain their view
^further; but it also allows them to remain silent. Nonetheless, it is difficult to maintain
^.anonymity in a course group, even if this is desirable.
f Members can be asked to discuss their responses to certain questions in small groups,
■ and then to share conclusions or recommendations in the whole group. Questions
which produce diffuse responses can be dealt with in this way.
However the reporting back is done, members find it is helpful to to see how their own
'responses and perceptions match others in the group. They may discover that their
perceptions and feelings arc more widely shared than they expected.
Members’ opinions about levels of progress, achievement, satisfaction, etc can be
graded on a scale. If the course group is large they can also be scored. A scale with an
even number of points — perhaps four or six — forces members at least to. choose
above or below the mid-point. When a scale has three or five points, too many
’■ members may choose the mid-point.
Scores can be transformed into averages and percentages, but trainers should be
cautious about this. The numbers in most courses are small, and small samples do not
support averages or percentages. It is more useful to report actual scores.
The information and opinions which emerge from an interim evaluation may lead to
changes, so the sooner it can be done the better. On the other hand members must
be given enough course time to adjust to the methodology and to form their views
clearly. An interim evaluation may be conducted at the end of three weeks in a three
month course.
Some useful interim evaluation questions are:
e ‘How has your understanding of development (or other topic) changed
since the beginning of the course?’
© ‘What have you learned about yourself which you did not know ■
before the beginning of the course?’
o ‘How do you assess the progress the group has made so far towards
achieving its objectives in the course —
disappointing/adequate/good/very good?’
‘How do you see your own contribution in assisting the group
to achieve its objectives?’
‘‘Do
Do you
you think
think that
that the
the course group has any difficulties at present? If so,
what are they, and what do you think can be done about them?
« ‘Reflecting on your experience of . the course so far, what has been
more useful/less useful/ frustrating or disappointing?’
• ‘How do you see your learning in the course as being relevant
to your own work?’
o ‘Can you make any suggestions to the trainers about their role/s which
will help them to increase the learning?’
245
t-
Ifj End of Course Evaluation
II II
ran
ibers begins
By the end of a course the attention of members
begins to
to move
move towards-departure j
rgy which they are able to give to evalua-.
and back home. The amount of time and enet
□ns and feelings about the course which
non may be limited. Yet there will be opinions
:tively, and they will want a considered
<
|
their group.
i;
|
is started at the beginning of
If after a three month course, the concluding evaluauon
be collected, collated and
rhe final week there should be time for responses to
before the
,„k by lhe ^of *7“^. .. .
-»—
»»*k'
Viere are two things 1 appreciate about
in my experience, evalucilions are
.
n
■ , w n Im nf rruu nerves This was the interim evaluation session. 1 he
> The afternoon session touched a lot oj raw nerves.
power of tutors, linguistic imperialism, dommaHonIZZm'S Ifelt
ourselves.
we challenge orfail to challenge each other were a
ouCli
challenge and high support
—1 Mile-
ZZ,
said (We all lose when anyonefeels unable to coMule.
!
> I ^.l lhal U would be more appropnale if we ourself die evabuaUou gues^M and j
method next time, so it becomes our own evaluation and a learmng process too.
| .
246 .
J
John Staley
PART 7 LOOKING INWARDS:
THE INDIVIDUAL
7d Values*
PEOPLE IN DEVELOPMENT
B'-
A Trainer's Manual for Groups
a) to introduce the concept of values
I
b) to help trainees understand the role of values in their personal
lives, and in groups, communities and society
y.
c) to help them to identify their own values and to assess the depth
and significance of those values
i
i
d) to demonstrate that within (he group the members hold different
personal and cultural values
fe:
L--
e) to examine the gulf between what is said and what is done, i.e.
between the values that are claimed and the values that are
'practised and lived'
-
A".-
W
ft'
s
V
r
SEARCH
1 ho objectives are
Sc
L--
We touch on values at several points in the orientation and other
courses. A value has been defined as an enduring belief that a particular
kind of conduct (e.g. honest, kind) or end-state of existence (e.g. secur
ity, salvation) is personally or socially preferable to the opposite or con-
veise. Another way of describing values is to say that the kind of future
which a person tries to bring about will depend primarily upon his per
sonal values. Such an understanding of values puts them at the very
centre of development work and social change.
Af the more personal level we can also say that values serve as stan
dards to guide our own conduct, or to evaluate, praise or blame our
selves and others. They are linked with our self-esteem, and to the
meaning we find in our lives.
Values have already been touched upon in some of the exercises
described earlier (see section 3.2i. I he following exercises are directed
mote specifically to the topic ol values. We use some of these exer, .(.isos during the first week or two , ,i the orientation, mainly to illustrate
the concept of values and to encourage reflection.
_
i
i
i
oA I
I
LOOKINC'INWARDS THEINDIVIDUAL
■fl
fl
Ten Things that I Like to Do
’
. Trainees are asked to write individually a list of ten 'things' that they
like to dd.rth^ trainer .cap give some examples, e.g. reading movies,
f
. .jS
|
playing .with.children,•learning new skills. ; •
When theriists are .written the trainer asks the trainees to write
down agatnsL each thing when they last did it, e.g. yesterday, last
Sunday, two months ago, the year before last The trainer then asks the
trameesito write down whether each of the things is done alone, or to
gether Avi.th other people (dr either or both). Next the trainees should
write down whether each of the things costs more or less than Rs. 10.
Nextike trainees should indicate which of the things their fathers
and/or.mothers do or did. Were the. trainees doing each of the things
two yeirs ago? Do they expect to be doing them still m five years'
time ? Finally,.of. the ten.things, which three do they enjoy doing most,
in order of rank?
After: ail these questions have been answered, the trainer asks the
trainees to sit in pairs and.share the answers with their partner. They
should also reflect on their answers individually
The trainer may point out that answers to the question, "When did
you last do each of the things listed ?" may help trainees to see whether
the things are really important to them. If a trainee says he enjoys walk
ing but last-went for a walk six months ago, it suggests that he does not
enjoy walking that much!
The answers to the question, 'Together or alone ?" may also tell trai
nees something about themselves. Are all the answers the same ? Or is
there a balance ? Many, perhaps most, of the things we enjoy doing do
not cost much. Is that true of the trainees' lists too ? Were trainees
doing the thing.two years<ago? Do they expect to be doing it in five
years' time? Are trainees changing their interests? Does this represent
any change in. values?/
Finally the trainer asks if trainees can see any link between any or all
of the’ ten things and their personal values. The ten things represent
behaviour; and behaviour expresses values. Indeed values must be
shown repeatedly in Behaviour, otherwise they are probaEIy not
3
120
i
li
VALUES
0
1;3
a
1
I
"i
f
-
Aridther exercise is to list a number of values, and to ask trainees to
write down which five values out of the list are most important to them
personally. They can also be asked to give evidence of how these
values are reflected in important decisions in their lives. This can be
given as an overnight assignment, and the answers shared in the group
Some values which may be listed are: open-mindedness, competence,
cheerfulness, family, imagination, cleanliness, courage, forgiveness,
helpfulness, 'name and fame, daring independence, conformity, love,
duty; tradition, politeness, self-control, rationality, responsibility,
obedience, honesty.
A variation of this is to give trainees a list of possible priorities for an
individual in his life. The trainees are then asked to choose four or five
which are the most important to them personally, and then to rank
these four or five in order. This can be done as an overnight assign
ment, and the choices and rankings shared and discussed in small
groups. Trainees can then be asked to reflect on how their choices and
rankings are related to ther; values and to their attitudes towards deve
lopment and developmem work. Some possible priorities are as
follows:
a) social recognition, fame
b) prosperity, economic comfort
c) security— of job, for family, etc.
d) love, affection, deep friendship
e) moksha (salvation)
f) freedom, independence, free choice
g) to participate in building a more human world order
h) involvement in a meaningful cause or movement
i) pleasure, an enjoyable comfortable life
j) an adventurous, exciting life
k) a position of influence over events and people
l) work with the under-privileged'or handicapped
Where Do My Values Come From?
values. So 'the things we like to do' is one expression of our values.
Ranking; V^lu^s
1 21
!
We may also ask trainees to think about their parents' and family's
values; and also the values of others who influenced them, ofteachersji
of friends, and so on. Then we ask trainees to make a summary in the
form of a diagram. This is to show from whom they think they have
acquired their own values.
'
The diagram may follow the layout of figure v. The trainee makes a
"
z
I
;®i
122
LOOKING INWARDS: THE INDIVIDUAL
fl
123
river. The river was very-' wide and fast, and there were crocodiles in it
One day Maya heard that Prakash was very ill, and might even die.
She became very anxious about Prakash. She loved him very much,
Figure v Where My Values Come From
__________ __
My father's values
VALUfcS
My mothers values
Igg
•W
and she wanted to go and be with h-m if he was sick, and especially if
he might die.
So she went down to the river, where there was a ferry-boat The
ferry-boat used to be rowed by a ferry-man called Ram. When Maya
said she wanted to cross the river Ram asked her for a fare of Rs. 10.
Maya said that she did not have Rs. 10, but that she would pay Ram
My own values
My relatives' values
My teachers' values
—*
<
gjl
■1'^30
'w
later. Ram refused. Then Maya pleaded with him to take her because
Prakash was so ill, and might die. Ram refused again. Then he said that
he would take Maya across, but on one condition —that she should
sleep with him first
Maya was very upset about this, and went back to her village
Is
My friends' values
wondering what to do. On the way she met her cousin Anil, and she
told him what had happened. 'Thads nothing to do with me," he
replied, "Its your problem. Don't involve me in it I don't want to have
Other people's
values
anything to do with it" Then Anil went off leaving Maya disconsolate.
Maya didn't know what to do. She hated the idea of sleeping with
Ram, but she loved Prakash so much and thought she might never see
him again. She had to get across that river somehow. So finally she
brief lisf of the most important values held by the persons mentioned
went back to Ram and slept with him Then he took her across the
in the outer ring. He then indicates which of those values have been
river, and she rushed to Prakash's house.
passed on' to him, and from whom.
At Prakash's house Maya nursed him and looked after him. Soon
After listing values in the diagram and -considering where his own
Prakash felt better, and was out of danger of dying. After some time
values, have come from, the trainee, is invited to choose which of his
Prakash asked Maya how she had crossed the river, and where she had
own values hg woulct like to hold on to, and which he would like to
discard. The .point can be made that the more we realize how others
have influenced us, the more we can think of changing ourselves.
The Story of Maya
i
i
i
The,trainer;starts by asking the trainees to sit in small groups of five
Once there was a girl called Maya. Maya was 19 years old and very'
kj& nv^r. Maya: was engaged to be married to a young man- called
Prakash. Prakash lived in another village on the opposite side of the
Ram. He told her he'd never marry her now and that she should get out
of his house for ever.
Maya went sadly down to the ferry again. On the way she met a
neighbour called Krishna. She told Krishna everything that had hap
or spc He then-.-tel Is them the following story, saying that afterwards
theycwill ydiscuss^ic------------- ----------- —---------------------------- - ——
___
beautifui. She was also very poor. She lived in a village on the bank of a
got the money. Then Maya told Prakash what had happened, Prakash
was furious. He shouted at Maya and abused her for having slept with
pened. Krishna was very' angry when he heard it, and he rushed straight
To~PrakaslTsdTOusc, pulled Prakash off hrs srck^bedT-arrd- beat-htm tip-
1
very badly.
Having told the story', the trainer asks, "which of these five charac
ters-Maya,’Prakash, Ram, Anil, Krishna - do you think was the worst?"
He asks the trainees to work individually at first, ranking the five charac-
(
I
124
LOOKING INWARDS: THE INDIVIDUAL
VALUES
ters in order, from the worst to the best ;ot least bad). Then they should
discuss the ranking in their small groups and to see if they can come to
concrete evidence. We stress our conviction that a value has no mean
a consensus. After the discussion has continued for some time, the
are not enough. Furthermore, if a group is left with the impression.that
trainer asks the small groups to report then ranking, and he tabulates
these on the board.
claiming values is the same as living them, then this exercise, may-only
■
125
ing or reality unless it is expressed in action and behaviour. Intentions
add to distorted perceptions of the self.^/
!
He then points out that different opinions and different rankings
Tiainees tended) . to overestimate the depth of values, which They
claimed to have. This was apparent from the incongruence between
what they said and what they did. We understood this 'shallovyness' as a lack of realism about an aspect of'the self. We also attributed
depend on the trainees' own. values. For some, family obligations may
be the most important value: for them Anil will be the worst of the five
characters. For others, non-violence may be the most important value :
for them Krishna will be the worst For others, not using power to ex
ploit people, or the virginity of brides, or loyalty to a loving partner may
seem more important. It may be useful in some groups, especially if the
level of dependency is high, to stress that there can be no 'righf or ab
I
I
solute answer to the question, "Which is the worst character?"
The trainer may also ask trainees to report on their discussion. '1n
evidence which they adduce. For example, a value which many trai
nees < laim to have is hard work, but examination of their work usually
Does anyone feel his opinion was brushed aside ? How much confid
ence do I have in my own judgement when there are no Tight
reveals only normal activity and performance.
answers'?"
Dinesh : One of my values is hard work.
Trainer: What time did you start work.this morning?
Identifying Some Personal Values*
.1
Dinesh: Well, I had my breakfast and all’those things. I started.Work
I
at 9.30 a.m.
Trainer: What did you do after the session yesterday?
values from within their experience in the training group.
Dinesh: I went for a walk.-When I came back I chatted with;my
We usually start by asking the trainees to reflect on what is impor
friends. Then I read a magazine. Then I slept.
tant for them in their lives. As an overnight assignment they are asked
Trainer: Would you say that you have been workifig hard during
to answer the following questions:
this course? [about two months-at this pdiht]
a) What do I value most in life?
b) Why ?
Dinesh: Well, no, I suppose not really.
c) What evidence do I have that I value it so highly?
Trainer: Then how do you say hard work is one of your values?
(An alternative here is to ask each trainee to identify three values
As we repeat and elaborate exercises to do with values, And as-?con-
which he has expressed in his behaviour within the group since the
udence is established, we increasingly confront trainees with such dis-
beginning of the course. He should give enough circumstantial infor
__ c repancies.
mation to enable the other trainees to endorse or chalfenge his identifi
The
trainees
themselves
soon
over
take
the
confrontations:
cation.)
Ram: One of my values is love.
Members are then invited to take turns to share their answers in the
.;T
:
:
Trainer: One-of your values-is Jove-. What is the evidence for this ?
g <oup. Many of the answers are vague and general— love, truth, free
dom. iriendship, politeness--and rhe trainer presses repeatedly for
* The remainder of this section is b^sed on inputs bv’Gopal Valecha
i
We therefore go further in confronting individuals by examining the
trying to reach a consensus did anyone give in to the majority view?
Later in the course we ask trainees to go further m identifying some
of their own values. We also ask them to adduce evidence for these
<1 partly to their lack or experience in decision-making. It is When
people make decisions affecting their own future, and the future of
others, that they express their values. Those individuals who were un
able or unwilling to make decisions for themselves were also those
who were least able to demonstrate the presence or depth of the
values they claimed.'
' '
. T
Ram: I show love towards everyone.
I-
' Staley & Seshan, 198T p« 12
I
126
LOOKING INWARDS
THf
INDIVIDUAL
VALUES
127
Trainer: What do other people here think about tMis? Does Ram
A
snow love to everyone?
Kutty:
Well, Ram, love may be one of your va|ues buc if so, you keep
it ms.de We certainly havent seen any lovO in you-
j) an adventurous, exciting life
Insisting upon evidence for values claimed brings the focus again upon
what <s rather than on what should be; rt helps trainees t<3 ^k what is
said with What IS done; it contributes to their understanding of them
selves and ot Others;-and u is a Wa, of looklng 3t, and deal
ing with, differences due to caste, sub-cu|ture, and social background.
By the end o. a course trainees have a more accurate idea of what
7
A
"worst"
Later still in the course, we may go on to deal with C^er aspects of
"feast bad"
ave to be paid for deeply-held and cherished values We a|so empha
size that the meaning the individual finds in his own We is acquired
through his values, i.e. the individual who has clear integrated deeply-
.-4
B
C
D v
Maya
i
E
7
Prakash
Anil
Ram
2
Ram
Maya
Prakash'
Ram
Ram '
3
Anil
Prakash
Krishna
Anil
Prakash
4
Krishna
Ram
Anil
Krishna
Anil
Krishna
Maya
Prakash
Maya
5 .Maya
Krishna
Six of the trainees of one group identified some of‘their persona!
values as follows:
held values finds his life more meaningful.
A — security
One small group of six trainees ranked twelve possfble priorities in
tr
.
__
f
t
i
*
their
own IAlives
as
shown
below:
a
A
B
C
a? social recognition, fame
3
4
e) moksha (salvation)
3
~ happiness
5
1
2
— acceptance
4
— competence
2
‘
.
—J- -
g) to participate in building a more
4
5
meaningful cause
5
2
3
D— at man (inner selfA souf)
— hard work
7
5
1
rIp
fe I
L
— justice
— security
— honest}'
C - reciprocal love and service
1.
4
— truth
F
f) freedom:, independence, free
human world order
— love
— conscience
— doing the 'right thing'
L
7
2
B — understanding
— health .
D
b) prosperity, economic comfort
* Sta!ey & Seshan. 1981, Part 2, iiin print
2
Five trainees, who had heard the story of Maya, ranked the characters
as follows:
va ues such as depth, clarity and integration, and the Pr'ce that may
or movement
■
or handicapped
confronting their own selves.
h) involvement in a
4
F
events and people
dividuaJs with such discrepancies we encourage them i" a process of .
------ choice ~----------------- -
5
£
D
l) work with the under-privileged
The purpose of confrontation s not to find fault. By confronting in-
d) love, affection, deep friendship
c
k) a position of influence over
really ar<?' and <an accepi 'n themselves certain needs
which they were previously denying ThiS ,n itsB|f make5 them more
understanding of others.’
c) security - of job, for family, etc
B
i) pleasure, an enjoyable comfortable
. life .
-hope
.
.
— knowledge and experience
— sincerity
— doing wellin my profession
- openness
— justice
~ happiness \
— concern
— deep relationships
E — truth
— love •
— effort
~ freedom
:--------------------
F — friendship
'■
— truthful, consistency
— to love and bp loved
~ career
'
•;
'
i
Ab- A W 7T
128
■
LOOKING INWARDS THE INDIVIDUAL ~
.
■
'
'
-
A
AW
- V
empathy
In-/answer to the question ■"What are values?/ eight train^
I
answered asdollows:
— something I believe inf live in and live for
Alternatively, or additionally, we may circulate the papers Empathy
and Sympathy and L Apathy The tiaso of Human Understanding ■ for
the qualities cherished by a person: I will sacrifice for them
— principles or framework in which I operate: they help me to
function
g
I
— what is important to me
■ ^Iwhat is important in life
~ something basic with which we look at things and form conclu
sions
129
■!
1
overnight reading.
We may then ask the trainees to try a written exercise to help to make
the idea clear. We present them with statements and alternative res
ponses (see below), and ask each person to choose which response best
reflects his normal response, and which is the most empathetic res
ponse. The responses given in the exercse also illustrate thegiving of un
called-for advice, and provide an opportunity to deal with the°whoie
issue of giving advice with and without understanding and empathy.
— goals for which I live and strive
— that which I like to do, and like to show to others. I can take risks for
them.
7.2 Empathy**
The objectives are
a) to teach trainees the concept of empathy
Empathy Exercise (written)^
STATEMENT:
ALTERNATIVE RESPONSES:
1. Imagine that you go to a com
a) Yes, the bus service is terrible,
mittee meeting one day, and that
as you sit down you say to the
member in the next chair, "I've
had such trouble in getting here
today. So many problems came
to give.them personal experience of being understood empathe-
up in my work. Anyway I've made
tically
it!"
■ c) to enable them to assess their own ability .to empathize with
others
I
d) to enhance their skills in empathizing and effective listening#
ii
We.start by defining and describing-empathy as a concept, stressing
its intellectual and feeling components, and its affinity with the atti
tudes of-respect and the equal worth of all persons. We sometimes use
'■
2. Now imagine that you are in a
training group and the modera
tor says, "There's a bit of a prob
lem, because I can't understand
what work the organizers want
us to do today."'
isn't it?
b) You're feeling happy because
you've made it to the meeting,
despite all those problems.
d You should never let prob
lems get on top of you.
a) Well, you're the moderator.
It's your responsibility.
b) You'd better complain if those
people can't make things clear.
c) You're feeling uncomfortable
about today's work; but per
the formula "to understand and^see as if we are the other person" the as
haps we can help to puzzle it
is then linked to the feeling component and the if to the analytical and
out between us.
intellectual- "If I leave out the feeling component, I shall be only hearing
3. Now imagine that you are
but not listening. If I leave out the intellectual component, I may be
visiting a slum and a poor ok!
carried away by the emotional."
woman there says to you, "Life is
We also distinguish between empathy and the more familiar idea of
miserable for our family now. My
.SYjypafoy? drawing attention to the difference of 'levels' in sympathy
and to its largely emotional nature.-We may also clarify otheFassociaf-
son has lost his job. My grand
children- are-rrorgetting enough
ed concepts such as tolerance/acceptance and understan di ng/agree
ment
a) You're feeling miserable be
cause of the misfortunes which
nave come in your family.
b) You poor, miserable people.
My heart bleeds for people
like Pou?------- 7 \
• - -:
to eat My daughter-in-law is sick
and can't do any work."
c) You should take your daugh
ter-in-law to the doctor.
Based on inputs by Copal Valecha
* Valecha, 1978
Adapted from Staley & Sugde;
la
V3 pp. 78-9; Valecha 1978, pp. 10-3.
no
I
I
[
4. A trainee has been in a training
group for three; weeks. During a
discussion with the trainer he
says, '1 don't know why-it is^but I
j ust don't feel as tho ugh4 am.one
of the . group. They are all nice
enough fellows, but. somehow
they seem to have a closed circle
and: make me feel like an out
sider. -Maybe, it is me; I don't
know."5. During ap interview with his
team-leader, a health worker
states;"f don't want to work with
Ram any more. He is lazy and is
taking a superior attitude. He
complains about the rest of us
not helping him as much as we
should: :He thinks he is too good
for this kind of work with the rest
of us..! am fed up of being in the
team with him."
6. A young man whose work
sho.wed a sudden drop in quality
was .s.ent to the project manager
for an interview. One of the
things he.-said.on arriving was, "1
don't know why I should be
asked to talk’to you about'my
work. 1 haven't complained and i
haven't timefdr this kirrd of chitchat Sb giveime what Kelp you
hay.e. in mind and: I will get
along.":
‘
r
> MPATHY
LOOKING INWARDS: THE INDIVIDUAL
a) Why don't you use the first
chance you get to do those
fellows a favour?
j
b) It seems to you that the group .
does not accept you.
c) It seems that the others dislike
you for some reason.
d) Don't you think they will ac
cept you, if you give them
some more time to learn that
you are a nice fellow?
a) You fee! that Ram ought to be
disciplined in some way.
b) Ram doesn't want to co-oper
ate, is that it?
c) Ram's attitude makes the work
very unpleasant
7. "I'm bursting with joy. I spoke
to someone about my problem
and felt fully understood. I fuel
as though a big burden has been
lifted’ from my shoulders. It is
great!" ,
8. '1 don't want to think about
myself. It's too painful."
i
cj You feel irritated over coming
here because you don't think
I can help you.
d) You must not jump to conclu. siops. Often people need help
when they are unaware of this
need.
b) My! what a fine feeling. It is
beautiful!
c) You feel relieved and opti
mistic about the future!
a) You find it painful to look at
yourself. It is pointless.
I
c) You should learn to face pain
ful things.
Scoring: the following responses are the most empathetic, and score 1
point each: 1b; 2c; 3a; 4b; 5c:-6a; 7c; 8b,/
Scores: 7—8 excellent
5—6 good
'3-4 fair
0—2
b) Don't you feel that with my
experience in the project I
might be of some help?
a) Well, don't get too excited.
Life is not all joy, and the feel
ing will soon wear off.
b) You feej that there, are many
painful things going on inside
you, and you feel frightened
to face the pain.
d) You think Ram might fit in
better somewhere else.
a) You came to see me because
you. y/ere sent and not be
cause you feel any need for
help; and you are annoyed
about it
131
j
j
poor
Empathy in the Training Group
We then come to a second exercise based on data from.the.group
itself. First we introduce a scale for rating responses according to their
level of empathy:
40% or less
50%
some empathy and understanding
little or no empathy or understanding
I
70%-80%
good empathy and understanding .
90% —100%
- full empathy, excellent understanding
I ■
more than 100% - "The other person understands me better than
I understand myself!"
I
I
We then invite any member of the group to share something real
out of his life that he feels mure or less strongly about. This may be a
problem or a pleasure We wT refer to the member concerned as A.
For the purpose of the oxen iso -Vs problem or pleasure should not be
132'
LOOKING INWARDS: THE INDIVIDUAL
feedback
or complicated or lengthy. Something .brief and clear that is
gW'n8f
'Z
pleasin§ him' PeAaP*frO" the daily life of.the
fnSE Gm
6 C°UrSe'be,sui£able; BlJt it:
c) to increase their
awareness of t.ne effect that other's behaviour
has on- them
be real and not
d) to create a climate in which individuals are
enabled to express
feelings about each other
A has stated the problem dr pleasure, other members are invite? WpenAempathetically. saying whatthey have understood of the
prpbiem pr pleasure,and of the feelings of A which are associated with it
They on no < mravaged te use the formula, 'You feel... because "
e) to generate confidence and trust within the group
.
acn^mefribehmakes his response, A rates the response accorditellTfe d W
66,5 understood in terms of the problem or pleasure
Wh
n T gS iWO!ved When be Sives a high rating he can be
a^^w;he h,mself felt on hearing that response Similarly on a low
We then go on to describe the exercise itself as followsT Tramees form groups of four or five according to their own choice
raungrdf.the tamer thinks that any response is rated too high or too
low,: he jean ash A to explain his rating.
rhiW--alS° giWS 3 ■ emPathetic tesponse to A's statement, so
thattr^eestoan experience and rate the empathy of the trainer.
■ conta n
I-t? 'Che<:k that Statemeot5 of problems or pleasures
contain sufficient information for empathetic responses: Some groups
"Z m'r ^."'t'
35 " gUeSSing game rather
.. One person volunteers to receive feedback first Let us call him B
' the0^ '"T
" ’n tUm tO give B ■r'e8at've feedback using
the follpwmg form of words; "An observation which I have made
about you wh.ch I do not much like is
"
4 The feedback given should be frank and honest, but not powerful or
k"8- “ S?“M
* a"
°PP?^pity to listen and respond.
ratSSw^ 31116 °ther member5 have responded to A and been
S'sWr memberhCan take A's P,a« and share one of his prob
lems Small groups or about 8 members are suitable for this exercise A
may fee mv,ted to sit in the centre of the circle, turning to face eacC
133
b“<l ”
X
members have made about B. It should be significant and helnf I
and not tnvial. Nothing should be written down.
PU'
3 tark'R311 the perS°n 8iv,n8 feedback C. After each negative feed
back. B immediately responds to C by saying what he thinks C
person who responds.
S
mtiSfeW Pr°ceeds' some Grabers score consistently h,gh
means. He uses the words, 'What I think you mean is
6- B then goes on to give his spontaneous reaction to C's feedback
using the words, "...and my reaction to that is "
ZaliU
- r erS
6efere tHe t0P‘C «
makes, rt dear tnat empathy can be practised, and that trainees can
/ B teen reCeives negative feedback from each of the other members
^nanother memoer takes the place of B, and the procedure is re-’
improve their skd if they.wish.
uamees can
8 feedk^Xtrm "l "
7.3 Feedback*
The objectives of this exercise are -
.
a) .to allow trainees to check their own
perception of how others
scethen
a
b) todncrease their, awareness of the effect thar behaviour has on
. ofiieFs
hi
■ l:.:.v.d :Gn inputs by Gopal Valecha
a
f0"OWS 3 r°Und of
134
LOOKiN'C INWARDS
'HE INDIVIDUAL
feedback
himself should be prepared to receit. • and handle negative feedback at
* further helps to mak. rhe trainer Jre accessibfel a
^mstanCes,%X«e^aSo^XSpSS^to^
After trarnees have completed
exercse, the trarner asks each
Se^^e.
member of the group in turn what they felt and thought
a) when giving negative feedback
en-
*e“
b) when receiving negative feedback
St°ngteeh'>^ga-.
hve or positive-have been aroused
c) when giving positive feedback
The giving and receiving of feedback can be related d.rSiand
convemently to the Johari Window, which ts descnbed in sel|,S
d) when receiving positive feedbar k
These feelings and thoughts are listed on
self-worthland.
the board. They can be laid
out as follows:
°n
asked
b,^-bo^ ^en ^neeS ‘Be
Negative
Giving
Receiving
.
living
NECATIVE.,
- mixed feelings
— confident, it will help him to .
think and become better
Positive
Giving
Receiving
y.:
Receiving
— hesitant; he maybe hurt, angry -
■-
- learned my shortcomings
- happy to receive
ce/ve attention
attention
— anxious whether I shall be
. understood
- happy; more so ' with
d .negatix-e
— uncomfortable; I had to make ;
an effort
- anxiouSfanticipated something
feedback than positive
unpleasant; happy because /’r
~ confident in giving, but wor
was an accurate observation
ried over his reaction
- it was helpful; / became more
— anxious whether what d
will be useful
say
.. .
aware
“ helpful, led to learning
— sad and angry
As in the exercise itself, the negative is dealt with first The list of
feelings and thoughts may indicate to trainees that the anxiety over giv
— anxious over his reaction
ing negative feedback is often as great as over receiving it The trarner
pomes out that negative feedback is generally unpleasant and uncomf°rt^'e b.Oth t0 Slve or to ,e«ive- He also stresses.again that it wall be
■
.
7.4 A Model of the Self*
The purpose of this is
judgemental or critical attitude, it wiil do more harm than good
receive. It also .s useful provided again that it is authentic, and that it is
- expected it, so happy ■t
•
usetu only ,r g.ven out ot a genuine interesTTh the person rrw.-v;
with the retention of helping and in a climate of trust If given with a
Posmve feedback, on the other hand, is pleasant to give and to
-surprised; unhappy at first, but
alright afterwards^
-easy
T
~
------- ~~
ai to introduce a model of the self
i
b) to relate this to the concepts of setftdisdosure and feedback
A simple and convenient wav of introducing the cohceptAf self-
V,
With a -elated exehdse
Site . .
/z
•
LOOKING INWARDS: THE INDIVIDUAL
1-?6
/
knowledge is the Johari Window, named after its originators, Joe Luft
\
A MODEL OF THE SELF
■I
Figure vii Johari Window 'remodelled'
and Harry Ingam. This is a model in which the self is seen as though
through, a window.
FEEDBACK --
>
Figure vi Johari Window
KNOWN TO SELF
1
' D.
UNKNOWN TO SELF
on
I
2
LU
’ 1. The Public Self
H
'
What I and others know. My
■ own and others' perceptions
z . are the same. There is no ing
ternal conflict here.. Area of
g
congruence and growth.
O
g....
_
2. The Blind Self
Behaviour of which I may not
be aware, but which others
know. I do not see in myself
what others see. If this area is
large, my control over my
self—using my strengths effec
tively, and overcoming my
limitations —will be lbw.
K
o
d
•Q
1. The Public Self
2. The Blind
Self
ULXJ
W)
i
3. The Secret or Private Self
4. The Unknown
Self
I
I
p
o
o
p
i
3. The Secret or
Private Self
Aspects of myself that I know
but that I keep hidden from
others..
Z
>
_
□
4. The Unknown Seff
This area is not known to me
or.to other people. Parts of it
may be revealed during life
but it will never be fully
known.
‘*
We can 'remodel the window' and increase the area of the public
self by decreasingjhe areas of the blind and private self. The area of the
private self can be decreased through self^disclosure; and the area of
—.—
the.blind self._thr.ough ieedback. (see.-figure vii-below). W—
Some of the common, barriers to self-disclosure are a fear that
a
Others may not like me"; a wish to be seen by others in a particular
way; a lack.of accepting relationships with others; and the absence of
an open supportive climate.
Some of the common barriers to feedback are Ihierarchy
’
). (where
information from the lower to the upper levels is diverted into grumbl
ing at the lower levels);'defensive reactions such as "you don't under
stand me" or "you don't like me"; and again a lack of trusting relationships and open climate.
We usually introduce the Johari Window in relation to feedback as
such (7.3); and to some already familiar examples of self-disclosure
such as My Life Road (6.4).
.•
ii
feBBI A Perspective on Conflict
> ‘Conflict:.3 someone said that the word itself is too strong and too big.
... we havefound out that in general conflict is negative, but if it is kept within limits and
managed effectively it will have advantages also ...
Conflict is an inevitable part of change. It is the other side of die same coin. We
cannot have any change — or any development — without some amount of conflict.
Conflict is always a concern in development and tor development workers. When it
is managed and used with skill it can be a prime tool for development. When it
becomes violent, and degenerates into warfare, it can be the greatest obstacle to
development.
Conflict is increasing in the world. Competition for resources, rising expectations,
plural values, and changes in relationships are contributing to it.
Even as a subject to be studied, it is huge and intractable. Whole courses, and
coundess training events and books, attempt to grapple with it. Here the topic is
introduced, in a limited way, mainly at interpersonal and organizational levels. Even
at these levels the subject may seem disturbing to some course members.
The approach is to recognize conflict at different levels, and to show that some level
of conflict is inevitable in development work, and indeed in daily life. Members are
invited to consider their own attitudes and behaviour in relation to conflict at diis level,
so that it may be seen as less of a threat and more as an opportunity. The approach is;
pardy conceptual and pardy experiential.
The material below requires two sessions. The topic links with many others, including;
Cosy Or Challenging? The Climate In The Group (page 86), More About Our Values^
(page 356) and Puzzling It Out: Using Case Studies (page 164).
I
Objectives
iS>
<3
to demonstrate that conflict is a fact of life and of all relationships, and to help
members distinguish the levels of conflict which may be useful from those which
may be harmful;
d
I
to explore the topic of conflict, to demystify it, and increase the ability of
members to approach conflict with increased understanding and objectivity;
■
to demonstrate that conflict is inevitably Hnked with change, and to consider tliisi<
in the context of working for change through development work;
to encourage members to share their experiences of conflict at work and within
1;
their own organizations, and to recognize individual styles of dealing with it;
a to increase members’ confidence in using conflict as a tool for change.
426
■ ■
1
t
-
r'
Ii
' £
10.8 A PcrsfMctiw on Conflict
f" j Introducing the Topic
0 Explain that conflict is a Ihuge subject, and only introductory work is possible. The
intention is to provide some
- starting points for further study, and to make the whole
subject seem less daunting.
One way of putting conflict into p
'
'
perspective is to recognize that the word itself means
different things to different people.
.... - -
TT? w *
contribute
y°™n°
■p-o
XX 555ZZ?* XX1''* "eren“
Focus on the words, starting from the left, and discuss them with the group.
in -
»»
■Am7hAUndTtandT§ b!tWeqn tW0 C0llea8ues a kind of conflict?'
xxxs
™
Do the words as a whole represent a continuous sequence?'
- what point in the sequence does the level of conflict become stressful?'
s v,o ence the problem? Can we distinguish violence and conflict?'
Does ft help to consider different levels of conflict?'
iS Pth Ofeveryday life'that there
as the problem rather than conflict
differ-
reatening' TheX maX ,dentify violence
changes been without
or decisions, or actions — without conflict? Is development possible without conflict?
Useful Levels of Conflict
Tell the course members to work in
small groups of four or five. Ask them to refer back
427
Ii
E3 to the words on the board and identify the levels of conflict which may be useful within’v
an organization1; together with some of the possible benefits.
if necessary, mention possible benefits such as bringing issues into the open, clarifying what ,,
people think and feel, showing where change is needed, ‘clearing the air', and so on.
Ask members to share experiences or examples of conflict which they think were
beneficial.
Illustrate the general point with the simple graph shown below.
High Level
S
■8
Q
o
I
o
------Low Level
Amount of Conflict
High Level
i
Managing Conflict
Suggest to the group that, when conflict occurs in an organization, the objective is to keepyt
it within the limits where it may be useful, and to prevent it from growing out of control-^
In other words conflict has to be managed.
f
□ S
Distribute the questionnaire Managing Conflict in an Organization (see pages 431—432). ^
and ask members to complete it individually. Then ask them to work in groups of three §
or four and compare their responses. Invite any comments in the whole group.
& §
Introduce the idea of 'warning signs'. For a manager or team leader one of the most useful
skills is to recognize the early signs of conflict and be able to act early enough to keep.it
within bounds. Ask members what they think are some of the early warning signs of >
conflict within an organization or a team. List these on the board.
• ??
If necessary contribute to the list yourself. Examples are iindividuals
’"'4'~l~ ■withdrawing, difficulties..^
-rfr- ••• r
over decisions, arguments about minor issues, gossip, grumbling,
form
imhlino factions forming,
individur
als absent, short tempers, and abuse.
Ask the members to discuss the list briefly.
The work outlined above will occupy roughly one session.
428
■<
it
it
JI1
■
4.
10.8 A Perspective on Conflict
Our Attitudes to Conflict
£3 Continue the work in a further session by inviting members to consider how they
themselves react when faced with interpersonal conflict, and how they deal with it
Where Do We Stand?
Ask members to stand on a continuum line (see pages 108—109) to demonstrate their
own attitudes towards interpersonal conflict. One end represents tendencies like not
confronting others, disliking arguments, avoiding conflict, maintaining harmony and so on.
zther end represents enjoying argument, being able to confront others, accepting
some conflict and so on.
The categories may not be exactly defined, but members will be able to take up approx
imate positions. When they have placed themselves, ask them to talk with those standing
near them and to compare notes. Invite them to adjust their positions in relation to others
if that now seems appropriate.
Ask questions to the group or to individuals:
‘How do you react to the way the group has arranged itself?'
'Is this how you see the group?'
‘Are you surprised by where you see anyone else standing? If so, who and why?'
'Are you happy about where you stand yourself? If so, why? If not, why not?'
'Would you prefer to be in another position? If so, why?'
Invite anyone who would like to change his/her attitude towards conflict to move to the
position they would prefer. Ask those who move to explain the difference, and to say
what they think holds them back.
How Do We Deal with Conflict?
The questionnaire Dealing With Conflict (pages 432—440) offers another way for
members to think about interpersonal conflict and their own attitudes and behaviour.
Distribute Part I of the questionnaire and ask members to work at if individually. This may
take 20 minutes. If time is short members can be asked to to complete it overnight.
When Part I has been completed, distribute Part 2 for members to score their own
responses. Check that they understand the procedure and the results..Explain that the
questionnaire gives a rough indication rather than an accurate assessment. It is to provide
food for thought, but should not be taken too seriously. If necessary explain the five
styles and the diagram.
Distribute Part 3, which explains the five styles in more detail and suggests their
advantages and disadvantages. Joint Problem-Solving may be ideal, and Compromising
may be realistic, but the other styles also have their uses. The question is whether we
can vary the ways in which we deal with conflict, and can choose the style that is
appropriate to the situation.
429
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Exploring conllici with role-play
A Conflict with a Colleague
y 1 his is a light-hearted exercise which gives members an opportunity to try out these
different styles while in role.1 Ask members to work in pairs, and to decide who is A and
who is B. Distribute the role outline (page 441).
After members have read the outline ask them to take up their roles and see if they can
reach any agreement within the pairs. Tell them that the As are to adopt a Dominating
style and the Bs an Avoiding style. After a few minutes ask them to continue in the same
A and B roles, but to exchange the styles. After a few more minutes ask them to stop, to
give their attention to the whole group, but to remain in their places. Collect some
reactions from both As and Bs.
"I hen ask the Bs to move and work with another A. This time, if the As are Dominating,
the Bs should be Smoothing Over. Then both A and B should be Dominating at the same
time. Again check for reactions and share in the whole group. Now ask the As to move
to new B partners.
Other combinations of styles can be tried, but before ending both A and B should use
Compromising at the same time. The exercise can finish with both using Joint ProblemSolving. Bring the members together and ask them to share further observations and
insights.
t
I With acknowledgments io Simon Fisher.
430
Ib^SO
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f-------------- ------- ----------
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10.8 A Perspective on Conllict
!
!
Tire exercise demonstrates the styles and their effects, and gives members an
If being on the receiving end of different styles. More important, rt gives members a
’
Sofe opportunitv of using styles which are new to them. This can be enrtchmg m itself.
s|
■
> ... the gro.p was gwen the opportunity to spread themselves along a c^cl co^^
extreme ends being avoidance ofconflict and active partiapatwn or destrefor conflrct. Natwally .^d
myself at the side which avoided conflict...
9 of how the. others fell, but I fill
> ... the questions led us to see our tmdmcies ...I was not sum
There
was one thing I seemed to see
good and the result seemed to be showing what I know of me. .
in
in common
common among
among us
us - mat
that me
the ^oowmg
Smoothing Over seemed to m
be more than the Domwating.
It >
II
The discussion ... developed into a conversation about handling conflict We looked at how as
development workers, we may well have to engage ourselves in
generate change. I know from a personal point of view this is not something t which I look
forward, as confronting such situations has never been one of my strongpoints.
il
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Questionnaire'. Managing Conflict in an Organization
hi'
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To reduce the likelihood of damaging levels of conflict within an organization,
thereTre many preventive actions that can be taken. Some more or less
there are many preventive actions that can be taken. Some more or less
gl
appropriate suggestions are given below.
||
Imagine that you are the director of an organization, or the manager of a team or
department. Which will you consider the most important and useful suggestions.
i I■i
i
Which suggestions are not useful at all?
a) encourage a work
tation are expected, but where differences can also be expressed.
- I.
b). clarify structures, procedures, responsibilities and authority within the
organization or department.
c). g'lve all the staff a strongly-worded talk every week on working
-■
1
Ih
■I
■s-
■.
peacefully together.
d). increase your own awareness of the mechanisms of conflict and your
skills in managing and resolving it.
likely to arise,
and where an
e). anticipate
in advance
keep watch for the early signs of any conflict.
fIP;:
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fl. encourage staff-members to put forward their own views without
attacking or blaming those with different views. Encourage T
statements.
J
g) . use an authoritarian style of management and take all decisions
yourself so that there will be less reason for others to quarrel with '
each other.
h) . make sure that all staff (including yourself) share their expectations of ?
each other’s roles and work, and especially when new staff are j
appointed.
'
i) . give time and attention to listening to what other people say about their |
work and problems, listening to their words and to their feelings also" |
j) . arrange informal meetings without any particular agenda where staff J
members are free to bring up anything that concerns them; including.:!
any clashes with colleagues.
f
k) . arrange regular formal staff meetings about important issues andjj
problems, and encourage staff members to express their viewpoints!
and differences of opinion openly.
? I'
l) . when a problem or conflict arises, ask those involved what they think...|
is the underlying cause.
After ranking the suggestions, compare and discuss your conclusions in small#
groups.
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Exercise: Dealing with Conflict, Part lyW
Ki
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Each of us has our own way of dealing with conflict; and we may tend to use ths®
way, or style, whenever we are faced by conflict. The exercise is to help us identi®
■
which is our preferred way, or style, of responding to and resolving conflict.
Below are 30 pairs of statements. For each pair circle ‘a’ or ‘b’ to indicate wh.i.c||
statement more closely fits the way you tend to deal with differences betwe^nf
yourself and other people.
it
Although the statements themselves are repeated, each pair of statements is‘'at
•i■
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different combination. You should therefore continue to think carefully about thej
pairs of statements as you complete the questionnaire.
432
i
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1. a. I am usually strong in pursuing my goals.
b. I try to get all concerns and issues immediately out in the open.
2. a. I put my cards on the table and invite the other person to do the same.
b. When conflicts arise I try to win my case.
s
I
3. a. Once I decide on something I defend my decision strongly.
b. I prefer not to argue but to look for the best solution possible.
4. a. I sometimes give up my own wishes for the wishes of the other person.
b. I feel that differences are not always worth worrying about.
5. a. I accept the views of the other, rather than rock the boat.
b. I avoid people with strong views.
6. a. I like to cooperate with others and follow their ideas.
b. I feel that most things are not worth arguing about.
I stick to my own views.
7. a. I try to find a compromise solution.
b. I am usually strong in pursuing my goals.
8. a. When conflicts arise I try to win my case.
b. I propose a middle ground.
9. a. I like to meet the other person half-way.
b. Once I decide on something I defend my decision strongly.
10. a. I feel that differences are not always worth worrying about,
b. I try to find a compromise solution.
11. a. I propose a middle ground.
b. I avoid people with strong views.
12. a. I feel that most things are not worth arguing about.
I stick to my own views.
b. I like to meet the other person half-way.
13. a. I am usually strong in pursuing my goals.
b. I sometimes give up my own wishes for the wishes of the other person.
14. a. I accept the views of the other, rather than rock the boat.
b. When conflicts arise I try to win my case.
15. a. Once I decide on something I defend my decision strongly.
b. I like to co-operate with others and follow their ideas.
433
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( 06 )
16. a. I try to find a compromise solution.
b. I sometimes give up my own wishes for the wishes of the other person.
17. a. I would accept the views of the other, rather than rock the boat.
b. I propose a middle ground.
18. a. Hike to meet the other person half-way.
b. I like to co-operate with others and follow their ideas.
19. a. I feel that differences are not always worth worrying about.
b. I am usually strong in pursuing my goals.
20. a. When conflicts arise I try to win my case.
b. I avoid people with strong views.
21. a. I feel that most things are not worth arguing about.
I stick to my own views.
b. Once I decide on something I defend my decision strongly.
22. a. I try to get all concerns and issues immediately out in the open.
b. I feel that differences are not always worth worrying about.
23. a. I avoid people with strong views.
b. I put my cards on the table and invite the other person to do the same.
24. a. I prefer not to argue but to look for the best solution possible.
b. I feel that most things are not worth arguing about.
I stick to my own views.
25. a. I try to get all concerns and issues immediately out in the open.
b. I try to find a compromise solution.
26. a. I put my cards on the table and invite the other person to do the same.
b. I propose a middle ground.
■>7
27. a. I prefer not to argue but I look for the best solution possible.
b. I like to meet the other person half-way.
28. a. I sometimes give up my own wishes for the wishes of the other person, j
b. I try to get all concerns and issues immediately out in the open.
29. a. I put my cards on the table and invite the other person to do the samew
b. I would accept the views of others, rather than rock the boat.
30. a. I like to co-operate with others and follow their ideas.
b. I prefer not to argue but to look for the best possible solution.
Sg
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»
434
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Exercise:
Dealing with Conflict, Part 2
COthe ’a’ in the first line of the table.
I
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A
: fcZ
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E
D
C
a
b
a
a
tzs
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4
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b
a
b
2ZZ. b a
£_z:z b
b
a_
a
b
■
17
18
19
20 _
?_
b
21
a
28_
29
30
TOTALS
b
b
16
l24„.
25
26
27_
_a
V
a
pZ
14
:i
15__
:23
b
1
ZzizLl—
b
a
pz
E
it
a
I
[2_ _
[3____
I5
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B
b
a_
b_
b
a
a
b
b
a
b-
i
a
v
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b
a ----b
a
b
b
a
t
b
a
-4--
4.b
_b
b
t
a
a
a
a
b
a
b
b
a
1
435
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(ii). Add up the total number of responses circled under each of the columns A, B,
C. D and E.
(iii). The maximum score in any column is 12; and the total in all columns should
be 30. Check your own totals; and see if there is any discrepancy.
(iv). The five columns represent five different styles of dealing with conflict:
A = avoiding
B - smoothing over
C = compromising
D - dominating
E - joint problem-solving
A score of more than 6 for any style indicates that you may prefer to use that style
A score of less than 6 suggests that it is a style you do not prefer.
(v). The five styles are shown in the following diagram. The characteristics and
advantages and disadvantages of each style will be described separately.
(vi). After hearing the five styles discussed, reflect on how the questionnaire came
out for you. Do you think it indicated correctly your preferred style/s of dealing
with conflict? Do you always use the same style/s? Are you satisfied with the
way you deal with conflict?
Assertive
JOINT PROBLEM-SOLVING
DOMINATING
COMPROMISING
Unassertive
SMOOTHING OVER
AVOIDING
Co-operative
Unco-operative
It is the ability to vary the style used — to choose the most appropriate style that makes a person effective in dealing with conflict. We may each have our own
preferred style/s, but we should also be flexible enough to use whichever style is
going to be the most useful in the circumstances.
Adapted from unattributed secondary sources.
436
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Exercise: Dealing with Conflict, Part 3
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A. Avoiding Style (both lose)
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This style attempts to ‘get rid’ of conflict by denying that it exists, or by post
poning any attempt to deal with it.
- A person usir .g this style tends to withdraw or retreat from conflict.
- The style gives little importance to the task/s or the re!ationship/s involved.
- It may be associated with low levels of involvement and commitment, as well as
low levels of co-operation and assertiveness.
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- The person using it ignores his/her own needs and the needs of the other party,
so no one’s needs will be met.
/
- The main disadvantage of this style is that if conflict is neglected, it does not go
away but tends to grow and become more and more unmanageable.
Some possible uses of this style are:
- as a temporary response if an issue is not urgent or important;
- for a ‘cooling down’ period;
I
- while collecting more information and making further analysis;
- if other people can resolve the conflict satisfactorily;
- if the issue is only a symptom of a wider problem;
- if other people are likely to be hurt by the use of other styles.
B. Smoothing Over Style (you lose, the other gains)
g
7
This style tends to emphasize the areas of agreement and play down the areas of
disagreement.
- it puts others’ needs and concerns above your own; if you use it you may be
giving too little attention to your own goals and needs.
- This style tends to be co-operative, but not assertive.
1
it'
th
- The person using it tends to yield to others, to give more importance to the
harmony and relationship than the task or the real issues.
- He/she may not recognize the positive aspects or possible advantages of
handling conflict openly; but this may be preferred in some cultures.
437
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- Those who tend to ‘accommodate’ others are often seen as ‘quiet’. If already
.. perceived that way, when they do make their contribution it may not be heard,
and they may lose recognition and influence.
•t
- Conflicts dealt with in this way may not be resolved; or they may be resolved
without either party’s view being effectively presented or understood
meaningfully.
I
Some possible uses of this style are:
si ji n
lil
- when goodwill and preserving a relationship is more important than dealing
with the conflict;
“I!
- when one party is much more concerned about the issue/problem than the
other;
6!!
.1!!
- when one party is much more powerful than the other;
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- to give the other party an experience of ‘winning’;
- to make the other party more receptive to a more important issue.
■>!
C Compromising Style (both gain, but both lose too)
I
This style attempts to reach or negotiate a midway position.
- It is searching for solutions that bring some satisfaction to both parties; but it
expects concessions on both sides.
f
-f
I-I
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- Both parties expect to gain a bit, but also to lose a bit: ‘you give a little and I’ll
give a little;’ ‘let’s split the difference’.
BJ
!
- There may be acceptance of a compromise agreement on both sides, but it “
gives limited satisfaction to either party.
- The process of bargaining may encourage both sides to take up inflated
positions; it may be associated with positional bargaining.
■
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- In the search for an agreement and compromise, both parties may lose sight:Qf;|
their own values.
if
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- Any agreement reached may be weak, mediocre and ineffective; and there-m^yW
be a lack of commitment to it.
. 3
■ w
- This style allows a more thorough exploration of the conflict than avoidance,h.
but less thorough than collaboration.
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- Overall more needs can be met through this style than through competition, bui^
less than through collaboration.
fi
438
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- This style may not be ideal, but it is often expedient and practicable. It often fits
the realities of management and organizations.
- It is important for everyone/every organization to use this style sometimes, i.e. to
be able to negotiate, to make concessions, to extricate themselves from
i.
difficulty, etc.
Some possible uses of this style are:
f
- as an alternative, if collaboration fails;
IF
- if time is short;
- if the goals of both parties in the conflict are not very important;
- if both parties are equally powerful and equally strongly committed.
D. Dominating Style (you gain: the other loses)
In this style one party imposes its own views or meets its own heeds at the
expense of the other.
- This style represents a high level of assertion but a low level of co-operation.
- Dominating, imposing one's views, or ‘winning’, is more important than
preserving the relationship.
- It involves the use of authority or power (from position, rank, information,
supervision, ‘the system’, expertise, etc.) to overcome the other party.
- It leads to ‘winners’ and ‘losers’. The losers .Often do not support the
decision/agreement which has been imposed, and the ‘struggle’ is taken
forward into the future.
- The losers may be suppressed, coerced, hurt, damaged.
- This style tends to be used in competitive societies and cultures.
- Persistent users of this style may be seen as aggressive, and may be cut off by
other people from interaction and information.
- Those who never use this style may feel powerless in conflicts, especially against
those who often use it.
Some possible uses of this style:
- when a quick decision is essential;
- when an unpopular decision is necessary;
- in situations where life is threatened e.g. military, children in danger, emergen
cies, disasters etc;
439
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- when applying ‘the law’ or ‘the rules’;
- where decisions are made by majority vote.
I
E. Joint Problem-Solving Style (both gain)
Here the emphasis and energy is given to analyzing and jointly solving the
problem, not on defending a position or defeating the other party.
|
- The aim is to meet the needs of both parties. Both parties recognize the needs
:
and concerns of the other as legitimate.
- Both parties acknowledge that there is conflict. They identify each others' needs;
and together identify alternative solutions and their consequences.
- Both parties expect to modify their views in order to reach agreement but both
expect to gain from agreement.
- This style represents a high level of both assertion and co-operation. I
- It gives importance both to the task and to the relationship.
'■
- It may be associated with principled bargaining.
;•
- This style is more creative and innovative; it leads to personal, group or
organizational growth.
- The style calls for time, understanding, energy and commitment; some issues
-S
may not be worth so much if other work has to be neglected.
.
- It requires trust on both sides. If there is trust on one side only, that party may ■ ■;
be taken advantage of.
'• 'S
- It is appropriate when both parties agree that the conflict is important and is
worth the resources needed to solve it, and are committed to a joint resolution.'
^„W(eds. Pfeiffer and Goodstein), pages 135-139; Gordon Lippitt, ‘Managing Conflict m Wsg
Organizations’, Manati Decent and Training Handbook, (eds. Taylor and Uppitt) pages 67-68. *
■
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440
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iBW Approaches to Planning
Tills event uses a questionnaire which contains 25 statements about planning in
community development programmes. Responding to these statements helps to direct
members’ minds towards die topic, and stimulates thinking about it. Discussion of
dieir responses helps members to compare their own, and their organization’s;
attitudes and experiences with those of others.
Four additional statements under the heading Planning for Yourself can be added to
the main questionnaire and dealt with at the same time. These statements explore die
link between members’ attitudes towards planning in dieir professional work md
planning in their personal lives.
As a topic, planning is beyond the scope of this manual. The quesdonnaire can only be.
a starting point. Allow one session altogether.
...Y
Objectives
to introduce the topic and processes of planning for development in a
community;
■I
to raise issues related to planning and participation;
« to provide an opportunity for members to discuss their previous experience pf
planning, and to share their assumptions;
to encourage members to reflect on whether their personal attitudes to planning
arc consistent with practice in their professional work.
Using the Questionnaire
E3 Distribute the questionnaire to each member and ask them to complete it individually
without discussion. This may take 30 minutes.
Ask the members to form small groups of four or five. Separate colleagues from the same?
organization. Ask the small groups to work through the questionnaires, statement by ,;
statement, sharing their individual responses with others in their group and explaining theinj
reasons. The task is not to reach consensus, but to uncover differing assumptions,|
approaches and experience. The discussion may take a further 30 minutes.
Bring the members back into the larger group, and take up any statement that you want
to emphasize, or which members want to discuss further. Remember that the purpose is;
to stimulate thinking rather than to reach conclusions.
Avoid repeating the discussions which have already taken place in the small groups.
■ '
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442
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—___________________________________________________________
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70.9 Approaches to Planning
El Some responses may depend on how members interpret the wording of statements.
For example,, in number 15, the word ‘fully’ can be understood in different ways. The
words 'a part’ in number 16 can also be contentious. Accept members’ different assump
tions and draw attention to them.
Statements in the main questionnaire that may be worth emphasis are numbers 4, 5,
I4—19, 21 and 22. In the supplementary questionnaire statement 4 may be worth
emphasis.
The statements which mention some of the advantages and benefits of planning are
numbers 5, 10— I 3, 20 and 21.
Questionnaire: Approaches to Planning
»^wii»^Hus»MSa«BMSm»»«srai^™TOwilwJe^
Below are 25 statements about planning and plans. Read the statements and
indicate whether you agree or disagree with them. Add comments if you wish.
Agree
Disagree
Comments
KM'.^-JT/>Kn»W^n^&11;W,row.JW,,rJnwwws>^lw,|twJl^
IfW^WUW^wjWf.rws^rt^,
1. Working without plans is like using a canoe
without a paddle. The canoe drifts
according to the winds and currents,
instead of going on a chosen course.
□
2. Planning is a specialized process
which should be left to professional experts.
3. Planning is a Western idea. It is not so
appropriate or welcome in other cultures.
4. Planning is basically a common-sense, natural
activity. All people everywhere can and do plan. QJ
5. Planning allows us to use our imagination
about possibilities for the future.
6. Planning is a process of making decisions
about the future.
7. A plan puts us into a rigid framework and
□
reduces our flexibility.
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Agree
Disagree
Comments
8. The situation in many areas is so unpredictable
that it is pointless to plan.
9. When resources and skills are scarce,
planning is a luxury. It is too expensive
and takes too much time.
10. A plan is necessary for work to be
co-ordinated, and for tasks to be delegated.
□
11. A plan provides the basis for dayto-day decisions, and helps to make
consistent action possible.
□
12. A plan helps in gathering and
mobilizing resources.
□
13. Planning helps us to foresee both
problems and opportunities.
14. As long as the planners are clear about
about their plan, it doesn’t matter if other
people understand it or not.
□
□
15. All the people who will be affected by a
development plan must be fully involved in
the precess of planning.
□
□
□
□
□
16. Those who are paying for a development
programme should have a part in planning it.
17. Much of the work of planning is convincing
people to accept the plan.
18. Much of the work of planning is listening
to what people want in the plan.
19. Effective planning includes giving attention
to peoples’ feelings.
20. An effective plan helps to increase people’s
commitment and morale.
21. Being involved in planning helps people
prepare themselves for change.
444
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Agree
Disagree
Comments
22. Planning for the future is an essential element
in the process of development itself.
23. The main reason for planning is that it
helps us get support from donor agencies.
□
24. If we have a good plan there won’t be any
problems in implementation.
25. One of the ‘inputs’ for planning is evaluation.
After you have responded to the statements:
(i) Indicate any statements that have given you a new thought or insight into ‘
planning, or which have raised a question in your mind.
(ii) Indicate the statements that mention advantages and benefits of planning.
Oil) Indicate any statement that you think you or your organization should give
more attention to in future.
Planning for Yourself
Consider the additional statements below:
1.
Planning may be necessary in my development
work, but it is not necessary to the same extent
in my personal life.
2.
Planning our personal future helps us to sort
□
out what is important to us in our own lives.
3.
New opportunities and unexpected challenges
constantly arise in real life. It is more important to
be able to respond to these as they arise than
to follow a previous plan.
4.
Planning is a tool. We should be able to use it
when it is helpful and discard it when it is not.
Is your attitude towards planning in your own life generally the same as, or differ
ent from, your attitude towards planning in your professional work?
John Staley, 'Enticing the Eeaming. Trainers in Development, University of Birmingham,
pages 443—445
445
a
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■
CHAPTER
Planning a Training
Program
■
The primary aim of this book is to look at ways of taming, not to disuuss t .e
dPta,ls
a traininc| program. But the way a training c< urse is planned, and by
,/hom. can greatly affect how teaching and learning ta<e place.
I lanv approaches are possible. But two things are o Key importance:
1) Each training program should be designed according to the specia needs and
ctoX”s»f the area II serves. 2) tech course should bo edepwl to the
experiences and needs of each new group of students.
VA/e have reasons for placing this chapter on planning after those on approaches
to learning and selection of health workers, instructors, and advisers. The
educational approach and the persons involved can affect how course conte
decided For if a 'community-strengthening' approach is taken, some of the
course planning is best done by the participants.
ftlil
H
S
I
THE TRAINING course as part of a larger
learning process
In this chapter we focus on training courses for health workers. But keep in
mind.that'training'takes place in many ways and oni rmany
. , levels.
’ ’i a vital network of
The training course is—or should be—closely linkeci with
the
community. The
continuous learning and teaching that takes place in t-----diagram below shows some of the possibilities.
THE NETWORK OF LEARNING FOR COMMUNITY HEALTH
— Instructors
r
help
health
Everyone
helps the
instructors
leorn
k*
workers
learn
.-r-y
'TRAINING^
/ M . COURSE
1
/
A fi
Health workers ——help instructors
learn
Everyone
1help
- r-’s student
health workers.
learn
Health workers
help
mdwives
/ Health workers
COMMUNITY
I ' ' / help children
/
Health workers
help parents
learn
___ zi- —q
r
learn
Children
Health workers
help workers\
learn
learn
help
parents
leorn
Parents help
health workers
learn
Po cents
help
children
leorn
Children
help children
learn
V/orkers help
health workers
leorn
Midwives help
health workers
learn
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the importance of having
IN THE PLANNING
STUDENTSTAKE PART
Th6aMW >o plan“XT“'’‘"LcTCSGLX
L G a. W
lea«S
£X, and orders in their commun.pes.
331 include special classes on
This does not mean that a training program must
the value of including the
'"’XT0'
student group in the planning process.
more appropriate
less APPROPRIATE
TODAY
VJE are GDI ng to STUDY
K
AGO'OT planning
and MANAGEMENT I
let’s plan this program
togetug-r. based
oh \OUR villages'
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&
T«e are s^ra!
oK
........ -.............. .......... ..
□lanning and organizing relevant activities.
. Sluden.; bannm. n-
. They become-and feel-more equal m^the>r
^<n
They wil| be more
X»Xe« “er, cXLple as enaals. and to share responsiW.W
. ZXn haip XS—
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3-3
A
A COMMON PROBLEM: PLANNING THINGS BACKWARDS
i
• Why are so many health worker training
courses taught by persons who have no
community experience?
• Why do so many instructors give more
ciass time to the study of anatomy and
filling out forms than to child diarrhea,
nutrition, and teaching methods?
I
• Why do so many courses fail to prepare
health workers to solve many of the
basic problems they will face?
I.
mini st Ky
of
health
(J
The answers to these questions lie in the fact that training programs too often
are planned backwards. The time and place are fixed, instructors chosen, and
course content decided before planners consider the special difficulties, resources,
customs, and strengths of the people involved. As a result, what is taught does
not match either the community's needs or the students' abilities.
I
Many training programs today teach too much of what matters little—and too
little of what matters most. To make things worse, the way they teach is often as
unrelated to people's needs as is the subject matter.
e
If training is to be appropriate (adapted to people's needs, resources, customs,
and abilities), things need to be done the other way around:
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1st:
Invite the people from the communities that the program will affect to
determine and make knbwn their needs.
2nd:
Let the people's needs, resources, and abilities determine what should be
taught, and to whom.
3rd:
Let what should be taught, how, and to whom, determine who should
teach, where, for how long, and in what way.
i
Appropriate planning starts with PEOPLE/
This people-centered or 'decentralized' approach to planning can be relatively
easy for small programs that are community based. But it may be extremely
difficult for a large, regional program. An appropriate approach may still be
possible, however, if those in positions of central authority are willing to:
• Permit planning and basic decisions to take
place at the community level.
• Act not as a controlling body, but as a center
for communications, advice, support, and supply.
the decentralized
°r
people-centered
approach
t
r
3-4
THE DECENTRALIZED APPROACH TO PLANNING
(the solid arrows show the main direction of flow)
The central ministry or program
provides most of the supplies,
support, and coordination.
The communities provide most
of the advice, planning, and
control.
cOfA
A. II N nh/W03
When groups are very large, central planning-and-control very easily becomes
rigid, bureaucratic, change resistant, and corrupt. Planning-and-control has more
chance of being appropriate, flexible, and responsive to human needs when it
takes place in groups that are small enough for everyone to know each other.
DECIDING HOW MUCH TO PLAN IN ADVANCE
AND HOW MUCH TO PLAN DURING THE COURSE
As we have noted, it is advisable to leave some of the planning of a training
course until after it begins. This allows the course content to be planned or
modified according to the students' interests, experiences, needs, and capabilities.
Clearly, however, some planning must be done in advance. Someone has to
make decisions about why, when, where, with whom, and for whom the training
will take place. Resources and needs must also be considered. And certain
preparations need to be made.
On the next four pages (3-5 to 3-8) we present an outline of IMPORTANT
CONSIDERATIONS FOR OVERALL COURSE PLANNING. It includes:
Section A: Planning to be done before the training course begins
Section B: Continued planning after the training course begins
Section C: Planning and programming after the course is completed
Note: The outline to follow is intended as a sort
_^of checklist and question raiser. You do not have
/ to read it in detail as you read through this chapter.
Refer to it as you need to when planning a course.
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3-5
IMPORTANTCO N SIDER A TIONS FOR OVERALL COURSE PLANNING
A. Planning to be done before the training
course begins:
1. FIRST CONSIDERATIONS
PURPOSES AND QUESTIONS
• Whose needs will the training program be primarily
designed to meet?
'i '■ only extend the existing health system, or
V’ n • hc'p to change i t?
• How much will it prepare the health worker to
understand and deal with the social (economic,
cultural, political) causes of ill health?
• Will it make the poor more dependent, or help .
them to be more self-reliant? Will it promote or
resist social change?
• What are the general goals and objectives of the
program? (To express goals in terms of numbers
and dates is probably unwise at this stage. Why?)
• Who is (or should be) involved in all these
o
decisions?
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2. OBSERVATION OF NEEDS AND RESOURCES
(Talking with a few observant persons from the area
can often provide more useful information than a
census or elaborate 'community diagnosis', at far
lower cost, more quickly, and with less abuse.)
Information worth considering:
• Common health problems: how frequent and how
serious?
• Causes of main problems: physical and social,
coming from inside and outside the community.
• People's attitudes, traditions, and concerns.
• Resources: human, physical, economic, from
inside and outside the area.
• Characteristics of possible health workers: age,
experience, education, interest, etc.
• Possible choices of instructors and training
organizers.
• Possible sources of funding and assistance^ (Which
are more appropriate?)
• Reports and experiences of other programs.
• Obstacles: certain, likely, and possible.
3. EARLY DECISIONS—
Who? Where? How many? When?
• Selection of health workers: by the community,
by the health program, or by both? (How can
selection of a health worker be a learning
experience for the community?)
• Selection of instructors and advisers:
♦ How much understanding and respect do they
have for village people? Do they treat them as
equals?
♦ I ow committed are they to working toward
social change?
♦ Do they have the necessary knowledge and skills
oublic health, education, group dynamics,
'■nmunity organization, medicine, etc.) or are
■?y willing to learn?
• Location:
♦ Where will the training take place? Near or far?
Village or city? Why?
* Where will everyone eat and sleep? In hotels?
in special facilities? With village families?
(How can these decisions influence what they will
learn?)
• Numbers: How many students will take part in the
training course? (Beyond 12 or 15, quality of
t aining usually decreases. This must be weighed
agamst the need to train more health workers.)
• Timing:
♦ How long will the training course last?
♦ What time of year is best?
(Consider how these decisions may affect who
can take part in the course.)
♦ Will the training be done in one continuous
stretch, or be divided into short blocks so that
students can return home (and practice what
they have learned) between sessions?
(Whose needs and opinions should be considered
in answering these questions?)
• Funding:
• From where? How much money should come
from outside the local area?
• What are the interests of possible funding
groups?
• What are the advantages and disadvantages of
asking communities to pay part of the cost of
training their health worker?
• How can costs be kept low? How much is
needed?
• Follow-up and support:
♦ What opportunities may there be for continued
learning or training after the course is over?
• What kind of support or supervision will the
health workers receive?
(Why is it important to consider follow-up before
the training program begins?)
3-6
4. ANALYSIS OF PRIORITIES
(deciding what is most important)
Problems can be compared by considering the
following:
• How common are they?
• How serious are they?
• How contagious are they?
• How much concern do people feel about them?
• How much do they affect other problems?
• How much could a community health worker do
about them in terms of . . .
• diagnosis and treatment?
• referral, when needed?
7. PLANNING FOR BALANCE
• How can the subject matter be approached so as
to maintain an appropriate balance between . . .
♦ classwork and practical experience?
♦ learning in the training center and learning in
the community?
♦ preventive and curative health care?
♦ physical and social causes of ill health?
♦ the needs of the poor and the requirements of
Uiose in positions of control?
♦ caution and innovation?
♦ health skills, teaching skills, and leadership
skills?
♦ work and play?
• prevention?
• education of local people?
• community action?
• How easy or difficult will it be to teach a health
worker to take safe, responsible action with
respect to the problem?
Then group the problems according to their relative
importance, or priority, and decide which ones to
include in the course. (Be sure to include common
social problems that affect health—such as drinking,
overuse and misuse of medicines, local forms of
exploitation of the poor, and misuse of resources—
as well as physical diseases.)
5. RE-EXAMINING OBJECTIVES
• In view of the information you have gathered and
analyzed, how can the training program be best
designed . ..
♦ so that it prepares health workers to help the
people in their villages solve their problems and
needs?
♦ so that it is adapted to fit the particular
strengths and weaknesses of the students?
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6. ORGANIZING STUDY MATERIAL FOR
APPROPRIATE LEARNING
• What general subject areas and specific topics
might be taught in order to prepare students to
act upon the important problems and needs in
their communities?
• How many hours of organized study time will
there be during the course?
• How much time is needed to adequately cover
each topic?
• How can the time available be best divided
among the different topics, according to their
priority?
• Which topics are best approached through
classroom learning, through practice (in clinic,
community, or field), or a combination?
(At this point, some program planners make a list
for each subject area, stating exactly what the
health workers should know and be able to do.
What are the strengths and weaknesses of this
approach? See Chapter 5.)
8. PREPARING A ROUGH TIMETABLE OR
CLASS SCHEDULE
(without details, to be changed later)
• How can different subjects and topics be arranged,
according to hours, days, and weeks, so that . . .
♦ there is enough variety to keep the students
interested (for example, classwork alternating
with farm work, community action, and
learning of practical skills)?
♦ related subjects are scheduled close together or
in a logical order?
♦ more difficult subjects come early in the day,
and more fun subjects later (when people are
tired)?
• all key subject matter is included?
• high-priority subjects are given more emphasis
in the training course?
• skills and knowledge needed for immediate use
and practice are learned early (for example,
learning about medical history, physical exams,
preventive advice. Road to Health charts)?
• How can study time and free time be best arranged
to meet students' and instructors' needs?
• How can the schedule be kept open and flexible
enough to allow for unplanned learning
opportunities and special needs as they arise?
(It helps to leave the last week of the course
unscheduled, to allow for review and for making
up 'displaced classes'.)
• How can the schedule be presented in a clear,
simple form that can be easily seen and
understood by students and instructors?
WEEKLY
PLAN
3-7
B._ Continued planning after the training
course begins:
[
.Jz
9. PLANNING APPROPRIATE TEACHING
METHODS AND AIDS
’ 7.-hat nchrng approach is best sui-.c-d to persons
who are more used to learning from experience
than from lectures and books?
• What approaches to learning will help the health
work-! bo an C.'fectivu teacher in his community?
• What altitudes on the part of the teacher will
encourage the health worker to sham knowledge
gladly and treat others as equals?
• What teaching methods might aid the health
worker in helping community people to become
more confident and self-reliant?
• What teaching aids can be used that will lead the
health worker to make and invent teaching aids
after returning to his village?
• What approach to learning will best prepare the
health worker to help his people understand and
work together to solve their biggest problems?
• What approach to health problems will enable the
health worker to learn how to approach the
solving of other community problems?
• What can be done to ensure that all learning is
related to important needs?
• How can classwork be made more friendly and
fun?
12. INVOLVING STUDENTS IN PLANNING THE
COURSE CONTENT (based on their experience
and the needs in their communities)
• Why is it important that the students take part
in planning the course?
• Ho\. can the students' participation in planning
help them to learn about
♦ examining and analyzing the needs in their
cc rmunities?
♦ re ognizing both the strengths and the
weaknesses of their people's customs?
♦ ways to plan and organize a learning group?
♦ th. value of learning by doing, and of respecting
and building on their own experiences?
♦ shared decision making?
13. REVISING THE PLAN OF STUDIES
(COURSE CONTENT) ACCORDING TO
STUDENT SUGGESTIONS
♦ To what extent do the priorities determined by
the students, according to problems and needs in
the(r own villages, correspond to those already
considered by the instructors and planners? (How
do you explain the similarities and differences?)
• How important is it to revise the course plans in
order to better meet the concerns and expressed
needs of the student group?
• How can tests and exams be presented so that
students use them to help each other rather than
to compete? How can tests and exams be used
to judge the instructor as well as the students?
10. GETTING READY AND
OBTAINING SUPPLIES
• What preparations are needed before the course
begins? (transportation, eating and sleeping
arrangements, study area, wash area, etc.)
• What furnishings and teaching materials are
needed to begin? (benches, blackboard, etc.)
• What can be done if some of these are not ready
on time?
11. DETAILED PLANNING OF ACTIVITIES AND
CLASSES FOR THE BEGINNING OF THE
COURSE
• How many days of classes and activities should
be planned in detail before the course begins?
• Why is it important that the details of all the
classes and activities not be planned in advance?
14. PREPARING INDIVIDUAL CLASSES AND
ACTIVITIES
• How detailed should class plans be?
• How far in advance should a class or activity be
planned? Why?
• Is it helpful to use a particular outline or formula
for preparing a class? If so, what should it include?
• Can each class or activity be planned to include
• all of the basic points to be learned or
considered?
• active student participation and interaction?
• use of appropriate learning aids?
• opportunities for the students to explore '
questions and discover answers for themselves?
• practice in solving problem«ksimilar to those
health workers will meet i/i their work?
• a chance for students to summarize what they
have learned and to ask questions? • To what extent can students take part in the
preparation of classes and of teaching aids? (Is
this important? Why?)
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3-8
15. CONTINUED REVISION OF THE
SCHEDULE—to make room for new ideas,
learning opportunities, needs, and problems
as they arise
• What are the advantages and disadvantages to
keeping the program open and flexible? (How
might this influence a health worker's ability
to work toward, or tolerate, change in his or
PURPOSE
OBSERVATION
her community?)
-4^
J5 WINDS (
Q
op
QCHANGE
COLLECTION OF INFORMATION
ANALYSIS OF NEEDS
1 MIPOKTANCE /y
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18. STARTING OVER
The whole process is repeated:
BILlVf
°F FLEXI
’
CE
LU
EARLY DECISIONS AND OBJECTIVES
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16. EVALUATION DURING THE TRAINING
PROGRAM—to consider how it might be
improved (see Chapter 9)
• In what ways can this be done?
• Who should be involved?
• What is the value of . . .
• round-table discussions in which all students
and staff have a chance to express their feelings
about the program and each other?
• similar discussions with members of the
community where the training program takes
place?
♦ tests and exams?
♦ setting specific goals and seeing if they are met?
t
• If evaluation studies (informal orjormal, ongoing
or final) are made, what can be done to help
assure that results are useful and will be used?
C.
ACTION
<r
<
GO
UJ;
GO;
CC:
Di
O:
Oi
O:
Z
■•CONTINUED PLANNING
CONTINUOUS EVALUATION
z
<■X
CHANGES OF PLAN
uj:
CHANGES OF ACTION
------- FOLLOW-UP AND FEEDBACK
Planning and programming after the
course is completed:
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17. FOLLOW-UP AND FEEDBACK* (see
Chapter 10)
• How can a supportive learning situation be
continued between instructors and students,
and among the students themselves, once the
training course is completed?
• How can the following be involved in supporting
the health worker:
♦ members of the community (a health
committee)?
♦ other health workers?
♦ program instructors, leaders, and advisers?
♦ other support groups and referral centers?
• How can the experiences, successes, and
difficulties of the health workers in their
communities be recorded and used to make the
next training course better than the last? (Can
'FEEDBACK: helpful ideas and suggestions
sent back to planners or instructors by health
workers.
this be done so that health workers know they
are contributing, rather than being judged?)
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3-9
FEARLY DECISIONS
Location of training
will work. CloseneTin dkTnre is cXSTbu?3 I
that Where health workers
setting is essential. Village health workers are best t
termS °f community
vey can practice solving problems and
, b
'n 3 vi"age- That wa'/.
much like those in their own communities V 9 °Ut actlv'ties under conditions
students can gain'XT^eX^nce^^
3 hea,th center wh^e
villagers than a large clinic or hospital (see page SlTh* Tr°priate for training
tom,ng
tne situ8tio„
of
?iCh train'n9 takes
place-andZen
simnar to those in the villages of the
health workers.
In this book and in
There Is No
Doctor, we often show
drawings of health
workersdn-training
sitting on chairs or
benches. That is
because people
customarily make and
use such furniture in
the villages of Latin
America where we
work. But in areas
where people
traditionally sit on
the ground during
meetings and
discussions, it makes
sense that the same
traditions be observed
in the training course.
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*
10^3
n Places where villagers traditionally sit on the floor it is
ppropnate that the training course follow the same custom
This drawing is from Ang Maayong Lawas Maagum a
Ph.I.ppme equivalent of Where There Is No Doctor
I
families in the coTmuni^^ThtnhT^L^ina V'n9
discussed further in Chapter 6.
WOrkers ,ive with
' V 9 'n a seP3rate 'dormitory'. This is
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3-10
Numbers
LESS APPROPRIATE
Many programs have found
that from 12 to 15 is a good
number of students for a
course. A group this size is
large enough for discussions
to be exciting, but small
enough so that everyone can take part.
MORE APPROPRIATE
Timing
2 to 3 months
1. Continuous
Some training courses are taught in one continuous block of time Two to
three months is the average length of such a course. This is usually long enough
tor health workers to learn the basic skills needed for primary care. Yet it is
short enough so that villagers with families and responsibilities at home can
(sometimes) afford the time away.
2. Short blocks of training
alternating with practice
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2 weeks
2 weeks
2 weeks
Other training courses are taught in a series of shorter blocks of time. Health
workers may train for blocks of 2 weeks, separated by periods of 1 or 2 months
in which they return to their villages to practice. This way health workers are not
apart from their families for so long at one time, and they have a chance to
put into practice what they have learned. The experience.they gain and the
problems they meet in their village work add meaning and direction to their
continued training. However, if health workers must come a long distance by
oot or on muleback, training in short blocks may not be practical.
3. One day a week
1 day
1 day
1 day
1 day
1 day
etc.
The Chimaltenango Development Program in Guatemala has health workers
tram tor day a week as long as they continue their community health work
I his means that the health workers continually increase their knowledge and’
skills. It also allows continual close relations and sharing of ideas within the group.
The more experienced health workers lead most of the training sessions Clearly
this sort of weekly training is only possible where health workers live nearby or'
where public transportation is adequate.
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Combination: Any combination of these plans is possible-for example, a 2-week
initial course followed by training one day a week, or a 1-month course with
tollow-up training every 3 months.
Time of year: For health workers who are also farmers, certain times of year
will be convenient for training, while others will be impossible. It is important
that villagers be consulted about what time of year to have the training course,
and whether training would be more convenient in one continuous period or in
shorter blocks of time.
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3-11
& Funding
.■
Most training courses we know about depend on funding from sources outside
g' 'the area being served. The amount of outside funding varies greatly from program
vO program. As a general rule, the more modest the funding, the more appropriate
the training.
j
The struggle to manage with very limited outside funding can be a valuable
learning experience for those involved in a training program. It helps bring the
program closer to the reality of the people it serves, and closer to the community
as a whole.
/ For example, a community-based training program in Nuevo Leon, Mexico was
begun with very littie money. The students and instructors started by building
*their own mud-brick training center with the help of local villagers.
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when outside funding was stopped, the staff and students began raising
I goatsLater,
and other animals, and opened1 a small butcher shop. Their struggle to
&
Fr
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survive economically brought the community and the health program closer
together. When we visited, we were struck by the close, caring relationships
between people in the village and participants in the training program.
Outside funding often means outside control. Therefore, it is usually wise to
allow no more than half the funding for a health or development activity to come
from outside the area served. If at least half the funding is provided locally, there
is more of a chance that control of the program will also be local. Then, in a very
real way, the program will belong to the people.
In Project Piaxtla, Mexico, each village that sends a student to the training
course is encouraged to pay half of his or her living expenses during training.
Other programs in Central America organize villagers to help with their health
worker's farming or other work while he is away at training. This helps the village
feel more responsibility for its health worker. And it helps the health worker feel
more responsible to his village.
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3-12
MAKING A ROUGH PLAN OF COURSE CONTENT
Before the training course begins, it helps
to make a rough plan of what the course
might cover-even though this may later be
changed with help from the student group. ■
As much as possible, the plan should be
based on the needs of both the communities
and the students. But the strengths, talents,
and resources of the students and their
communities also need to be taken into
account.
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A’
CONSIDER PEOPLE’S STRENGTHS
AS WELL AS THEIR NEEDS.
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SUGGESTED STEPS FOR PLANNING THE COURSE CONTENT
1. List the main problems that affect the local people's health and well-being.
I
2. Try to determine which problems are most important to the people
(priorities in the community).
3. Decide which problems should be included and which should be
emphasized in the course (priorities for the course). To do this, consider
local factors as well as the
the probable
probable strengths
strengths and
and limitations
limitations of
of the
the health
health
worKers.
4. List the areas of knowledge and the skills health workers will need in order
to help people solve their more important problems. Arrange these into
groups or subjects for active, problem-solving study.
5. Given the length of the course, consider how much time may be needed
for each subject or study area.
6. For each subject, try to balance discussion-type learning (classes) with
learning by doing (practice). Also seek a balance between curative,
preventive, and teaching skills, physical work, and play.
7. Make up a rough course plan, including timetables for each week (but
helpr 9rSat Cieta'1' 3S t,-|ese W’11 Probab|y be changed with the students'
8. Prepare detailed plans for at least the first few days.
? ■
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'H
thlS ch9Pter' we discuss these steps in greater detail. You may
find these planning suggestions useful at 3 stages:
before the course, to help instructors draw up a general course plan,
during the course, to help the instructors and students adapt the course
according to needs in their communities, and
after the course, to help health workers and people in their communities
plan activities according to their needs.
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3-13
Step 1. Looking at and listing needs
To help a group of health workers (or villagers) plan a course of study or action
according to their needs, the first step is to have them look carefully at their
recent problems.
Ask each person to speak of his own problems and needs, both big and small.
Someone can write the list on the blackboard or a large sheet of paper.
Ask questions that call for specific answers, so that people discuss problems
from their own experiences.
1
LESS APPROPRIATEloo vague
MORE APPROPRIATE
specific
PV/?ar are the worst problems
of people in your village?
What is the worst problem
your family had this year?
Although the focus will be on health problems, encourage people to mention
other problems and concerns that also relate io health or well-being
I
'Oih c?" ckens died."
4
"The crops failed."
i
"We had to sell our land
to pay our debts."
o
"My neighbor let his cows loose
in my cornfield."
Before deciding which
health problems to begin
discussing in class, one
training program in the
Philippines has the health
workers visit different
homes in the village. During
these visits, they ask people
what they feel to be their
biggest problems and needs.
This way the community's
wishes are brought into the
training and planning from
the start.
J.
f-
, Lt
Talk to people about their problems and
needs from the very start of training.
I r
i J
3-14
Step 2. Considering the relative importance of the different
problems the group has listed
This can be done in several ways, some simpler, some more complete.
One way is to make a chart on a blackboard or a large piece of paper. Have the
group discuss how common and how serious they feel each problem to be. Then
mark from 1 plus (+) to 5 pluses (4-++++) in each column, like this:
HOW
COMPAQ N
HOW
SERIOUS
Children have worms
+-1 f +
+• +•
Children
+• +• +• +•
PROBLEM
diarrhea
Babies have
thin
very
NOW
IMPORTANT
9
6
i
Skin sores
6
Toothaches
5
Chickens
Too
died
6
far to water
7
7
Fever and chill s
Fathers often
Crops
i i
drunk
I
I
PA
I
I
Failed
Food in store too costly
Heart
attacks
Women pale and weak
Problems
after birth
T -b
++
Measles
Common
+ 4- -h
colds
4- not very common (”or serious}
+■ + Somewhat common (or serious}
Ww I
II
/A
Kt?
i
+ 4- + common (or serious}
blI
1
+ + t + very common (or serious}
+ + + + extra.me.ly com mon (or-Sario u s}
'
1'
■ ui
jl
By considering both how common and how serious a problem is, the students
can get an idea of its relative importance in the community. To help in this, they
can add up the plus marks for each problem.
I
a
Ask the group which problem appears to be most important. (In this case it is
diarrhea, with 9 pluses.) Then, which are next in importance? (Those with 8
pluses. Which are they?) And so on.
i
I
11
; II
w
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IJ
-------------
II t,nsiaBT"®So®g7qu®™rio?eS,™i;^0r,a"“ Probl»ms »to
•i
I
3-15
I j 1. How COMMON is the problem
in the community?
|g.f 2. How SERIOUS
8
are the effects on individuals, families, communities?
3. Is it CONTAGIOUS? (Does it spread to other people?)
Is .t CHRONIC? (Does it fast 3-ng time.)
’Again, plus marks
gets everyone involved^ to Slut-om svmS!,But a more fun way that
to use cut-out symbols.
j
SKULLS
i'
I
I
I
mean SERIOUS.
A 0*0
big skulls:
vs- m -Z
(deadly)
SAD
FACES
FACES
WITH
ARROWS
®@®
a i
small skulls:
SERIOUS
mean COMMON. The more common
a problem is, the more
faces you put next to it.
mean CONTAGIOUS (the illness spreads from
to others).
LONG
ARROW
L
|
I.
middle-sized skulls:
VERY SERIOUS
extremely SERIOUS
one person
means CHRONIC (the problem is long lasting).
These
symbols
1
<>ymDois can
board' (see p. 11-16)
out.
100 sad faces
15 skulls
15 faces with arrows
10 long arrows
I f'r Use different
use aa different color for each symbol.
Now write the name of each problem on a
i
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Then discuss the problem
udents
come forward and place
Sr
H
'v
■ r
3-16
When they are done, the flannel-board could look something like this:
|Di arrhea |
[Fh-s~] ® ® Q
[Common Co~id|
iBottle Feedin
© § © f© ©
[Malnutrition!
|
©©©Sa
Kll
|Skin Diseases]
IM i s u se oF Medicines]
proo-th Problemsig © © © @
Land Tenure|
g©g ccidents]
|Pev er^nd 6^
[prunkenne ss]^#'
[Pregnancy
Birth
[Heart Attack~]£^>^
Vaqi na I
i^m
! '
F
II
i
i
0© ©
00©
Problems|^gggQ
-
i
[Measles,Whooping Cougb]
[Mumps,Chicken Pox|g^,
Let the students argue about how many sad faces to put up for 'cough' as
compared to 'diarrhea', or whether 'drunkenness' is contagious or not. This will
get them thinking and talking about the problems in their villages.
'■J:
1
|Headache| gogg©
i
I
There may be differences of opinion, especially if the health workers come
from different areas. For example, in Project Piaxtla in Mexico, some health
workers come from hot, lowland villages where diarrhea, hookworm, and typhoid
are more common. Others come from mountain villages where colds, bronchitis,
and pneumonia are more common. So health workers will discover that problems
and needs vary from village to village.
■i ■
For those who cannot read:
i
Ii .
■
Health workers can use
these same methods with
persons who cannot read. To
show the problems, they, can
use simple drawings instead
of words. Once the drawings
are explained, people rarely
forget what they represent.
s;
Here is an example:
Bi
Can you identify each
problem?
IM'
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H
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- ------ -------------
F
3-17
Step 3. Determining priorities for what to cover in the course
i After looking at the relative importance, or priority, of the different problems
found in the students' communities, the instructors need to consider how much
emphasis, or priority, should be given to each of these problems in the course.
To do this, you can again make a chart. But this time ask some additional
questions about each problem. For example:
• Are local people concerned about the problem?
• How much does it affect other health problems?
• What is the possibility for teaching effectively about the problem?
• How much would community health workers be likely to do to.correct the
problem, if taught?
Mark your answers.with pluses (+++++) on a blackboard or a sheet of paper.
i HQVJ MUCH
PROBLEM
ROM
COLIMON
SERIOUS CONCERN
IT AFFECTS
OTHER
health
PROBLEMS
Diarrh ea
Mj/ntNriUon
tUor/ris
C ou<jh
CommonColcl
Pneumonia.
Tuberculosis
SkinDiseases
Stomach ache
Tooihproblems
Feyer.
Drunkenness
Preynancyl Birth
Heart Attack
POSSIBILITY HOWMUCH IMPORTANCE
FORTEACH ING cNW COULD TO BE
Q/VEN
PREVENTION OR MOUL 0
D0A80UTIT
IN
OR
IF
taught
COURSE
TREATMFNT
4
4-
21
2 I
20
14
+
+■ +■
4- +
I 6
20
I 5
I 4
I ST
\9
I 5*
♦
I 7
3
Epilepsy
Bottle FeeHitn3
Tetanus
Headache
Misim of meJictne
PEOPLE'S
V
8
4-
+- -+-+- +
+ +4-
4
3
o
-*-•+•
Lard tenure
Accidents
Vaginal pt-oblems
pteasier
+ +
hoop ma Couch
+ -4-
1 8
I 5
f 4- +
I G
*•?
21
+W
i e
■4- -*• -4
1 4
I 7
I 6
Add up the plus marks for each problem to judge its relative importance for
inclusion or emphasis in the course.
Suggestion: When working with a group of health workers you may not want
to use this chart. It may be too complicated. Perhaps you will want to just discuss
the 6 questions it considers.
3-18
Step 4. Listing appropriate areas of study
After looking carefully at the problems you want to cover in the course (based
on people's needs), the next step is to consider.
What skills, knowledge, and practice will health
workers need to help people solve these problems?
The skills and knowledge health workers need to learn should be carefully
analyzed (see Task Analysis, pages 5-7 to 5-9). Skills in both curative and
preventive medicine will be important. But so will skills-and practice-m
community organizing, teaching (of both adultsand children), problem analysis,
record keeping, and so on. Some programs include certain agricultural skills,
veterinary skills, and even basic dentistry.
One of the most important
areas of study for health workers
concerns the way people relate
to each other: Why people act
and do things as they do! So
health worker training should
include learning about 'group
dynamics', and even
'consciousness raising' or
'building social awareness'.
One community-based program in the
Philippines spends more than half of training
time helping health workers to gain an
understanding of ‘what makes people tick’.
I
I
■
I
I
b
Based on the priorities of
local problems, list all the
different areas of learning or
activity you think should be
covered in the course. The
subjects chosen must be realistic
in terms of needs, resources, and
time available for training. Then
arrange these subjects in sensible
groups or 'areas of study'. It will
help if you organize these into 3
general categories:
♦
. PREVENTIVE
. CURATIVE
Drawing by Lino C. Montebon in Ang Maayong
Lawas Maagum, a Philippine equivalent of Where
There Is No Doctor.
• COMMUNITY OR SOCIAL
I;
On the next page is an example of a blank worksheet for planning the content
of a training course. This kind of sheet has been used by Project Piaxtla in Mexico.
Following the blank worksheet is a copy of the same sheet with a list of possible
study areas for health worker training. You are welcome to use this as a
checklist. But probably you will want to omit some items and add others,
according to your local situation.
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WORKSHEET FOR PLANNING THE CONTENT OF A TRAINING COURSE
Total hours of course time available:
SUBJECT UNDER
CONSIDERATION
PREVENTION _______
Mother/child health
Nutrition
__________
Agricultural work
Hygiene and sanitation
Vaccines____
Prenatal care A childbirth
Family Planning
DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT
History & physical exam
Care of the sick
(Anatomy and physiology)
Diagnosis, treatment,
and prevention___
Medical emergencies
Clinical practice
Use A misuse of medicines
Use of book(s)
Limits and referral
Record keeping
Treatment techniques
COMMUNITY AND SOCIAL
Awareness raising
Community development
and health
Group dynamics____________
(Role plays)
Teaching methods and aids
Teaching practice
Leadership
(Planning and management)
Home visi ts___________
Finding out needs
Village theater, etc.
Round-table discussion
Games and sports
Tests and evaluation
Review and make-up time
ESTIMATED
HOURS NEEDED
hours per day x
RELATIVE
PRIORITY
(+ to +++++)
ADJUSTED
NUMBER
OF HOURS
days
=
CLASSROOM
STUDY
hours
PRACTICAL
ACTIVITY
estimated hours:
hours available:
estimate must
be lowered by:
NOTES:
hours
i j
J
Step 5. Consider how much time to allow for each area of study
This can be done using the same worksheet. As an example of how to do it
see the next page.
First, figure out the total number of hours of study time for the whole
course. Write the sum at the top of the sheet, beside "total hours of course
time available." (A two-month intensive course at 8 hours a day 6 days a
week, would have 384 hours available.)
-
Then, in the column for ESTIMATED HOURS NEEDED, write the number
of hours you think will be needed to cover each subject. Keep in mind the
total hours of course time.
when you have filled in the estimated hours for each subject, add them up
and compare your total with the "total hours available." (See the upper
right corner of the chart.) Subtract to find the difference. This lets you
know how many hours you need to add or subtract from different subjects
But before making these adjustments...
• Fill in the third column, RELATIVE PRIORITY, using information from
your previous studies (steps 2 and 3). This will help you to make study time
adjustments according to priority of needs.
Now adjust the hours for different subjects until the total equals the number
of hours available. (Be sure to allow time for review and missed classes.)
Note: Not all of the subjects for study will require separate class time. Some
can be included within other subjects. For example, we suggest that 'anatomy'
not be taught as a separate subject, but that it be included as needed when
studying specific health problems. Subjects that do not require separate hours
can be written in parentheses (like this).
Some subjects with scheduled hours can also, in part, be covered in classes on
related subjects. For example, preventive measures like hygiene and sanitation
can be reviewed during classes covering specific illnesses. Physical exam, history
p in9,l and the correct use of medicines can be reinforced during the daily
clinical practice.
Y
-M
-A
4
WORKSHEET FOR PLANNING THE CONTENT OF A TRAINING COURSE
€> hours per day
Total hours of course time available:
ESTIMATED
HOURS NEEDED
SUBJECT UNDER
CONSIDERATION
PREVENTION_______
Mother/chi1d heal th
Nutrition
RELATIVE
PRIORITY
(+ to +++++)
24
ta
__ s
Vaccines_____
Prenatal care A childbirth
Family Planning
ADJUSTED
NUMBER
OF HOURS
= 3S?r
CLASSROOM
STUDY
hours
PRACTICAL
ACTIVITY
5-3?
3 64
estimate must
be lowered by:
153
fe'.
B-'-
hours
i
I
NOTES:
8
7
I2
8
IQ
Agricultural work
Hygiene and sanitation
x ■tr& days
fc
estimated hours:
hours aval 1able:
~3
3
DIAGNOSIS ANO TREATMENT
History k physical exam
Care of the sick
(Anatomy and physiology)
Diagnosis, treatment,
and prevention___
Medical emergencies
Clinical practice
Use & misuse of medicines
Use of book(s)
Limits and referral
Record keeping
Treatment techniques
5 4
_£l
3
n
O +
1 o <~)
70 4-
g +
I Q
I on
__ ft
80
4
14
I
I
3
I Cn
3
COMMUNITY ANO SOCIAL
Awareness raising
Community development
and health
Group dynamics
(Role plays)
Teaching methods and aids
Teaching practice______
Leadersnip
(•Planning and management)
(Q 4-
8 +
IQ
8 4
I 4
Q 4
8 4
8 4
1 4
O 4
16 4
4 4
12 4
8_____
12 44
2
Q
G
Io
_±-
o
24-
Home visits_______________
Finding out needs
Village theater, etc.
Round-table discussion
Games and sports
G
20
4ft
Tests and evaluation
Review and make-up time'
4
4
4
4
4
4
12 +
12
Sft
S3?-
5C
384
3
111
■
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11
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3-24
Step 6. Balancing the course content
A training course needs to be balanced in both content and learning methods.
• Try for a balance between
preventive, curative, and
community or social aspects
of health care. Add up the hours
in each of these 3 areas. Consider
if the balance is appropriate in
terms of the people's needs and
concerns. Adjust the hours if
necessary.
• Balance discussion-type learning
(classwork) with learning by doing
(practice), physical work, and play.
A I
m i
PRACTICE
STUDY
More and more programs are realizing the importance of learning by doing.
Increasing emphasis is being placed on activities in the community, in tne clinic, in schools, and in the fields as a part of health worker training. Even classwor
some of which remains necessary-can involve a great deal of active practice in
using skills and solving problems.
Many programs also are recognizing the importance of physical work and play
as a part of health worker training. Physical work serves many purposes,
especially if it is health related (gardening, digging latrines, building equipment).
It provides a change of pace. It keeps health workers close to the land and the
working people. It helps them learn new agricultural or building skills. And
some projects, the health workers' daily farm work produces food that helps
make the training program self-sufficient.
a
Learning through games and play is especially important for occasions when
health workers work with children.
To plan a balance between classroom study and practical activity, you can use
the same worksheet as before. Go down the list of subjects, marking the balance
you think is appropriate for each one. You can do it this way:
CLASSROOM
STUDY
PRACTICAL
ACTIVITY
Nutrition
Treatment techniques
Round-table discussion ~
i
1
$
3
-This means equal
balance.
•i
-This means mostly
practical activity.
i
-This means all
classroom learning.
After marking each.subject, look at the overall balance.. If too much time is
given to.classwork, try to think of ways more learning can take place throug
’
practice and experience.
!
CO Q
BBIE S
-'.r.-vm .7:. -
ipso
WORKSHEET FOR PLANNING
Total hours of course time available:
ESTIMATED
HOURS NEEDED
SUBJECT UNDER
CONSIDERATION
8
RELATIVE
PRIORITY
(+ to +++++)
ADJUSTED
NUMBER
OF HOURS
= 38 +
CLASSROOM
STUDY
hours
PRACTICAL
ACTIVITY
__
Nutrition______
Agricultural work
Hygiene and sanitation
Vaccines____
Prenatal care A childbirth
Family Planning
..
8
IQ
|Q
2 4
IO
hours
153
rri nn Vh I v
hs hy - vv e i gi ng.
includes gcmg.__ 4 i r ■ r
c oo K m g..
p
\_ c. I y r~n a r nA-Q J h C-Epl u s t-ime For- bu-ALdAng.
712.
8
JLCLsJ41jlJLS_3LaL^
also
h irt.Yrs
4
3
2-
__ 5
3
3
NOTES:
includes
PREVENTION
Mother/child health
x + 3 days
5 3^
estimated hours:
hours available:
estimate must
be lowered by:
THE CONTENT OF A TRAINING COURSE
hours per day
.ja
vsci
!
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DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT
History A physical exam
Care of the sick
(Anatomy and physiology)
Diagnosis, treatment,
and prevention___
Medical emergencies
_
Clinical practice
Use A misuse of medicines
Use of book(s)
Limits and referral
Record keeping
Treatment techniques
COMMUNITY AND SOCIAL
Awareness raising__________ _
Coircnunity development
and heal th
Group dynamics___________
(Role plays)
~
Teaching methods and aids
Teaching practice
Leadership
(-Planning and management)
Home visits________ _ ______ _
Finding out needs
Village theater, etc.
Round-table discussion
Games and sports
Tests and evaluation
Review and make-up time
^A?_s.
_
Q^.'ner cl-ass aS.
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3
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3-26
planning a balan£5_Q£
i earning ACinx/nj-ES
From the first day of the course,
it is a good idea to have a balance
of different learning activities.
getting to know
each other
and
making plans
At first, getting to
know each other will be
very important. So are
discussions about health,
gardening
well-being, and the goals and other
of the program. But the productive
learning of specific
skills should also begin
at once. Productive work
like gardening is
songs,
important, too. And
games,
don't forget games,
and
sports
songs, and sports.
learning
in class
learning
through practice
helping care
for the sick
(clinical practice)
home visits
and community
activities
After the course
is underway, other
important activities
can be introduced.
Here are a few.
teaching
practice
prenatal
care, and
activities
with mothers
and children
health theater
or circus
evaluation and
further planning
(whole group—
instructors
and students)'
‘roundtable’
discussion
I
3-27
Step 7. Preparing a timetable and making the weekly schedules
Once the overall content for the course is decided, you can plan the classes
and other activities on a week-by-week basis. It helps if you mimeograph blan
planning sheets similar to the one on page 3-29 but adapted topY°J^eedsm
larger the planning sheet, the more details can be written in later You can make
a large one by joining 2 sheets together. Each week the plan can be postecI for
students to see. Following the blank weekly schedule is an example of one that
was filled out and used during a training course in Project Piax a,
In preparing a weekly timetable, think about how to best use the hours of the
In preparing a
day Plan your schedule according to the local rhythm of life, the hours when
people usually wake up, work, eat meals, rest, and so on. Try ^.'nc'^e ®WnnV
of activities during each day, to avoid doing the same kind of thing for too o g.
You may also want to allow a few minutes between classes for relaxing or quic
games. When planning times, be sure to get the suggestions and agreement of the
students and the families with whom they are staying.
Now consider which subjects should be taught when. Here are some ideas based
on our own experience:
Be sure afternoon classes
have plenty of action.
Which time of day is best for what?
NOT APPROPRIATE
• Early morning hours, before the day is
hot, are good for gardening and physical
work.
• The morning is also a good time for
classes on serious subjects that require
thoughtful study. Everyone is fresh and
eager to learn at this hour.
. The afternoon, when students are tired,
is a good time for active discussions, role
playing, and projects like making
teaching materials.
• Evenings are best for slide and filmstrip
presentations, and for meetings with
community persons who may be busy
all day.
APPROPRIATE
(■ATHeR.
Every day? Or once or twice a week?
• Subjects such as curative-and-preventive medicine and clinical practice,
which cover a great deal of material and require a lot of time, are best
. S^uch^susfng'a reference book (Where There Is NoDoctor)or using
medicines correctly are best taught once or twice a week-m such a way
that they reinforce other subjects the students are learning.
• Review sessions should follow consultations or exams as soon as possible.
. Community visits should be scheduled for times when people are likely to
be at home-a couple of evenings each week or on a weekend
^80 <+
!..h
i
I
3-28
At the beginning of the training course? Or near the end?
» Knowledge and skills needed to examine, care for, and give advice to
people who are sick should be covered at the beginning of the course. See
page 8-5.
• Teaching in the community and putting on village theater shows are good
activities for later in the course, when students have more knowledge and
self-confidence. But be sure to plan and practice for these well in advance.
Before the course begins (or shortly after, j WttKLY PLAXNh.G ShffT -- HEALTH t.-'.kKCA' S TkAjHiSi. COl^Sr
so as to include student suggestions), make
rough weekly plans for the whole course.
This helps ensure that you allow time for
everything you intend to include. It is easy
to run out of ume before ail the important
—
material has been covered!
r-- j.ji-.z:-.,—-•—7_ i| —
When making an early plan of the whole
course, you do not need to fill in many
details. Later, during the course, the
instructors can meet with the student
planning committee (see p. ^--M) each week to prepare ai more detailed plan for
the following week. Be sure you schedule a regular time for this planning, too.
------- ---
--------- r-—■2'--
IgFR
An important suggestion: MAKE YOUR TIMETABLE FLEXIBLE
It often happens that some classes or subjects take longer than planned. Others
are poorly or even wrongly taught, or prove especially difficult for students to
understand. Such classes may need to be repeated. For this reason, it is wise to
leave plenty of extra time for review: about 1 or 2 hours of 'open time each
week, plus several unplanned days at the end of the course.
This open time also allows you to adjust the schedule when classes are missed k
or postponed. Especially if training takes place in a real-life setting (like a
village), medical emergencies and other unplanned learning opportunities are
bound to come up.
For example, during a training course in Ajoya,
Mexico, a class was interrupted when news arrived
that a man had broken his leg on a mountain trail.
The students’and instructor carried the man to
the health center on a stretcher, set the broken
bone, and put a cast on his leg (see photo).
The interrupted class was given later. This was
easy to manage because extra time had been
allowed in the schedule.
Do not be afraid to change your plans.
Step 8. Preparing detailed plans for the first few days of the
I ■
course
This will be discussed in the next chapter.
I
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■
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kaffi tosCffi T^feasE .
0> V, I
WEEK NUMBER
TIME
?
MONDAY
DATES
L)A
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TUESDAY
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WEDNESDAY
• ~ • • •' >
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
'fix'
w
^'-77^
• •
SATURDAY
• SUNDAY
|ESt
•
7:00-
8:009:00-
10:0011:00-
12:001:002:00-
3:00-
4:005:00-
6:007:00-
8:00-
CD
______ _ ___________„.
IW'-O’W
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AU OVA CL) NIC
A J OVA , SINALOA-
WORKER'S TRAINING COURSE
■j
WEEKLY PLANNING SHEEl -- HEALTH
J C. - Of
51
DATES January
-------- to J c n u b r y
’ ' 1
FRIDAY
THURSDAY
WEDNESDAY
TUESDAY
gar. n> e N
V E G £ TA B|lE
TH E.
IN
WEEK NUMBER
MONDAY
TIME
7:00-
8:00-
’
WORK
breakfast
BREAKFAST
CURATIVE MEDICINE
1
CURATIVE MEDICINE
DIARRHEA
DEHYDRATION
9:00- □
10:00-
USE OF THE Book.
OF IHCDiCi^E-S
(WTHD-)
RISKS AND PRECAUTION KINDS OF DIARRHEA
WITH MEDICINES
PRACTICE
11:0012:00-
CAUSES AND
TREATMENT OF
______ DEHYP R.*.T|ON-----
AND
IN
CLINICAL
breakfast
breakfast
CURATIVE
STO/AAC H
USE
OF
MEDICINE
TV£ E KLY
OTH£R &UT PROBL£WS
TESr
CURATIVE MEDICINE
CU RAT) V£ MBDICI N E-
SCIENTIFIC
KEPICAL HISTORY
METRO!?
HOW TO MEASURE
AND GIVL MEDICINES
USE
OF THE
COMbWN ITV
BOOK
V’SITS
(vytnd)
i (remind MOTHERS
carl
MEDICAL fiNC
dental)
ABOUT
J
BABY WEIGHING
ON
monpay)
REVIEW CON SULT ATI OKS
CURATIVE MEOIC/NE
CURAT I ve ME.DlClh>e
introduction TO
P H YSI C A L EXANA
V IVA L SIGN S
1:00-
CURATIVE MEDICINE
V(TAL signs
LUNCH
2:00-
LUNI CH
LUNCH
BREAKFAST
ULCERS
MEDICINES
health
REVIEW CONSULTATIONS
.
PREPARE FOR
C C rA M V NIT/ VISITS
REVIEW COHSULTATIOKS) REVIEW CONSULTAIIIOHSj
REVIEW CONSULTATIONS
SUNDAY
SATURDAY
BREAKFAST
BREAKFAST
CURATIVE MEDICINE
MEXICO_______
LUNcH
LUNCH
LUNCH
LUNCH
MEET WITH SCHOOL
CHILDREN t" PLAN
PUPPET SHOW
3:00-
fUEVENTlVE. MCPiCi NE
HOW To PREVENT
DtFFEACMT rUND-SpF PIV E A S ES___
4:00-
PREVENTIVE MEDICINE
SPREAJD
©F
INFECTIOUS DISEASES
HEALTH EDUCATION
PREVENTIVE MEDICINE
PREVENTION Op
OTHER
OISE ASE S
HEALTH EPUCATION
Round-TABLE
learning to dRAv;
ntakinG-
DISCUSSION
fflAKlKG PoSIERS
PO5TCP.-S
PRE VC fJTlVE PnCDICI
OF
SAN ITAT I ON
ANO NUTRIT1 O N
importance
HEALTH
OF
TEST
AND w E E K1
classes
continue rAAKiN6
POSTERS
ANP
PUPPETS vsHTH
EDUCATION
plan meeting- with
_______
REVIEW
SCHOOL CK/lDABA
OPEN
DISCUSS) ON
SCHOOL- CHILDREN
5 CO
6:00- ’
lai
7:008700-
Dinner
DINNER
• dinn&R
pi nnlr
PlNNCK
MEETING
CL/Nic.
WEEKLy
-------- BUST NESS
SLIDE SHOV/AND
PISCUSS'oN ABOUT
-CHILP -to-child
OCkR ANA
STUDENTS’
Dl NNER
DINNER
TO
self -evaluation
PL AN
NEXT WEEK'S
Meeti nj g-
SCHGDUL E
!
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.y
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3-31
f
I howmuch curative medicine should atraining
PROGRAM INCLUDE?
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If health workers are to win people s
confidence and cooperation, they need to
START WHERE THE PEOPLE ARE AND BUILD ON THAT.
_______ —----------- ----------- ----------------- -
II
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Prevention may be more
important than cure. But not to a mother whose child
need for curative than preventive medicine, it
and treat a wide range of common health problems.
(
t
,y f00051^ on prevention can be a big
To teach health workers to start out by
miltake' People do not immediately see the results of
ot preventive work.
wo, k. They
,
will
respond more eagerly if health workers begin with curative medicine and1 use that
fe
as a doorway to prevention.
In a community-based program, curative care cannot be
separated from prevention. The first leads to the second.
r I CAN'T UNDERSTAND WHV THE
IpEOPLE HAVEN'T RESPONDED BETTER
I
s
Ito
our comnwnity health
fl.-------- pROGRA Nt !X
tlOH
tt,
fk o I ci
w
zizzzzzi-/
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ministay
o p
X^-lE'/AL TH
---- —
1
a UFA1 THY BALANCE BETWEEN PREVENTIVE AND CURATIVE MEDICINE
“isAAKSINTOCONSIOERATrak WHAT THE PEOPLE WANT.
t
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UnfEHtonately. many programs provide training only m preventive masores
I less effective even in their preventive work.
Sf
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O'O z.
A common argument against preparing health workers adequately in curative
care is that "It would be dangerous! There is just too much material to cover in a
short course."
This is true if training focuses on making the students memorize a lot of
detailed facts and information. But if training helps them learn basic skills through
role playing and actual practice, it is amazing how quickly they can become
effective in a wide range of curative skills. To develop reliable curative ability,
training needs to focus on 4 areas of learning:
I
1. Step-by-step problem solving (scientific method).
I
2. History taking and physical examination of a sick person.
3. Practice in using a handbook to diagnose, treat, and advise people about
common problems.
4. Learning to recognize one's own limits, and to judge which problems to
refer to more highly trained workers.
In our experience in Latin America, village health workers can, in 2 months of
practical training, learn to effectively attend 80 to 90% of the sick people they
see. In time, as they gain experience and receive good follow-up training, they can
effectively attend up to 95%. The best health workers learn to work as.capably as
most doctors, with less misuse of medicines and more preventive education.
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WHAT MAKES EFFECTIVE HEALTH WORKERS?
Whether or not health workers develop the skills and understanding to
help people meet their needs, on their own terms, depends on many factors:
• They must be carefully selected, preferably by the community.
• Their instructors must be friendly, identify with the poor and with
their students, and have a good understanding of human nature.
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• Training must be carefully and flexibly planned—according to the
needs of the students and their communities.
-11-
• Teaching must be appropriate and effective—built around problem
solving and practice.
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• Follow-up after the training course must be supportive and reliable.
1 I
In Chapters 2 and 3, we have looked at the first three factors on the list
above. In the next chapters, we will look at others.
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But first, it is important to get off to a good start.
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APPEMDIX: SELECTED TLAINING PAPERS
Respect for Other People
The Conditions for Learning
Group Discussion: The Moderators Role in a
Democratic Discussion Group
Styles of Leadership
Leadership Quiz
Solving Problems and Making Decisions
Elements of Teamwork
Group Discussions and Meetings
Empathy and Sympathy
Feedback
Episodes A, B and C
Channa Rao
Four Months' Among Oppressed Villagers
Binnamangalam
Setting Goals
Page
177
179
180
181
183
185
187
187
189
190
192
193
195
196
197
Respect for Other People*
If we are going
{
to succeed, tirst, in establishing a relationship of
trust and confidence with others, and second, in promoting change,
there are certain attitudes
----------- which
---- ...'i we need to adopt in our relationships
with others.
These attitudes are important for the life — and the learning - of any
group undergoing training for development work. Without these atti
tudes, we shall not learn much. They are also important for each of us
in our visits to villages or slums, and in all our meetings with other
people, whoever they are. The attitudes are also important in other
aspects...of our~lives—-in.our families, at work, with our friends, and in
casual encounters with others at the shop or in the bus.
4
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* Adapted from Staley & Sugden, 15)81, p. 18.
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APPENDIX
SELCCTII) TRAINING PAPERS
The most important is an attitude of respect for other people. This
attitude is based on a sense of the worth of every human being. This is
a fundamental value which underlies our approach to development.
We believe that without respect for others, there can be little meaning
ful learning or development, either in a training group, or in a commun
ity outside.
The Condi::ons for Learning*
Respect implies confidence in the other person's ability to learn,
and in his potential to solve his problems and to change himself in the
process. In the wider context of development it implies confidence in
the potential of communities and groups of people to take hold of
their own lives, to solve their own problems, and to work for change
and transformation in society.
By communicating respect, we help others to respect themselves.
For those who are down-trodden this is important: their attitude to
wards themselves may be one of disrespect Perhaps in a slum you may
hear people saying things like, "We are only poor people. We can't do
anything. We are helpless." If we respect them, we shall help them to
respect themselves and each other, and to change these attitudes of
helplessness and worthlessness. We shall be helping to give them back
their dignity.
If we give time to others, listen to others, allow them to make deci
sions for themselves, and express warmth towards them and interest in
them, we shall be showing respect
One final point about respect. Respect for others is based ultimate
ly on respect for oneself. Unless I respect myself, I cannot respect
others. We shall often see in this course that there is a correspondence
between attitudes and behaviour towards oneself and attitudes and
behaviour towards others.
If you are reading this paper in a group, we invite each of you to do
a simple exercise at this point Look round at—or think of—all. the
other members of the group for a couple of minutes and in silence.
Think whether you have an attitude of respect towards each of them. If
not, try to cultivate such an attitude.
179
1. An environment of active people:
People learn when they feel they arc personally involved with
others in a learning process.
2. A climate of respect:
When a high value is placed on individuals and a sense of caring
prevails.
3. A climate of acceptance:
Accepting a person means that lie can be himself and express
his beliefs without fear.
4. An atmosphere of trust:
When people have a feeling of trust in themselves and in others.
5. A climate of self-discovery:
When learners are helped to find out about themselves, and to
meet their own needs, rather than having their needs dictated to
them.
f
6. A non-threatening climate:
So that persons can com font each other and ideas can confront
ideas without fear.
I
7. A climate of openness:
‘
When personal concern?, feelings, ideas and beliefs can be ex
pressed and examined openly.
8. An emphasis on the uniquely personal nature of learning:
When each individual knows that his values, his beliefs, his feel
ings and his views are important and significant
9. A climate in which differences are thought to be good and
desirable:
When differences in people are a< acceptable as differences in
ideas.
10. A climate which recognizes the right of individuals to make
mistakes:
Learning is facilitated when error is accepted as a natural part of
the learning process.
11. An atmosphere that tolerates ambiguity:
When alternative solutions
solutioi can be explored without the pr<
essures of having to find an immediate single answer.
‘ Adapted from Experiential teamin '
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APPENDIX
12. An emphasis on co-operative- evaluation and self-evaluation:
When people can see themselves as they really are, with the
help of their peers.
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Throughout the discussion
1. Make sure that everyone understands and accepts the task, the
problem, or the issues which the group is going to discuss.
13. If the discussion becomes bogged down and people "appear
bored or tired, suggest a short break (or a game).
What evidence is there to suggest that quality of leadership is relat
ed to the effectiveness of a group? A famous study of leadership styles
was made in America. For the purpose of the study, a number of bo'ys'
clubs were set up. In these clubs the boys engaged in hobby-type acti
vities over a period of time. Club leaders were trained to play three dif
ferent types of leadership role: a) authoritarian, b) democratic, and
c. 'let it-happen' (laissez-faire).
The authoritarian leader gave orders to the boys one step at a time.
He allocated tasks for them to work on, rather than allowing them to
choose what they wanted to do. He did not give them any information
about the end-product of their work, nor about how their particular
tasks were related to the overall group project. He discouraged com
munication between the boys and did not allow any irrelevant activity'.
Most of the communication was from him to them. He praised and
criticized the boys' work without explaining the basis for his evalua
tions.
3. Encourage the members to share the opinions, the information,
the skills, and the other resources which they have and which are
needed to complete the task.
4. When necessary, clarify what members say through questions or
re-phrasing. Ask questions rather than give answers.
5. Encourage members to speak for themselves ("I think...") and
from their personal experience, and to give specific examples.
Discourage them from speaking very generally and making state
ments like, "Some people seem to think..."
6. See that members listen to each other and seek clarifications
from each other if necessary. Do not allow interruptions.
7. Keep thp focus on the central task or issues.
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10. If there-is a lot to discuss and the group is large, keep in mind the
possibilities for breaking into smaller groups.
11. If you want to give your personal opinions, do so outside your
role as' moderator. Say, for example, "Speaking personally, as
Swamy, and not as moderator, I think..."
12. Keep track of time. At (l ie beginning of a discussion you may ask
the members if they want to set time limits.
Styles of Leadership*
2. Help everyone to participate. Don't let one or two members
monopolize the discussion.
9. Listen to the feelings being expressed behind the words spoken.
Allow the group feeling to be expressed from time to time.
181
14. Ask the members to evaluate the progress of the-discussion
from time to time.
• ;
Group Discussion: The Moderator's Role in a
Democratic Discussion Group
From time to time
8. Make a summary from time to time. This may involve putting
ideas together, reconciling arguments, exploring differences of
opinion, and testing out conclusions for consensus. Don't hesit
ate to draw attention to differences of opinion.
SELECTED TRAINING PAPERS
'S
The democratic leader allowed the boys to choose a group project
lor themselves. He also allowed them to choose whattasks they would
work on as individuals, and helped the boys to see how the individual
tasks were related to the overall group project. He allowed communi
cation between the boys. He helped them to plan, made suggestions,
and listened to their suggestions. He was concerned for their welfare,
and participated in the life of the group. He gave both praise and critic
ism, but' made the basis for these clear.
The 'let-it-happen' leader was friendly, but he opted out of the
group as much as possible. I Ic gave the boys materials and suggestions
if they asked for them, but he did not direct the proceedings at all. He
remained passive unless directly approached by the boys.
'M-xPrt n.i
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IDC . .
182
The behaviour patterns within the group under the different leaders
•were carefully recorded, and conclusions drawn about the sort of behavipurTound'under the three different styles of leadership.
More work was achieved under authoritarian conditions than
under.democratic conditions, and least under 'let-it-happen'. However,
group solidarity, originality, motivation to work, approval of the leader,
and enjoyment were all higher in the democratic situation. The boys
were more co-operative with one another. There was less aggressive
behaviour and 'scapegoating'. The group was not disrupted when the
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democratic leader left them alone.
Morale was very low in the authoritarian situation, and more ag
gressive and destructive behaviour occurred. During the authoritarian
leaders absence there was disruption of the group.
Under the 'let-it-happen' condition little work was done at all, and
the general atmosphere was one of apathetic chaos. The boys' beha
viour was anti-social and disruptive.
Most of the boys preferred the democratic leader, and all of those
who dropped out did so under authoritarian conditions. One or two of
the boys did, however, prefer the authoritarian regime, in particular
one boy whose father was an army officer.
The study illustrates clearly what is meant by 'authoritarian' and
'democratic' leadership. It also suggests that leadership can be seen as a
continuum, from control by an authoritarian leader to almost complete
individual autonomy under a 'let-it-happen' leader. Depending on the
kind of group and its task, there is an optimal point on that continuum
for the effectiveness of the group and for the personal satisfaction of
the individual members.
If a leader does not delegate any aspects of his role to other group
members, that group is vulnerable if he is absent or if he fails them in
some way. This is partly because they have not acquired the skills to
undertake the task; and partly because they have to learn to co-ordin
ate their behaviour with that of other group members.
On the other hand, if no-one plays a co-ordinating or supervisory
role, it may take a very long time for group members to work out a sys
tem of working together effectively. In the study, particularly because
the subjects were young, they did not learn to do this at all.
Other studies have also shown that some degree of leadership is
necessary to allow more equal participation, and for the views of
183
SELECTED TRAINING PAPERS
APPENDIX
everyone to be heard. The reason for this is, presumably, that without
an acknowledged leader, the early phase of a group's existence con
sists of a struggle..for leadership by many of the members. From this
point of view, the presence of an acknowledged leader can speed up
the process whereby individuals in a group learn to co-ordinate their
behaviour to that of pthers. Too much 'leadership behaviour" hinders
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the process, and so does too little.
Leadership Quiz*
All of us have some basic notions and assumptions about leader
ship. What are yours? Do you agree or disagree with the following?
Disagree
Agree
1. An effective leader varies his use of authority ac
cording to the group and situation. Sometimes he
merely announces his decision, at other times he
persuades, consults or leaves the decision to the
group, all depending on the group and situation.
2. An effective leader sees mt ae clearly than a less ef
fective one the strengths and weaknesses of indivi
dual members of his team.
3. An effective leader realizes that people have
mixed feelings towards authority; i.e. they both
like it and do not like it.
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4. An effective leader must decide whether he is go
ing to be democratic or authoritarian, and then
stick to his decision.
5. Effective leaders tend to smooth over or avoid
conflict between members of the group rather
than confront them.
. , i, . ■■inn
6. An effective leader must have an impressive
appearance and be tall, strong and handsome.
’ Adapted from Britto, 1978; McGrath, 1978, pp. 297-8.
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APPENDIX
SELECTED TRAINING PAPERS
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J. An effective leader is careful not to make mis-• takes, and he does not tolerate the mistakes of
■ ^'others.__ _
__
8. An effective leader thinks in terms of duty rather
than results.
9. An effective leader always rewards all those who
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20. An effective leader considers his men, their qual
ity and development, to be his most important re
sources—far more important than materials or
II
money.
k:
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21. An effective leader is sensitive both to group and
individual needs, as well as the demands of the
situation.
are loyal to him.
10. An effective leader is one who keeps his ap
pearance and dress neat and clean.
11. An effective leader is one who can get a lot of
help from outside for his group.
12. An effective leader puts a great value on humour,
and uses it to keep a sense of perspective when
the group is struggling with a problem.
13. Besides the authority of his position, an effective
leader tries to develop other forms of influence,
i.e. his personality, competence and character.
14. An effective leader is one who leads a group to
Its goals.
15. An effective leader encourages honest disagree
ment in order'to find better solutions.
16. An effective leader treats each member of his
group in the same way.
17. An effective leader is one who usually gets his
way in a group discussion.
18. An effective leader builds on the strengths of his
group, doing the things they do well and omit
ting those they cannot.
19. An ineffective leader often gets lost in the jungle
of his duties and loses track of objectives.
T
22. Leadership should be shared in a group, moving
from one member to another, according to the
competence required in the situation.
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Solving Problems and Making Decisions*
w
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When a group (or an individual) is faced with solving a problem or
making a decision, there are five steps which can be followed. These
steps will make for greater clarity and effectiveness while considering
the problem or the decision, and they will also lead to a better final
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decision.
1. Define the problem
Ask yourselves, "What is the real problem before us ?" If you cannot
agree on what the problem is, you certainly will not agree on the
solution! A clearly-defined problem is already a great help towards a
solution.
What appears to be the problem may be only a superficial symp
tom. Underneath there may be larger and deeper issues.
Express the problem in "How to..." terms. Do not say, 'The prob
lem is moderating discussions"; but, 'The problem is how to learn to
moderate discussions effectively."
2. Collect possible solutions
Ask yourselves, "What are the possible solutions to this problem?"
Make a list of all the ideas, possible solutions and suggestions without
evaluating any of them. (The process is similar to brain-storming').
It is important to separate the collecting of ideas in this step from
evaluation: the evaluation should come only in the third step. If you
evaluate ideas in this second step, it will inhibit the contribution of
further ideas.
Adapted from McGratn, 1978. pp. 330-2.
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SELECTED TRAINING PAPERS
APPENDIX
187
Elements of Teamwork*
Makethe-list of possible Solutions as long and complete as possible.
’ final
- ............
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Some people believe that the quality of- the
decision depends
i!
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There are a number of elements to teamwork. These are not easily
the number of possible solutions collected during this second step.
achieved, but they are excellent targets as we work together in groups,
3. Evaluate the possible solutions and choose the best
committees, organizations and communities.
Ask yourselves, "Of all the alternatives we have listed, which is the
.1. Teamwork requires an understanding of, and commitment to, the
best solution?"
Weigh the pros and cons of each possible solution.
Encourage dissent and disagreement among the members of the
task and objectives of the group.
group. This will help in the complete examination of every possibility.
Beware of easy agreements —they probably have not been thought
through completely. At the same time, avoid being defensive or mak
ing others feel defensive. Try to separate the ideas and solutions from
I
4.
the individuals who contributed them.
There are two important aspects to an effective decision. One is the
quality of the decision. Ask yourselves, "Does this decision accomplish
our purpose ? Will it effectively solve the problem ?" The second aspect
3
is the acceptability of the decision to those who have to carry it out.
4. Implement the decision
Decide on the steps for implementing the decision. Ask yourselves,
'Who is going to do what? When? How?" Be specific: put names against
actions.
/
A decision which does not include details of how the decision is to
be implemented may be ineffective and even useless. Lots of good
ideas are never translated into action because their implementation is
not taken care of.
As well as deciding who will do what, when and how, there may be
other questions, such as, "Who else should be informed of this
in action ?" It is important that the group decides at the time they make
’the decision how they are going to arrange for follow-up and feedback.
process, so as to constantly improve itself as a team.
ionships.
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decision?"
5. Follow-up
Ask yourselves, "How will we check on how this decision is working
develop appropriate procedures for
5. Teamwork requires a group to
meeting particular problems or situations, and for making decisions.
6. Teamwork is characterized by the group's ability to examine its own
8. Teamwork is achieved
Consider whether the group itself is ready to make a decision.
before finally making it
Teamwork is most effective when leadership is shared.
7. Teamwork requires trust and openness in communication and relat
If you find that you now need further information or an expert
opinion, get it before the decision is made, not afterwards!
Sometimes groups (like individuals) need time to 'think over a decision
utilization of the different
2. Teamwork requires the maximum
resources of the individuals within the group.
Teamwork is achieved when flexibility, sensitivity to the needs of
3.
others, and creativity are encouraged.
hen the group members have a strong
sense of belonging.
Group Discussions and Meetings
Every meeting and discus-.on has its own dynamics. However there
are certain conditions or behaviour which will help a group to func
tion effectively and to complete its task. There are also conditions and
behaviour which will hinder the group. These can be related either to
the group's task, or to the process of the discussion.
The following contribute to i good discussion:
A. Related to the task
1. Members take the initiJive to define the task, define words and
concepts, clarify issues introduce new ideas, etc.
2. The task is clear to eve.. member of the group, and all members
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accept it
3. Members have the inr--
mation they need; or they seek it from
,
each other.
• Adapted from Lippin
pitted by Britto, 1978.
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APPENDIX?
SELECTED TRAINING PAPERS
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4. Members freely give information and facts related to the task, and
also offer their opinions.
----- Sr-Members-speak from-their-person-al experience, giving-specifieexamples.
6. Members listen to each others contributions, and ask for clarifica
tions from each other of what is not clear.
1
7. The focus remains on the central issues.
1fe
8. There is a periodic summary; a putting together of ideas, or the
testing of a conclusion. .
y
fc
B. Related to the process
1. No agreement on procedure.
" '2. A‘climate of tension’ or of domination and .control by one dr two
people.
3. Failure to listen to others.
4. Interrupting others while they are speaking.
5. Hurt feelings, and failure to deal with these and other group
feelings.
6. Withdrawal of some members or displays of non-participation.
9. Any conclusion is tested against reality to see if it Tits'.
7. No review of the progress of the discussion.
B. Related to the process
8. Excessive disagreement and opposition for personal reasons.
1. Members agree on a procedure for the discussion.
I'
2. There is a periodic evaluation of the progress of the discussion.
9. Passing judgement on what others say; deflating others; or giving
them advice.
3. The climate in the group encourages everyone to participate.
10. Struggles for power, recognition or leadership.
4. People listen, not only to the words spoken, but also to the feel
ings behind the words, and to the non-verbal expressions.
11. Formation of sub-groups.
7. Arguments are reconciled, differences are explored, members
'agree to disagree agreeabl/.
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8. There is a periodic testing for consensus or decisions.
The following hinder a good discussion:
A. Related to the task
1. Lack of clarity about—or commitment to—the group's task.
2. Failure to give, or to seek, information which is available with
group members.
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12. Vested interests and 'hidden agendas'.
5. There is a periodic expression of the feeling in the group.
6. Any tensions which arise within the group are reduced or relieved.
189
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A person who is acting obstructively is probably doing so, not
because of any intellectual difficulty, but because his feelings are upset.
If a member, feels:
a) that his role or identity in the group is not clear, or
b) that the group's task is not worthwhile, or
c) that he should be wielding more influence than he is, or
d) that the group does not like or accept him,
c
then he may behave obstructively. Sensitivity to this point can help the
members of a group to see more clearly what is happening in the
group.
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Empathy and Sympathy*
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■If we are to 'start where people are' we need first to understand
where they are. Above all, v. e need to be able to understand how
other people experience the world. This means that we must not only
understand their knowledge, but also their feelings and their attitudes.
We must be able to sue life ‘Inough thuir eyes, and to understand the
forces that they feel are impinging on their lives.
p■
* Staley & Sugden, 1981. V3, p. 13.
C-
3. Failure to stick to the main issues.
4. Generalized agreements at a high level of abstraction.
5. Failure to check out and clarify exactly what is not clear when
someone else speaks.
6. Excessive probing for another members opinions or experience
when he does not want to share these any further.
7. The introduction
interests.
of irrelevant personal topics, anecdotes,
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APPENDIX
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When it comes to helping to bring about change, this becomes
even more important. For example, if we want to encourage change
among a community of poor people, it is only if we can st_art with them
where they are, and .respond to them, and contribute ideas that fit
within their frame of reference, that our responses and ideas will have
any meaning for them.
The technical name for this kind of understanding is empathy, which
we can define as the ability to understand accurately and accept what
another is experiencing, and to communicate that understanding and
I
acceptance to him. All of us are capable of empathy; and it can be deve
loped through conscious effort and prat tice. Like respect, it is based on
an assumption or belief that people are of worth, and of equal worth.
It may be useful to make the distinction here between this kind of
understanding or empathy, and sympathy. Sympathy is the sharing of
another's feeling-feeling with that person. We feel sympathy for our
friend whose father has died. We share his sadness.
There can also be an element of pity in sympathy, which implies an
unequal relationship. The person showing sympathy, i.e. the sympa
thizer, is at a 'higher level compared to the person being sympathized
with. The sympathizer may even 'shower' his emotional warmth on the
'unfortunates' below. It is much easier to show sympathy than empa
thy, especially in a culture where we are used to thinking of some
people as superior and some as inferior. This is the attitude of many
people towards the poor: by showing sympathy towards the poor, the
better-off person assumes a certain superiority to them. In our view this
is not showing respect So we can see that an attitude of understanding
or empathy goes hand-in-hand with an attitude of respect
Feedback
Feedback' is information given to
to aa person
per son (or
(or aa group
group or
or an
an organi
organi
zation) about how he affects others. It helps him become more aware,
both of his strengths and of his wi‘dknesse • It does not tell him what he
should do, but it raises questions for him. It helps him to decide
whether to change his behaviou; so that ho can be more effective and
better able to achieve what he wants.
If feedback is given in a pootive wu) a can be helpful. But if it is
SELECTED TRAINING PAPERS
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given wrongly, it is not only unhelpful, but can also be destructive.:Here
are some guidelines for giving feedback:
DO be specific. Give examples and data. For example, "When you
interrupted me just now I felt annoyed." The other person is able to
make use of such information if he chooses to do so.
DON'T make general statements, such as, "I feel annoyed because
you never listen to me." Unless you can give some specific examples,
the receiver may not understand or believe what you are telling him.
DO describe your own feelings and reactions. For example, "I felt
hurt" This is what you actually know.
DONT describe the other person's feelings or motives or intentions.
For example, "Vou wanted to Hurt me." You do not know this: it is only
your guess or interpretation. Such feedback will probably be rejected.
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DON'T judge the other person's actions. For example, "You were
wrong to shout at me." Statements like this will only produce a defen
sive reaction.
DON'T make general evaluative statements about the other per
son's character. For example, "You are dominating and inconsiderate."
The person who is told this will probably react defensively.
DO think of the needs of the other person and of what will be use
ful to him. Feedback should be constructive.
DON'T speak only out of your own need to react or score off the
other person: that is irresponsible and destructive.
DO speak only of behaviour which the other person could change,
for example, his habit of interrupting. This is within his control.
II
DON'T speak of behaviour over which he has no control, for
example, his habit of stammering. To comment on that will only in
crease his frustration.
DO choose the right time, climate and company to give feedback.
Generally it is most useful immediately after the event concerned.
DON'T give feedback long after the event, in some other situation,
with some other group of people.
DO give feedback when the other p.erson asks for it. Better still, ask
him exactly what he wants to know.
ft
DON'T give feedback if the other person has made it clear that he
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APPENDIX
SELECTED TRAINING PAPERS -
does not want it
Episode C
DO encourage him to check with anyone else who was present
aboorthe'accuracy of the^eedbacIcThis can be done in"agrbup.“Feedback is more effective if it is received from several sources.
DO ask the receiver if he understands what you are saying even
though he may not accept it.
||
Feedback is a way of giving help. It is a corrective mechanism for
the person who wants to learn how well his behaviour matches his
I
intentions. It is a means of increasing a person's autonomy and estab
lishing his identity—for answering the question "Who am I?"
I
Episode A*
I
The slum-dwellers of Ram Nagargot tired of endlessly appealing to
the Corporation authorities for the piped water connection that they
had been promised. So, we organized a march to the Corporation
office, and the people prpceeded to wash their clothes at the taps
there. After that the Corporation quickly got the water connections
installed in Ram Nagar.
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Episode B
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Some fishermen were freed from their age-old indebtedness to
the fish merchants and money-lenders, and were organized into a
fishermen's sangamt But the sangam members still had to sell their fish
to the merchants. The merchants normally pay cash, but for the sangam
members they now refused to do so, giving credit notes only, in
the hope of breaking the sangam. When one merchant owed several
thousand rupees, the sangam organizer arranged a petition from the
sangam members for settlement, warning the merchant that he would
not be allowed to remove his fish from the village unless he paid up by
a certain date. On that day his lorry was prevented from moving from
the village by the sangam members, and he quickly paid the amount
due.
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* Adapted from Maglaya, 1978, pp. 3-4.
t A sangam is an association or co-operative.
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Some. SQcial. .workers wanted..to start a project, focthe.-benefit-of.
poorfamilies in a semi-industrial area. One of the needs which they ob
served was for training and employment for the girls of the area. So
they started a project, and gave training and employment to .many of
the girls. After some months, the girls were trained and were earning
considerable salaries. Then the social workers discovered that most of
the money which the girls were earning was being collected by the
local money-lenders in repayment of loans taken earlier by the girls'
fathers. So it turned out that the project was mainly benefitting the
money-lenders.
Channa Rao*
[The following extract is taken from a first-hand account of work in
remote villages of Andhra Pradesh which had been devastated by the
cyclone of 19th November, 1977.]
That evening, at the meeting, Alvino pointed out that we had to be
sensitive to the feelings of the village people. For us burying bodies
might be a new experience. But to them, it brought back memories of
people they had known intimately. "Suppose we were to find a dear
relative of ours in that state of decomposition, what would our feelings
be? Would it not be a heart-breaking experience?"
The next day, we were to find out just how heart-breaking.
1If
A father recognizes his dead children
I he bodies of two children had been found about half a mile from
the village. People said they v\••re the children of Channa Rao, the
headman of Malakayal.mka.
Should we tell him? Or should we bury them without his know
ledge? Two opinions were expo. - ed. Some felt it would.upset him un
necessarily. He had lost fath-T mother, wife and five children. But
others thought differently. "By -ose we don't tell him, he will surely
come to know later. And he m’ el betrayed by people he had come
to know and trust." In hie era: his view prevailed.
The next morning, Channa
- was sent for. Madhava Rao handled
the situation well. "Channa Rao he said softly/'two bodies have been
' Noronha, 1978, pp. 31-2.
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APPENDIX
found near the river. The people say they are from your village. Would
youdike to see them After a pause, Channa Rao said he would. A.sil■ ent prQcessrorrtook-him to the spot/where woodmnd^diesel'Tjrl had
already been prepared.
As soon as the other fishermen saw the first body, they said, "Channa
Pillai, thanna Pillai'hChanna's child!). It was the body of his eleven-year
old daughter—Krishnakumari — who used to come to the primary
school in our village. She was lying face downward, with her hands be
neath her chest Part of her dress was still on her body, but her feet were
missingi Some vandal had chopped them off to get her silver anklets.
Channa Rao looked at her, shaking his head as. if in disbelief Then
slowly, the tears began to roll down his strong, weather-beaten face.
"Don't cry," said one of the fishermen, "1 too lost three children." But we
made a sign to him to be silent
A long time passed, before Channa Rao was ready to be shown his
second child a hundred yards away. It was the body of his three-year
old girl. Her left hand still wore a pretty glass bangle, but her right arm
was gone. Her face was turned to one side and her features were still
distinct after 38 days. But her body ended at the femur.
Channa Rao sat down on the ground. Now, the full impact of the
tragedy hit him, and he cried uncontrollably. As we stood there, we no
ticed a clump of the dead child's hair on the thorny bush above. A little
below, a piece of her dress fluttered in the strong wind.
"Channa Rao, would you like-your children cremated or buried?
Whatever you want, we will do." He did not answer.
When the question was repeated, he said: "Cremated." We led him
away gently, while logs of wood were wedged under the body, and
placed over it
Channa Rao went back to the. first child, and despite protests,
caressed the hair, the arms and legs of his 11-year old daughter.
According to Hindu custom, it is the father who lights the funeral
pyre. But Channa Rao could not bring himself to do this. A short prayer
was said in Telugu, commending the dead child to God's care. Then
Alvino set the wood aflame. The strong wind fanned the fire and even
the green leaves on the bush above crackled in its searing heat As we
watched the burning wood consume the last remains of Channa Rao's
children, it seemed a more impressive way of handing back the human
body to the earth.
... .
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life-
More than anything else I had seen, this event made me realize the
enormous tragedy that had come over these men and women,
hann a-Ra© w as~aw*a y-atrt he t i m e- of-11; e eye I o n er-\A/-h en-h-e-heaTd-t h a t
he had lost his entire family, he spent days searching for the bodies of
his children. Without realizing it, we had given him the solace of a final
■
Four Months Among Oppressed Villagers*
afe glimpse of two of his daughters.
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I first made a quick round of all the villages. All I had with me was a
knap-sack on my back. I used to eat what the people gave me. Often, it
was only one full meal a day. I he group I wanted to capture were the
young men. I invited them to come around in the evening so that we
could talk things over. I would tell them of the developments taking
place in other parts or the country, and ask them how they compare
their situation to what is happening elsewhere. When they acknow
ledged their situation was pretty hopeless, I asked them who should
bring about change, except they themselves. I would explain that to
each problem there is a corresponding solution: the solution is a com
bination of the energy and co-operation of the people and the facilities
offered by the local government.
The next step was one of motivation. Help is available, but will not
be forthcoming unless the people demand it. The whole village must
first become aware of their own problems and of the corresponding
solutions, and then demand what is due to them from the government
as a village community. This is the challenge I threw to the young men:
get the people together and help them real® their problems and their
rights.
So meetings were held in ihe village', organized by the young men.
The people were asked to enumerate their problems, then make a list
of priorities. Once they had selected the top problem, I would instruct
them about what government scheme was available, the officer to be
;appi'oach^d, the conditions to fulfill. The next step was to draw up ap
plications and get them signed by everyone present.
14 such applications were handed in to government agencies in
two months. I continued to meet with i core group of 12 youths at
least once a week. In this process of growing awareness on their part a
■ Lourdusamy, 1975, pp. '-8.
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SELECTED TRAINING PAPERS
APPENDIX
significant thing happened. They came to realize that it was not enough
for them to be committed to the development of their own village, but
that oach-should-be-eefteefned-abouteach -othef^s-vifhtge-toorThey- feltthe need of an inter-village organization to strengthen their common
cause. This organization would serve as a channel of education for the
village folks, viz., to.awaken the people to their socio-economic situa
tion and motivate them to action; it should become a registered
society and get legal status; as a recognized organization, it would take
up specific acts of injustice, corruption and exploitation to which the
village people are subjected, and fight these issues.
: This is where we have reached so far. It is difficult to assess the im
pact this group of youngsters has had on the villagers. But it has been a
good start towards a greater awareness of the present situation, espe
cially among the young, and a certain amount of commitment has
manifested itself to meet the existing situation, with a desire to do
something about it.
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During the severe drought in Lok.Pradesh, a small group of students
from Swami Durgadas College vyent to work in the village of Binna
mangalam. The Government of Lok Pradesh was already organizing
relief -works near every village. According, to Government statements,
all drought-affected adults who were able-bodied could obtain daily
employment near their homes and receive a basic wage.
Government had also announced a programme of grants-in-aid for
the very old, the physically-handicapped, orphaned children, and
widows with babies. All the families of Binnamangalam were, in theory
at least, eligible to benefit either from the employment on the relief
works or from the grants-in-aid.
But when the students reached Binnamangalam they found that
there were no relief works within five miles, and that no-one in the
village knew about the grants-in-aid. Every able-bodied adult in the vil
lage wanted to work. The students had no financial resources them
selves.
After studying the whole situation, the students decided that they
could help best by organizing the villagers to demand from the local
Government officials the relief works and the grants to which they
were entitled. They set about doing this, and by the end of two weeks
relief works had been started which gave employment to about half
-the-able-bedied-adults in -th-- vi-llage. No-one had-yet-received any
grant, although applications had been submitted by all those who were
eligible. Meanwhile the drought was growing more severe, and many
people in the village were suffering. Those still without work were
becoming apathetic.
At this point, the representative of a foreign agency came to Binna
mangalam. He told the student-, that if they were willing to take responsi
bility for cooking and distributing food, the agency would provide two
meals a day for every person in the village until the drought was over.
Do you think the students should have accepted the agenc/s
offer?
What would be the pros and cons of the agenc/s proposal from a
development point of view?
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Binnamangalam
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Setting Goals*
Most of us live and work far below our capacity. We are like bits of
wood, floating passively on a river. We are carried here and there by
the currents of the river without any aim of our own.
Setting goals for ourselves can free us from the aimlessness and
inertia of floating on the river. Goals can help to give meaning and di
rection to our lives. They can help us to use our capabilities more fully
and effectively. They can help us to develop our potentials. They can
help us to use our resources, our time, and our energies more
effectively. They can guide us when we have to take decisions and
make plans. They can help us to change ourselves. They can help us to
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work for change in society.
Research has shown that c ommitment to clearly stated goals leads
to the achievement of these g< >als. Yet this commitment is not acquired
easily. Commitment to person il life-goals can be especially costly. To
choose one goal is to reject others. You can't be a development wor
ker and a businessman too.
Further, once we set goal - )r ourselves, we must have the courage
to risk failure in reaching thos :uls. One who sets no goals for himself
does not run the risk of failing to reach his goals.
■ Adapted from Currie, 1975, pp ' ’3-9; McGrath, 1975, pp. 93-5; Britto, 1978;
and other sources.
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APPENDIX
Ofte we confuse activities-doing things-with achieving goals.
■ - Olten
We invest ourselves and our own resources (our time, our capabilities,
—our.efforts, our commitment) into^ivitie-s^woF^-talk^eumeys^visitSr
leisure, social events, training or whatever it may be) without thought
for the end-result of such activities. Unless the end-result is clear, the
purpose of the activities may not be clear. Setting goals, which are the
end-results we want to achieve, can bring purpose and meaning to our
activities.
To be able to set meaningful and attainable goals, we must know
ourselves. What do we do best? What do we enjoy doing? What are
our strengths? How can we build on our strengths? How can we
change ourselves ?
If we want to change ourselves—to acquire and practise new skills,
or to behave differently-goals can help us. For one thing they help us
to compare what we want to do with what we actually do now. They
also, in themselves, help to motivate us to achieve the changes we
want, and they reinforce our efforts to change. Goals that are associat
ed with an enhanced self-image will help to motivate us further.
Our goals must be challenging. If they are not sufficiently challeng
ing— or if we are not going to make the necessary effort—there is no
point in setting goals. We might as well continue as we are doing
already.
On the other hand, we must be realistic in setting goals. We must as
sess our opportunities and situation carefully. What goals would be real
istic and within our reach? If we set unrealistic goals, we shall not be able
to achieve them, and this will lead to frustration and disappointment
Moreover, once we have set goals, we must have enough self-confid
ence to reach out towards them. If we feel our situation to be hopeless,
our goal-setting will be in vain and will again lead to frustration.
But if the goal is important to us, if we subject it to continual reas
sessment, and if we seek feedback in our efforts from those who count
in our lives, we may reasonably assume that we can achieve the goal
we set for ourselves. Even the very process of setting goals—even
thinking about them —can help us to achieve them.
We can distinguish between long-term and short-term goals. Long
term goals are to do with our lives: the overall direction of our lives,
our career, our ambition, our personal growth, etc. For setting long
term goals we should consult our hearts as well as our heads. Short
;gr.
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term goals are more 'actjon-r ontredL They can be related to improving
skills, developing relationshij >s study and learning, solving a problem .or indeed any area or aspuG of our day-to-day lives during a limitec[
period of time. .Our short-term goals must be consistent with our long
term goals.
Finally our goals—especially our short-term goals-should be pre
cise, concrete and measurable. They should be linked with some
record of progress. Otherwise we shall not be able to tel! if and when
we have achieved them. A goal such as, 'To read as many books on
development as possible and to understand them to my utmost ability
in a very short time," is not a good goal. It is too vague; and it cannot be
measured. 'To read C. T. Kurien's Povert y and Development, and to dis
cuss anything in the book which I do not understand with Venkatesh
and Mr. Ramappa by 31st December," would be a better goal.
When setting short-term goals it may be helpful to use the ART
i
formula:
A = Aspect or area e.g., learning relationships, leisure, skill
R= Result to be achieved
T= Time limit
Once we have set our goals we should keep them constantly in
mind. This will prevent us from being side-tracked. Using our imagina
tion can also help us. If we can imagine in detail what it will be like to
achieve our goals, it will act as an additional incentive.
If we can anticipate likely or possible obstacles in our way, we can
think about them in advance and plan how we are going to overcome
them. Breaking down major goals into smaller steps can also help.
Every journey, however long, begins with a single step. It will help us
further if we talk over our goals with friends, and with people with
special skills who can guide md advise us.
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POLICY FOR HEALTH SCIENCES
A statement of shared concern and evolving collectivity
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COfglUNITY HEALTH TRAINERS DIALOGUE
OCTOBER 1991
:? re amble
the participants of the Community Health Trainers Dialogue
representing Community Health and Development trainers, networks
'•'re1 coordinating agencies and faculty members) of medical
colleges in the voluntary health sector
!
having reflected on the key components of the National
Health Policy, the reports of the various committees
including the National Education Policy for Health
Sciences as found in the Bajaj Report (1989);
having considered the need for change in Education for
Health in view of our goals and in the context of health
and community development; health and culture; human
power development; training strategies; education of
trainers and the approaches to adopt as also the mecha
nisms of implementation;
have arrived at the following conclusions at the meeting held
on October 3-5, 1991 at Bangalore.
k
NEED
FOR
CHANGE
The socio-economic,-political and cultural situation in our
)
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country has resulted in the declining health of the majority of
our people who are poor and marginalised, especially the women
and children among them.
Various factors including the -
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increasing commercialisation of the health care system,
with the tendency to transfer governmental responsibility
to privatised, profit-oriented sector;
Increasing use of inappropriate capital intensive sophis
ticated technology and high cost services;
limited, available resources for health care;
I
the disregard of priorities;
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~ the use of English to the exclusion of local languages as
medium of training and instruction, with a consequent shortage
of competent health workers;
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co need;
^he destructive impact of modernisation on culture and health;
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~ the orientation of health care more in terms of disease than
of health;
I
- the dominant influence of Western and consumerist practice.?
and values in health care;
and the lack of a holistic approach;
indicate an urgent need for change in cur policy for education
for healthy
G 0 A L S
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Considering the goal of Health for All the policy for Education
for Health must
>
see health as ra constituent
‘ ‘’
pert of human development and as
an integral instrument of building a just and equitable
society;
- aim at building up and sustaining a health system that
* is people oriented, Ihelping the people to cope with
their problems in health;
)
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is available and accessible preferentially to the poorest
sector;
strives to enable and empower them to participate in their
own health care by sharing in decision making, control,
financing and evaluation with regard to their choice of
health system;
■Ar
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is in consonance with the culture and traditional practices,
when these are constructive and beneficial;
* uses the resources better
O
which serves the people.
with appropriate technology
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health act community DgvjgLQg^gZ
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The increasing recognition of the interaction between health
and community development should be reflected in proportiona
tely adequate budgetary allocation for health. Given the
resource crunch# the priority needs of the majority of our
people must he focussed on.
’While we see a gradual shift already taking place from hospital
and dispensary to the community# we need to go still further
in our progress from curative to promotive and community health#
through awareness building and participation in decision making
by the members of the community.
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All health and development workers together with the people
must work as a team.
In this sharing process, care must be taken not to put too
much of a load on the primary community level workers.
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HIAXsTH SYSTEMS! AND PRACTICES
There is a plurality of health systems and practices in our
country# many of which have their roots in our ancient past.
to be recognised for their specific strengths
These systems are to
and
and limitations# <-- to be nurtured as a valuable and effective
A greater and more sustained effort must be made to
heritage
study and understand these systems and their specific relation
to the various needs of the people.
There is also a complexity of health service systems in
operation viz.# governmental# private and voluntary. These
systems must be decentralised to the extent possible with
greater accountability to the people.
HEALTH HDMANPOWER DEVELOPMENT
■■wjwtw■w^www'M^n^aa^——w**0—■’ ■^'im ■■
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The present context of education and training’ needs to be
reviex^ed. What is useful should be retained and what is
inappropriate should be removed, The contents of all levels
should also include the study of ethics and values behavioural
and social sciences^, management# economics
<-------- of health and ecology.
There is need
need for
for the
the creation
creation of
or a
a body
ooay of
ox knowledge and skills
t ~
that are locally relevant and for the building of proper attitude,
>
The capacity of people to cope with# and the responsibility they
take for their health is to be recognised.
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Health Personnel
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Different grades of workers are needed at different levels of
health care and they must include
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the group of people at the community level. Including the
voluntary, quasi-governmental, governmental health workersj
the teachers and others; and
the doctors,, nurses, dental surgeons, allied health
profess!on a1s , technicians and others of similar category>
There is need for an optimum mix of the different categories,
both quantitative and qualitative, with priority for the health
v.'crkers at the community level.
Health teams
The training should be such as to enable the members to work
as a team for the health of the people.
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I
Education
5
Continuing Education should enable even the most remotely
^situated worker to benefit from it. This may be achieved by
distance and other methods of learning.
The focus must mainly be on social goals, in addition to needed
knowledge, skills and attitudes.
I
TRAINING STRATEGIES
Education for health should be community^-oriented and people
based so that the health professional/worker is able to equip
and enable the people to cope with their health problems^
Competence based learning
The health personnel at different levels should be trained with
appropriate skills attitudes and knowledge to function effecti
vely in the area of work, encouraging competence based learning
Opportunities should be provided for learning outside the
training institution or organisation in the health care delivery
system at various levels. One way of achieving this objectives
will be through the greater use of electives in the community
with government and voluntary health and development projects.
Value orientation
The training programmes at all levels should
lay emphasis on
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6.
2 2 and relationships at the
values and ethics including conduct
health
personal level 3nd right to ------ and distributive justice
at the social levels
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Health and Culture ,
Ml •’-rMning programmes should take into consideration the way
I
area with an attitude of learning.
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1
□22
.
^ntal and Hon-Governmental Programmes
primary responsibility of the government to provide
services, while the voluntary (HGO) sector also has
its iliciesslnglole. To achieve the optima »lx. »iih respect
’-O numbers, types and qualities of health workers and efrectize
training programmes, all efforts should be made to nave inte
raction between governmental and
° "’
learning from and supportive of each others erfort .
3 vn terns of Ho^lth^jrg^ ^nd Medicing
e
All training programmes must take into consideration peoples
tij
h
health culture.
Whatever be the focus of the system of health care and medicine,
in a training programme there is need for generating awareness
9 - systems
• - i and traditions in the country
of the plurality of health
healthy
respect
for all systems.
and encourage al
'‘‘ 7
Evaluation
b
------ - should be evaluated for their effect!—
All training programmes
veness to c--veness. The process
the people themselves.
by the trainees. and
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Training o£ Trainars
There is need for improving training of trainers for community
>. The trainers should be
b3 s c df 1people"*oriented health care
For
all formal courses, the
role moders for the trainees,
their"full-time for the training.
trainers should devote ■----
Msthodologies
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training
Different
Different methodologies of learning and training, appropriate
to
should be used. To the extent possible, all
to the
the situation
:
training should be more experiential.
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7.
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xnncr/atXve Programmes
!
To meet the requirements of Health for All,innovative
training programmes should be encouraged and supported,
•whether in the governmental or voluntary sectors. National
institutes set up to function as torch bearers of innovation
should be accountable to the people in.this role.
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Networking of individuals/institutions involved in promoting
relevant innovations in training should be encouraged and
:? t r engthe no d ♦
*
Thio statement of shared concern
an evolving collactivity
us is also th a beginning of a proc-oss of working
•together towards th® evolution of such an educational policy
in health sciences responsive to the needs of the large
majority of our people — the poor and marginalised. We also
resolve that building on our own individual/project/programme/
institutional experiences we shall work together, lobbying for
these changes and new directions in training of health humanpcr’^r .in the country.
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Dara S. Amar
Pramesh Bhatnagar
Ve Benjamin
Darleena David
Desmond A, D’Abreo
C#Me Francis
George Joseph
Daleep Se Mukarji
Jose Melettukochyil
Ravi Narayan
Pe Ramachandran
Sukant Singh
Shlrdi Prasad Tekur
P. Zechariah
Rajaratnam Abel
Dfl Barerji
Sara Bhattacharji
P,G9 Vijava Sherry Chand
Sujatha de Magry
Margaret D8Abreo
Ulhas Jajoo
Mani Kalliath
Dhruv Mankad
Thelma Narayan
K, Pappu
Ami a Rama Rao
Satish Samuel
Reynold Washington
☆ ☆ ■&
★
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« TIVS A,>,‘ROACH TO TRA.MNC
Alex Parimalam
ghnesis
experm,CB ,n
Sm,y'iSM
liMSakjro
and cvi.OlV,"e
health ac,ions T„„ ori|,"r<!”"rCe ““ SUpporlire or«"S^
Department of Comm-^..imumty Medtcine, St. John’s Medical ConPmembers of the
aflcr completing nearly
f a decade as teachers and field trainers
' a,'8a,Ore’ and ,noved out
involved m ,n,‘'
iulcraclivc Geld
health \
......................................
o,yanisations- and
.. .d networks such as 1SI SEARCH Vi i a > r-. S led "iks Wl111 devclopmcnt
traveled c ‘
(C I IWs), doctors and i
.....».«l ®mm„„ity
“'"tm
Aller l)ie first 30 r..„,
before they launched
ni'Tin/tement and |(W CI)SI ^’'""""'inilioti rosnocivelv ai ’ ^'dern,0,°^ P^sonnel
legiouped and
Matted (uncltoning from a runted accontmodP 'l'
'J'C
'^’erefacthties for office, libra
--"y and a room for meetinos •.mlk Ce'ltra"y locatec' Bangalore
maJOr objectives of the Cell were:
and ^cusston were available The
1.
2.
. VOlUntaiT heal‘h effort
3. To encourage grout)st Z
4. 111
health as a process of awareksTb^dP"0'd 0"5 °f l'ealU’
5.
among people
activists, to build
-•J an understanding of
6. To see health mi' , J proJccts 111 health action
7.
T-'* “™“Sh n«.SI
X CMAI
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..........................
1 be basi'
CHC AND TRAINING
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ssxsssx--.....
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we la^ about training jn [|1C
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de. elopinent sector. What do these words mean to C' lC'^ How H ri ir
acliieving ,1S
of buM„g „„ a- “ “21JX■’
10
use. I raining as a
BUILDING A BROAD BASED HEALTH MOVEMENT
til!
.iXhXXXr m““. ..... . ....' aieNGO.s
N<
activists,
nmscs and policy makers al the state, and national
and i teachers, women’s groups, doctbrs,
:.:.J international level. It may look like CIIC
’ '
gives irainmg to any group and on;
hence losing locus. Cl IC employs a logic to justify
addressing various issuct/and groups. They do not lake
... . any
every group that asks for
train-ng. I he group must believe i._ _
lltlvu
m
or
at
least
have
an
openness
to understand community health
and the philosophy of CMC Through (rainhg CI IC
' intends to strengthen the partners who share
Me same ideology, and to promote (he ideulnw looiht-w h(.i . r
ogy in ollicis who I ’ ‘ ‘
v. ho will take part in buildim> un ihp
’ • T ,■ i i ' ’ ‘ 1
• mne pai tnurs, i.e. those
looses and channelises us eneruv Tho^ ^ho'"' ‘ nK)VCFnei
^ 'I1 hat !S
movement.
is how ('*i(' deliberately
cannot be their partners
diametrically opposite to the beliefs ol’CHC
They may not work direct w^ he h
they mu educated the v
t
&'°7
T
Ut thCy
" Camer °f conununity health
" Str°ng baSC ,n thc community. If
people’s h>•-
—me
training changed his mission to commlnity health I le m'’""r"'1'? ’° Had gOI’C thlou«1’ lllis
health issues as part oPthcir Porimiinn ci V ' ip< •
S° p ayec a PfOact,ve role in including
and can bring about policy clnnues in (he ICS;
raimng onc Pcrson can make personal changes
SoveWmal a^iefis a MemiJlT " d‘sla,”“ fl“m "» SOvernniwI, C1IC chooses to use
Lasoos. Rrst. £’a" ,1,: peZ „ZL ',
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tal1"
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perspeclive it will be rellecled in lhe villanos d °Se ° 116 pcople’ ai,d lftlley d0ll’l I’ave the right
Provi"CS"" . ........... .. 'OMuonee ifegoveZ^XX^* :™Zd'Zi'V,,'ka'S
i'sMng is aZ
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movement. The pailicipnntVof tt^'t °‘ 3
sees lhe importance Xwl e
“ '!“ CHC
''
1116 P'°CesS of'bui,di,’g up a people’s health
C0,laboratore b’
process. Hence CI IC
activists, government servants and Hl V‘"'OllS aiOuPs llkc health institutions, NGOs, social
b unmcni scivants and lobbying groups m ilt0 national and international level,
11 IE SPEC I RUM Ob' TRAINING ISSUES
X chc dZzx 'rT”" c',c ™"s
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thought or into target groups The contkrtof T
°l th6 hUman body’ Schools of
TO, globalisation lobaccc AIDS aX ?
"T5"5 Var'eS fr°m WOmen’s health> "^3,
, tooacco, AIDS, and alcoholism, along with topics directly related to health.
11
the group, the
Some frequently addressed topics
peventiou ordisease/personal hygiene/environment & sanitation
0
Health and Com™thy Hcaltlt^
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Community organisation. Community participation
Q
P^:«zz3t“,h’ resour“s in ........ .
“-op™-
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Mother and Child health
Nutrition, School health: Health of specific groups i
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e
-ovu „ment health policies and programmes
Nclwotktng andyoliinlaty agencies in health
0
0
' Icallh communication
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Consume! and health care
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Health care and its management
'
m cornmuniiy
7?TVC' 1ll'C l0plC’.tlle co"lent takes health be
•yond a biomedical orientation, or a technomanagerial approach to health and health
--------- i care with• - aa strong social/community orientation.
COLLABORATIVE APPROACH
IN TRAINING
....... .. ......................
hke-nunded peers who sei ve as lraille,.s The ( j '
re *;’
a,’othcr reason in working with
sessions and go away. Instead they believe in what L
f14'00 f^0'15 cio,l’( J‘-sl deliver
“re the conlaels for any campaign or lolZ
m
Y and praCllCC what l')ey .profess. They
lake up dillerent issues. Even ilThe trainers are^rolb 'SCCk C11Cs sup<)Ort wl,en lilcy
health, CMC ropes them in and uses variousmeans n
' 7 ° 3,6 ''0‘ CXp°Sed 10 co'™unity
them that they have a role to play in comniunilvhenlil P°Slt'A Y in,1uence llietn ancJ convince
"«»p,ofesiora,5 also sa
,nd u„im4“™e *;:nL“p«xTi,us>o“''«
1 o cite a few initiatives:
Medico-Friends’ circle7t'7he nadoLTlwel-'”8
♦
1110
bLll,Cl'" tl’rough tl,e
/
education
&
/ '
.......... .........
with licnllh prolessioimls, henkh
A
r
1 raining as a process
..... -.....
rNo
7"°” a ral|y i'’ n’emoiy 0f
mv "•*”«• Thu Helics ofinput., in d UT
aS thou«h h c
theines^n- . ........
C
1C AIDS v’ctims. Thiswr..
.........
5,lums was towards
XZZT T’
-Wported ihem till l)ley [)ceanie
»'""X
tevel
T ' ,"C;"Sil8e ‘o ’be other women fl
ri r
'C'’ ''CSPCC11VC
I
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l>A'<l1CII>A | OltY APPROACH TO TRAININO
f
i
Ifthe training emphasises
l(l„
demyshfication of health happens only wt°P C liaVe t0 particiPate in the process CflC’
mantra of
M Will achieve h. The v«,y H
»l»i ,hw
,
to have, and how
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l»«-PT.»y
',la" "» ««■ Ptae ofthe trai,lin&
Md .he
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wherever
. - JI 80. Hits is the fruit of an attempt to d 2
Y perso”aiity will help me
students. They v
We™"i6"ted for'-»i"S l>=»
Oflh'^
what they wanted. AII these years they have been carrying distortecl in?''"'^
that theygOt
^iierat, and in particular about
sex and about women ''’formation about health in
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...
lip\
>N CONCLUSION
jnove.nent. Tramp's'™ ' istLX'^bri™
£" broad-b^ed people’s health
'"Slnm.ent is shared by the trainees and die frainer/O t7
S°Cial C',ange- Tbe co,,lro1 of the
persons is an acknowledgement that health is one ft
7 'nvolvement °f a wide spechum of
.... -
Questions for reflection
1.
2.
Wlara,hCditam“,,,ai,tteCHC
^2■0
'I.
k 3.
0A
o\ryJ
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- Media
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