A Trainer's Guide for Participatory Learning and Action [antikvár]

^ his guide is a part of the Paiti-' cipatory Methodology Series produced by the Sustainable Agriculture Programme of the International Institute for Environment and Development. The series provides a range of materials on the various aspects and apphcations of participatory learning and action methodologies for development. The series is aimed at trainers and practitioners alike and includes both books and audio-visual material (a video and slide pack). Other titles in the series are: • How People Use Pictures: An annotated bibliography for development workers by Sarah Murray Bradley. To be published in conjunction with the British Council. 9 Rapid Appraisal lor Community Forestry by Donald A. Messerschmidt. 9 Questions of Difference: PRA, gender and environment by Irene Guijt. A multilingual trainer's pack comprising a video, trainer's guide and slide set. 9 A User's Guide for Participatory Learning and Action (in preparation). These guides and other materials have grovm out of work conducted by the Sustainable Agriculture Programme, whose staff have played a role in the recent development and spread of Agroecosystem Analysis (AEA), Rapid Rural Appraisal (RRA) and Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA). The Programme has been actively involved in training and building capacity through field-based and workshop-based training courses since 1986. The authors of the guides have been directly involved in training programmes and courses in Austria, Botswana, Brazil, Burkina Paso, Cape Verde, Ethiopia, France, Germany, Ghana, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Lesotho, Netherlands, Nepal, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, Philippines, Senegal, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Sweden, Switzerland, Tanzania, Thailand, Uganda, UK, USA and Zimbabwe. The Programme also distributes the informal journal RRA Notes to institutions in some 120 countries. This was first published in 1988 and, by the end of 1994, 21 issues had been published containing more than 200 articles. In 1995 the name changed to PLA Notes (Notes on Participatory Learning and Action). DANGERS OF HANDBOOKS The expansion in interest and application of participatory methods has led to a growing demand for handbooks. But handbooks and manuals carry special dangers. Large texts intimidate new practitioners, particularly if instructions require comprehensive reading before practice. Strict instructions and frameworks on how to do something tend to block innovation and so lead to standardisation.