Previous Page Table Of ContentsNext Page


THE TOOLS

The tools of PAME are instruments to be used to gather, synthesize, and analyse information in a way that is appropriate and participatory.

The tools should be approached with an open mind; they may have to be adapted and re-thought out to respond to each situation. Think of them as "ideas" to be developed to respond to the field reality. Play with them to figure out what will work, what will be more participatory.

Combine the tools in different ways. For example, use some of the Ranking, Rating, and Sorting "games" to make Surveys more interesting. Combine village monographs with Popular Drama or a Puppet Show.

Many of the tools work individually to gather and analyse information, while helping to develop communication skills. Drawing and Discussion is one example of such a tool. Other tools are more specific, such as Survival Surveys.

All of the tools, because they are developed with and for the community, serve also as extension and learning tools.

Be flexible. If one tool is not working well, re-think it or suggest another one.

Choosing the best tool for a situation is a unique and creative process. To assist in narrowing the choices of appropriate tools from the wide range of possibilities offered, the characteristics of the tools are listed in the following pages, along with some tips on how to determine the kinds of tools the community might find most useful. Let the community know what kinds of tools are available and choose those they think are most appropriate.

The tools are presented in the following chapter in a way which seeks to encourage creativity and flexibility, while offering clear guidelines to those who might need them. It may be that the guidelines (Using the tool) are useful as a beginning, with adaptations following as the tool becomes familiar. The following descriptions are brief and are adaptations of tools with which most extensionists may be familiar. There are methodological texts for many of these tools and the following is not a substitute for more detailed instruction on sample selection, sample size, or research design. This description is focused on how the tools may be or may have been adapted to strengthen local participation.

Enjoy the tools! PAME should be an exciting, dynamic learning experience for everybody.

8. THE TOOLS OF PARTICIPATORY ASSESSMENT, MONITORING AND EVALUATION

8.1 Some Guidelines for Choosing the Most Appropriate Tools for a Community

1. Watch and listen. Become aware of how community members think and communicate information. This will give clues as to what tools might work best.

2. Observe the habits of the community. Do they have books and magazines in their homes? Do they have pictures decorating their homes? Do they use symbols to decorate their implements?

These kinds of observations will give clues as to which communication type (written, oral or visual) is basic to the community.

3. Ask how information is relayed around the community. Is it exclusively by word-of-mouth? Are there newspapers? Posters?

4. Try to determine which extension efforts have worked well (or not so well) in the community in the past.

Knowing which methods of communication are most commonly used in a community will help the field worker to "short list" tools that are likely to work in a particular setting. From this "short list" the community can choose.

8.2 An Overview of the Main Characteristics of the Tools

The following list will help to sort out the tools by their main characteristics (visual, oral or written), and main purposes:

Community Problem Analysis (CPA); Partecipatory Baselines (PB); Partecipatory Monitoring and ongoing evaluation (PMoe) and/or Evaluation Events (EE).

Number Name of Tool

Visual

Oral

Written

Main Purpose

1

Group Meetings

x

xxxx

x

all

2

Drawing/Discussion

xxxx.

xx

 

CPA/PB/EE

3

Murals/Posters

xxxxx

x

 

PB/EE

4

Flannel Boards

xxxx

x

x

CPA//PB/EE

5

Open-ended Stories

 

xxxxx

x

CPA/PB/EE

6

Unserialized Posters

xxxx

xx

 

CPA

7

Community Case Studies

 

xxxx

 

PB/EE

8

Historical Mapping

xxx

xx

x

CPA/PB

9

Semi-structured Interviews

 

xxxx

xx

PB/EE

10

Ranking,Rating,Sorting

xxxx

xx

 

CPA/PB/EE

11

Community Environmental Assessment

xx

xx

xx

PB/PMoe

12

Survival Surveys

xxx

 

xxx

PMoe

13

Participatory Forestry Action Research

xx

xx

xx

PMoe

14

Maps and mapping

xxxx

x

x

all

15

Farmer's Own Records

xxx

 

xxx

PMoe/EE

16

Nursery Record Books

xxx

 

xxx

PMoe/EE

17

Community Financial Accounts

xxx

 

xxx

PMoe/EE

18

S.W.O.T. Analysis

x

xxxx

x

EE

19

Popular Drama

xxx

xxx

 

CPA/PB/EE

20

Puppet Theatre

xxx

xxx

 

CPA/PB/EE

21

Community Directed Visual Images

xxxx

xx

 

CPA /PB/EE

22

Community Directed Tape Recordings

 

xxxxxx

 

PB/EE

23

Community Directed Video

xxx

xxx

 

PB/EE

TOOL 1

GROUP MEETINGS

OBJECTIVES AND PURPOSES OF THE TOOL

Meetings with the beneficiaries, the community and/or focus groups (herders, women, schools) will be one of the most important tools for community information gathering, and communication of information. The purpose of the meeting will vary. They can help communities:

MAJOR BENEFITS AND ADVANTAGES

TOOL DESCRIPTION

A community group meeting generally involves a large number of people, but, if well designed, it can be participatory by encouraging two-way communication. Smaller focus group meetings can be even more participatory, as the information sharing may be more equitable when there are common problems and a common purpose, or when the group members are comfortable speaking to one another. The outputs from focus group meetings can be presented to larger group meetings, giving a "voice" to those in the community who are unable to speak up in a large group setting.

RESOURCES REQUIRED

Time: this will vary according to the purpose of the meeting, and the interest the meeting holds for participants.

Expenses: minimal.

Training: facilitating a meeting in which two-way communication is being sought takes some skill, and sensitization.

USING THE TOOL

A lot of careful planning goes into a successful meeting. Two-way communication must be fostered, interest must be maintained and "work" must get done.

Consider that there may be factions in the community that are unable or unwilling to speak up. Separate meetings with these people can be held, and their perspectives can be brought back to the larger meetings.

Expect that there will be high turnout at the beginning with decreases over time as only those especially interested or involved will attend. A "committee" meeting can usually handle operations, with meetings periodically to inform the rest of the group. If the turnout at meetings changes abruptly, look for the cause.

PRECAUTIONS IN USING THE TOOL

Beware of hidden agendas, groups who might use the meeting to bring up their own problems ... the facilitator can sometimes side-step this by saying, "That's not the purpose of this meeting, you might want to hold another meeting to discuss that issue".

The facilitator of the meeting must have enough authority to keep the meeting on track, but enough sensitivity to include as many people in the discussions as possible.

The community or group may tend to put the facilitator in the position of "expert" and expect the facilitator to carry the whole meeting. Think of creative ways to keep handing the questions back to the community or group.

HOW IT HAS BEEN USED

Community group meetings are probably the most common communication tool in community development. But successful meetings with high interest and two-way communication are rare. Think of new, creative ways to foster two-way communication and to include as many people as possible. Here are just a few examples:

In Sudan, where it is culturally inappropriate for women to speak up at meetings, the field staff met with them separately with a female extensionist and brought their perspective back to the next large group meeting.

In Kenya, slide tape shows were stopped periodically so that the community members could create the "ending" to the story.

In Sri Lanka, a process of information gathering was set in motion by using community group meetings. Questions were formulated by the group. Teams visited the necessary places (markets) while project field staff gathered information that local people could not access from urban centres.

TOOL 2

DRAWING AND DISCUSSION

OBJECTIVES AND PURPOSES OF THE TOOL

Drawing and discussion is a powerful tool, encouraging creative and critical participation in an inquiry process. The purposes of this tool are to:

MAJOR BENEFITS AND ADVANTAGES

TOOL DESCRIPTION

Drawings are produced jointly by the community, or by individuals, and discussion focuses around them. When one drawing is produced by a number of people, discussions can center on the importance of what has been represented. When individual drawings are done these can be compared and/or discussed in a group. The drawing and discussion tool is most useful in a culture with a strong visual tradition; this tradition can be evidenced by the importance people place on pictures, paintings, or decorations of household effects. Another way to test the community's visual orientation is to ask a number of persons for directions to the next village, and see whether they "draw" the instructions in the sand, or on a piece of paper.

RESOURCES REQUIRED

Time: this will vary a great deal, depending on how easily people take up the exercise. Training of facilitator is minimal.

Expenses: minimal, whatever drawing materials are available in the field. A flat surface, paper, material, wood, etc.).

USING THE TOOL

PRECAUTIONS IN USING THE TOOL

It may be difficult for outsiders to interpret drawings. Recording the group's interpretation will help overcome this.

People may at first be uncomfortable drawing, feeling that they cannot produce a "work of art". Ensure the group that the purpose of the exercise is to better understand an issue, rather than to produce a masterpiece.

HOW IT HAS BEEN USED

In a Turkana community in Kenya, local people produced two drawings. one was a drawing (A) of their village which identified the problems the village was currently experiencing. The other drawing (B) showed what they thought their village would look like once the problems were addressed.

Drawing A is a Community Problem Analysis.

Drawing B is a visual "objective statement".

These can be re-analysed and compared during a Participatory Evaluation Event.

A.

A. Problems

1. Dying animals

2. Lack of water

3. Dependency on aid

 

B.

B. Solutions

1. More trees and cropping

2. More water

3. Improved health facilities

 

Source: Kenyan (1984)

TOOL 3

MURALS AND POSTERS

OBJECTIVES AND PURPOSES OF THE TOOL

Community directed murals and posters provide a useful way to:

MAJOR BENEFITS AND ADVANTAGES

TOOL DESCRIPTION

Murals and posters which are designed by the community and drawn by an artist have many of the characteristics of Drawing and Discussion (Tool 2), but they are more permanent and highly visible. It is most important that the community go through the collective discussion and analysis stages in order to direct presentation by the artist.

Cultures with a visual tradition will be more comfortable with this tool. The "style" of drawing should be appropriate to the culture. To ensure this, local artists should be used whenever possible. Many

religious groups use murals as "inspirational pieces". If people have religious pictures in their homes, then murals or posters may be an appropriate tool.

RESOURCES REQUIRED

Time: depending on the size of the work and complexity of the issues, the artist can be in the village from 2 to 14 days.

Expense: materials for the artist. Cost of local artist. If a mural is to be done, a large, flat, protected space on which to paint must be provided.

Training: The artist needs training in the community directed process, and an awareness of the objectives of the exercise.

USING THE TOOL

PRECAUTIONS IN USING THE TOOL

HOW IT HAS BEEN USED

In Southern India, an NGO working in village reconstruction employed local artists, who lived in the villages, for up to two weeks to draw large pictures of the village the way the villagers wished it to be in the future. This was done on the side of community buildings or on upright rocks on the way to the well. These murals acted as visual goals statements.

The same NGO used the artists to do fabric "posters" for community extension. These posters were directed by the villagers and showed the purposes of different species of trees, and the benefits from planting trees.

In a village in Latin America, school children became involved with the production of a mural. They were given the purpose of the drawing, and a contest was held within the school. The children presented their pictures to the community to be judged. The "winners" worked with the artist to produce the mural.

TOOL 4

FLANNEL BOARDS

OBJECTIVES AND PURPOSES OF THE TOOL

Flannel boards can be used in a participatory way to:

MAJOR BENEFITS AND ADVANTAGES

TOOL DESCRIPTION

Flannel boards use picture "paste-ups" which can be sequenced or prioritized in any order. The paste-ups are pictures of common problems (fire, poverty, soil erosion, drought, increasing population, etc.) and some common solutions to these problems.

The subject of the paste-ups can be discussed. The position (if any) these paste-ups will have on the flannel board can also be reviewed.

RESOURCES REQUIRED

Time: it will take some time and artistic skill to make the paste-ups and the flannel board. These may already be a part of the extension materials, but they can be used in a more participatory way than was intended.

Expense: a local artist may need to prepare paste-ups, but these are re-useable.

Training: the facilitator should be aware of two-way communication techniques.

USING THE TOOL

PRECAUTIONS IN USING THE TOOL

Flannel boards can limit spontaneity and two-way communication unless they are done in a way which gives the group choices.

HOW IT HAS BEEN USED

In Rwanda, the forest service, a number of donor agencies, and NGOS have developed flannel boards that tell a story. Field workers found that the packaged story did not elicit discussion, and a number of them tried to use it in a different way. One field worker had the group arrange the pictures in a story, but omitted one of the crucial paste-ups in order to have the group discover it themselves. This helped start discussion.

In West Africa a group has developed the GRAAP flannel board approach. There are several different techniques. One approach uses boards which illustrate a region's physical environment in both the past and the present. The illustrations are used to illicite discussion on changes that have taken place, causes of these changes, and ways to reverse negative changes.

TOOL 5

OPEN-ENDED STORIES

OBJECTIVES AND PURPOSES OF THE TOOL

Open ended stories can be used to:

MAJOR BENEFITS AND ADVANTAGES

TOOL DESCRIPTION

A story with either the beginning, middle or ending left out. The tool allows the group to discuss what might happen in the part that has been purposely deleted.

The beginning can tell a story about a problem, the middle can tell a story about a solution, and the end can tell a story of an outcome.

RESOURCES REQUIRED

Time: the story will have to be "designed" beforehand. Depending upon the amount of group discussion, telling the story and filling in the missing part may take up to 2 hours.

Training: a good story-teller with two-way communication skills is necessary.

USING THE TOOL

PRECAUTIONS IN USING THE TOOL

A good storyteller who understands the purpose of the exercise is necessary, and it may be difficult to find someone with both of these attributes in the community.

HI IT HAS BEEN USED

In East Africa, a story was told from behind a screen while a masked figure representing the grandmother (the traditional storyteller in the culture) acted out front. The story (true for the community) describes a group of women who collect medicines from the forest to treat their families. A farmer returns from abroad, and receives a large piece of forest land to start a mechanized farming operation. He begins to cut down the trees. The women of the village are very sad, but do not know what to do about it. The "middle of the story" is left out. The end of the story depicts the women of the village talking about having enough medicine to look after their own needs, and also sell some of their remedies to a nearby town. The community then "filled in" the middle of the story with the things they could do to make the end of the story a reality.

TOOL 6

UNSERIALIZED POSTERS

OBJECTIVES AND PURPOSES OF THE TOOL

Unserialized posters can be used to:

MAJOR BENEFITS AND ADVANTAGES

TOOL DESCRIPTION

This tool consists of a set of posters which depict local incidents in the community, usually over a long period of time. The pictures are then chronologically sequenced by the group to tell the story as it

has happened. The pictures can cover the community's history, problems, beliefs, practices, values, and issues.

RESOURCES REQUIRED

Time: development of the posters may take some time, but they can be used frequently. Sequencing the posters may take up to two hours, depending on the amount of discussion.

Expense: development of the posters can entail some cost.

USING THE TOOL

1. Explain the purpose of the exercise to the group.

2. Display all the pictures to the group, and open discussion regarding each picture to determine its relevance to the community.

3. If sequencing is done in a small group, posters can be moved into sequence by group members. If a large group is present, group consensus can determine the position of pictures. Pictures can then be displayed for all to see.

4. Temporary removal and reintroduction of one or more of the pictures, can help determine its importance. This provides the same benefits as the Open-ended Stories Tool.

PRECAUTIONS IN USING THE TOOL

Existing posters may leave out an important event. Blank posters should be in-hand so that a drawing can be created to portray the missing event.

HOW IT HAS BEEN USED

A variant of this tool was used by the Bangladesh Cobblers' Programme to facilitate planning. Using information gathered through interviews and informal discussions the progress of the group was visually documented in a number of posters. The goals, the steps and the activities needed to achieve the goals were depicted. Members put the posters in the sequence that they felt would help them accomplish their goals, and through this process the group was able to analyse and review its progress and plan for the future.

TOOL 7

COMMUNITY CASE STUDIES

OBJECTIVES AND PURPOSES OF THE TOOL

Community case studies can:

MAJOR BENEFITS AND ADVANTAGES

TOOL DESCRIPTION

A community case study is a collective description and analysis of the community or beneficiary group. This form of information gathering and analysis gives special attention to forestry related issues in considering the entire social, cultural, economic and ecological existence of a group.

Presentation can be in the form of a drawing, a socio-drama, a song, a story telling, a photograph, a slide-tape presentation or a video presentation. The community should present the case study or monograph in the form that is most comfortable to them.

RESOURCES REQUIRED

Time: depends on the depth of knowledge required. Some case studies by outsiders have taken up to six months. Community case studies will probably take a shorter period of time.

Expense: depends on the presentation.

Training: a reliable and enthusiastic facilitator to encourage the process.

USING THE TOOL

PRECAUTIONS IN USING THE TOOL

The community case study may take a long time and "bogged down" dealing with details, momentum and enthusiasm can be lost. If one person provides encouragement and support, this potential problem can be averted.

HOW IT HAS BEEN USED

In Sri Lanka, field staff experienced some success with the case study approach in evaluating completed projects. However, they found that villagers responded with "stock" answers because they were not involved in the process. Field staff suggested that the case study ought to have been more participatory. In Pakistan, village monographs (case studies) were recommended for a project that needed a boost of "participation". And in a Native Indian Community in Canada, a community "told their story" of social and economic development. This "story" was then dramatized for video and shown to other native communities.


Previous PageTop Of PageNext Page