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Towards participatory evaluation: An inquiry into posttraining experiences of Guatemalan community development workers
Abstract
During the past two decades, out-of-country development assistance training programs have emerged in response to the need to promote peoples' self-determination through increased participation at the community level. Participatory training based on an empowerment ideology has been advanced by some practitioners. Yet, little emphasis has been placed on evaluating the efficacy of this strategy as it pertains to applying training experiences in program participants' home setting. When this is attempted, the traditional evaluation procedures typically used render information which is of limited value to planners, practitioners, and program participants themselves. Thus, the development field operates with a distorted understanding of the complexity involved in applying empowerment training principles in actual community settings. The study investigates the possibilities and limitations of participatory evaluation (PE), and alternative evaluation approach, as a research strategy. A training case for Guatemalan community development workers referred to as the Central American Peace Scholarship Project sponsored by the United States Agency for International Development provides the program background. The PE strategy is based on a theoretical perspective rooted in critical theory and a methodological perspective derived from a participatory research paradigm. By focusing the PE process on participants' questions critical insights that might not appear in traditional evaluation findings are revealed. Further, PE increases the possibilities for evaluation to serve a developmental role for program participants and an informational role for program planners. In application, the process moves through three key stages: (1) a collaborative assessment of the Guatemalan research context, (2) the emergence of participants' evaluation questions through a series of informal interview encounters, and (3) critical reflections, the creation of alternative solutions and action-taking. PE provides participants with training reinforcement in their home setting while informing program planners of the efficacy of a particular training methodology from a Guatemalan perspective. Findings challenge policy makers, planners, practitioners, and researchers to acknowledge multiple field realities as well as contextual and structural impediments to applying an empowerment based methodology in various socio-political contexts.
Subject Area
Adult education|Continuing education|Bilingual education|Multicultural education|Educational evaluation|Social work
Recommended Citation
Campos, Juanita Diane, "Towards participatory evaluation: An inquiry into posttraining experiences of Guatemalan community development workers" (1990). Doctoral Dissertations Available from Proquest. AAI9100509.
https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations/AAI9100509