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THE IMPORTANCE OF HAVING STUDENTS TAKE PART
IN THE PLANNING
The ability to plan effectively—to analyze and organize what needs to be
done— is basic to the self-reliance of every individual, family, and community.
Planning skills are especially important for health workers who are to become
leaders, teachers, and organizers in their communities.
This does not mean that a training program must include special classes on
‘planning and management’. Instead, it points to the value of including the
student group in the planning process.
LESS APPROPRIATE
MORE APPROPRIATE
Some of the most important skills are best learned through practice in
applying them to real situations, rather than by studying them as separate topics.
There are several good reasons for including the student health workers in planning
the content and organization of their own training:
• Through guided practice the students learn firsthand about analyzing,
planning, and organizing relevant activities.
• Students become more deeply involved in the teaching-learning process.
• They become—and feel—more equal to their instructors. This will help them
when they begin to plan and teach in their communities. They will be more
able to relate to their own people as equals, and to share responsibilities with
others.
• Students can help adapt the content of the training program to the problems,
needs, and resources within their particular communities. This helps make each
training session a new, special, exciting, and more relevant experience— for the
instructors as well as the students.
• The flexibility and shared responsibility of this approach are basic to achieving
community health and fairer distribution of control.