Resources

PRA is set in the context of other participatory approaches to development, such as PAR. A table is used to present the varying ways of using "participation" showing to what extent local people are involved. This paper looks at PRA 'in terms of the potential it offers for colearning within a process oriented toward a goal of collective action'. Drawing on personal experiences, the process of using visualisations within PRA is analyzed in detail. Compared with conventional research methods such as interviewing, 'constructing a visual representation is in itself an analytic act'. The 'focus of activity shifts from the researcher to the representation' and the visualised product acts as a focus for discussions, a shared reference point. Difference can be explored by using visuals to extend focus group work, such as to discuss gender differences in separate groups of men and women. Visualisations can thus provide a way of discussing sensitive issues or points of conflict by moving the conversation to an object rather than to the individuals concerned. Drama, as a more dynamic visual form, offers creative potential to explore issues rather than the usual didactic theatre used in health education. PRA leads to a wider understanding of 'health' as being the result of issues such as inequality and poverty. Health workers can use the visual methods to 'bridge the gap between medical messages and local knowledge' and to change their role so they are learning from people's experiences.

This handbook was developed whilst training extension workers in the Philippines. Aimed at raising gender awareness, many of the activities described are based on PRA methods. Examples include gender-specific activity calendar, time use charts, decision making matrix and social mapping. Other activities are based on stories and role play. The handbook is divided into four sections : 1) Roles, responsibilities and needs 2) Gender awareness 3) values, power structure and communication in groups 4) Quantitative and qualitative participation. Although the sixty 'tools' are clearly laid out and illustrated, some of the community activities demand on a high level of literacy.

This set of notes give clear instructions on methods suitable for discussing issues around women's workload. The daily activity profile begins with a role play to stimulate discussion, then drawing time lines in separate groups of men and women. The division of labour session also uses a role play to illustrate the strict division of tasks according to gender. The division of labour chart breaks down a general activity into smaller tasks, using pictures to show who does what. The account of a leadership training programme describes methods used, such as role play, songs, and includes practical instructions on organisational aspects.

The understanding of children's roles in the household, how work loads are shared and how they alter over time and with different socio-economic and environmental conditions is crucial for development. Gender issues are important, and an understanding of both gender and children should be built into projects and policy. Children's work has not often been considered in planning development initiatives. The first section provides a background to this before moving onto the background to the fieldwork conducted in Nepal and a description of the area. Environmental issues and their effects on children are illustrated using flow diagrams, maps and historical analysis. The role of children is highlighted in a framework of caste/ ethnicity, poverty and gender which affects control over resources and decisions. Different perceptions are examined using seasonal calenders, activity matrices and mobility diagrams. Throughout the study participatory methods were used, in addition to a basic questionnaire, and the methodology is highlighted in the appendix. The report concludes with six "steps forward", providing practical leads for policy and action. It is stressed that this report is not an end in itself but rather a first step towards development in which children are given a voice.

This article explores constraints encountered when using PRA on an ODA-funded natural resources project in a tribal area of Western India. It was particularly evident that women's participation in the PRAs was minimal. The reasons for this were practical (women were not available collectively for long periods of time & there were few women fieldworkers as the project had just begun), social (PRA activities tended to take place in public places where women felt awkward) and methodological (women respond to PRA activities in different ways, sometimes feeling bored and "communicating by singing instead"). The author argues that an organised PRA "gives privilege to certain kinds of knowledge and representation and suppresses others" : the emphasis given to formal knowledge and activities tends to "reinforce the invisibility of women's roles". However, once the formal and public nature of PRA is perceived as a problem, it can become a means by which "women's knowledge and activities.. can be transferred from the informal to the formal arena of project planning", thereby increasing women's profile. Suggestions for encouraging women's participation in PRA include: making non-public contexts (since women are more used to the "private sphere"), using women's knowledge and ways of communicating (songs, sayings, proverbs). There are constraints: the "production of observable outputs (maps, diagrams of PRA) have more status for fieldworkers" than scribbled songs or informal interview notes and women's expressed needs (eg a flour mill) "don't fit easily into established categories of natural resource development".