The Evaluation of Cultural Action: An Evaluative Study of the Parents and Children Program (PPH)

266 Pages·1985·23.477 MB·English

by  Howard Richards (auth.)

THE EVALUATION OFCULTURALACTION
STUDIES IN INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
RESEARCH
Also published
Robert]. Moore: THIRD-WORLD DIPLOMATS IN
DIALOGUE WITH THE FIRST WORLD
Further titles in preparation
THE EVALUATION
OF CULTURAL
ACTION
An Evaluative Study of the Parents and Children
Program (PPH)
HOWARD RICHARDS
with the assistance of Horacia Walker and Luis Brahm and the advice of
juan-Eduardo Garcia-Huidobro, Edmund V. Sullivan and joel Weiss
Foreword by Malcolm Parlett
M in association with
Palgrave Macmillan
© Howard Richards 1985
Foreword © Malcolm Parlett 1985
All rights reserved. No part of this publication
may be reproduced or transmitted, in any form
or by any means, without permission.
First published 1985 by
THE MACMILLAN PRESS LTD
London and Basingstoke
Companies and representatives
throughout the world
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Richards, Howard
The evaluation of cultural action.
l. Programa Padres e Hijos
2. Community development-Chile
I. Title
361.6'0983 HN298
ISBN 978-0-333-36339-3 ISBN 978-1-349-17642-7 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-17642-7
To Three Martyrs for Meaning
Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr and Oscar Romero
... que Ia alegria del hombre
brote de muy dentro
darle fin a Ia hipocresia
que el amor sea su centro
(May the joy of man
bud out from deep inside
putting an end to hypocrisy.
May love be its centre.)
(from a poem by a program
participant who prefers to be
identified not by name but as 'a
peasant womanfrom Cumilelfu')
Contents
Acknowledgements IX
Foreword by Malcolm Parlett XI
Prologue on the Thirty-second Floor-with a
summary of the systems approach
2 Prologue in the Mud-a visit to a Parents and
Children meeting in a rural village in southern Chile 14
3 The Candle-with a discussion of the concept of
'objectives' 24
4 Some Definitions of Efficiency - a criticism of some
ways in which the word 'efficiency' is often used 35
5 The Cost-effectiveness of the Parents and Children
Program-with a discussion of the assumptions
behind the calculations 51
6 A Systematic Analysis of Error 63
7 Attitude Change-with a discussion of the concept of
'attitude' 67
8 The Verbal Image-a participatory method of
evaluation 79
9 Actions and Achievements-grassroots initiatives
undertaken and accomplished by the campesinos
(peasants) 91
Vll
Contents
Vlll
10 Triangulation-checking the verbal image by a
variety of methods 110
11 The Triangulation Continues 120
12 How Teresa was Capacitada-the training of
coordinators 146
13 Building Trust in Ex-Estacion-the story of a Parents
and Children's centre in a particular village, with an
account of how the centre was organized, and an
account of the continuing in-service training of
coordinators 161
14 Why They Come, Why They Don't Come-reasons
why people participate in the program, or decline to
participate 177
15 Jorge Zuleta: the Poet as Activist-with a discussion
of cultural action 190
16 The Battle ofEl Monte-with a dialectic critique of
the systems approach 202
17 The Radio Station's Birthday Party-with a proposal
for and an example of a short, simple method of
evaluation 214
18 Projections-recommendations for correcting some
mistakes made by the Parents and Children program
in Osorno, with a recapitulation of some of the
previous discussions of the methodology of evaluation 227
Index 244
Acknowledgements
The study which led to this book was supported by the Ford
Foundation and the International Development Research Cen
tre. The program which is the subject and object of the study has
been supported by CEBEMO of the Catholic Church of Hol
land, Brat for die Welt of the Protestant Churches of West
Germany, and the Capuchin Fathers.
Much of the inspiration for the program came from the earlier
Maipu Project coordinated by Juan Jose Silva, and many of the
methods used were developed by Carols Ortuzar.
Many of the people whose assistance has been indispensable
are mentioned by name in the text. Others are Emily Vargas
Adams, Regina de Assis, Carol Barton, Marilyn Campbell,
Ramsay Derry, Raquel Fernandez, Guillermo Garcia, Denis
Goulet, Bernardita Icaza, Ruth Jackson, Vera John, Robert
Myers, Caroline Richards, Shelley Richards, Valery Rose, Rosa
Saavedra, Jorge Martinez Sanchez, Sheldon Shaeffer, Alice
Shaffer, Nelly Stromquist and Jose Martinez Terrero, S.J.
lX