Developing monitoring and evaluation indicators Day 10 Session 3

By the end of this session the CPs will: Analyze an approach of M & E and identify its usefulness and challenges

Moving to systems and processes which encourage what Chambers calls `Reversals’ Not external monitoring & evaluation but internal monitoring. `Their’ perception, ideas, views. A range of tools/processes encourage participatory analysis. Participatory monitoring & evaluation

“..Participation is essential for the development and fulfilment of the human personality..’ – Aristotle. “.. If you are trying to transform a brutalised society into one where people can live in dignity and hope, you begin with the empowering of the most powerless. You build from the bottom up..” - Adrienne Rich

It CAN ‘flick’ the system over. Take for example an evaluation process..

Participation from the beginning..

Each participatory process different. Different stakeholders involved. Different processes/tools used. Important elements are that people themselves central to their own analysis of their problems. They are involved in seeking solutions to their concerns and to monitoring and assessing the results of interventions.

Many participatory techniques used… Timelines: often used to frame a discussion about what happened when, why. Can provoke a discussion on what different stakeholders perceive as significant. Maps: often used to show location and types of changes in the area Venn diagrams: show changing relationships and power relations between groups, institutions and individuals

Many participatory techniques used…Cont.. Flow diagrams: often used to show direct and indirect impacts Photographs: to depict changes through a sequence of images Matrix scoring or ranking: to compare different groups preferences for a set of options or outcomes Oral histories and oral testimonies: to track changes over time

Many participatory techniques used…Cont.. Network diagrams: to how changes in the type and degree of contact between people and services. Participatory video or photography: used to capture on film how people see and interpret what has happened in their lives and their communities. Direct observation: Theatre or role-play: often used as a tool to facilitate different groups to tell their own stories in their own ways.

Participatory monitoring and evaluation – main benefits 1)Done well, it can really enable an empowering process. People themselves can take control of own development. 2)Facilitated well. It can open a dialogue on power and create space for honest discussion about what is happening in people’s lives. 3)Opens up the space for honest dialogue on differing perspectives of project/programme intervention – there is no one view. 4)Can lead to accountability – not just to donors – but to people in whose name you raise money. It is their lives, their ideas and their work.

Main criticisms/issues with Participatory approaches. 1)Can demand time from people who don’t have time. 2)Processes can produce challenging and unpredictable outcomes for donors. 3)Some processes get caught up in producing pictures/diagrams & forget the overall analysis.

Main criticisms/issues with Participatory approaches Cont.. 1)The processes can lead to the airing of conflicting opinions/ideas. 2)Processes are often constrained by the clash with organisational structures and cultures and unequal power relationships. 3)Much depends on the facilitation – participatory processes can be done badly and processes can be extractive.

Activity DISCUSS.. a)In what way would this approach (if used by your school) strengthen the values you aspire to in your practice? b)In what ways would this approach (if used by your school) threaten or undermine these values?

Main issues/concerns The process of feeding the information upwards, leads to over-emphasis on `out-lyres’ (the best of the good and the worst of the bad) rather on the general, average changes caused by an intervention. The process of `selecting’ stories is sometimes seen as culturally inappropriate.

Main issues/concerns Most significant change stories are a compliment to other monitoring processes, but people often overemphasise MSC and forget to carry out regular monitoring processes. Generally the processes are once again about feeding information `up’ a chain, rather than the information being owned and used by the `end users’ or `beneficiaries’ of the development process.

Final word.. The important thing about M&E is that it is used to open up honest reflection processes from which ALL stakeholders learn That development practice improves as a result of it… That you align your school M &E with the values of your school. You can’t graft on processes.

By the end of this session the CPs will: Analyze an approach of M & E and identify its usefulness and challenges