PLA)
PARTICIPATORY LEARNING
AND ACTION (PLA)
Presented By: Dr. Anamika Soni
Under the guidance of:
Dr. Manju Toppo Ma’am
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Outlines
• What is Participation
• Origin of PLA
• What is PLA
• Principles
• PLA Methods
• Phases
• Example of PLA
• Accuracy
• Uses
• Benefits
• Limitations
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PARTICIPATION
• The term ”PARTICIPATION” holds different meanings for different
people.
• It can range from varying levels of involvement of the community
from material contribution, to organization and to empowerment.
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• Passive Participation
• Participation in Information Giving
• Consultation
• Material Incentives
• Functional participation
• Interactive participation
• Self- Mobilization
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Origin of Participatory Learning and Action
1970s-80s: Rapid Rural Appraisal(RRA)- consultation and engagement of rural
communities (Africa)
1980s-90s: Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) - correcting
some limitations of RRA
1995: Participatory Learning and Action (PLA)-
applications for monitoring and evaluation
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• PRA was originally designed for use during appraisals and needs assessments in
rural areas. However, it can be used at any stage of the project cycle – design,
planning, monitoring, review and evaluation – and is now used in urban as well as
rural areas.
• Hence the name was changed to Participatory Learning and Action (PLA) to
reflect its broader application.
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What is Participatory Learning and
Action??
Participatory Learning and Action (PLA) is defined as a growing family of methods
and approaches that
• enable local people to analyze, share and enhance their knowledge of life and
conditions, and
• to plan, prioritize, act, monitor and evaluate (Chambers 2007).
• Central to the aim of PLA is to generate knowledge and information that
represents the perceptions, understandings, concepts and practices of different
groups.
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Principles of PLA
• Reversal of learning- We learn from villagers. Their situations and conditions.
• Learning rapidly and progressively
• Offsetting biases- Listening to the community, not lecturing. Learning their
concern and priorities.
• Optimizing trade-off- Costs of learning to the useful truth of information.
• Seeking diversity- Learning from exception/ outliers.
• Handling over the stick (or pen)- Local people themselves facilitate the analysis of
their information, make maps, diagrams etc. The facilitator initiates the
presentation.
• Self-critical awareness- Includes welcoming opportunities and facing failure
positively.
• Sharing of ideas and information between local peoples. And between local
people and facilitators.
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PLA Methods
Mapping related Time-Related PLA
Other Methods
Methods Methods
• Social Map • Timeline • Tail diagram
• Resources Map • Trend analysis • Preference
• Mobility Map • Historical Transect ranking (NSL
• Participatory Modelling • Seasonal diagram Chart)
Map • Daily activity schedule • Venn diagram
• Transect • Spider diagram
• Participatory Census • Body mapping
Method
• Body Map
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Mapping
• Scope- To obtain an overview of the resources available to the community.
• Method- Individuals are asked to build a model of their community.
• Outcome- Various aspects of the development can be discussed.
• Limitations- Needs experience; Time and cost-intensive.
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Social Map
A visual method of showing the location of households & distribution of diff people
with social structural groups and organization of an area.
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Resource Map
Map showing natural resources of the community like land, hills, rivers, field, vegetation etc.
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Mobility Map
Map to explore movement patterns of an individual, group or community.
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Transect walk
• Direct observation of the physical and socio-economic characteristics within the
community.
• The achievement, problems, threats and opportunities are depicted in transact
walk map.
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Body Mapping
Body maps can be used for gaining access to people’s perceptions, of their bodies and explanatory models which people bring into encounters with health care workers.
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Seasonal map
It helps to make the community understand seasonal changes in resources which will help
people allocate and save their resources more efficiently to smooth out yearly consumption
needs.
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Other methods
NSL Chart- For Preference (Prioritization) ranking
The problem is which one to take first for action
Now (N)- within 6 months Soon (S)- within 1 year Later (L)- within 3 years
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For prioritizing problems, Voting game by
Problem picture cards and pebbles
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Venn diagram/ Chapatti diagrams
• The Chapatti diagram uses chapatti or roti as a material to analyse complex
issues.
• It becomes easier for an illiterate layperson to relate their everyday experience
with the help of material like chapatti.
• This method helps in understanding and analysing relationships between various
institutions, organizations, programs or individuals with each other.
• In this exercise, a paper is cut into different sizes of circles to indicate the relative
importance of a particular institution/ individual to that particular area/ village.
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Ex –
1. Arrange a gathering of people in the village and ask them to give all possible
reasons for less institutional delivery in that particular village.
2. Ask them to place the chapatti or paper cutting in different sizes proportional
to the importance of their problems. The largest circle should be placed for the
most important and the smallest for the least important.
3. The arrangement of the circles should be according to the interaction. The
circles placed far away from each other will indicate no contact. If the circles
just touch each other, it means that information passes between them.
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Causes of low institutional deliveries
• This information may then be used to determine how important partnerships can
be established or enhanced.
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Phases of PLA cycle
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10 PLA Ground Rules
• Give everyone the opportunity to participate
• Respect what people say
• Don’t dominate
• Be on the same level as the participants
• Don’t make assumptions
• Don’t rush
• Learn from mistake
• Be flexible
• Make it fun for everyone
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How to begin with??
1. Establishing Rapport
2. Observation involves discussing on topic, not simply assuming
3. Social Mapping
4. Problem Inventory ( Ask them to list their problems in cards)
5. Prioritization as per villager’s needs.
6. Let one local person from the community explain all steps from the beginning
7. Let everyone know the decisions, and if anyone has a difference of opinion, it is
for the local leaders to sort it out there. This makes things clear for everyone.
8. As a facilitator, we can explain our position and in what way we are trying to
resolve their issue, and your expectation of their participation in the plan, and
implementation and in taking charge of sustaining the benefits.
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Eg:
Story on Anaemia during pregnancy, Preterm baby and Pre-lacteal feeding
Tara got married at the age of 17 and became pregnant within 6 month period. Her
diet in pregnancy was inadequate and she became anaemic and weak. Her family
members did not allow her to eat too much because they believed that it would
prevent the baby’s proper growth in the womb and that she would have
indigestion. She refused to eat meat, fish, eggs and green leafy vegetables during
most of her pregnancy because of her distaste. In the 8th month of pregnancy, she
gave birth to a premature baby. The baby cried all the time, making her think she
had insufficient breast milk for the baby. The family also told Tara that thick yellow
first milk (colostrum) was bad for the baby, so they tried to give the baby goat’s
milk, which the baby refused. Tara had thrown away the colostrum. On the third
day, she found that the baby was very inactive and was unable to take feed at all
and the next day the baby died.
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Picture cards for use in the story will be for the highlighted parts of the story – based on underlying causes and
immediate causes – medical, social, cultural, etc
After narrating the story we will ask any group member to repeat the story using the picture cards to remind them of
the main causes leading to the death of the child.
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The ‘but why...?’ game
Q: Why did Tara’s baby die?
A: Because the baby did not get breast milk in the first three days of life.
Q: But why did the baby not get breast milk in the first three days?
A: Because Tara had thrown the colostrum.
Q: What was given to the baby for three days?
A: Tara had tried to give goat’s milk that the baby refused
Q: Why was he being given goat’s milk?
A: Because she thought her milk was insufficient and the family asked her to feed
him goat’s milk.
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Q: Why was the baby refusing to feed well?
A: Because the baby was born premature.
Q: But why was the baby born premature?
A: Because Tara was very weak in pregnancy.
Q: But why was she weak?
A: Because she did not eat enough during pregnancy.
Q: And what were the other reasons for her being weak?
A: Because she had an early marriage and early childbirth.
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Discussing possible solutions to deal with the problems using “but what?”
Possible causes for the baby’s death Possible solutions for preventing baby’s death
Mother married early, gave birth early, and If Tara had married late and delayed the first pregnancy and had
did not eat enough. eaten more frequent meals and more vitamin/iron rich foods,
received family support throughout her pregnancy
Baby born premature, too small to suckle If the baby was taken to hospital after premature birth, made
and colostrum was discarded, baby refused sure he was immediately put to breast and was given
to take goat’s milk. colostrum, given warmth, breastfed exclusively, given ex-
pressed milk using a spoon if the baby was unable to suckle
properly.
Important message for the participants
• Participants understand the symptoms, and the immediate and underlying causes (root causes)
for the problem discussed.
• Participants are able to discuss and find the possible solution to the prioritized problems.
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The solutions using the ‘bridge’ game -
2nd brick- Where we
want to go
Planks -
Strategies
Long sticks - Strengths
River/Barrier 1st brick – Where we are now?
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Accuracy of PLA data
• PLA uses FGDs, the chain of interviews, case studies and direct
observations.
• The data and information generated through PLA methods are mostly
qualitative in nature.
• In PLA, we do not aim at the accuracy of data, rather we seek data
that is first-hand and reliable.
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PLA can be used for
• General analysis of a specific topic, question or problem
• Feasibility studies
• Identification and establishment of priorities for development or
research activities
• Monitoring and evaluation of development or research activities
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Benefits of PLA
• Empowerment of the local people
• Secures active involvement of the community
• Diversification and appreciation of local knowledge, encouraging/
enabling the expression and utilization of local diversity
• Creating a culture of open learning with each other and with
community members
• Setting research priorities
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Limitations of PLA
• Difficulty in getting exact information
• Difficulty in finding the right question to ask
• Not enough time to spend in the village or study site
• Difficulty in finding the right interdisciplinary team
• Lack of experience of team members, particularly lack of skills in the field of
communication, facilitation, and conflict negotiation.
• Lack of institutional support and an open learning environment within an
organization.
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References
1. https://www.iied.org/collection/participatory-learning-action
2. http://nirdpr.org.in/
3. https://herproject.org/files/toolkits/HERproject-Participatory-Le
arning.pdf
4. PARTICIPATORY LEARNING AND ACTION (PLA) MODULE FOR ASHA FACILITATOR/ASHA
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Thank you
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