Part Two-2
If health workers are to become leaders who will defend the interests of the
poor, their training must help them learn to use the tools best suited for this
purpose.
The best tool a person has for understanding and changing the conditions
that affect his world is the human mind. Health workers must be prepared to
analyze problems, take initiative, and search for the ways of doing things that will
help people meet their needs. Training should encourage people to think!
Part Two includes more than just ‘teaching aids’. It is a collection of suggestions
and methods to help equip students (and instructors) to be thinking, questioning,
creative persons who can work intelligently to deal with their communities’ needs.
Chapter 11 gives examples of teaching methods and aids that help get the
students actively involved. It explores techniques that let students discover new
facts and ways of doing things for themselves—using their own minds and
hands. This not only helps students remember what they learn, but prepares
them to take initiative in solving still bigger problems they will face in their own
villages or communities.
Chapter 12 looks at ways of making and using pictures—valuable skills that help
health workers share what they know with others. Both drawings and photos are
considered.
Chapter 13 discusses ways that story telling can be used as a tool for teaching.
It gives examples of spoken stories and stories told with drawings, slides or
photographs, and comic strips.
Chapter 14 explores role playing and ‘sociodrama’ as ways of bringing learning
closer to the lives, feelings, and needs of real people. (Examples are also found in
Chapter 27.)
Chapters 15 and 16 explore inappropriate and appropriate technologies—both
‘soft technology’ (methods and ideas) and ‘hard technology’ (things to make and
use). We consider appropriate those ideas, methods, and tools that are controlled
and understood by the people who need and use them. Chapter 16 looks at
homemade, low-cost equipment, as well as appropriate ways of writing and
copying written materials.
Chapter 17 looks at ways to help health workers take a thoughtful, organized
approach to solving problems. We call this ‘scientific method’.
Chapter 18 examines the problem of overuse and misuse of medicines, both
by medical professionals and by people in general. It discusses ideas for helping
health workers and other people to use medicines more sensibly.
Chapter 19 follows up on Chapters 11 and 18. It gives examples of imaginative
teaching aids for learning how to use antibiotics intelligently, and for
understanding the measurement of blood pressure. Blood pressure is discussed
in detail, as this is an important skill for health workers in many communities.