17-2
Too many training programs have students concentrate on memorizing facts
or performing ‘clearly defined tasks’, rather than learning problem-solving skills.
Even when problem solving is emphasized, often learning takes place mostly in
the classroom, rather than where people’s basic problems occur-the home, fields,
water hole, clinic, jail, etc.
Today, many training programs are moving the focus of learning out of the
classroom and into the village, the street, the home, and the clinic. From the first,
students begin to work with real problems of real people. In this way, learning about
solving problems becomes urgent and meaningful.
The focus of health worker training has been changing:
from memorizing facts...................... to........ mastering specific skills
from studying about problems........ to........ practice solving real problems
from classroom learning................... to........ field and village experience
Learning to solve problems is often best done through practice and experience
in the community. But some classroom learning is helpful, too—especially if
approached in an active, exploring, and realistic way.
Suggestions for helping develop thinking and problem-solving skills in the
classroom:
• Teach (even basic information) through role plays and sociodramas rather
than through lectures. Have students act out lifelike problems and practice
solving them in a lifelike way (see Ch. 14).
• Invite people from the community into the classroom. Farmers, mothers,
children, experienced health workers, and others can talk with the students
about their needs and problems.
• Use a dialogue or discussion approach to learning. Help students build on
their own experience and put what they already know together in new ways—
like pieces of a puzzle.
• Use teaching aids that do not simply demonstrate or show things, but that
invite students to figure out answers for themselves (see p. 11-13).
• Teach by asking questions (whether in discussions or in exams) that
encourage thinking and problem solving related to needs in the students’
communities (see p. 9-3).