Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA)

Participatory Rural Appraisal (now often called Participatory Learning Appraisal) was developed by people working with rural communities who were concerned about imposing their ideas and agenda. The idea is that you all work together to decide key questions and issues and develop methods for solutions. It is based on the idea of teacher as co-learner and not always the expert.

Overview of PRA
Pros and cons of PRA
Exemplar of PRA process

Books on Participation

Empowering Children and Young People.
Aims to help professionals empower all children so that they can contribute to the decisions which affect them as individuals and as a group, at school, local and national levels. This training manual examines the importance and benefits of empowerment and barriers to achieving it.

Listening to Young Children: The Mosaic approach
Traditional methods of consultation with user groups require imaginative rethinking if the views and experiences of children under five are to be listened to and responded to by adults. This new, groundbreaking approach uses children’s own photographs and life experiences to gain deeper understanding of their perspectives.

Peer Mediation Training for Young People.
Video and handbook providing a comprehensive series of practical training sessions for primary and secondary pupils

Creative Force.
(SCF and UK Youth) looks at key issues around young people and violence – verbal violence, bullying, peer pressure, sexual and racial violence, physical or non-physical violence, domestic violence. Using arts-based approach it explores questions like ‘Why do people use violence?’ ‘Can you solve violence with violence?’. This book includes 26 detailed session plans, using drama, creative writing, poetry and photography activities as tools to explore issues of violence and conflict.