TRAININGS
CHW-CRE offers a variety of workshops that contribute to our mission to conduct and promote CHW-led research and evaluation that uses common indicators and participatory practices. All workshops can be offered in both in-person and virtual formats. Costs depend on format, length, amount of customization, and travel required. See below for more information and to contact us
WHAT WE OFFER
INTRODUCTION TO POPULAR/PEOPLE'S EDUCATION - PART 1
Length:
7.5 hrs. (+ break for lunch)
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Format:
Virtual or in-person
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Popular or people’s education (PE) is an approach to teaching and learning that has been used successfully around the world to engage communities and build leadership. It creates settings where people can share what they know, learn from others, and use their knowledge to solve community problems and create a more equitable society.
Popular or people’s education shares historical roots, ancestors, and key ideas with the Community Health Worker (CHW) movement and community-based participatory research and evaluation (CBPR/E). Key ideas shared between all three movements include:
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People -- especially people most affected by inequities -- are the experts about their own lives.
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The knowledge we gain through life experience can be just as important as, and sometimes more important than, the knowledge we gain through formal education.
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As educators and organizers, we should always start with what people already know.
These ideas, and others like them, lie at the heart of the CHW profession, participatory research and evaluation, and popular education. Because of these shared roots and principles, the three models are often more powerful when they are used together.
The Introductory Workshop
The day-long introductory workshop, which has been in development for more than 30 years and which has been used successfully with thousands of people around the world, has been designed to increase participants’ ability to use popular education in their own work and their own communities through an interactive process of learning by doing. Facilitators (always including experienced CHWs) use the House of Popular Education as a framework to explain the relationship between popular education methods and principles.
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Workshop Objectives
By the end of the introductory workshop, participants will:
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Increase their understanding of the sources, the goal, the principles, and the values of popular/people’s education (PE)
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Understand how the methods of PE support and embody PE principles and values
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Be able to use various PE methods in their work
The overall goal of the workshop(s) is to start where people are, building on the diverse knowledge and experience that participants already have about PE and expanding that knowledge so that they can use it effectively in their work.
Outcomes of Using Popular/People’s Education
Research and experience suggest that popular/people’s education:
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Increases acquisition and retention of knowledge
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Helps communities identify and solve their own most pressing issues
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Helps people develop the skills they need to work in teams
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Supports strengths-based practice
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Can be used with community members, co-workers, and families
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Can help to operationalize the principles of community-based participatory research
CREATING A NEW TABLE: SKILLS TO PROMOTE CHW INVOLVEMENT IN RESEARCH AND EVALUATION
Participating in research and evaluation is one of the recognized core roles of CHWs according to the CHW Core Consensus Project. Decisions made by researchers and evaluators about what to measure in CHW programs strongly influence CHWs’ day to day work. This means that it is in the interest of both the CHW profession and individual CHWs to become more involved in all phases of research and evaluation. CHWs’ active involvement will produce higher quality results (which can be used to ensure sustainability) and help to assure that CHWs are supported to play a full range of roles.
In this interactive workshop, facilitators (always including experienced CHWs) will use popular/people’s education methods to support participants to develop the skills and knowledge they need to participate meaningfully and to lead research and evaluation about their own profession.​
Workshop Objectives
By the end of the workshop, participants will:
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Get in touch with their own current thoughts and feelings about research and evaluation
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Be able to name the benefits of CHW leadership of and involvement in research and evaluation about their profession and their programs
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Increase their familiarity with key research and evaluation terms and concepts and feel confident using them
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Understand how community based participatory research and evaluation (CBPR/E) is different from conventional research and evaluation, and why it is appropriate for CHW programs
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Practice key skills essential to meaningful involvement in research and evaluation and be able to use those skills in their own settings
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Know how they can continue to build skills in research and evaluation
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Be familiar with the mission and activities of the CHW Center for Research and Evaluation and know how they can get involved
Length:
7.5 hrs. (+ break for lunch)
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Format:
Virtual or in-person
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LEARN MORE FROM THE CHW-CRE
Explore all the ways to work with us and learn.
