Identifying and measuring empowerment: Kate Roberts
The concept of empowerment has been elusive; however, our recent study shows that it can be concrete, tangible and measurable. We found that the skills associated with empowerment are: critical thinking, planning, communication (including negotiation and mediation), facilitation, networking/community cooperation, and leadership.
The objectives of this workshop are to:
- describe empowerment;
- experience some of the skills associated with empowerment;
- know what level of skill is needed for it to contribute to empowerment;
- try some data collection tools for collecting evidence about the level of skill; and
- understand what are indicators of empowerment.
This workshop focuses on the skills associated with empowerment and then on the indicators. In the workshops we:
- talk about each skill and the underlying essence that makes it appropriate to contribute to empowerment;
- carry out an exercise for some of the skills such as critical thinking and facilitation to give participants a feel for the skill;
- talk about how each skill might best be evaluated, carry out a trial of several different ways of collecting data and make an assessment of what might be most appropriate;
- discuss the level of mastery needed for the skill to contribute to empowerment;
- discuss the indicators of empowerment and participants can score themselves if they want to know what their level of empowerment might be and what skill might need extra attention; and
- finish the day with a brief presentation on what is needed to turn human capital into social capital.
This workshop will appeal to those individuals involved in and reviewing group work, capacity building and empowerment.
This workshop is aimed at… intermediate to advanced participants . • Back to workshop information page |
