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Equalizing the Power between Participants in an Empowerment Evaluation of a Program Serving Individuals with Severe Mental Illness
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| Presenter(s):
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| Gary Walby,
Ounce of Prevention Fund of Florida,
gwalby@ounce.org
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| Abstract:
An empowerment evaluation was conducted to improve services to individuals with severe mental illness at a large southeastern U.S. community mental health center. As empowerment evaluation is a highly participatory approach, additional steps were taken to fully include individuals with mental illness. Since chronic mental illness leads to disempowerment and marginalization, participants that were service recipients (SR’s) were uneasy at being peers in the evaluation process. The empowerment principle of democratic participation was emphasized to ensure that the perspective of SR’s was not overshadowed by provider, manager, or external stakeholder. Several unique strategies were developed to further enhance the participation by SR’s and to increase the acceptance of SR’s as peers by other participants that were accustomed to viewing SR’s as ‘clients’ only. These inclusion or equalization strategies can be adapted for use in other empowerment based evaluations and could benefit other evaluators seeking to balance power across participants.
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Self-determination and Improvement for Teachers Engaged in Japanese Lesson Study
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| Presenter(s):
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| Robin Smith,
Florida State University,
smith@bio.fsu.edu
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| Abstract:
Japanese lesson study is a teacher-led, learning community form of professional development that is embedded within the regular role of teachers. This study investigated how lesson study enabled teachers to evaluate and direct their own professional growth in areas that they identified for improvement. The teacher benefits uncovered by this study were related to improving practice and gaining a sense of professionalism about their growth as educators. Themes that emerged from the study included the positive perceptions of lesson study as a collaborative, teacher-led process for improvement and the understanding that lesson study can instill a sense of empowerment and professionalism to those who engage in the endeavor. There also is evidence that each of the principles of empowerment evaluation was important to some degree in lesson study and that the process provided a tool for teachers to direct their own improvement, which also is the goal of empowerment evaluation.
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Power in Empowerment Evaluation: A Social Conflict Perspective
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| Presenter(s):
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| Scott Rosas,
Concept Systems Inc,
srosas@conceptsystems.com
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| Abstract:
The debate about the legitimacy of empowerment evaluation has occurred despite a limited theoretical examination of the broader social context in which evaluation occurs. Empowerment evaluation is rooted in the fundamental proposition that key aspects of evaluation can facilitate a shift in control and power among individuals and institutions. Using social conflict theory as a backdrop, this paper examines several empowerment evaluation components and practices in an effort to further understand the mechanisms of change through which empowering outcomes are realized. From this perspective, this paper will explore the different features empowerment evaluation, emphasize the role of the evaluator relative to the ways social institutions are organized, and highlight how social conflict supports or undermines core functions. This discussion will emphasize the importance of interests over norms and values, and how the pursuit of interests generates various types of conflict as normal aspects of social life, rather than dysfunctional occurrences.
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An Action Cycle of Empowerment Evaluation: Feasibilities and Challenges
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| Presenter(s):
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| Hui-Ling Pan,
National Taiwan Normal University,
joypanling@yahoo.com.tw
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| Abstract:
Empowerment evaluation has been applied to school sites with wider use. The emphasis on putting the participants back to the “driver’s seat” creates more opportunities for capacity building of schools. In order to investigate how the approach of empowerment evaluation might be employed in an eastern cultural context, in which the power structure is more hierarchical, a case study was conducted. A Voluntary Service Program of a junior high school in Taiwan was evaluated using the three steps, defining missions, taking stocks and planning for the future, proposed by Fetterman. After observations for three consecutive semesters, it was found that the evaluation implemented just like an action cycle. In the cycle, participants keep identifying their tasks and tracking what they have done. From the actions, participants re-clarified missions, having a sense of self control and molding the practical wisdom of the community. However, in a power concentrated society, some voices need to be provoked with greater efforts. And the study indicated that a program with specific goals may only have empowerment evaluation last for limited cycles when participants feel all their missions completed. It may stimulate further thinking with regard to the advantages and limitations of the empowerment evaluation.
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