Philippine ILO
ILO-IPEC in Global ContextIndicative Framework for Philippine ILO ActionPhilippine Child Labour Laws and LegislationNational Survey on Working ChildrenPartnerships in ActionWorking Papers
  Audio-Visual Resources Home page Information Audio-Visual Resources Photo Gallery Site Map

Icon  
TRAINING METHODS

The training methodology employed in running the adapted program is largely experiential, i.e., learn-by-doing methods. Learning activities are designed in such a way that very little is actually lectured or given as a chunk of material to chew and digest. Participants are rather made to go through learning experiences that are structured and designed to bring out key points. These experiences are then processed to bring out realizations which participants themselves verbalize.

The program also rests heavily on the concept of clear points. Clear points are key ideas that participants must be able to take home with them as they leave the classroom. A minimum number of clear points is set per portion. These minimums must be met.

Indicators of learning are built into the program. There are various opportunities for participants to demonstrate knowledge, attitudes and skills during the conduct of the workshops. The practicum periods provide excellent opportunities for trainors to observe participants in actual field situations practicing the skills of observing, listening and interviewing children, and other skills learned from classroom activities.

There are two important features of the training methodology employed in the program. One is the extensive use of experiential learning methods, exercises, and activities specifically structured to bring out key learning points. As participants learn by doing, they experience for themselves what hours and hours of merely being told what to learn fail to achieve; they experience the learnings themselves. A second feature (which is impossible to segregate from the first) is the use of integrated learning systems. Extensive use is made of multilevel and multimedia approaches aiming at learning on the levels of the cognitive (head), affective (heart), and psychomotor (hands - skills), and appealing to as many senses as possible.

Following are some of the training methods used during the training workshops.

Photo Exhibit - In Module 1, participants are welcomed with a photo exhibit of child laborers. Juxtaposed against the pictures of working children are photos of children enjoying their childhood, exemplifying what the period of childhood should be like. In the middle of the module, this exhibit is redone to include the inspirational sayings that are included in the first two days.

Regional Exhibits - These exhibits, mounted by participants themselves, showcase efforts they have done in the practicum periods. It is a very good tool for visually presenting practicum activities through photos, tabulations of data and statistics, local literature and clippings on child labor, and other useful information. Also, since participants come from all regions of the country, they are encouraged to use indigenous materials to enhance the aesthetic value of the exhibits. Even on this level of showcasing products of their region, the exhibits are instructive.

Since the mounting of regional exhibits is part of the practicum assignments given to the participants as they leave Module 1, the exhibits provide a focus of attention and energy during the time away from the classroom. Participants are constantly kept reminded that they are currently undergoing a training process and that they must continue to plan the exhibits during this break from class.

Audio-cassette tapes - During snack and meal breaks, audio-cassette tapes of children's songs (songs about children or songs sung by children) are played. The effects of hearing children's songs over and over during the duration of the workshops cannot be underestimated. These songs conjure images of innocence, frolic, and childlike faith which the songs, by their very cadence and lyrics, intend to convey.

Film-showing - A documentary on child labor is a powerful tool for educating participants on the child labor global and national scene. It is important that the film is discussed and processed after the showing to highlight key learning points. (IPEC has an inventory of films to choose from.)

Inspirational passages from literature (with artwork) - Quotations are lifted from literature and used to illustrate specific points. The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry is extensively quoted and used as a running illustration of taming which is synonymous to the building of a trust relationship between a labor inspector and a child laborer. In addition, inspirational pieces are read during appropriate times. The use of literature and art is consistent with a learning thrust that targets the affective just as much as the cognitive.

Learning Contract - This is a contract which participants read and sign in a planned mini-ceremony. Its main value is that it underscores the seriousness of the training program. Training is not to be undertaken lightly, and participants have serious commitments and responsibilities to make the training worthwhile and effective.

Pledge of Commitment - At the end of the training program, participants make a pledge of commitment to further the cause of the child. A ceremony must be planned around it so that it becomes a highly serious, dramatic and memorable ending to the entire training program.

Script-writing - Participants are asked to write scripts of interviews conducted with children. This method affords the participants the opportunity to capture their experiences on paper and use them to assess interviewing skills. Participants also get to learn from how other interviews are conducted and help resolve problems that surface.

Story-writing - Participants are challenged to write stories of children they have met. The interest is not to produce writers (although participants surprise themselves when they discover that they can write), but to capture sketches of child laborers: who they are, what they aspire for, what they suffer. In the process, participants also sharpen their interviewing and observation skills while at the same time deepening their own capacity for empathy.

These stories, written by non-writers and representing a variety of encounters with child laborers, can be of great value to the general public and are currently being compiled into a book. Seeing their names and stories in print is also a good motivator for class participants to be even more actively involved in the child labor effort.

Personal Reflections/Learning Diary - This is a daily recording of learnings. It chronicles the growth of participants as they move from one realization to another during the day or during the entire program itself. Long after the training, participants can look at this diary and see how their thinking had evolved and how far they had gone.

Group Sharing Sessions - Participants get a chance to validate and enrich their own learnings when they share their insights with the rest of the class. The opportunity to tell others what they pick up from the learning activities also helps participants articulate their own discoveries. They may find in these sessions that a particular learning is shared by another or that a problem can be clarified by information from someone in the group. Suggested solutions from others who may have encountered the same difficulty can be volunteered and accepted or rejected. Sharing also contributes to building the community of co-workers for the child's cause.

Learning Reinforcement - This method deepens and cements learnings during the day through repetition and the highlighting of key learning points, linking them to the actual situations where the new skills will be used. Participants are also reinforced for any growth step exhibited or new skill acquired. This reinforcement comes from trainors and co-participants alike, and is not solely for participants. Trainors get their share, too, as they hear and see indicators of learning progress or receive reinforcement themselves for work done.

Defreezing Exercises - At the start of almost every training day, participants go through defreezing exercises which are meant to bring the participants to a common psychological plane and prepare them for the content and process of the day.

Structured learning experiences - In this program, SLEs, as they are called, are most helpful in drawing out learnings from concrete experiences during training which are then linked to the topic under discussion.

  • Snapshots of Childhood - Unless a child advocate is comfortable and clear about his own childhood experiences, it would be difficult for him to help others overcome their own concerns or to help a child laborer make sense of his own situation. This SLE seeks to bring such clarity about.
  • Lego-building exercise - Using Lego building sets, participants undergo an experience that defines the meaning of advocacy and what it takes to do it effectively. The learning point is driven home in a very powerful and poignant way. Since participants go through what is normally a play activity, they are not so protective of themselves and can go through it with their defenses down. Learning points are easier to see as the experience is processed and understood. Effective and skillful processing is critical in maximizing learnings.

Role-Plays - By simulating real events as they happen in real life, role-plays bridge the gap between theory and practice. Since participants say and do things as they would in the actual situation, learning is more easily integrated with the real world.

Workshops - Discussions in a group atmosphere allow free exploration of ideas and are easier on those participants who may have difficulty talking in a larger group. Here participants can more easily express their thoughts, fears, and concerns since the group is smaller and easier to control. Workshops also have the added value of teaching participants cooperation, collaboration, and teamwork.

Group Presentations/Reports - Because participants take turns in reporting on the discussion points in their small group workshops, they are also afforded the chance to speak in front of a group, and to present group summaries in a clear, concise, and coherent manner. This provides valuable practice of communication skills so vital in child advocacy.

Practicum field activities - Perhaps the most valuable exercises in hands-on learning are the two practicum periods that are part of the program structure. Here participants practice the skills learned in the classroom. A joint team from the Bureau of Working Conditions and the Consultant group observes the participants in their field activities and monitors their progress in terms of skills demonstrated. The team follows the participants as they go on their inspection visits, and note the way they practice the skills learned in the classroom. The observations are then used as inputs in designing the next classroom training.

A Word on Processing Key Learning Points

All training activities must be accompanied by a processing portion where key ideas and learning points are highlighted. Effective processing enhances the take-home value of the activities and the training effort as a whole. Without it activities remain mainly cerebral, important but without much impact. In addition, without it participants are left to make sense of the activities by themselves. There is no assurance that they learn the right things, or that they learn the points in their entirety.

HOW TO USE THIS GUIDE

Although various reference materials were used in the preparation of this adaptation, two basic documents are indicated here for reference:

Labour Inspection and the Adoption of a Policy on Child Labour, Training Guide by Jean-Maurice Derrien, ILO, Geneva, 1994.

The Working Child: A Psychosociological Approach by Catherine Boidin, IlO, Geneva, 1995.

Each section / module has three parts:

Learning Roadmap
Process Description
Handouts

The Inspirational Quotes section contains handouts of inspirational quotations that can be used throughout the workshops. It is the trainors' sensitivity for the rightness of the moment that will determine when and how they should be used. Timing is very important, so it would be difficult to prescribe a time schedule for them.

Back to index.

HOME ||  INFORMATION ||  ILO & IPEC IN THE GLOBAL CONTEXT ||  INDICATIVE FRAMEWORK FOR PHILIPPINE ILO ACTION ||  PHILIPPINE CHILD LABOR LAWS & LEGISLATION ||  PARTNERSHIP IN ACTION ||  NATIONAL SURVEY ON WORKING CHILDREN ||  AUDIO-VISUAL RESOURCES ||  WORKING PAPERS ||  PHOTO GALLERY ||  SITE MAP ]


Copyright © 1998 Philippine ILO. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of Philippine ILO is prohibited.