Helping People Help Themselves : Toward a Theory of Autonomy-Compatible Help
If development is seen basically as autonomous self-development, then there is a subtle paradox in the whole notion of development assistance: How can an outside party ("helper") assist those undertaking autonomous activities (the "d...
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Policy Research Working Paper |
| Language: | English en_US |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2014
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2001/10/1615019/helping-people-help-toward-theory-autonomy-compatible-help http://hdl.handle.net/10986/19514 |
| Summary: | If development is seen basically as
autonomous self-development, then there is a subtle paradox
in the whole notion of development assistance: How can an
outside party ("helper") assist those undertaking
autonomous activities (the "doers") without
overriding, or undercutting their autonomy? This conundrum
is the challenge facing a theory of autonomy-compatible
development assistance - that is, helping theory. Starting
from a simple model of non-distortionary aid, the author
explores several themes of a broader helping theory, and
shows how these themes arise in the work of
"gurus" in different fields - John Dewey in
pedagogy and social philosophy, Douglas McGregor in
management theory, Carl Rogers in psychotherapy, Soren
Kierkegaard in spiritual counseling, Saul Alinsky in
community organizing, Paulo Freire in community education,
and Albert Hirschman, and E.F. Schumacher in economic
development. That such diverse thinkers in such different
fields, arrive at very similar conclusions, increases
confidence in the common principles. The points of
commonality are summarized as follows: 1) Help must start
from the present situation of the doers. 2) Helpers must see
the situation through the eyes of the doers. 3) Help cannot
be imposed on the doers, as that directly violates their
autonomy. 4) Nor can doers receive help as a benevolent
gift, as that increases dependency. 5) Doers must be in the
driver seat. One major application of helping theory is to
the problems of knowledge-based development assistance. The
standard approach is that the helper, a knowledge-based
development agency, has the "answers", and
disseminates them to the doers. This corresponds to the
standard teacher-centered pedagogy. The alternative under
helping theory is the learner-centered approach. The teacher
plays the role of midwife, catalyst, and facilitator,
building learning capacity in the learner-doers, so that
they can learn from any source, including their own
experience. Development assistance is further complicated by
the local, or tacit nature of much relevant knowledge. A
knowledge-based development agency might function better,
not simply as a source of knowledge, but as a broker
connecting those who face problems with those in similar
situations, who have learned to address the problems.
Changing to the approach of helping theory, entails changing
the helping agency itself, transforming it into an
organization that fosters learning internally, as well as
externally - as in a university, where professors engage in
learning, and foster learning in students, but the
organization does not adopt official views on the complex
questions of the day. This means fostering competition in
the marketplace of ideas within the organization, and taking
a more Socratic stance with clients, who will then have to
take responsibility for, and have ownership of their decisions. |
|---|