Facilitating versus doing

The designing of literacy programs frequently involves a debate about what role the planners should have. Should they be “doing” or “facilitating” literacy in the community?

Almost any time there is a customer-supplier relationship, questions are bound to arise on such matters as control, responsibility, communication, prerogative, and purpose.

Here is an example to put the discussion in a familiar context:

If a person takes his car to a mechanic for repair, he temporarily surrenders his car to the mechanic even though he is the owner. The mechanic examines the car and makes repairs he deems necessary. A good mechanic (the supplier) maintains constant communication with the owner (the customer) telling him what the problem is, what repairs are needed, and what the cost will be. He may even make suggestions as to repairs that could be made at some point in the future but which are not needed yet.

This relationship can be abused. A bad mechanic may recommend repairs that are not needed. A mechanic may also accept the car, make the repairs, and send a bill without ever telling or warning the customer what was wrong and what it was going to cost to fix the problem. The customer, faced with a huge bill, is shocked and angry and wants to know why the mechanic did not inform him about the cost of the needed repairs.

Conversely, a distrusting customer may insist on watching every move the mechanic makes, constantly suggesting that there is a better or different way of handling some problem. This irritates the mechanic and communicates distrust.

Now, imagine that you live in a small town where there is only one mechanic and that mechanic announces that he will close his business at the end of two years and move away. Furthermore, you can expect that no new mechanic will come to your town to provide car repair service. Would you continue to be content having the mechanic make all the repairs, or would you ask the mechanic to begin showing you how to fix your own car so that you can maintain it when there is no longer a mechanic in town?

The mechanic could say, “I can fix your car five times faster and ten times better than you can, so why should we both waste our time with my trying to teach you how to do it? Besides, I have forty cars to fix and if I take the time to teach every owner how to fix every problem, I will never get every problem taken care of.” You, on the other hand, will reply, “Right now, that is true. But when you leave and my car breaks down, I will no longer have a car to drive and neither will my neighbors. It would be much better for me and all of us if you teach us how to fix the cars.”

Who is right in this situation? Is it more important to get all the cars fixed and in top condition, or to teach all of the owners to fix their own cars? Can the owners learn enough in a short period of time to be able to fix their own vehicles reliably?

This is the essence of the doing-versus-facilitating debate. The “doer” is like the expert mechanic who believes he can be most helpful if left alone to get every car in tiptop shape before he has to leave. This way, everyone will have a good running car to drive (until it breaks down again). The “facilitator” is the car owner who wants to be trained to fix his own car. Then he can continue to fix and drive it after the mechanic leaves even if he is never as good at fixing his car as the expert mechanic.

Many feel that the facilitating approach is obviously better because the owners become empowered to do their own repair work. Some disagree, arguing that some owners will never learn to repair their own cars. Some of those who do will never buy proper tools so that they can do a good job, and even if they do, they will eventually encounter a problem they cannot fix so the car will stop running anyway.

Now, what happens in our example if the state passes a clean-air law saying that all repairs must be made by trained mechanics? Do we park our cars when they break down? Do we start looking for a trained mechanic? Do we send someone to be trained as a mechanic? Do we move to another state?

Whatever the relative merits of “doing” versus “facilitating,” the issues are complex.

In a given situation, the best approach is probably shaped by a dialogue between all interested parties. The purpose of this dialogue is to stimulate the emergence of a clear conception of what best suits the needs of the customer, that is, the person or community where literacy work is to be done. If you take this approach, you are likely to achieve the right balance between doing and facilitating.

• Fact module: Facilitating versus doing
• In overview module: Background issues in literacy, by Stephen L. Walter
• In modular book: Prepare for a literacy program, by Stephen L. Walter, Mary Morgan, and Leah B. Walter
• In bookshelf: Literacy

This page is an extract from the LinguaLinks Library, Version 4.0, published on CD-ROM by SIL International, 1999. [Ordering information.]

Page content last modified: 24 April 1997

© 1999 SIL International