An Exercise in Participatory Appraisal Methods
for BA Geography students from the School of Oriental
Studies held at Dartford Road Allotments
The Exercise ...
Each November for the past four years students taking the
Second Year BA Geography Course in Geographical Techniques
at the School of
Oriental and African Studies have made use of Dartford
Road Allotments to hone their skills in a range of
participatory appraisal methods, including individual
interviews, group discussions, participatory mapping
exercises, triangulation and seasonal diagraming, in
readiness for field work conducted in villages in the Indian
State of Kerala. The allotment site acts as the "village",
and the plotholders act as the "villagers", from which
answers have to be obtained as rapidly and as precisely as
possible within the space of one day's visit to the site. No
special preparations are made on site for the students'
visit, so they have to react as best they can to the
plotholders they meet, the weather conditions, and the
physical condition of the site. During the course of the day
the students have to find out how many plots there are (not
an easy task when boundaries are forever being shifted), how
many plotholders are men and how many women, what problems
exist for the plotholders, what improvements they would like
to see, and what grows well and why. The point of the
exercise is not to find the answers, but to understand which
methods for obtaining this information work well, which work
less well, and why differences between methods - and between
results - are likely to occur. The advantage of using the
allotments is that a great deal of "objective" information
is available against which the students' own findings can be
compared.
More subtle things go on as well. Students learn how to
approach people in unfamiliar territory, how to take notes
under difficult conditions, how to look carefully and think
about what they see (a surprisingly difficult skill to
acquire), and how to listen to people's own stories about
the environment around them. These stories don't always hang
together, and sometimes they conflict, which demonstrates
that even if a very simple context alternative versions of
"the truth" wait to be explored. For the plotholders, the
exercise is an opportunity to share their skills and
knowledge - and to enjoy some lively company on a cold day.
Local Agenda 21 may be about "thinking globally, acting
locally", but Dartford's QED Allotments Group aims to "act
globally" as well, by participating in the training of young
people who may have a significant impact on the lives of
villagers and townspeople in the Third World in the
twenty-first century.
Some Images of the November 1998 Exercise ...
Befekadu, Carol and Matthew learn about the
horticultural therapy project for students from the
Supported Learning Division of North West Kent
College, which takes place on one of the plots at
Dartford Road
Susie and Stan work together to construct a map
of the allotment site, based on Stan's knowledge as
a long time plotholder and former Committee Member,
and Susie's own observations.
Students Joy, Andrew and Susie quiz plotholders
Ian and Robert about which crops grow well and why.
Robert keeps his own diary and has several years'
experience to draw on. Ian only started gardening
this year at Dartford Road.
And Some Results ...
"The majority of plot holders at the allotment stated
they were happy with both their plots and the allotment, and
desired no change. Several defined gardening at the
allotment as a hobby. It is felt that any improvements such
as better paths, service facilities, access points to the
site ("sophistication of the allotments" as one man put it),
would not only make the allotment site more expensive to
run, but the friendship created by the necessity of helping
others and being helped would be gone. One recent newcomer
to the site said that he enjoys the company of friends he
has made on the plot and would hate to lose any interaction
with them if they were made more independent of each other
due to an improvement in the facilities".
"In fact there seems to be a very strong community of
gardeners there, sharing communally compost, and organised
manure inputs. Bonfires are also held communally at the
beginning of each month. If plots are not being used by the
tenants, the tenant is asked to leave. At the same time
though if tenants are ill, it seems the community help to
keep up the work on the plot. The relationship with the
council also seems to be working well (the day we visited
the Mayor of Dartford also visited)"
"After seeing many allotments from trains and besides
main roads, I was surprised to find such a well structured
system. Previously I had seen them as a melee of sheds and
plots. It seems an unaffected part of British society. The
community has remained strong, where many others no longer
exist."
"It emerged throughout our visit that the allotments had
an important social function. Respondents would often talk
about the social side of things being one of the main
attractions. Presumably there are no decent pubs in
Dartford".
(Thanks to Andrew, Naomi and Matthew for the
above)
And a final image ... Ian gets on with it!