Annex 2 Tools for planning school development with stakeholders

As part of your school development planning consultations you can use problem and solution trees, and ranking problems.

Problem trees

A "problem tree" is a tool to analyse problems, which helps you to analyse the causes and effects of a particular problem, and how they relate to one another.

Why make a problem tree?

 To help you to only analyse problems school stakeholders can do something about

 Most problems need to be analysed by different stakeholder group(s) because different groups and persons all have one part of the puzzle

 To see the problem at different levels and from different perspectives

 It also helps you later to identify practical and realistic solutions

By analysing the effects of the problem we can see the problem in a wider context and the longer-term consequences of not addressing the problem.

How?

Write the problem, which you want to discuss with your stakeholder(s) in the middle of a page.

Elicit as many possible causes of the problem and write them below or around the problem.

Elicit the causes of the causes and write them below or around the problem, continue until your stakeholder(s) do not come with new ideas, when you have reached the ‘root’ cause(s) of the problem. Then start indicating the links between the problems by drawing lines.

Continue as far as necessary.

Be-cause I have only have a small

Be-cause I had to make a big portion portion of vegetables

Be-cause my charcoal got wet

Be-cause I lack skills

I fail to prepare a good (well cooked, tasty, sticky, soft, good smelling) ugali

Be-cause I don't have charcoal

Be-cause I don't like to make ugali

Be-cause it is not our traditional food

Encourage them to come up with as many creative/innovative solutions as they can, not just the "obvious" ones.

Next, start grouping problems which are related and give them a heading ; "competency", or "motivation", or "resources", or "quality" (see the example picture below):

Competency Motivation

Lack of Ugali is not skills our traditional I do not like to food make ugali

I fail to prepare a good ugali

Resources

Lack of charcoal

My charcoal got wet

Solutions trees

Quality

Only a small Low quality of portion of ugali flower vegetables

Why make solutions trees and how? A solutions tree "recycles" problems into solutions. Ask your stakeholders to rephrase the problems of the problem tree in solutions and aspirations (see example below).

I need to start growing my own I need to ask my friend to help me vegetables

I need to ask my family if they have fire wood or charcoal

I am able to prepare a good ugali

I can ask my neighbour to show me how to make ugali I can invite a friend for whom I want to make ugali

Make sure that participants group solutions and that they give them a heading (like in the problem tree example above).

Results of your problem tree analyses and making the solutions trees will be one of the key results of the school development planning process because:

 "Big problems" will become "Objectives"

 "Headings" will become "Targets"

 "Solutions" will become "Activities"