reflection
According to Mathison (2005) Naturalistic evaluation combines the assumptions and methods of naturalistic inquiry with various approaches that attempt to blend evaluation into the cultures and lives of the people involved. This formative approach to evaluation can be beneficial to many companies in many ways . In my present work environment , I often marvel at the programmes implemented by senior management and wonder about the motivation behind some programs which are shy of being schemes. In many ways persons have good intentions however the execution skills to reach a desired outcome are dreadfully flawed .This course helped me to apply some theory and science behind a successful evaluation and assessment programme.
According to Herman (1987) “programmes are designed to achieve a specific set of goals and objectives, and the goal-oriented programme evaluation model uses these goals and objectives as the criteria for determining whether the programme was successful or not.” Sucessful implementation of the goal-orientated evaluation model often reveals whether the participants are performing in alignment with the standard ofoutlined objectives of the program. Most notably both evaluation model requirethat all participants involved in the programme have an acute awareness of its intended goals and objectives. This is helps and compounds “buy in” from participants.
Guba (1981) suggests that the naturalistic evaluation model is designed to provide informal, continuous comments and feedbacks that would be beneficial to the participant’s development (pp. 27-33). Frequent feedback is always welcome “Feedback is a gift”. Such feedback helps to shape the growth (however minimal ) of any programme . Naturalistic evaluation model approach is flexible ;it promotes the observation of the person’s authentic behavior and responses while the goal-oriented model focuses on satisfying only the objectives that were formulated. Marsh (1978) stated that once the program goals have been outlined and accepted that the correlation of these objectives and goals must be expressed clearly to the stakeholders and participants of the programme. The group assignment provided my team and myself (Inspire to Learn) with the opportunity to examine these influences on our collaborative work to achieve our desired outcomes. This process required lots of “unpacking’ among us as we justified and validated our positions for our respective frameworks. This activity was the best form of apprenticeship for us as we aimed to merge ideas to achieve measurable and realistic goals within an attainable timeline. The knowledge seemed overwhelming initially but it is pertinent to the successful implementation or assessment of a programme. The discussions have provided many opportunities for reflection and deeper analysis of how other teammates applied the same knowledge in a variety of ways to great effect.