Methodological Approach

The methodological approach used throughout the course is "learning by doing". This concept emphasizes the active participation of the trainees, the role of the trainer is to act as a facilitator and not as a traditional teacher.

In contrast to the classical transfer of knowledge from teacher to student by lectures/ demonstrations the essence of this concept is to stimulate awareness of the skills required to start and run a small-scale business successfully. These skills are developed by first eliciting the existing knowledge of the participants and then deepening and/or broadening this knowledge by practical exercises.

In this context counselling is an important feature of the course. The counselling process assists each individual to apply general issues to their particular situation. Discussions in the counselling sub-groups (three to five participants) are structured by the trainer with reference to the actual topic of the course. Depending on participants' needs, the counselling sessions can also be used for role-plays or games to elucidate aspects of personal behaviour.