Immersions: learning about poverty face-to-face

Participatory Learning and Action 57.
Guest-edited by Izzy Birch and Raffaella Catani with Robert Chambers.

The theme for this special issue centres on experiences of face-to-face learning, often referred to as immersions – opportunities for development professionals to spend a period of time living with and learning from a poor family. This issue is a timely reflection of an emerging trend in development practice, drawing together the richness of immersion experience. It explores both the limitations and potentials of immersions by:

• bringing together diverse experiences, identifying their challenges and opportunities, and exploring their impacts;
• encouraging readers to talk about immersions, share their experience, and recognise that there are many sorts of immersion;
• inspiring people to have them, and help make immersions a regular practice for development professionals; and
• enabling readers to reflect, get/stay in touch, and follow up.

A critical mass of interest is now gathering among major donors and civil society groups. Yet the impact of immersions is only now being tested. Different models are being developed: some are structured around a specific theme; others are more experiential and open-ended. But their common purpose is to bring immersion participants face-to-face with ordinary people, to test old assumptions, develop new perspectives, and strengthen their commitment to the challenge of poverty eradication.

Participatory Learning and Action (PLA, formerly PLA Notes) is the world's leading series on participatory learning and action approaches and methods. PLA publishes articles on participation aimed at practitioners, researchers, academics and activists. All articles are peer-reviewed by an international editorial board. See: www.planotes.org.

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