System Learning

The systems that are established for civic or especially voter education programmes are invariably ephemeral. They may have at their core a group of educators, or even one or two stable institutions, but many people and resources will have been mobilized for the programme. These people will return to other responsibilities and the resources will be redeployed or completely depleted.

While civic education programmes that are institutionalized will, by definition, have built in system learning, programmes that are of this more ephemeral and periodic nature require special procedures to be put in place to ensure that as little as possible is lost to the next programme. As education linked to elections and to other democratic events is likely to be the predominant nature of national campaigns or organizational programmes, this ephemeral aspect of civic and voter education is likely to remain dominant.

Maintenance Of Records

Most educators are accustomed to keeping student records. They may also maintain lesson plans and learner portfolios, sets of materials and, more occasionally, staff assessment profiles. The records required for voter and civic education programmes must enable planners to save time and effort when they have to set up a new programme, as well as help planners understand the context within which the previous programme operated. This will facilitate making any adjustments or adaptations.

Responsible Personnel or Organization

Where an election authority is in place or a state institution is responsible for voter or civic education and keeping records, it may be obvious who is the responsible person, or people. But in many cases this will not be so obvious. Many of these programmes involve a range of international and domestic organizations, each of which may insist upon maintaining their own records. They may not have a protocol whereby they can be shared. Any records that consist of shared resources often fall between the cracks. Where a universal record has been maintained, this might, by virtue of its having been maintained by the organization established for a particular task (e.g. project implementer or evaluator), either vanish into an unknown cupboard or into an organization that is not aware of its existence or importance.

Methods of Storing Information

Whichever method is chosen, the main purpose of storing information is so that it can be retrieved again. Different types of information may be stored best in different ways, but, prior to setting up the system, the needs of future users should be considered.

• Index Cards. Index cards, filed alphabetically in a set of drawers or (if small enough) on a frame such as a Rolodex, are particularly good for storing personal details. They are used by many professionals to keep information about their clients, since they are easy to fill in, don't take up too much space, and can be taken out and revised with ease. On the other hand, they cannot hold much information and are not suitable for holding documents. Often they are used in conjunction with other larger bookshelf or filing systems as a way of maintaining an index or summary record for the larger system.
• Filing Systems. A simple and easily accessible system has to be developed for filing documents. The developer of the system should understand that the primary purpose is retrieval of documents. Such an understanding, hopefully, will lead to the creation of a system that enables storage in layers of importance and depth. There will always have to be a trade off between storage of all documents and the amount of space available. Some cleaning out and discarding of material will be necessary, and protocols to manage that should be created. Filing systems can vary from a set of boxes to filing cabinets, microfiche and, of course, full computerization. Care should be taken that the system chosen does not degrade the materials over time, and that there are ways of backing up information so that nothing that is needed gets lost.
• Contact/Address Books. Documentation and resources may be dispersed after a programme. The standard secretary's tool of a small alphabetised book containing listings of where to find things may be useful. Such a book will list, for example, hotels under "Accommodation", telephone suppliers, telephone bureaus and so on under "Communications." The purpose is to keep in one place all the information that will enable a programme to call in the suppliers, resources, service providers, consultants, volunteers who were used previously and have requisite election experience.
• Archives and Bookshelves. Some information will have to be kept in library environments. Where a centralized library location is available, it should be used. Whether there is a central library or whether resources are dispersed, a common index and cataloguing system will enable retrieval. Bookshelf systems are particularly useful for keeping reports and publications. They can be extremely versatile. The F. Clifton White Election Resource Center at the International Foundation for Election Systems, for example, is able to preserve and make available audio and video material, election paraphernalia, case studies, and sample materials in a variety of cabinets and storage facilities.
• Computerisation. Before any system can be computerized, there has to be a strategy that enables storage, indexing and retrieval. At its most basic, a computer-based system may replace an index card system. If materials are scanned, however, these computer-based records can store pictures, sound clips, and even film or video. A personal contact, for example, can be linked to a photograph, a speech given and recorded, and a resume or curriculum vitae. Like allsystems, however, computers are only as good as the information they store.

All systems need to have clear guidelines:

• who is responsible for recording or collating materials
• what format is used to keep records
• what will be kept
• where the records will be housed
• who will have access to them
• who will maintain the records

Staff and Volunteer Details

Well-organized registration procedures for staff, whether full time, temporary or voluntary, will make the maintenance of personnel details easier. But in the hurly-burly of an election, especially in the last few weeks prior to an important election, volunteers in particular might be coming into programmes rapidly and for short periods of time. As a result, their names and contact details can easily be lost.

This is one of the most important assets available to an educational programme. And it is likely to be the one in which most time and money has been invested. The section uses the terms "staff" and "volunteers" to remind educators that their programmes will involve people from a range of backgrounds. They may be employed directly by the election authority, or they may be sent to that authority for the occasion by another organization. They may be temporary workers or volunteers paid a `per diem' or not paid at all. They may also be full-time staff of another organization who take part in the programme at the expense of that organization (known as seconded staff). Or, they may be people that such an organization has recruited according to a similar list of options.

Whatever their positions, it is likely that these people have received training or have had experience in either developing materials or conducting aspects of the programme. Or they may have worked in an office doing set-up work or analysing survey and assessment data. Whatever the case, they carry the organizational wisdom and experience that is normally associated with systems, but they may be dispersed once an election is over. Education programmes are even more vulnerable than political parties in this regard, because there is no reliable expectation that the same people will be available next time unless good records are kept and the people can be found. Even then, they may no longer be available for extended periods. They may be available only to at least pass on their experience.

Obviously, the more often people are involved in educational programmes, and the more people who are involved, the more likely it is that it will be possible to find people for future programmes. Poor countries, however,  are likely to have struggled to find and train people at all levels. The scarcity of trained people will be exacerbated if good records are not kept of those who have obtained training and experience.

There are two ways to ensure that adequate records are kept, and both should be used – index cards and certificates.

Index Cards

In the first place, educators should create and insist upon the use of a registration form or index card for recording and storing personal details of all staff, whether employed or voluntary. This record should be prepared when a person begins work, even if it is not yet known precisely how long the person is going to be involved. Prior to the person leaving, this record should be updated to include the latest contact information available.

The greater the investment in the person, the more important it is that contact is maintained, and, therefore, the more care that should be taken. But a volunteer who comes in to conduct three high-level seminars in one election may turn out to be a valuable and central resource for the next election.

On an index card, or in a computer database, the following information should be included:

• full name
• all necessary contact details (see Interlocutors and Intermediaries)
• information about the job that the staff member did
• a notation on their performance from a supervisor
• training opportunities
• any certificates given (see below)

As elections may be held only every five years, for example, contact information on these index cards, whether stored in computers or in alphabetical files, is likely to become dated and eventually incorrect. People do move; although the extent to which the file has included the name of the person's organizational or work background may make the search for a new address easier.

Certificates

Staff members may be provided with a certificate of performance when they conclude their work. The onus is on the individual, then, to keep this information. Because many unemployed people may be drawn into a programme, and because they may still find this periodic employment desirable, there is benefit to be gained from maintaining personal certification of this nature.

In like manner, certification for all training events can be awarded. This form of record has an additional value. Many of those who work in voter or civic education are not paid adequately, if at all. Certification acts as a recognition of the work they have done. Such a certificate should not be confused with a competency-based diploma or other certificate that has educational currency, although the ability of educators to provide such certificates for at least some of their training is obviously an advantage. Rather, it should be considered as a token of public recognition that should not be overlooked.

Thus, with institutions and the individual committed to remembering and carefully recording the work done by an individual in the previous campaign, it is possible that finding people to work in the next will be easier.

Logistical Arrangements

Every organization has a version of the joke about the pecking order in which the secretary turns out to be more important than the boss. One suggests the boss thinks he is a god, but the secretary feels she controls her boss. Without her, he wouldn't be able to get out the door, let alone be a god. When it comes to getting things done, the reasons for this little joke may become obvious.

Important information (both formal and informal, recorded and common wisdom) often rests with secretaries, clerks, or assistants, who also prepare schedules, minutes of meetings, and reports of decisions. Unfortunately, in the voter education enterprise, there is a good chance that this person will not be around to ask when something is needed. In all likelihood, they will have moved on, together with their director or commissioner, to other ventures. If the education organization was a very temporary one, the knowledge normally maintained by one or two key people may have been dispersed and then may be lost when those people leave.

So, good written and retrievable records need to be available that enable people coming in to the programme for the first time, or returning to it from another job, to get on board quickly and easily. Even where there is a core group that remains in place, for those people to quickly communicate with a rapidly-growing organization, a book of logistical and managerial procedures is essential.

Such a book should include a comprehensive range of information, preferably collected so that it can be found easily. Secretaries' "where is it" index books or alphabetized lists are useful. Documents collected in a form that can be searched by key word may also be used. However this recording is done, the user and their needs should be borne in mind.

Suppliers of Goods and Services

Goods and services might vary from the very basic (what realty/estate agents provide property to lease) to the highly technical (who provides the demographic statistics for various radio stations). The list may include preferred suppliers of telephone systems, legal or notary services and educational institutions, through to the name of local fast food outlets and other necessary day-to-day resources.

Such lists will include not only the formal information but also the names of contacts who actually expedite the business. They may also include notes about the commercial relationship that previously existed and any special arrangements that had been made for special services or reductions in costs.

This is information that is taken for granted in larger more stable organizations and may be collected by permanent election authorities. But it is surprising how often even in those institutions, this knowledge is personalized and only exists while certain key staff remain in position. This cannot be guaranteed in educational programmes; and is a particular problem in the NGOs who are likely to be closely associated with such educational endeavours.

The Civil Society Network

A second area of record keeping is to have available the details of all civil society organizations that have provided support to the educational programme. Here, lists should be computerized if possible so they can retain a range of information about each organization and be easily updated. In particular, educators will want to record the details, including the personal contact details, of all those who were involved in coalitions and consortia. NGO staff may move on, and it may be necessary to involve individuals as well as the previous organization.

Who Has It?

Because of the likely dispersal of staff and resources, especially of materials prepared for previous programmes, there should be a fail-safe record of where such resources may be and how best to find them. Such a listing may include information about copyright and other libraries, research institutes and individual researchers.

How Do We Do Things?

During educational programmes, procedures are established that will protect assets, ensure fiscal responsibility and fair employment practices, reduce expenditure, and improve staff effectiveness. These procedures need to be written down and made available to people in advance of their falling foul of the procedure or having to go through the learning curve that led to the procedure being established in the first place. Because many of these procedures have legal or financial implications, they should be written in such a way that they cannot be misunderstood. They are designed to make people's lives easier, however, so they need to be accessible and simple rather than convoluted and under lock and key.

Best Practices and Lessons Learned Documentation

If educators have conducted the necessary post programme evaluations and assessments, and have engaged in their own debriefing activities, they will obtain a set of substantial reports and documents containing recommendations (see Preparing Reports).

Even if these have been prepared according to the best possible standards, they will contain a great deal of information that may not be useful for future programmes that will, of necessity, start from a different base than the one that has been evaluated. In addition, those who gather to establish the next round of programmes - whether immediately following the previous programme or a number of years later - may not have time to read all the documentation. A short, pithy document may be prepared as soon as possible that lists "Best Practices and Lessons Learned". This little guide may be the first port of call for future education teams.

How to Do It

It will be therefore be useful to conduct a closure exercise following the presentation of any reports at which a significant number of the important participants in the programme are present. This would include the educator team, representatives of the election authority, and possible representatives of membership or public interest organizations who can represent the interests of the citizens at large. Such an exercize would include presentations of various reports, if there are more than one, and consider various recommendations made to develop a much shorter document that will list a set of statements that can be used in the future by education planners.

Such a list will consist of statements under the theme "best practices and lessons learned" or "principles to be adopted in future programmes". The statements will be composites and categorizations of the various recommendations that are valid for an education programme. They may be grouped under a series of separate topics such as planning, administration and implementation.

Two Key Advantages

• Ownership of the best practices and lessons learned: Future programmes start with the confidence that there is general acceptance of any changes and innovations, or of any alterations in roles and responsibilities of particular offices or organizations. Such confidence is essential if programmes are to get up and running quickly. And this confidence is created both by the development of the set of learning statements and the fact that it has been created by a group of people, not only by an evaluator or educator.
• Summarized and accessible planning statements: Such a document is inevitably a condensed distillation of a range of recommendations. As such it can be turned to with confidence by educator teams preparing for future programmes. It can form the basis of briefings of those developing surveys, focus groups, or field research, and can be submitted to materials producers by fax or e-mail in ways that a full report cannot. Indeed, if it has been prepared with care and documented accurately, it is more likely to be implemented than the more extensive recommendations than often flow from reports.

Keeping the Documentation

All this may be fruitless, however, if the documentation is not kept. In general, it seems to be easier for people to keep books than a short document on a couple of sheets of paper. There is every possibility that either the "best practices and lessons learned" statement will be transformed into a book (obscuring its very purpose) or will be lost in favour of the heavier reports from which it has been distilled.

The best way to ensure its survival is to bind it as a preface or executive summary in project reports; or, if this is not possible, to have it referred to and then bound as an appendix. In some cases, a collection of all reports might be archived as a single bound document or box file, and then such a slim document may be included, preferably as the first of the set of documents.

Preparing Reports

The discussion about the nature of a final programme report, its format, audience, general content, and the people who are to be responsible for its preparation is best done during the preliminary planning phases of any programme. Educators have a responsibility to their organization, the electoral authority, donors or sponsors, and the general public to report on the programme once completed.

There are examples of electoral legislation that set time limits on the preparation of post election reports, and such deadlines will also apply to educational programmes sponsored by or organized on behalf of the electoral authority.

Once It's Over, It's Too Late

The worst time to consider the report is after the educational programme has concluded. By this time, the motivation for the report is low, information required is not always readily available, and staff whose comments are required have departed and are now difficult to reach. In addition, while those conducting face-to-face programmes or engaged in advertizing may have built in post-meeting reaction or assessment systems, or ongoing audience assessment, the relationship between these and the final report will be unclear. A mass of information, of which only some might be relevant to the concerns of the final report, will have to be digested, and this takes additional time and energy.

Preparing for the Report

Having determined at an early stage that a report will be required, staff will be allocated to its preparation and will begin to block out the necessary areas for collecting information and reporting. They will also be discussing with those for whom the report is required precisely their expectations of the report and the manner in which it will be used or made available to the public.

The purpose of the report will have to be clear from the start. Is it to be a history of the programme, for example, a day-by-day journal, an overview of highlights, or a thoughtful opinion by an outsider? In some cases, there may be some inclination to leave the report to those conducting external evaluations: but the best scenario would be for such evaluators to have the internal report as part of their documentation.

For the purposes of system learning, reports should be sufficiently anecdotal and descriptive to enable future educators to understand the context within which the programme took place, and to provide the necessary experiential information that can be analysed for the development of general lessons.

Type of Report

There have been a number of fine reports that make the programme review itself an educational and communication exercize. They use a range of voices to provide different perspectives on the programme, quotations and reflections from participants, local educators, planners and administrators. The compendium report enables the reader to reflect on the programme and serves as a public record of some distinction.

Reports need not be entirely written. Alternative forms of record keeping and narrative have been used; and these have some advantages in capturing the emotion and humanity of the programme and conveying this to the public in ways that are perhaps more accessible andpersuasive.

Photographic documentaries, video and audio productions, and the publication of special magazine issues all provide a record that can be used in conjunction with the more technical narrative that may be required by statute or by agreement with a funder.

Reports will cover at least the following aspects of the programme:

• context within which the programme was designed and implemented (see Assessing the Context)
• strategies that were adopted (see Educational Strategy Development)
• purpose and objectives of the programme (see Educational Objectives)
• the target audience(s) of the programme
• manner in which the programme was implemented (see Voter Education Programme Implementation)
• impact of the programme and the extent to which it achieved its objectives (see Measuring Impact)
• unintended outcomes (see Importance Of Prior Planning)
• lessons learned for future programmes (see Best Practices and Lessons Learned Documentation)
• financials, including full disclosure
• collection and storage of the records (see Maintenance Of Records)

Reports that are prepared after the event, and that are delayed because of the lack of staff, information or access to the relevant parties, may be useful in preserving a record of the event but are unlikely to have the formative impact of reports prepared more expeditiously. It can be argued that such a report benefits from the necessary hindsight that only comes with time. But such reports become rather academic exercizes at that stage with all the disadvantages of such an exercize.

And they rely quite heavily on contemporaneous records - minutes, journals, interim and daily, weekly, monthly or quarterly reports. If these have not been prepared, even the delayed substantive report is at a loss, and the more it is delayed the more difficult it becomes to convey an accurate record.

Public Accessibility and Transparency

Whichever way the report is conceived - even as a collation of different reports - it is essential that reports of educational programmes be made available to all stakeholders. A discussion of the manner for release should be conducted at the same time as the planning of the report so that a commitment can be made that is not broken by a sudden fear of the content of the report.

If there is a belief that the reports have confidential matters that cannot be shared with the general public, then there are a number of options open to educators. A public report can be prepared together with a confidential briefing document for the primary stakeholders. The report can be separated into a closed technical report and an anecdotal and generally available one. The report may include an annex which addresses confidential matters, but which is removed prior to its public release. Or, the report can have a date by which it will be made available so that it can first be considered confidentially. Finally, the primary stakeholders for whom the report has been commissioned may choose to release it without their endorsement or with a disclaimer as an addendum.

All the above are compromises that at least enable the public to have access to reports that are, after all, in the public interest and about them to a large extent. Hopefully such compromises may not be necessary. But, in the end, they are better than outright proscription of reports that occasionally happens when reports contain critical information. The word "critical" itself conveys the meaning that makes this such an unfortunate occurrence. These reports often provide the most important lessons for the general public and for educators at large.

Archiving and Protecting Materials

As in all spheres of institutional activity, voter education processes generate large quantities of documentation, ranging from published information to minutes of meetings, from paper correspondence to computer directories. It is essential, therefore, that an appropriate documentary record of these processes be preserved. Such a record will:

• support the institutional memory of the organization,
• enable the organization to demonstrate accountability,
• assist in ensuring that best practices and lessons learned are passed on appropriately,
• ensure that future projects do not have to start from scratch,
• contribute to broader social memory.

The term "appropriate documentary record" is used quite deliberately. Clearly no organization can afford to keep all the documentation generated by it, nor would it want to obscure the really valuable material in an avalanche of ephemera. Information management is a huge field embracing a range of corporate processes and technological elements.

The fundamental prerequisites for success, however, can be summarized as follows:

First, adopt a flexible, implementable, and cost-effective information management policy. Assign workers explicit responsibilities in the management of information resources. Documentation should be managed in terms of systems that facilitate classification, retrieval and preservation. This is especially important in the sphere of electronic (computer) records. Adopt conventions around issues like how to deal with e-mail, what constitutes an organizational record (as opposed to personal record), shared directories, and classification and identification procedures. There should be clear guidelines on where specific categories of documentation are to be kept and who has access to them. There should be clarity on what needs to be kept only in the short-term and what needs to be kept indefinitely. For instance, policy might determine that staff personal files be kept for only three years after termination of service, but that two copies of each published information report will be preserved.

It is imperative that documentation which has been identified for preservation be managed systematically rather than in an ad hoc manner. Ideally, an institutional archive should be established, to be managed either internally or through an agreement with another institution specializing in archiving. Organizations are often governed in this regard by public archival legislation. The organization should, of course, be conversant with all legislation with implications for the management of documentation. Archival legislation is just one category. There is also likely to be copyright legislation, legal deposit legislation, tax laws, and other legislation governing financial documentation, and freedom of information and protection of privacy.

Developing Continuity

Education is a task that thrives on innovation and change. Because both learners and the context change from event to event, and because successful education should by definition result in change even to the individual learner, there is a tendency amongst educators to underestimate the need to develop continuity from one programme to another.

Continuing Shortages of Resources

Amongst other problems that this has caused, has been a shortage of skilled adult education practitioners in the sphere of voter and civic education. In addition, there is only a limited transferral of best practices and lessons learned and materials available from one election to another. It is remarkable how even a simple but recorded piece of material finds its way into programme after programme around the world. While this might be as a result of the efficacy of that particular piece of material, it seems more related to the shortage of information and materials in general circulation.

Those electoral authorities that have been able to develop continuity have been able to run programmes that proceed through the entire cycle of needs assessment, development of objectives and educational strategy, implementation, evaluation and reassessment necessary to establish an ongoing educational curriculum. Other authorities are forced to rely again and again on external technical support and expertise.

Documentation is Better than Nothing

Continuity is achieved in part by good documentation, and in part by having access to people who have experience. But some continuity can only be achieved by the development of an institution or organization that can exist between programmes and that can develop through its own marrow the lessons which must be taken forward.

Establish Some Responsible Institution

For this to happen, countries must charge either the election authority or some other statutory body to conduct voter and civic education programmes. Russia, Ukraine and Mexico provide a few examples of permanent election bodies that have been given a legal mandate to undertake on-going voter or civic education activities. Such bodies may only have a small staff, but having such a body will mean that many of the record keeping and procedural matters that have been detailed in this section can be delegated to it without a fear that programme expertize will be lost. It is the establishment of such bodies with state support, irrespective of the strength of civil society - unless it can reliably be anticipated that civil society will be able to sustain these bodies - that educators should give their attention to when they are able to lift their eyes from the immediate tasks. [1]

Notes:

[1] Some societies may choose to establish funding mechanisms which enable civil society organizations promoting democracy to obtain state funds without undue state oversight; others may establish statutory organizations or give these functions to the electoral authority or existing state departments. Whichever is chosen, it will be essential to maintain a separation between the promotion of democracy and a democratic state, and the promotion of a particular government of the day.