Those in developed countries or with good educational systems to which democracy educators have access may not need to think about ways of finding or making boards on which to write, display posters, or even project images.
Experience with training of community educators in some countries, however, suggests that this is a pressing need and one of the most difficult to overcome.
Generally, educators seem to overcome the shortage of boards by the use of newsprint. But this has its own dilemmas and it can be in short supply. However, there are options.
Use of Available Paper
In addition to the specially prepared newsprint paper (or butcher paper) sold in sheets or blocks for use by educators, it is possible for community educators to make use of the following:
- brown paper and other plain coloured paper prepared for covering books, lining shelves or wrapping parcels
- off-cuts from printing works
Manufacture of Blackboards
In India, merchants sell treated linen wall hangings that can be used as chalk boards.
In many other places, it is possible to buy green and black paint that can be used to transform a wall into a chalkboard.
Coloured chalk can even be used on a white wall, although it does not easily wash off. Perhaps it is better used for basic messages and advertisements.
While chalk itself is not always available, charcoal normally is and it can and has been used as a writing tool.
Manufacture of White Boards
A white board is a tool used with a wipe-off marker pen. Those who manufacture and supply such boards have made them an essential training tool. Indeed, their one disadvantage (that material written down has to be wiped off) has been overcome by adding a photocopier camera to the screen.
However, these are expensive and are normally only available at educational institutions or commercial training venues.
The pens that write on these boards are reasonably priced, and the versatility of the boards is considerable. So community educators should consider making portable white boards out of framed and hinged plastic laminate, the material used to cover washable kitchen surfaces. It is possible to create a carrying case for educational materials that opens up into a useable white board (or, using paint, a blackboard).
These and other low-cost techniques are used by health educators and community educators throughout the developing world, but there has not been as much concentration yet on transferring these skills to those doing voter and civic education.
