The group of trainees can become the target community, and they can be facilitated to identify group needs, resources, constraints and priorities. . This latter is not just a hollow exercise, but should lead to producing an inventory that will contribute to the further training and operations of the group. Trainees can take turns to lead such processes. . When you compare learning by doing in a training session, which is a controlled context, with learning by doing in the field, which is less controlled, you will see pluses and minuses in both. In the field situation you may have less control over what happens, but the experience is more real and realistic for the trainees.
Field training comes in different sizes and shapes.
In each case, a debriefing session after the session is valuable. . That makes it more of a learning experience for the trainee. It is, however, useful as a review and reference, and it helps by confirming what the trainee learns by doing. At the introductory level, it can be simplified, illustrated, and provided directly by the trainer to the trainee. All of the handouts and most of the other training material on this web site belong to this kind of simple training material. .