Teaching and Assessing Attitudes

Abstract

It is sometimes said of a health worker or a student, ‘His attitude is very bad’ or, ‘He has a very good attitude to his work’. These statements are commonly made after a health worker has done something specially bad or specially good. For example a health worker may not have bothered to keep the dispensary clean, or arrived very late at a health centre, or not bothered to check whether vaccines were kept at the right temperature. In all these cases it is assumed that the health worker knows what should be done, and has the necessary skill to do it. What has gone wrong is that the health worker has not used his knowledge and skill. This is seen as evidence of an unsatisfactory attitude.