It is important for the evaluator to be willing to learn from the stakeholders as well,
about the evaluand and even about appropriate ontologies, epistemologies, and methods for
evaluation of it (Guba & Lincoln, 1989). These were all factors to which I had to be open.
One of the consumers acted as my teacher and facilitator, as he explained to me how to
improve my own teaching and facilitation skills in order to promote stakeholder involvement
and subsequent empowerment. His lessons, which are supported by the Joint Committee’s
Utility Standard of “Report Clarity” (1994, p. 49) as well as Rappaport’s (1981) concepts
of empowerment, can apply to other evaluators of various philosophies in a wide range of
settings: