Grandmothers: A Learning Institution - Basic Education and Policy ...

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“As women, thegrandmothers havelived through manythings.That is why wecompletely depend onthem to care for ourwives and children.”Young married manMali“Programs shouldhelp traditional andexisting caregivers toincrease their knowledgeand adapt theirmethods.”Bernard van LeerFoundationin promoting the well-being of childrenin the family through their interactionand caring for grandchildren.They are indirectly involved throughtheir advice to other family memberson issues of child well-being. Theirdirect involvement with their grandchildrenconsists of two facets: first,the socialization, acculturation, andteaching of grandchildren, and second,the provision of emotional, spiritual,and physical care and support tothem. Their interaction with otherfamily members includes both teachingand supervising younger womenand girls, and advising fathers andother male family members on issuesrelated to women’s and children’swell-being.• Grandmothers influence the attitudesand decisions made by male familymembers regarding children’s wellbeing.In most cases, men have limitedexpertise on issues of children’s andwomen’s development and well-being.Usually when men need to make adecision related to the well-being ofchildren or their mothers, they seekthe advice of senior women in thefamily. This pattern is particularlystrong in patrilineal households. Inmatrilineal situations, where sons livewith their wives in close proximity totheir wife’s parents, the advisory roleof senior women vis-à-vis men stillusually exists. In both cases husbandsand male heads of extended familiesgenerally look to experienced, seniorwomen for advice on these matters.• Some of grandmothers’ practices arebeneficial for child developmentwhereas others are not..There are many specific examples(See Appendix B) of beneficial traditionalpractices related to children’sdevelopment that are promoted bygrandmothers, such as exclusivebreastfeeding and extensive affectiveand psychomotor stimulation ofinfants. There are also examples,however, of harmful traditional practicespromoted by senior women,including the use of certain traditionalremedies, female genital mutilationand sexual initiation rites thatincrease the risk of HIV transmission.In some of the literature reviewed,the tendency is to criticize seniorwomen and exclude them from childdevelopment programs because ofcertain harmful practices. A differentperspective says that grandmothersshould be included in programs inorder to validate their positive practicesand to encourage them tochange the detrimental ones.• Grandmothers have a very strongcommitment to promoting the growthand development of their grandchildren.Grandmothers and family membersalike emphasize the love that grandmothershave for their grandchildrenand their strong commitment to promotingtheir well-being. In all culturesthere are sayings referring to the specialrelationship that exists betweengrandmothers and grandchildrenbased on the value of grandchildren16 UNITED STATES AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
to grandmothers.The universality ofthis sentiment on the part of grandmothersis expressed in a saying foundin Uzbekistan, Albania, Senegal andMali,“For the grandmother her ownchild is like milk whereas her grandchildrenare like cream.” In many culturesgrandmothers express the sentimentthat their greatest satisfaction inlife is caring for their grandchildrenand seeing them develop.• Compared with younger women,grandmothers generally have moretime to spend and more patiencewith young children.Most younger women in poor householdshave multiple tasks to carry outrelated to domestic, childcare, andextra-household activities to ensurethe survival of their families.Expectations of them are great andthe time and resources available tothem for carrying out all of theseresponsibilities are usually limited.Due to the status of older women inthe family and their delegation ofmany domestic tasks to youngerwomen, grandmothers generally havefewer responsibilities, more timeavailable, and more patience wheninteracting with children. Youngerwomen often report that grandmothershave more patience thanthey do to interact with and care foryoung children. Grandmothers oftentake responsibility for time-consumingtasks such as feeding young children,caring for them when they are sick,telling them stories, teaching themabout traditional values, or sometimeslistening to them read.• Most grandmothers are interested inincreasing their knowledge of “modern”ideas about child development.Contrary to the stereotypes aboutolder people’s resistance to newideas, there is considerable evidencethat grandmothers are, in fact, veryinterested in learning new thingsabout children’s development. Oftenthey admit that their knowledge is“old-fashioned” and express theirinterest in learning about “modern”ideas in order to improve their ownpractice. Their ability to acquire newknowledge is, however, very muchdetermined by the approach usedwith them. In some cases grandmothershave clearly stated that theteaching approach used with themmust be based on respect, dialogue,and negotiation.• Grandmothers’ knowledge comesprimarily from their mothers andtheir peers.Much of grandmothers’ knowledgeon children’s development comesfrom what they learned from theirmothers and grandmothers. In addition,their thinking is influenced byideas they glean from their peers,namely other senior women in theirsocial networks. Such networksappear to be a universal phenomenon,usually composed of women ofmore or less the same age who areprimarily either family members orneighbors. These networks allow forsharing and learning based on newand old information alike. Withinsuch networks, there is a hierarchy ofexperience and the less experienced“Grandparents offerlove and quietness totheir grandchildren.”Report onECD in AlbaniaHuman DevelopmentCenterGRANDMOTHERS:THE LEARNING INSTITUTION17
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Page 11 and 12: EXECUTIVE SUMMARYSociety itself fai
Page 13 and 14: Education, the Bernard Van LeerFoun
Page 15 and 16: SEVERAL FACTORS CONTRIBUTE TO THELI
Page 17: - Who am I? Assign children to askf
Page 20 and 21: in educational activities on home t
Page 22 and 23: “A grandmother’s understandingo
Page 24 and 25: “Culture tells peoplehow to view
Page 26 and 27: attention given to grandmothers’
Page 28 and 29: social work, including family syste
Page 30 and 31: mation from Azerbaijan (McNulty 200
Page 32 and 33: “The status of eldersin tradition
Page 36 and 37: members often consult the moreexper
Page 38 and 39: “Social capital is a community’
Page 40 and 41: In a collaborative effort between
Page 42 and 43: in-laws and the additional free tim
Page 44 and 45: "Involving grandmothersin community
Page 50 and 51: CULTURALLY-ADAPTED EDUCATIONMATERIA
Page 52 and 53: strated the power of participatory
Page 54 and 55: effects of the new ideas, their con
Page 57 and 58: V. GRANDMOTHERS: A LEARNING INSTITU
Page 59 and 60: Many health and development workers
Page 61 and 62: VI. RECOMMENDATIONS FORBASIC EDUCAT
Page 63 and 64: parents themselves did not go to sc
Page 65 and 66: community ties by increasing teache
Page 67 and 68: of millions. On the other hand, som
Page 69: teachers, teacher abuse of children
Page 73 and 74: APPENDIX B:ANNOTATEDREFERENCES ON T
Page 75 and 76: acceptable for younger women to mak
Page 77 and 78: showed that men are not directly in
Page 79 and 80: ecause they had more time to devote
Page 81 and 82: matrilineal or patrilineal areas
Page 83 and 84: diet, work, fetal development, sexu
Page 85 and 86:
in the family and social networks.
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elated, for example, to early child
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REFERENCESAdams, A. M., S. Madhavan
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BASICS and LINKAGES. 1998. Influenc
Page 93 and 94:
Childhood Education and Development
Page 95 and 96:
Krishna, A. and N. Uphoff. June 199
Page 97 and 98:
Sear, R., R. Mace, and I. A. McGreg
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ABOUT THE AUTHORThis review was pre
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