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

V. GRANDMOTHERS: A LEARNING INSTITUTIONSUMMARY OF CONCLUSIONS“A house without a grandmother is like a road that goes nowhere.”Senegalese proverbBased on the review of the literatureon the roles of grandmothers in differentnon-western cultures, analysisof the policies of key international organizationsthat promote child developmentand review of projects that have explicitlyengaged grandmothers in strategies topromote children’s development, the followingconclusions were formulated:THERE IS LIMITEDDOCUMENTATION OFGRANDMOTHERS’ ROLES.Analysis and documentation of grandmothers’roles in different societies is quite limited,especially outside of the academicanthropological literature. The results ofmany studies on different child developmenttopics either completely ignore orgive minimal attention to grandmothers’roles and influence at the household level.The limited documentation of their roleappears to be due, first, to the prevailingassessment methodologies that do notexamine the roles of various householdactors, including grandmothers, and second,to the biases against grandmothers ofmany development agencies and staff.PREVALENT ASSESSMENTMETHODOLOGIES FAIL TOEXAMINE HOUSEHOLD ROLESAND RELATIONSHIPS.The methodologies used in formative studieson child development topics are mostoften based on models from behavioralpsychology and tend to focus narrowly onindividual knowledge, attitudes, and practices(KAP) of women/mothers. There is aneed for alternative assessment methodsbased on a more systemic, anthropologicalframework that look at social structures,roles and relationships in households thatinfluence attitudes and practices related tochild development. In a more systemicapproach grandmothers’ experience androles at the household level would certainlybe analyzed.GRANDMOTHERS CONTRIBUTETO CULTURAL CONTINUITY.The cultural dimension of developmentprograms has generally been neglectedthough there is a growing concern that thisis a dangerous trend that can contribute tothe loss of cultural values and identity.Grandmothers play a critical role in transmittingcultural values and practices toyounger generations, thereby contributingGRANDMOTHERS:THE LEARNING INSTITUTION39