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

parents themselves did not go to school,and second, due to their age and their traditional“backward” attitudes.Grandparents often express concern thatschools have created a rift between their“traditional” culture and values and theunfamiliar,“modern” values taught inschools. Grandparents sometimes distancethemselves from school programs that are“for young people.” In the end, they can becritical of schools and of schooling in general.While this review specifically focuses onanalyzing the role and involvement ofgrandmothers in promoting child education,health and development, many of theconclusions of the analysis suggest ways inwhich both grandmothers and grandfatherscan be meaningfully involved in formaland nonformal education programs.The following recommendations, groupedhere into five categories, could helpincrease grandparents’ involvement in children’seducation and thereby maximizetheir contribution to the education andwell-being of children, families, and communities.INCREASE TEACHER ANDSTUDENT AWARENESS OFGRANDMOTHERS’ ROLE ANDPOTENTIAL CONTRIBUTION.• Develop participatory training exercisesto help teachers reflect on therationale for including grandmothersas partners in school educationalactivities and then develop strategiesfor including them.In most cases, involving grandmothers inbasic education programs would be anew experience, not only for grandmothers,but also for teachers. Giventhat teachers may have negative stereotypestoward grandmothers because“they never went to school”, it will beadvantageous to increase their awarenessof grandmothers’ role and potentialcontribution.• Analyze family and community systemsas an input to program development.Basic education programs should utilizefamily and community systems of whichchildren are a part. One practical first stepin the development of basic educationstrategies would be to carry out a holisticassessment of the roles, authority, and decision-makingpatterns amongst key householdand community actors related to differentaspects of child education anddevelopment. An understanding of theseroles and decision-making patterns wouldprovide a foundation for designing strategiesthat take into account, not only parents,but also grandparents and others inthe children’s environment that play adetermining role.• Create alternative assessment tools.In development of curricula for basic educationprograms, initial assessments tend tofocus narrowly on “children’s learningneeds” in isolation from family and communityrealities. In order to bridge the gapbetween schools and communities, newtools are required to help education sectorstaff collect information on communityrealities and resources. Such an assessmentcould include community traditions,patterns of authority and leadership, rolesGRANDMOTHERS:THE LEARNING INSTITUTION45