thers, can be effectively integrated intobasic education programs through storytellinginitiatives.USE PARTNERSHIPS TO PROMOTESCHOOL IMPROVEMENT.• Empower parents to participate inschool planning for curriculum content,school climate, <strong>and</strong> staff development.Families can provide support to schools atseveral levels: attending parent-teacherconferences, reinforcing learning in thehome, volunteering to help at school, <strong>and</strong>serving in elected positions on schoolplanning <strong>and</strong> management teams. If gr<strong>and</strong>mothersare not directly serving in thesepositions, they can be kept abreast of theimportance of parental roles <strong>and</strong> canencourage family <strong>and</strong> school interaction.Special social events can be conducted byteachers, at which gr<strong>and</strong>parents are invited<strong>and</strong> their support of schools is discussed.• Identify gr<strong>and</strong>mother leaders <strong>and</strong>networks.In all communities natural gr<strong>and</strong>mother“leaders” exist who, either formally orinformally, have the capacity to mobilizeother gr<strong>and</strong>mothers. Initial assessments canidentify gr<strong>and</strong>mother leaders <strong>and</strong> networks<strong>and</strong> assess their ideas about playing a rolein education. Special sessions can beorganized through the gr<strong>and</strong>mother networksto discuss with gr<strong>and</strong>mothers suchtopics as girls’ equity, children’s rights, whyreading <strong>and</strong> schooling are valuable for allchildren, the importance of educating girlsto the welfare of the family, the community<strong>and</strong> the development of the country, theimportance of good attendance <strong>and</strong>school completion, how to support homework,<strong>and</strong> optimal health practices formothers, babies <strong>and</strong> young children.Withcorrect information, support <strong>and</strong> encouragement,gr<strong>and</strong>mothers can become advocatesfor improved education-related practices,such as sending girls to school.• Form Gr<strong>and</strong>parent-Parent-TeacherAssociations.Traditional parent-teacher associations(PTA) are intended to strengthen linksbetween schools <strong>and</strong> communities, butthey are usually limited to “parents” <strong>and</strong>“teachers.” It is suggested that“Gr<strong>and</strong>parents, Parents <strong>and</strong> TeachersAssociations” (GPTA) could be establishedto incorporate the critical role <strong>and</strong> experienceof gr<strong>and</strong>parents in educating children.Involving gr<strong>and</strong>parents can contribute togreater dialogue <strong>and</strong> underst<strong>and</strong>ingbetween schools <strong>and</strong> communities. Forexample, given the influence of the eldersin deciding which children will attendschool <strong>and</strong> for how long, GPTA’s couldplay an important role in facilitating communitydialogue on girls’ education <strong>and</strong>identification of community strategies toaddress the loss of family labor when girlsgo to school.• Empower families to learn to usetheir collective power to advocatefor school change.Through conversations, group dialogue <strong>and</strong>reflection, gr<strong>and</strong>parents, parents, families,<strong>and</strong> communities can identify <strong>and</strong> act onsystemic problems.These may includeschool overcrowding, infrastructure in needof repair, poorly performing or untrained50 UNITED STATES AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
teachers, teacher abuse of children,predatory behavior of some teacherson girls, <strong>and</strong> poor school performance.• Involve community elders, includinggr<strong>and</strong>mothers, gr<strong>and</strong>fathers,<strong>and</strong> religious leaders, in providinginput for quality control ofschools <strong>and</strong> teacher performance.Many school programs now involvePTAs in defining the important characteristicsof a “good school” <strong>and</strong> “goodteacher”.These criteria can then beused by projects to improve projectdesign <strong>and</strong> to incorporate into teacherperformance evaluations. When teachers’performance is evaluated, gr<strong>and</strong>parents,parents, <strong>and</strong> other communitymembers can be invited to give theirinput, <strong>and</strong> compare teacher performance<strong>and</strong> school quality to the criteriathey developed.GRANDMOTHERS:THE LEARNING INSTITUTION51
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GRANDMOTHERS:A LEARNING INSTITUTION
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GRANDMOTHERS:A LEARNING INSTITUTION
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARYSociety itself fai
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Education, the Bernard Van LeerFoun
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SEVERAL FACTORS CONTRIBUTE TO THELI
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- Page 75 and 76: acceptable for younger women to mak
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- Page 87 and 88: elated, for example, to early child
- Page 89 and 90: REFERENCESAdams, A. M., S. Madhavan
- Page 91 and 92: 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
- Page 99 and 100: ABOUT THE AUTHORThis review was pre
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