Learning how to Mainstream: Experiential knowledge and Grounded Theory
by Cream WRIGHT

This paper is based on the main presentation made at the session on “Mainstreaming Non-Formal Education: Towards a Grounded Theory”, during the Arusha Biennial. It has been extensively revised to incorporate as far as possible the issues, perspectives and contentions of the other presentations made during the session. However the author takes full responsibility for the views expressed in the paper in its present form.

Introduction

For well over two decades now, education in Africa has been subjected to a plethora of innovations and experiments intended to promote positive change in policy and performance of the sector. This has given rise to a critical paradox in that education systems in Africa reflect a wide range of exciting innovations, yet continue to be plagued by seemingly intractable problems that thwart development efforts in the sector. The main response to this paradox has been to advocate for the scaling up and mainstreaming of those innovations that have proven to be successful. However, it is clear that despite efforts in this direction, we have not been very good at transforming a successful pilot innovation into a system-wide phenomenon that impacts on quality basic education for all. The concepts of scaling up and mainstreaming are tantalizingly attractive, but in practice we still have much to learn about how to make them work in the real world.

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Child Centred Approaches and NFE
By Dr. Rogier A. van ‘t Rood – January 2004
 

It appears that there are some general misunderstandings about the issues of child friendly and child centred approaches in education. Many educational professionals in formal education tend to think that child friendly is more or less the same as child centred. Therefore it is important to make a clear division between these two approaches:

• Child friendly approaches: the teacher behaves in a safe and respectful manner towards the children, regardless of their gender, without any abuse or physical punishment. The children feel safe, encouraged and happy in school; their performances improve gradually and the drop out rates decline.

• Child centred approaches: the teacher challenges the children in a safe and respectful manner to develop (together and individually) their own solutions to problems given, thus encouraging co-operation, the development of life skills, their analysing power, and their capacity to organise themselves. The children feel safe, encouraged, happy and empowered in school, and have more fun; their performances rise significantly and the drop out rates decline even more.

NFE-methods could, and even should, play a significant role in developing child centred approaches in formal education.

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Non Formal Education radio project in Kenya
By Felicity Binns, IEC

I would like to know more about actual projects and programmes and the impact they are having on peoples lives so I hope there may be some interest in a project IEC has been delivering in partnership with a small NGO based in Kisumu, Kenya.
What follows is a description of this project. It is certainly impacting on the participant's lives.

Kenya
Around the shores of Lake Victoria there are many fishing communities that are isolated with poor infrastructure. Though fish from the lake are exported far and wide, those communities closest to it see little benefit. Water borne and sexually transmitted disease is rife and many struggle to eke out a living. Most rely on fish from the lake in one way or another. On the whole the men own the boats and catch the fish. Women do not go out onto the lake, but buy the fish to sell on.

Women and men within the fishing communities suffer similar disadvantages in relation to their geographical location and their livelihoods. As fish traders, women have the further burden of preparing, transporting and selling their produce to an external market, as well as being the main carer within the family. Not only are women disadvantaged by living in an isolated community which is dependent on the fishing industry, but they face the additional disadvantage of being female in a male-dominated industry and culture.

The women in these communities are particularly vulnerable. Many are single heads of household and are operating their businesses with very little capital. Without capital, the women are unable to buy fish and often trade on credit, making them vulnerable to the fishermen’s sexual demands. As a consequence, HIV is increasingly prevalent within these fishing communities.

The impetus for developing a project to assist these communities came from Jennipher Kere, one of IEC’s MA students, whose research work highlighted the women’s plight.

Women in the Fishing Industry: project methodology and outcomes
WIFIP is a non-formal radio education project based along the shores of Lake Victoria, with its headquarters in Kisimu, Kenya. At the start this project was designed to work exclusively with women and, in its first two years it developed a series of radio programmes specifically designed for and targeted at women. The aim of the project is to help women fish-traders develop a voice in their community and initiate socio-economic changes to improve community health.

In response to the women’s needs, radio programmes have been developed which encourage debate on the health and business issues faced by the women and aim to enable both women and the wider fishing community to have greater control over their health and livelihoods.

To achieve this the project has developed a series of non-formal education programmes which have been transmitted by radio. The radio programmes deliver health and business education in a drama format and follow the lives of characters who work in the fishing industry. The programmes are particularly effective because the storylines are based on the lives and experiences of those who live in fishing communities. They are broadcast twice weekly by the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation in the early evening, when families are listening to the radio together. Transmission of the programmes can reach a wide audience of up to 3 million listeners within Kenya and across its borders into Uganda and Sudan.

The project also supports more in-depth learning from these programmes via learning groups on fishing beaches. The same programmes are distributed to fishing beaches on audio cassettes, accompanied by illustrated booklets/flipcharts. The project works with learning groups of fisherwomen on participating beaches. These have evolved from already established welfare and social groups, each containing approximately twenty individuals. The groups listen to the programmes twice a week and discuss issues that arise; the illustrated booklets act as prompts for debate throughout the programme and help to reiterate particular issues in the drama. These aids have been developed with mixed levels of literacy in mind.

Many participants have low levels of literacy and numeracy. This was recognised from the outset and the audio/group support materials were developed sympathetically. Within the groups the more literate assist the less literate and it seems that skill levels have improved, driven by the need to improve business and the desire to improve understanding of preventative health care.

On completion of the series of business programmes, participants in the learning groups have the opportunity to put their knowledge and skills into practice by means of the project’s microcredit scheme. This scheme is an extension of the business learning and prepares women to improve or expand their businesses. Following the initial learning from the programmes, the groups also receive training to gain new skills in alternative income generating activities to engage in during fishing bans or to complement their fishing businesses.

To ensure support to the learning groups and to enable the wider fishing community to benefit from the groups’ learning, the project engages the wider community in the programme content and encourages them to work with the learning groups to organise annual Beach Days. These events provide an opportunity for learning group members to share the knowledge and skills that they have gained and enable the wider community to become involved. At these events, health clinics and staff are organised to attend the beaches so that community members can access health advice and care. The learning groups and wider community also have the opportunity to voice their views and share their stories in the project’s newsletter Samaki News’

Within the first two years of programming, the communities in which these women work have highlighted a number of positive changes following the radio programmes and group learning. Women are now working towards improving their businesses so that they do not become vulnerable to the fishermen’s demands and on average women’s savings have increased from 50 pence to £5 per week. Health has improved through better hygiene practices on the fishing beaches, families are experiencing fewer occurrences of bilharzia and amoebiosis now that drinking water from the lake is being boiled. However, most strikingly, the women appear far more confident in their views and their interactions with others in the community, particularly the fishermen. For example women have developed the confidence to request that the fishermen no longer pursue sexual favours from the women fish-traders and as a consequence, on many beaches, the practice of trading fish for sex has stopped or reduced dramatically. There is also a great deal more open discussion within the community about sensitive issues and on one beach the women participants have organised for a VCT clinic (testing for HIV/AIDS) to visit their beach in response to a request from their community.

At the end of the first year of programming, the women asked for men’s learning groups in their communities to be included, to boost the benefits within the community further. In the third year of the project, activities have expanded to encourage the participation of men living and working on the fishing beaches. This has further improved home, community and working relationships in the fishing industry. Fishermen and women fish-traders are now cooperating more to improve everyone’s household income.

The learning groups have demonstrated far greater impact than just increased knowledge and skills of participants. The women and men have greatly increased in confidence and feel able to express their rights within their community and within the fishing industry. Both the Beach Days and the newsletter are important elements in bringing the community together and developing the confidence of the community as a whole. The demand to be part of the groups is growing as is the wish to seek changes in their community – on one beach a woman group member has been appointed the first female community elder – and to seek positive changes in the fishing industry – community members are working together to fight for a fair deal from the fishing factory middlemen and to reduce their exploitation by them.

Felicity Binns, IEC   top