Stories-without-an-ending: an adult education tool for ...• Discussion of the SWE is facilitated using a series of pre-prepared, open-ended questions. • At the end of the discussion

Stories-without-an-ending: an adult education tool

for dialogue and social change

Judi Aubel Grandmother Project – Change through Culture

Overview of presentation • Grandmother Project - Change through Culture • Revisiting strategies used in MCHN programs:

• Who should be involved? • What type of change do we want to promote in communities?

• Chapter 1: Behavior Change or Social Change? • Chapter 2: Promoting Social Change in Collectivist Cultures • Chapter 3: Adult Education Methods to Promote Social Change • Chapter 4: Developing and Using SWE • Q & A

Grandmother Project – Change through Culture

• 4 pillars of the approach • Culture is the foundation of all community programs • Acknowledging the role and explicitly involving the elders,

especially the grandmothers • Promoting communication between generations and

between the sexes • Using communication/education approaches based on

dialogue to encourage consensus-building

MCHN program planners have critical choices to make

• Which community actors should be involved ? • What type of change do we hope to see in communities and

what approaches can best promote that change?

• Which community actors should be involved in MCHN programs?

PresenterPresentation NotesMost progs MCHN focus on WRA

TOPS 1 doc…..to identify who is influencing and should be involved

PresenterPresentation NotesCertainly there are women of reproductive age but they are not alone

PresenterPresentation NotesI have always seen GMs as a cultural resource that should be built on.

Social infrastructure

Photo SL

Grandmothers are an abundant and underutilized resource for MCHN programs.

TOPS-GMP document (2015) Focus on Families and Culture : Understanding family roles and influence to develop culturally-grounded and effective community nutrition interventions

• What type of change do we want to promote in communities? Improvements in health behaviors and health status? Increased capacity and confidence of families and communities to

critically analyze problems and take action to solve them?

PresenterPresentation NotesThese questions relate to our long term view of development for the communiites we work with.

We are very focused on no. 1

IS our aim to have coms accept/adopt the information/ideas tha twe provide to them? Or do we want to empower them to be able to …...

Second dimension….....given less attention/importance in MCHN programs.

Recent study: Time to Listen (2012) Anderson, Brown & Jean CDA Collaborative Learning Projects Cambridge, Massachusetts

• 2006-2012 First major study to investigate community perceptions of international aide programs

• 6,000 interviewees in 20 countries • Interviewees: had been involved in programs in various sectors

and implemented by different organizations

Findings of the Time to Listen study:

• All interviewees expressed gratitude for the aid/support received. • A large majority of respondents said that the cumulative effect of

development programs has been negative. • Increased a sense of dependency & passivity on the part of communities • Programs focus on problems, needs, weaknesses and ignore community

knowledge, strengths and capacity. • The community capacity building rhetoric is not translated into action. • Most programs are expert-driven and top-down. • Very limited community participation in decision-making.

PresenterPresentation NotesThese results challenge us to consider the long term goals that we aim to accomplish?

Progam planners make choices…..........what do programs aim to do.???

Objective of GMP’s work and of the Stories-without-an-ending (SWE) is to:

improve health behaviors and health status build community confidence and capacity to critically analyze

problems and to take collective action to address them

PresenterPresentation NotesIf we aim to do no. 2 the approaches we use need to be adapted to that objective.

What type of tools are needed to build community confidence, capacity, empowerment to address issues/problems related to MCHN and other aspects of family and community life?

• Many tools used in MCHN programs are based on concepts from the field of communication how to get a message across.

SWE methodology draws on concepts from:

• Adult education: starting with and building on people’s experience • Community development: building on community assets, knowledge,

roles; collaborating with community leaders to empower them to catalyze change in the wider community

• Anthropology: the importance of collective decision-making in collectivist cultures to bring about change

• Ecological models from Public Health: importance of promoting change in social norms which requires a collective consensus-building process

Chapter 1: Behavior Change or Social Change?

PresenterPresentation NotesSBC…...combined with no clear differentiation of the differences between them.

Increasing discussion of the need to move from approaches that focus on indiviudal beh to those that change social norms/wider social change and where communites play a more active role in driving their own development.

Major shift is required….............this table summarizes these two contrasting approaches.

SWE contribute to development of tools that promote com-driven approach to promote empowerment for social change.

This requires a shift in the language we used and in the tools we use.

In the work of GMP we are committed to devlopong methods and tools that do both.

This is not an easy shift…..starting with the words that we use to describe the approaches we use.

Example EBF

The SWE addresses both of these limitations by: involving groups; and by using a non-directive problem-posing approach. SWE methodology promotes collective social change

• Women are embedded in a socio-cultural context • There needs to be change in that wider social environment to enable

them to change. • There needs to be normative change, i.e. change in social norms

Choosing an approach to promote change Table (page 14) summarizes two contrasting approaches

• Expert-driven approach to behavior change • Community-driven approach to empowerment for social change

PresenterPresentation NotesNo. 2 suggests a different relationship between HDW and coms, requires different words, attitudes and behaviors on the part of HDW

Program planners must decide what their long term goal is?

Alternative approaches to promote change in communities

Expert-driven approach to promote behavior change

• Communities are target groups, beneficiaries, audiences

Community-driven approach to promote empowerment for social change

• Communities are actors, partners



• Use of messages to persuade, convince community members to change


• Use of dialogue and problem-solving to share information and catalyze critical reflection for consensus-building for change



• Objective: to change individual knowledge, attitudes and behavior


• Objective: to change social norms



• Activities/materials: convey key messages


• Activities/materials: elicit dialogue and problem-solving



• Fosters a sense of dependency on expert advice


• Fosters a sense of confidence in community capacity and empowerment

Program planners must make choices regarding:

• What changes they hope to bring about in communities? • What are appropriate strategies, methods, tools to use to bring about

that change?

GMP and the SWE methodology explicitly aim to both:

• improve health behaviors and health status • build community confidence and capacity to

critically analyze problems and take collective action to address them

Chapter 2: Promoting Social Change in Collectivist Cultures

PresenterPresentation NotesEffectiveness of any MCHN intervention depends to a great extent on the interface between cultural context and program strategy…..strategy should take cultural context into account.

Promoting social change in collectivist cultures

• “Taking the cultural context into account” • .Anthropologists have categorized cultures on a continuum:

individualist – collectivist • At least 70% of cultures in the world are collectivist (Africa, Asia, Latin

America, The Pacific, non-western communities in the Global North) • Do MCHN programs sufficiently build on the characterstics/structure

of collectivist cultures?

Cultural System

Community System

Family System

Individual

Onion model Helman, 2001, Culture, Health & Illness

PresenterPresentation NotesBuilding on social organization and existing roles.

Impact of collectivist culture

• It is very difficult for individuals to go against the opinions of the group.

• The group provides support to the individual.

• For social norms to change, there needs to be group consensus.

“The change process itself needs to be collective”. Ntseane, Adult Educator Botswana, 2011

GMP’s work and SWE tool

• Purpose of the tool: to catalyze discussion within peer groups and between peer groups in order to build consensus for community-wide change

Chapter 3: Adult Education Methods to Promote Social Change

Adult education principles

• All adults have experience. • Educational activities should be based on their real-life experiences. • They should challenge them to reflect on their experience and

knowledge while considering new info to determine if/how the new info can be incorporated.

PresenterPresentation NotesHow many are familiar with Paolo Freire’s work?

Paolo Freire (1921 – 1997)

• Banking approach and problem-posing approach

• Problem-posing codes - SWE reflects that idea.

• He proposed group dialogue as a basis for: • collective solving problems; • for increasing collaboration/solidarity for action.

Chapter 4: Developing and Using Stories-Without-an-Ending

Description of a SWE • The SWE deals with an issue/problem of concern to communities and/or to

development programs. • The SWE describes a real-life situation that is easily identifiable to

participants. • There are two characters who have contrasting viewpoints on the topic to

be discussed (one more “traditional” and one more “modern”). • In the dialogue between the, each one defends his/her position until the

story ends. • Discussion of the SWE is facilitated using a series of pre-prepared, open-

ended questions. • At the end of the discussion participants are encouraged to share the story

and continue discussion of it with those in their families and neighborhoods.

Phase I: Collecting information from community members on the issue to be addressed in the story Phase II: Writing the problem-posing story and open-ended questions Phase III: Presenting the story to a group and facilitating the discussion

Developing and using SWE with community groups

• Step 7: Write the problem-posing story • Step 9: Formulate a set of open-ended questions based on

the experiential learning cycle.

• “I Can’t Imagine My Life Without Ba Mariama”

PresenterPresentation NotesWhat are you comments or questions on the structure of the story?

Step 11: Facilitating a group session to elicit discussion of a SWE

• Requires group facilitation skills. • Training probably required to strengthen the listening, questioning

and group management skills. • The structure of the story and the questions “structure the behavior

of the facilitator”. • Chapter 4 contains many tips on the presentation of the SWE and

facilitation of the discussion.

• Step 12: End the session: The session is over but the story has not ended

• Encourage participants to share the story and to continue the discussion with others in their families and communities.

“The SWE methodology captivates participants to discuss an issue with which they are familiar. Compared to many approaches, nothing is imposed on them. People are asked to weigh the pros and cons of alternative behaviors. Many other methods impose ideas on people rather than making them think critically about their options. With these stories people don’t feel frustrated or critized for their past beliefs and it makes them want to change.” Mamadou Sow, Teacher & Facilitator with GMP

Thank you

www.grandmotherproject.org

Stories-without-an-ending: an adult education tool �for dialogue and social change�Overview of presentation Grandmother Project – Change through CultureMCHN program planners have critical choices to make Slide Number 5Slide Number 6Slide Number 7Slide Number 8Photo SLSlide Number 10Slide Number 11Slide Number 12Grandmothers are an abundant and underutilized resource for MCHN programs.TOPS-GMP document (2015)��Focus on Families and Culture :�Understanding family roles and influence to develop culturally-grounded and effective community nutrition interventionsSlide Number 15Recent study: Time to Listen (2012)�Anderson, Brown & Jean�CDA Collaborative Learning Projects �Cambridge, Massachusetts �Findings of the Time to Listen study:Objective of GMP’s work and of the Stories-without-an-ending (SWE) is to:What type of tools are needed to build community confidence, capacity, empowerment to address issues/problems related to MCHN and other aspects of family and community life?Slide Number 20SWE methodology draws on concepts from:Chapter 1: Behavior Change or Social Change?��Slide Number 23Slide Number 24Slide Number 25Choosing an approach to promote change �Table (page 14) summarizes two contrasting approachesAlternative approaches to promote change in communitiesAlternative approaches to promote change in communitiesAlternative approaches to promote change in communitiesAlternative approaches to promote change in communitiesAlternative approaches to promote change in communitiesProgram planners must make choices regarding: GMP and the SWE methodology explicitly aim to both:Chapter 2: Promoting Social Change in Collectivist CulturesPromoting social change in collectivist culturesSlide Number 36Slide Number 37Impact of collectivist cultureSlide Number 39GMP’s work and SWE tool Chapter 3: Adult Education Methods to Promote Social ChangeAdult education principlesPaolo Freire (1921 – 1997)Chapter 4: Developing and Using Stories-Without-an-Ending Description of a SWE�Phase I: Collecting information from community members on the issue to be addressed in the story��Phase II: Writing the problem-posing story and open-ended questions��Phase III: Presenting the story to a group and facilitating the discussionSlide Number 47Step 11: Facilitating a group session to elicit discussion of a SWE Slide Number 49“The SWE methodology captivates participants to discuss an issue with which they are familiar. Compared to many approaches, nothing is imposed on them. People are asked to weigh the pros and cons of alternative behaviors. Many other methods impose ideas on people rather than making them think critically about their options. With these stories people don’t feel frustrated or critized for their past beliefs and it makes them want to change.” ��Mamadou Sow, Teacher & Facilitator with GMPThank you

Documents

Stories-without-an-ending: an adult education tool for ...• Discussion of the SWE is facilitated using a series of pre-prepared, open-ended questions. • At the end of the discussion