Establishing a Women\u27s Literacy Support Group (A Post Literacy Approach): A Manual for Facilitators

Chapter One of this manual provides a framework a self-support system and provides a rationale for establishing a Women\u27s Literacy Support Group in Nepal. Chapter Two specifically explains how the support group meetings can be organized and how different types of learning modes/methods can be used in order to keep the group moving in the appropriate direction. The last section of Chapter Two proposes a format for evaluation. An ongoing evaluation is suggested in order to maintain the appropriateness of the support group meetings/activities. This manual is an attempt to introduce a pattern for a support group. This manual endeavors to provide alternative approach to women\u27s literacy programs which must do more to enable women to move further from reading, writing and computation to the utilization of those skills for individual as well as community development

Gender Perspectives in Literacy

A manual which explores how gender issues affect literacy programs and women’s and girls’ education. The information is based on the author’s work with women’s groups in Nepal and Latin America. Literacy programs designed specifically with women in mind can provide women with the guidance and support necessary to help them gain self-confidence and self-dignity. With creativity and commitment, facilitators in literacy classes can expand their program beyond basic reading and writing skills, using activities that will help both men and women improve women\u27s status in the community, their access to community resources, and their overall health and well-being. This manual is designed to provided a self-training process for literacy practitioners who need to understand gender issues. It will help you analyze how customs and assumptions about women in their society may affect their individual development and their ability to contribute to the well-being of their families and communities. While following through this manual, you will have an opportunity to critically examine your local program and materials to see how they reflect the values regarding women\u27s contribution in society. The activities will help you examine the roles that men and women play in your community, and ways to discuss this with both women and men. From what you learn in this manual, you will be able to redesign a program or produce new literacy materials that focus on women\u27s issues and the roles that men and women play in the family and community. This manual is intended for practitioners who are interested in starting or enhancing an adult literacy program. The activities are designed for practitioners who want to better understand and incorporate gender issues into their curriculum. The activities in the manual are structured to help you first teach yourself and then design learning activities for literacy learners. Section One discusses the connections between literacy, gender and development and how men and women experience literacy differently. Section Two introduces key gender concepts with examples from literacy materials from around the world and suggestions for how to initiate discussions of gender issues in literacy classes. It covers concepts of sexual division of labor, patriarchy, gender subordination, male bias, oppression and gender equality. It also provides guidelines for analyzing local materials and stimulating learner writing. Section Three helps you analyze how men and women are socialized differently for their roles in society, and provides exercises for you and your learners to explore your own socialization process and location in society. While going through the different steps of this manual you will be analyzing communities and and literacy materials from a gender perspective. In this section, you will use the activities to first teach yourself and then to prepare learning activities for your literacy class

Women, literacy and health: comparing health and education sectoral approaches in Nepal

Functional adult literacy interventions have been regarded for many decades by policy makers as an effective way of imparting health knowledge. Supported by research on the statistical relationships between women’s literacy rates and health indicators, this dominant policy discourse is based on assumptions that non-literate women lack understanding and confidence, and that formal programmes and institutions constitute the main sites of learning. Proposing a broader conceptualisation of literacy as a social practice and of health as connected with social justice, this article draws on policy analysis and the authors’ earlier research in Nepal to re-examine the relationship between gender, literacy and health. By comparing health and literacy approaches used within the education and health sectors and taking account of new and indigenous informal learning practices, the article points to ways of investigating the complex interaction of factors that influence inequalities in gender and health at community level

Empowerment, literacy, and community organization: A case study of self-help women\u27s groups in rural Nepal

This exploratory study, conducted in an integrated watershed management project in rural Nepal, was intended to explore elements that empower women as a group. The study also explores the contributions of functional literacy to the empowerment process. Experiences of five different mothers\u27 groups from both Brahman and Gurung backgrounds informed the understandings presented in this study. The women\u27s experiences are different, partly due to cultural differences. Open-ended interviews, document reviews and observations are the main sources used to identify empowering factors. Major factors which contribute to empowering women as a collective group found in this study include both programmatic and non-programmatic interventions. This implies that looking at empowerment of women in developing countries through one lens and drawing conclusions on that basis is premature. Women\u27s lives are influenced by political, social, cultural, economic, and educational situations. Therefore, to consider one component in isolation is inappropriate if the objective is to achieve a multi-faceted goal like empowerment. The study implies that empowerment, which occurs at different levels at different points in one\u27s life, is a fluid process. Finally, several issues deserve further attention. Functional literacy, assumed to be thought-controlling and mechanical, can contribute to the empowerment process. Functional literacy, which promotes knowledge and skills needed for the learners\u27 daily lives, raises motivation and participation in actions. Engaged in action which makes their daily lives easier and given opportunities, women find it useful to explore other possibilities to improve their situations. This trend keeps women engaged in action, reflection, and dialogue, enhancing their confidence, self-esteem, and ability to take charge of their situations. Areas where the study showed investigation is needed include: how can positive socio-cultural traditions be built up to strengthen community-based women\u27s groups? What roles and attitudes do men hold regarding women\u27s participation in individual and community development processes? How can raising men\u27s awareness about and participation in family health and sanitation issues be incorporated into the programs? How can a multi-caste group function as a cohesive unit? And how much do issues of caste, as opposed to economic conditions, affect the process

Towards a reconceptualisation of family literacy: exploring religious literacy learning and practices in two communities in Nepal

For many centuries, intergenerational literacy learning outside formal educational institutions has been an important part of everyday family life in Nepal. Yet, educational policy continues to focus on promoting ‘schooled’ approaches to literacy for both adults and children, overlooking informal learning and indigenous literacy practices in many communities today. Through exploring intergenerational religious literacy learning in Nepal, this paper develops new understandings of ‘family literacy’ and proposes how these could be integrated into current educational policy. Ethnographic-style research was conducted with families in a Muslim community, where teenage girls were teaching Urdu literacy to siblings, and in a Gurung community where intergenerational learning had become central to the development of Tibetan Buddhist texts. In these two communities, literacy was viewed as collaborative as well as individual, helping to shape shared identities, languages and values, and challenging instrumental notions of functional literacy that underlie much national and international policy