Grandmothers’ Developmental Expectations for Early Childhood in Botswana (original) (raw)
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Child rearing practices of the San communities in Botswana: potential lessons for educators
AlterNative: An International Journal of Indigenous Peoples, 2018
Several studies conducted among the San communities in Botswana have attributed failure to progress in school by the San children to inappropriate languages of instruction, insensitivity of the school culture and curriculum to their culture and learning styles. These studies have not really looked at all the contextual issues that influence child behaviour and development to the extent that they achieve their learning status. The aim of this study was therefore to investigate San’s child-rearing practices and how they transmit their cultural practices to their children. Data were gathered qualitatively through narratives, focus group discussions and interviews. The results revealed that the San are yearning for an educational system that is inclusive of their cultural practices and language, as well as having San teachers in their schools.
BMJ Global Health
IntroductionEffective stimulation and responsive caregiving during the first 2 years is crucial for children’s development. By age 3–4 years, over 40% of children in sub-Saharan Africa fail to meet basic cognitive or socioemotional milestones, but there are limited data on parenting and childcare practices. This study, conducted to inform the design of a mass media intervention, explored practices, perceptions, motivators and obstacles to childhood development-related practices among parents and caregivers of children aged 0–2 years in rural Burkina Faso.MethodsWe performed two rounds of six focus groups with 41 informants in two villages, using an adapted version of the Trials of Improved Practices methodology. These first explored beliefs and practices, then introduced participants to the principles and benefits of early childhood development (ECD) and provided illustrative examples of three practices (interactive ways of talking, playing and praising) to try with their children. ...
The challenges of change: a tracer study of San preschool children in Botswana
2002
This report details findings of a study undertaken during 1993-1995 in the Ghanzi District of Botswana to ascertain the progress of the San children in primary school, comparing children who attended preschool to those who did not. The report also describes the Bokamoso Preschool Programme, started in 1986. Data for the study were collected through interviews with San parents and questionnaires and interviews with primary school teachers. Findings focus attention on the difficulties of the San people in responding to current demands that they earn a livelihood through agriculture rather than through traditional hunting and gathering practices. San people have found it difficult to understand and adjust to the formal system of education in which children are often sent to boarding schools far from their parents. The main findings deal with the lack of mother-tongue teaching and materials in the primary schools, the lack of cultural understanding, and the system of corporal punishment in the schools. The report concludes with 13 recommendations for improving the chances of success for San children entering the formal education system. An epilogue adds further recommendations made by the San themselves and general recommendations for governments and nongovernmental organizations in the area of education. Two appendices contain the tracer study questionnaire and additional data tables. (Contains 26 references.) (KB) Contents Chapter one Chapter two Chapter three Chapter four Chapter five Chapter six Chapter seven Epilogue Bibliography Appendix One Appendix Two Foreword I would first like to thank the staff of the Bokamoso Preschool Programme who participated in the collection of information for this tracer study during 1994 and 1995, adding the extra work into their normal working day: Gaolatlhe Thupe, Maithamako Keakopa and Qgoma Qhomatcaa were the main interviewers. They were guided in the process by Nomtuse Mbere, then working with SNV Netherlands, who acted as consultant for Bokamoso. Members of the 1994-1995 Advisory Board of Bokamoso assisted in various ways, with practical assistance in the further collection and analysis of data as well as preparation of the report. Coby Visser and Beppie Wessels volunteered many hours in collecting additional data as needed. UNICEF Botswana provided the funding for the extra field work and the printing of the initial report, and especially Philip Kgosana gave editorial assistance and general advice. Dan Chatman from Kuru Development Trust, my mother, Pollie Jerling, and Paul van Hoof (SNV Netherlands) gave editing and editorial assistance, and Jan Wessels helped to analyse the statistics. Frank van Bfissel (from SNV, then District Officer Lands, Ghanzi District Council) provided much demographic information for the background to the areas in which the study was done. The Education Officer in Ghanzi in 1995, Mr Nkete, as well as all the teachers and principals at the various primary schools in the district, are commended for their patience and kind assistance in providing information about dropouts and school statistics. I would also like to thank Mr Kelekwang at the Ministry of Education, Dr Lucy Mafela from the University of Botswana, and Mr Norman Motsoge, Education Officer in Ghanzi, for their assistance in providing information for the appendix. Without the enthusiastic participation of various preschool teachers in the settlements, as well as the parents and children who were interviewed, this report would not have been possible and would not have been worthwhile. May their willingness to share their lives and information bring some dividends to them and their children. Willemien le Roux 11 Bernard van Lee Gilossary/abbreviations Foundation ARADP Accelerated Remote Area Development Plan BDO Bushmen Development Office Bokamoso 'future' in Setswana the name was chosen for the programme in the early 1990s by trainee teachers CKGR
Early Childhood Care and Education in Botswana: A Necessity That Is Accessible to Few Children
Creative Education, 2013
Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programs are essential because they boost children's perceptual, physical, mental, linguistic, emotional, social and intellectual development. Despite the benefits of ECCE, such programs are accessed by just a handful of children in the context of Botswana. Hence a majority of children who are eligible for ECCE programs tend to miss out on the benefits of such programs. The purpose of this paper is threefold. First, it provides brief background information about the development of ECCE in the country. Second, it discusses why and how little attention has been paid to ECCE in the country. Third, it highlights implications of excluding many children from ECCE. The author concludes by making several suggestions that could go a long way to ensure that children eligible for ECCE have access to ECCE programs of good quality.
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South African Journal of Communication Disorders, 1994
The aim of this study was to describe the caregiver-child interaction in a South African rural village. A social interactional approach was adopted and a triangulation of methods was used. The interaction of nine caregiver-child dyads was observed during a semi-structured play situation, and the caregivers were interviewed concerning their beliefs about, and attitudes towards their child's communication. Interactions were rated according to an interactional profile and common themes found during the interviews, were identified. Interview results showed that although the majority of caregivers assigned importance to interacting and playing with children, their reported actions were not congruent with this. Caregivers played a dominant role during the social play interactions. Support was found for the utilisation of the social interactional approach and a triangulation of methods. Results obtained have important implications for the South African speech-language pathologist.
Grandmaternal and maternal ethnotheories about early child care
Journal of Family Psychology, 2008
Parenting ethnotheories represent an organized set of ideas about parents, children, and development that are shared by members of cultural groups. Because these ideas and beliefs reflect cultural models and serve as representational frameworks for parenting strategies, they need to change with historical time. To analyze these changes, the authors interviewed mothers and grandmothers of 3-month-old infants in 4 different cultural environmentsurban German middle-class families (41 mothers, 22 grandmothers), urban Indian middleclass families (36 mothers, 12 grandmothers), rural Cameroonian Nso families (29 mothers, 20 grandmothers), and urban Cameroonian Nso families (28 mothers, 12 grandmothers)-in regard to their ideas about infant care. The interviews were analyzed according to content and discourse style. The results reveal that there is not only transmission of parental beliefs from one generation to the next but also variation in adaptation to changing environments. Although the global trend toward more independent cultural models of parenting is confirmed, the magnitude of change varies across the different cultural environments.
African study monographs. …, 2001
Botswana has embraced the idea of universal provision of basic education to all of its young citizens on the basis of right. This has put a tremendous pressure on the education sector to improve access to schooling. As a result, over one hundred and fifty additional schools built during the period between 1985 and 1995 as part of this effort. However, studies conducted in the latter part of the 1980's and the National Commission on Education point out the fact that about 17% of school going children remain outside school. These children reported as missing from school are the children of the country's Remote Area Dweller (RAD) communities most of whom are the Basarwa, the indigenous minority ethnic hunter-gatherer social groups in Botswana. Basarwa comprise a distinct and heterogeneous socio-cultural group whose economic lifestyle and culture differ from that of the dominant Tswana groups. This socio-cultural dislocation also comes into surface in the classroom and is one of the main causes of Basarwa children's continued stay away from the classroom. The classroom in this case becomes an arena of intercultural conflicts. These conflicts inter alia take the form of exclusion of language, traditions and cultural world-view of the children of minorities in the pedagogic process. Teachers also transport into the classroom a baggage of cultural and personal attitudes which is not supportive to the learning of these children. The study suggests a community based teacher induction process and a teaching approach which will attempt to accommodate both the learners language and cultural world-view in the classroom. This approach follows the empowerment perspectives to teaching and learning where parents have some power and control on what their children learn and the culture, language and experiences of children are central to the classroom teaching and learning process. What takes place in the classroom then becomes a culturally mediated process.
Caregivers' knowledge regarding early childhood development in Soshanguwe, South Africa
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A child's caregiver holds the key for successful screening by providing the health professional with accurate information. After delivery of a baby, every mother receives a growth chart that provides a guideline to normal development. Caregivers' competency might be influenced by their macro-social and economic environment. The purpose of the study was to determine caregivers' knowledge regarding early childhood development in a poverty stricken area of Soshanguve. If a lack of knowledge should be identified and be addressed, caregivers' enhanced knowledge of childhood development could enhance early detection and effective treatment of developmental problems. This might help to enhance these children's physical and emotional and intellectual accomplishments throughout their lives. The objectives were to explore caregivers' knowledge of the Road to Health Chart, their understanding of early childhood development and their perceptions regarding the treatment o...