[NLA] ILD, Women, and Literacy

[Thomas Sticht]

Celebrating International Literacy Day, September 8, 2002

Teach the Mothers and Reach The Children

Thomas G. Sticht
International Consultant in Adult Education

Traditionally, nations have emphasized the education and literacy
development of boys and men. The failure to focus resources on girls and
women shows itself in the international literacy statistics compiled by
UNESCO. From 1980 to 1995, the illiterate population of men fell from 327
to 318 million, while the numbers of illiterate women grew from 551 to 565
million (Aksornkool, 2001).

Typically, providing educational services to adults stimulates a greater
interest on the part of parents, especially mothers, to become involved
with the education of their children. Research by Wider Opportunities for
Women (WOW) in Washington, DC studied the effects of women's participation
in workforce basic skills training on (1) their behavior toward their
children, (2) their interactions with teachers and participation in school
activities, and (3) their children's behavior in school (Van Fossen &
Sticht, 1991).

WOW trains welfare mothers in the work skills needed for higher paying, 
non-traditional jobs for women, such as carpentry. WOW also teaches women
reading and mathematics skills using materials from the jobs for which
they are training. In their research on how a mother's education affects
behavior with her children, they found that as a result of their
participation in the job training and basic skills programs mothers spent
more time with their children talking about school, helping with homework,
reading  with their children, going to and helping with school activities
and they talked more with teachers about their children's education. The
WOW mothers also  reported that their children liked and attended school
more, and they showed improvements in their school grades,
test scores,and reading.

Research for UNESCO (Sticht & McDonald, 1990) illustrates the effects of
girl's and women's education on children and their educational development
at various stages from before birth to the school years:

Before Pregnancy
Better educated girls/women show higher economic productivity; better
personal health care; lower fertility rates; and hence they produce
smaller families. The latter, in turn, is related to the preschool
cognitive development of children and their subsequent achievement in
school.

During Pregnancy and at Birth
Better educated women provide better pre-natal care; produce more full
term babies; provide better post-natal care and this results in babies
with fewer learning disabilities.

Before Going To School
Better educated women produce better children's health care; better
cognitive, language, and pre-literacy development; and better preparation
for schoolwork.

During The School Years
Better educated women produce higher participation rates in schooling;
better management of homework; better advocacy for children's education
and negotiation of school/child conflicts; and they produce children who
achieve higher levels of education and literacy.

All this suggests that this year when the world celebrates International
Literacy Day, we should pay special attention to the need for resources to
provide literacy educational opportunities to the millions of illiterate
women who will bring the next generation of children into the world. We
should remember that, when we teach the mothers, we reach the children!

References
Aksornkool, N. (2001). Literacy: A key to Empowering Women Farmers. Paris:
United National Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization.

Sticht, T. & McDonald, B. (1990). Teach the Mother and Reach the Child:
Literacy Across Generations. Geneva: UNESCO International Bureau of
Education.

Van Fossen, S. & Sticht, T. (1991, July). Teach the Mother and Reach the
Child: Results of the Intergenerational Literacy Action Research Project
of Wider Opportunities for Women. Washington, DC: Wider Opportunities for
Women.

Additional Resources
Mason, J. & Kerr, B. (1992). Literacy transfer from parents to children in
the preschool years. In: T. Sticht,  M. Beeler, & B. McDonald (Eds.) The
Intergenerational Transfer of Cognitive Skills. Vol. II: Theory and
Research in Cognitive Science. Norwood, NJ: ABLEX.

Sticht, T. (1983, February). Literacy and Human Resources Development at
Work: Investing in the Education of Adults to Improve the Educability of
Children. Professional Paper 2-83. Alexandria, VA: Human Resources
Research Organization. (ERIC No. ED 262 201)

Sticht, T., Beeler, M., & McDonald, B. (Eds.) (1992). The
Intergenerational Transfer of Cognitive Skills. Vol. I: Programs, Policy,
and Research Issues. Norwood, NJ: ABLEX.

Contact:
Tom Sticht
tsticht at aznet.net


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