DOCUMENT RESUME PS 025 932 ED 413 078 Ilfeld, Ellen M., Ed.; Hanssen, Elizabeth, Ed. AUTHOR TITLE Gender Issues. Consultative Group on Early Childhood Care and Development, INSTITUTION Haydenville, MA. United Nations Children's Fund, New York, NY.; United SPONS AGENCY Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization, Paris (France).; Aga Khan Foundation, London (England).; Bernard Van Leer Foundation, The Hague (Netherlands).; Christian Children's Fund Inc., Richmond, VA.; High/Scope Educational Research Foundation, Ypsilanti, MI.; Academy for Educational Development, Washington, DC. PUB DATE 1997-00-00 83p.; Produced twice annually. NOTE Consultative Group on Early Childhood Care and Development, AVAILABLE FROM 6 The Lope, Haydenville, MA 01039; phone: 413-268-7272; fax: 413-268-7279; e-mail: [email protected]; world wide web: http://www.ecdgroup.com PUB TYPE Collected Works Serials (022) Coordinators' Notebook: An International Resource for Early JOURNAL CIT Childhood Development; n20 1997 EDRS PRICE MF01/PC04 Plus Postage. Early Childhood Education; Females; Feminism; Foreign DESCRIPTORS Countries; Sex Bias; *Sex Differences; Sex Fairness; *Sex Role; Sex Stereotypes; Social Development; *Socialization; *Womens Education *Gender Gap; *Gender Issues IDENTIFIERS ABSTRACT This issue of "Coordinators' Notebook" focuses on gender issues in early childhood. The first article, "Both Halves of the Sky: Gender Socialization in the Early Years," focuses on the arguments that have led to an international call for increased participation of girls in education, an introduction to studies which map young children's experiences, and an overview of the Participatory Learning and Action (PLA) methodology which is a community assessment technique used to gather information. A summary of the findings from the six studies is presented, followed by a discussion of what might be done in the future to increase understanding of gender issues. The second article, "Gender Development and Culture--Excerpts from Studies in Six Countries," (Aicha Belarbi) examines the countries of Morocco, Bolivia, Mali, India, Indonesia, and Jamaica. The excerpts are taken from longer studies which present the experiences and findings from each country's gender socialization studies. The final section of this issue, "Network Notes," presents activities of the secretariat, information on the Save the Children program, UNESCO, High/Scope Foundation, Meetings, publications, videotapes, and the calendar. (SD) ******************************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. ******************************************************************************** Coordinators- - 20,199? Development An International Resource for Early Childhood U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION THE CONSULTATIVE GROUP Office of Educational Research and Improvement ON EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) CARE AND DEVELOPMENT' This document has been reproduced as received from the person or organization originating it. Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction quality. 00 Points of view or opinions stated in this O document do not necessarily represent official OERI position cr policy. 1-4 r-T4 14,Y' AVAILABLE BEST COPY Both Halves of the Sky: Gender Socialization Gender Issues: in the Early Years page 1 Related Resources page 27 from Studies in Gender Development and CultureExcerpts Mali page 38; Six Countries: Morocco page 28; Bolivia page 34; Network Notes Page 57 Jamaica page 52 India page 43; Indonesia page 48; 2 BOTH HALVES OF THE SKY: Gender Socialization in the Early Years JUDITH L. EVANS Women hold up half of the sky. CHINESE PROVERB f Early childhood programmes can make a difference in promoting gender equity. n recent years, considerable international atten- is necessary to step back a moment and consider the tion has focused on the plight of the girl child. In way in which it is defined, as well as the supports for particular, there has been increasing concern and impediments to reaching it. about and interest in promoting greater participa- In most countries, girls and boys are raised from the tion by girls in schooling, since the education of beginning to take on very different roles, and to young girls often lags behind the education of boys, exhibit different characteristics. In some cases, the beginning and reinforcing a long cycle of discrimina- expected behaviours of girls may make them more tion.' This discrimination harms both women and likely to succeed in schooling than boys, in other men, particularly as shifting economic and social fac- cases, the expectations of girls preclude their real par- tors in nearly every society are requiring and result- ticipation in education. Although there is much good ing in a re-definition of individuals' roles at work, at will to address the inequities of opportunities for girls home and in the shared culture. and women to receive basic education within many Girls' successful participation in education is a key societies, it can not be assumed that educated women goal within individual countries' plans for Education will be embraced by their culture or easily take on for All, as well as in the agendas of UNICEF and other new roles. Education can not magically "erase" all gen- major international organizations supporting develop- der inequities or resolve the problems created as tradi- ment efforts. In order to achieve this goal, however, it tional roles disintegrate, and both women and men are left uncertain as to how they can successfully meet their needs. In other words, while girls' participation in education is important, it needs to be addressed I See Women's Education in Developing Countries: Barriers, Benefits within the context of each country's values, goals and edited by Elizabeth M. King and M. Anne Hill. and Policies, childrearing practicesit is necessary to identify the Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1993. gender socialization patterns which will support or property, disability, birth or other status. impede the successful participation of girls and boys In other words, all children have a right to develop (and women and men) in changing societies. to their full potential regardless of gender. Having By the time a child reaches school age, she or he is rights to equity, while being a sufficient reason to pro- firmly rooted in a gender identity, which brings with vide for girl children, is not the only cogent argu- it a whole set of expectations about behaviour and ment that can be made to support greater attention to character. Yet most of the research on gender social- gender. ization does not look at this early, pre-schooling Another argument in support of girls' participation development, nor does most childrearing research in education comes from studies which have found focus on the development of gender traits. In response that education not only benefits the girl, but also soci- to these gaps in our knowledge, the Consultative ety. (Shultz, 1993; King and Hill, 1993) There is a Group on Early Childhood Care and Development positive correlation between each additional year of (CG) coordinated a set of studies looking at gender schooling a girl receives and the health and education socialization of young children in six countries. of her children. For example, from a review of the lit- In this article we will describe the studies conduct- erature, Shultz has concluded the following: ed in 1996, which were designed to give us a prelimi- An added year of maternal education tends to be asso- nary understanding of how these cultures socialize ciated with a fairly constant percentage decline in child their children into gender roles. The studies' intent mortality rates....The reduction in child mortality was to begin to map young children's experiences, and associated with an additional year of mother's school- to identify attitudes, practices and beliefs that would ing is about the same [for rural and urban areas], be likely to impact on children's later development. As between 5 and 10 percent. (1993, pg. 69) a secondary focus, a Participatory Learning and In looking further at the factors that contribute to Action (PLA) methodology was implemented with a decrease in infant mortality rates, Shultz states, communities in an attempt to see how useful PLA "Mother's education explains more of the variation in could be in this process of mapping gender socializa- child mortality than do other variables such as access tion. PLA is a community assessment technique that to health care, cost of health care, or even family has been used to gather information on a wide range income available for health care." (1993, pg 70) Thus, of issues. providing girls with more education has an impact on Following a brief discussion on the arguments that future children's survival. It also benefits society as a have led to an international call for increased partici- whole. As noted by Summers, pation of girls in education, we will present an intro- duction to the studies, and then an overview of the Increased schooling has similar effects on the incomes of PLA process, with special attention to the impact this males and females, but educating girls generates much methodology had on the kind of data that were gen- larger social benefits. Because of what women do with erated. Then a summary of the findings from the six the extra income they earn [they spend it on their chil- studies is presented, followed by a discussion of what dren's health and education], because of the extra lever- might be done in the future to increase our under- age it affords them within the family, and because of standing of gender issues, and how PLA methodology the direct effects of greater knowledge and awareness, might be used as a tool in this endeavor. (in female education has an enormous social impact. and Hill, 1993, pg. vii) King Girls' Successful Accumulating evidence would suggest that efforts Participation in should be made to promote girls' access to education and to ensure that a girl continues her schooling as Education long as possible. Three basic issues relating to this Equity is a primary argument in support of increased have been addressed by the development sector. One participation by girls in schooling. The Convention is girls' access to schooling. The second is retention the degree to which girls remain in school. The third on the Rights of the Child, Part!, Article 2, states that nations are obligated to protect children from any has to do with the quality of the experience and what form of discrimination and to take positive action to is being learned. Considerable effort has gone into the promote their rights. Specifically it states: development of strategies and techniques in relation to all three of these issues. States Parties shall respect and ensure the rights set In countries around the globe, the accessibility issue forth in the present Convention to each child within has been addressed not only by building schools clos- their jurisdiction without discrimination of any kind, er to where children live, but also through such strate- irrespective of the child's or his or her parent's or legal gies as increasing the number of female teachers in guardian's race, colour, sex, language, religion, polit- places where parents do not send their daughters to ical or other opinion, national, ethnic or social origin, school if the teacher is male. To increase retention ' Coordinators' Notebook, Issue zo V EL- Providing a fair start to girls as well as boys. they are more likely to understand the value of and quality, written materials are being reworked to education for their daughter. Also, if the girl has represent boys and girls more equitably and curricu- been released from household chores in order to lum is being redesigned to provide material of greater attend pre-school, parents are more likely to con- interest to girls. Training is aimed at helping teachers tinue that arrangement if they come to value girls' to become more aware of their own gender biases and the way teachers reinforce gender differentiation. attendance at school. These efforts have had only marginal success. One of increasing the probability that girls will enter and remain in the reasons for limited success is that many of the A positive early childhood experi- primary school. efforts address the issue of gender equity at the age ence also helps girls see that they can learn and which girls could enter primary school. This is too reinforces their interest in attending primary school. Research on the Integrated Child late! Development Services (ICDS) programme in India Realizing the need to begin earlier, some countries have created community-based pre-school pro- indicates that girls who have attended the ICDS programme are more likely to both enter primary grammes as a strategy for creating gender equity in school and to continue in it than girls who did not education. These have proved moderately effective in: attend the ICDS programme. (Lal & Wati, 1986) It is not providing a fair start to girls as well as boys. The unusual to find that there is an equal number of providing role models of what women are able to do. great majority of adults working in early child- boys and girls in pre-school programmes. At this hood programmes are women. They provide role entry point into the educational system, boys and models for a young girl in terms of what she might girls appear to be attending on a par with one be able to achieve as an adult. The more status and another. prestige those working in ECCD programmes helping parents better perceive the capabilities of the girl child, have, the more effective they will be in providing When parents see leading to a longer period of schooling. girls with positive role models. that girls are just as capable of learning as boys, 5 L fd `""4 ..-140% - Children are well tracked into gender roles by the time they enter a pre-school. UNICEF/509/Colombia However, simply creating an ECCD programme is boys and girls are raised within many cultures.' Thus, not enough. The benefits of ECCD programmes can the first step is to try to understand more about young only be obtained if they are designed with an under- children's (boys and girls) experiences during the early standing of the culture. When young girls and boys years, and to determine the obstacles to equity. enter the classroom they bring their early socialization While it would be ideal if everyone working in a experiences with them. In most cultures, children are given community had the time and skills to conduct well tracked into socially acceptable gender roles by in-depth studies in order to have a better understand- the time they enter a pre-school. It is critical to have ing of the dynamics within a given setting, the reality a better understanding of the events that have shaped is that most planners and programme people lack the the child during the earliest months and years of life, resources to carry out such studies. They need a way and to be able to answer such questions as: How are to gain some understanding of the culture, not girls and boys raised? What does each child bring through an outsider's assessment of community needs, with her or him as a foundation for learning and but from the perspective of the community itself. The development? What type of psycho-social stimulation Participatory Learning and Action (PLA) methodolo- has the child received, and what type of socialization gy, while requiring training of the implementation has he or she undergone? What are the cultural vari- team, offers a good tool to help communities map ables that play a part in determining whether or not a their interests and values. Like any research method, it girl will go to school, and what she will seek to gain requires skill and sensitivity on the part of the imple- from the experience? What do parents andthe com- mentors. However, its advantage lies in its ability to munity feel they will lose and/or gain through the empower communities to identify their own concerns, girl's (and boy's) education? goals, and even biases, and to practice the process of The disciplines of cross-cultural psychology, addressing them collaboratively. anthropology, developmental psychology, and medi- cine, among others, have brought to light the ways in Background on which cultures socialize their children, and the values, the Studies attitudes and beliefs that are brought to bear in the raising of children. Research on childrearing practices Through a grant to the Consultative Group on Early indicates that there are differences in how children are Childhood Care and Development (CC)', studies of raised from one culture to another, and between how gender socialization during the early years were fund- 2 See Coordinators' Notebook, issue #15, on Childrearing Practices. 3 From USAID, and with the participation of the Education Development Center (EDC), the InterAmerican Development Bank (IDB), Save the Children (SC) and UNICEF. Coordinators' Notebook, Issue 20 PLA (Participatory ed in six countries: Morocco, Mali, Bolivia, India, Indonesia and Jamaica.' Funds for the study allowed several activ- Learning and Action) ities to take place. Researchers began by conducting a PLA represents a step in the evolution of a methodol- literature review (inclusive of anthropological, psy- ogy that began in the 1970s as RA (Rapid Appraisal). chological, sociological, health and nutrition, and edu- The technique was developed by Robert Chambers as cation studies) related to gender socialization in their a way of gaining a timely, relevant and cost-effective country. While in many of the countries there exists a assessment of conditions within a community. This body of knowledge related to gender differences for assessment was then used in the design of rural devel- children from primary-school age and upward, only a opment projects. The technique drew from methods few studies yielded information about gender-specific of participatory research, applied anthropology, and socialization practices for very young children. The field research on farming systems, and soon became information gathered was shared at a workshop held known as RRA (Rapid Rural Appraisal). While the in April 1996. The literature review revealed many local community was an active participant in the early questions that need to be addressed in order to have a forms of RRA, the technique was basically created for better understanding of gender differentiation during the use of outsiders who came and gathered informa- the early years. tion, then took it away to design what they saw as an To gather this information, the researchers worked appropriate project. Over time, more and more con- together to develop a PLA (Participatory Learning and trol for the process was shifted to the community, and Action) Protocol, that was then used in all six coun- it then became known as PRA (Participatory Rural tries to gather information in relation to the gaps in Appraisal). More recently, as there has been a shift knowledge.' Some of the researchers had used this from simply using the technique as a diagnostic tool methodology in previous studies; for others it was a new technique. The researchers did field work to using it in actually developing a project with com- munity participation, it has become known as PLA between May and December of 1996. Where possi- (Participatory Learning and Action). When it is done ble, they worked with local non-governmental agen- well, those from outside the community come as cies that were already active in the communities learners, conveners, catalysts, and facilitators of the selected for inclusion in the study. This had several community's definition of needs. Then they work with advantages. First, the individuals coming into the vil- the community to design a plan of action to meet lage were not complete strangers; the NGO staff were those needs. known to the community. Second, there was greater Within PLA, various methods are used to assist potential for follow-up with an action plan, since the communities in 'telling their own story'. These meth- local NGO would continue to work with the commu- ods come from social anthropology. They include a nity. Third, participation in the study helped raise the mapping of the community (housing, health facilities, local NGO's awareness of gender issues. Once data were gathered and analyzed, the schools, churches/mosques, water sources, etc.), focus groups, semi-structured interviews, diagrams and pic- researchers involved in the study had an opportunity tures, time lines (local history, seasonal diagraming), to share their results with each other. This took place at a week-long workshop held in Washington D.C., matrices, ranking of variables, as well as direct obser- January 20-24, 19976. During the workshop, each vation. The time frame for carrying out these activities varies, but the process is most commonly carried out researcher presented the results of her or his study, in one to three weeks. The best results are achieved both in terms of the data gathered, and in assessing when a multi-disciplinary team is created, with each the effectiveness of the PLA methodology. There was then a general discussion and the group jointly individual bringing a different perspective to the derived a set of conclusions. study. (See inset on page 6 for brief descriptions of the techniques used.) In sum, the project was designed to do two things: to assess the use of PLA as a process for gathering data on early childhood experiences, and to gather data on gender socialization that could be used for the pur- poses of programme planning. The studies provided rich data on both. 4 Within the countries, the number of communities that were studied varied: in Morocco, Mali, and Jamaica, one community was selected for study. In Bolivia, two communities were studied; in India four communities were studied, and in Indonesia the researcher analyzed five pre-existing data sets rather than using the PLA protocol. 5 Eileen Kane assisted in the process. As a reference, we used her book, Seeing for Yourself; Research Handbook for Education in Africa. Girl's Washington, DC: Economic Development Institute of the World Bank, 1995. 6 This workshop was funded by ABEL2 through EDC with funds from AID/HRD. The following activities are taken from the Protocol created by our team of researchers. The Protocol is an adaptation of the one developed by Eileen Kane for But Can She Eat Paper and Pencil?, for UNICEF Eritrea (1996). The questions and methods below are distilled to give readers a flavour of the activities. To implement them skill- fully it is important to have training in the use of PLA methodology, and to adapt the methods to the particular community's interests, communication style, literacy level, and self-awareness. There is a logical flow to these activities, from the general to the specific, with each progressive task building greater group trust and sharing. However, you may not need to use each activity in every setting. 1. Community Map Using a clear space on the ground or on a floor, invite people to create a map of their community. A good way to start is to draw the main road or some other important feature and then to hand over the stick to the community to draw the map themselves. Once people have drawn in important land- marks, resources, and houses, they can use stones or other markers to identify who lives where and who does what. One person on the team then acts as a "map recorder" to transfer the data to paper, a copy of which is given to the community. 2. Well-being (Card Sort) Write the names of (or symbols for) each family on cards. Gathering a small group of people from the community, tell them your interest is in finding out whether people have a comfort- able and secure life in the community. Read out the names on the cards (about five at a time) and ask them to determine, "Who would be the most comfortable and secure, and who would be least?" Continue this sorting process, asking if there are four or five groups that might be created. Invite your discussion group to come up with names for each of their groups/categories, then discuss what people are like in each group, what makes them alike, and what makes them different. 3. Life Stages (Time Lines) Draw a line on the ground (or a culturally appropriate symbol for the life span; it might be a circle or some other form). Put in some age markers, such as "birth, before school, youth, young adult, older adult, elder, end of life". (Make sure they are age categories that make sense in that culture.) Invite people in your community group to mark important stages or turning points that people go through and dis- cuss them briefly. Then create a time line (circle, etc.) for children, from birth to approximately six years of age, and encourage the group to identify key markers in each age period. Use this activity to invite commu- nity members to identify and name stages of young children's development as they perceive them, to identify the characteristics of each stage, and to look at both variations among children, as well as the ways the stages are similar and different for girls and boys. Record their observations, then conduct a Focus Group (see item #9 below) to verify the observations, make changes, note exceptions and explore the implications of their data. 4. What Promotes Well-Being? (Comparison Activity) Showing two pictures, one of a child who appears to be healthy, happy and active, and a second of a child who is sickly, thin and appears to lack energy, ask the community group, "How are these children different?" and "What does this one (the sickly child) need in order to be more like this one (the healthy child)?" Out of this discussion, create a list of things that children need in order to flourish (using symbols in non-literate groups). Have the group rank each of these needs, most important to least. Then ask the group to address the needs in relation to boys and girls: "With each of these needs, who is more likely to get them met, the boy or the girl?" Group members can allocate 10 stones for each item, dividing them between girls and boys. A follow-up discussion can focus on the question, "Given these needs, how is each one met?" Group members can note next to each need the answers to these questions: "Who satisfies this need?" and "Who is responsible for meeting these needs?" 5. What Children Need to Know (Focus Group Disdussion) Convening groups that are appropriate to the culture, either mixed gender, single gender, mixed ages or peer groups (or all of these), explore the ques- tion: "What do children need to know?" Symbolize/record all suggestions and comments. With each response, ask group members to identify whether girls or boys need to know this more, less, or the same. They might weigh each quality by allocating 1-10 stones to it, and then do it for girls, and again for boys. Once the group has generated its lists, invite participants to select the 6- 10 things it is most important for boys to know, and the 6- S EST COPY AVAILABLE UfS Coordinators' Notebook, Issue zo 10 things that girls should know, and then rank order the items if they can. A follow-up activity is to "inter- view the matrix" created from the first comparison by asking the question, "Who helps boys learn these things?" and "Who helps girls learn these things?" Again, invite the group to discuss, weigh and rank their ideas. The phrase "interview the matrix" refers to examining the matrix and adding a new column or row to deep- en the information. Thus, once you have created a baseline matrix, you can expand it by conducting a fol- low-up discussion (often one that goes into more depth or adds a new dimension of information). Then you can add a new column or row to the matrix, and fill in the extra information. For example, after creating a matrix that provides a rank order of what boys need to know, you might interview the matrix by adding a column to show who is responsible for teaching boys those things. An example comes from India. In re- sponse to the question of what boys and girls needed to know, the group generated separate lists and rank ordered the items, beginning with what was most important. After that they interviewed the matrix by an- swering the question: "Who teaches boys these things?" and "Who teaches girls these things?" The results are presented in the matrix that follows: WHAT BOYS NEED TO KNOW WHO TEACHES THEM Mother Father Brother/Sister Speak well Learn to read and write Give respect to elders Good behaviour/relationships Farming Preparing cattle feed Cattle grazing learns by himself 0 Help parents in work Pooja How to eat food/wash/clean Drive a tractor WHAT GIRLS NEED TO KNOW WHO TEACHES THEM Mother Father Brother/ Sister Speak well To cook well Recognize and respect others Helping in the housework Pooja Keep clean Sing bhajan (religious song) Have a good character Good relationship with in-laws Farming Help in care of siblings Alphabets, counting, poems, songs How to go to shop for purchases 6. Characteristics of Children 5-6 years of age (Creating a Chart) Beginning with a group dis- cussion of the question, "What are children years of age like?", the objective is to get an idea of what the 5-6 community thinks young children are like, how they should behave, and what is done to socialize chil- dren to the appropriate behaviours. Have someone record in words or symbols the various suggestions. Using 10 stones for each item, group members can rank how true each characteristic is for girls and boys. Then, a second activity is to explore, for each gender, "What are the characteristics of "good" and "bad" chil- dren?" It is useful to focus on one gender at a time. "What is a good girl like?" and "What is a bad girl like?" Then items can be rank ordered within each list, and the two lists can be compared. A third activity is to explore rewards and punishments. Starting with the question, "When are children praised?", help the group to make a chart, listing the responses in the left column, and comparing, using 10 stones, whether boys or girls are more likely to get praised for this activity. Follow up by interview- ing the matrix: "Who is most likely to give praise and how?" A similar matrix can be created addressing the ques- tion of "When are children punished?" 7. Daily Rounds (Small Group Interview) The objective is to get an understanding of what chil- dren do during the day and who is responsible for them during that time. This small group interview can be done with 6-year-olds, as well as with adults or youth. Identifying a child approximately 4 years of age in the community, ask, "What kinds of thing would a girl 's age do during the day? What does she do when she first gets up? What does she do next?", etc. Beginning with the time children usually wake up, create a time chart, listing activities in relation to each time of day. Invite the group to list possible caregivers or people responsible for that 4-year-old. Then, noting caregivers across the top of the matrix, and activities of the four-year-old down the left hand side, give the group 20 markers for each activity to decide which caregivers are most responsible for each moment of the four-year-old's day. A separate matrix can be created for four-year-old boys, four- year-old girls, six-year-old boys, and six-year-old girls. 8. Caregiver/Early Childhood Program Observations (Observation Checklist) This activity helps you to identify the amounts and types of interactions between teachers/caregivers and boy and girl children. Are boys responded to differently than girls? Are they talked to in different ways? Use a check- list form that has across the top:"teacher listening to boy"; "teacher listening to girl"; "teacher talking to boy"; "teacher talking to girl". Include some categories of talk: "teaching/explaining"; "asking a ques- tion7praising a child"; "verbally punishing a child". Then, use this form for a given time block when the teacher is interacting with the children. If you have longer observation time, you can actually track how much time during the day the teacher is interacting with children. At 30-second intervals, note what the teacher is doing (talking, listening, to whom and how) across a single line of your form. Simply tick what is happening, then jot down any comments you might want to add. At the end of the observation block, you will have a chart showing roughly the range and nature of interactions. It is useful to do this exer- cise at different 10-minute blocks of time during the day to get a clear picture of both the type and amount of adult-child interaction. 9. Follow-up Activities (Focus Groups and Key Informant Interviews) Using the matrices, lists, charts, maps, and observations generated in other activities, it is useful to follow up by working with focus groups and/or key informants. Focus groups are not simply question and answer sessions. They are a set of carefully chosen key issues (that emerged from the community's participation), that are presented to a group which is in some way homogeneous. The group then discusses the issues, rather than simply answering a set of questions from the interviewer. Focus groups allow you to gain perspective on an issue from sub-groups in the communityolder women, younger women, children, elders, etc. Key informants are individuals who may have an interesting or unusual perspective to sharebecause they are older and have been around a long time, because they are the exception to the rule, because people mention them as leaders or outcasts, etc. (Children and youth, too, make interesting key informants.) Asking them to comment on or explain some of the results of earlier exercises often yields insights and deeper under- standing of the culture and community practices. 1.0