Educational innovations and their adoption: the case of gender awareness in rural Swaziland.
Date
2008-07-09T08:48:11Z
Authors
Manana, Tibekile A.
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Abstract
ABSTRACT
Despite initiatives by the Swaziland government in conscientising the public about equal
participation of women and men in development issues, most women especially in rural
areas, do not attribute their economic problems or lack of economic advancement to
gender inequality. The aim of this research was to find out factors that contribute to
gender awareness with the aim of improving gender awareness adoption that could result
in gender related behavioral change. The research used illuminative evaluation methods
to understand the gender awareness programme of the Council of Swaziland Churches.
The study revealed that although the Council of Swaziland Churches has contributed
positively towards raising gender awareness especially amongst its member churches, the
gap between cultural practice discourse and legal and political discourse has contributed
negatively towards gender adoption. The study argues that since gender is embedded in
culture, the dialogic approach to teaching and learning is favored over confrontational
approaches.