Educational innovations and their adoption: the case of gender awareness in rural Swaziland.

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.