SITE VISIT - Consultative Group on Early Childhood Care and ...

In many other countries, support has been given to improve educational media to allow teachers
to encourage more positive participation in the classroom or center of learning and focus on
learning. Programs in Bangladesh, Venezuela, Indonesia, Lesotho, Uganda, Cape Verde, Fiji,
and others have received technical assistance to use more multi-channel approaches to increase
their educational access, and improve their learning environment.
IRI and ECD experiences
The first model of IRI for ECD was developed in Bolivia with funding from USAID through the
LearnTech project. In March 1993, a Bolivian organization named ONAMFA and the
LearnTech project agreed to experiment with ways to engage young children in active play, train
caregivers and stimulate early learning activities through IRI methodology. An extensive
audience profile was conducted. While the situation was ripe for a positive early child
development experience, the caregivers did not know what to do. Despite low literacy skills,
little experience learning from the formal media or books, and little concrete knowledge of child
development practice, the caregivers wanted to learn and be professional in their capacity as
education and care providers, but they felt that the knowledge was beyond their reach.
The ONAMFA training staff also recognized they needed tools that were not based on reading
skills and which could help them reach a large and often remote audience. The ECD system was
growing so quickly that the ONAMFA staff was finding it impossible to provide hands-on
instruction to the growing number of caregivers and to provide information to parents and others
who were at a distance.
Using IRI methodology to engage children and foster early child development skills in caregivers
in poor regions made sense for many reasons:
Low literacy skills among women caregivers. Literacy skills of poor women caregivers
are consistently low. But people do not need to read to learn. Using an audio medium such as
radio or audio-cassette gives listeners the option of learning by making the information
accessible. Knowledge is presented through a realistic learning channel which is useful and
digestible.
Active learning techniques can be modeled and practiced. It is not an uncommon sight
to walk into a childcare facility and see children doing almost nothing. IRI offers the possibility
of demonstrating active learning techniques and showing the caregivers how to use simple
organizational techniques, games, songs and other the environment to create a vital early child
development setting.
Both adults and children can be reached. ECD IRI programs are created for two
audiences at once: adult learners and young children. By engaging children in age appropriate
activities, asking the adult caregivers to serve as the guides and then stating explicitly why these
activities are educational and easy to adapt, both audiences are involved and learning actively. It
is at once a children's educational program and a training tool for the adult caregivers.
Early child development practice can be brought down to earth. Typical reactions to
learning early child development theory and practice include: the information is too conceptual, I
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