Opening Minds, Improving Lives

Erin Murphy-Graham

Description

Juanita was seventeen years old and pregnant with her first child when she began an activity that would "open" her mind. Living in a remote Garifuna village in Honduras, Juanita had dropped out of school after the sixth grade. In 1996, a new educational program, Sistema de Aprendizaje Tutorial (Tutorial Learning System or SAT), was started in her community. The program helped her see the world differently and open a small business.

Empowering women through education has become a top priority of international development efforts. Erin MurphyGraham draws on more than a decade of qualitative research to examine the experiences of Juanita and eighteen other women who participated in the SAT program. Their narratives suggest the simple yet subtle ways education can spark the empowerment process, as well as the role of men and boys in promoting gender equality.

Drawing on indepth interviews and classroom observation in Honduras and Uganda, MurphyGraham shows the potential of the SAT program to empower women through expanded access and improved quality of secondary education in Latin America and Africa. An appendix provides samples of the classroom lessons.

Sujets

• Women's Studies
• Latin American Studies
• Gender Studies
• Social Science
• Sociologie, société et politique
• Sociology
• Education
• Anthropology

Informations

• Publié par: Vanderbilt University Press
• Date de parution: 15 mai 2012
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780826518309
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

OPENINGMINDS, IMPROVINGLIVES

E D U C A T I O N A N D W O M E N ’ S E M P O W E R M E N T I N H O N D U R A S

E R I N  M U R P H Y -G R A H A M

Opening Minds, Improving Lives

OPENING MINDS, IMPROVING LIVES Education and Women’s Empowerment in Honduras

Erin Murpy-Graam

Vanderbilt University Press Nasville

©  by Vanderbilt University Press Nasville, Tennessee 75 All rigts reserved First printing 

his book is printed on acid-free paper. Manufactured in te United States of America

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data on file

LC control number  LC classification LC.M7  Dewey class number 7.

ISBN 97--5-- (clot) ISBN 97--5-9- (paper)

In memory of

Eleanor Cavanaugh Murphy, 1923–2009 Virginia Hunter Ring, 1917–2010

With joy that you are free from the fetters of this world

Contents

 Acknowledgments

 Introduction

 On Gender, Education, and Empowerment

 SAT as Empowering Education

 “SAT Came to My Feet, It Came to My Doorstep”:Understanding te Context of SAT Implementation in Honduras

4 “My Mind Is Different”:Developing Confidence and Critical Perspectives troug SAT

5 Taking Life by te Reins:Steps toward Self- and Social Betterment

 Beind Closed Doors:Examining te Influence of Education on Women’s Intimate Relationsips

7 Conclusion

 Epilogue: SAT in Africa (wit Josep Lample)

 Appendix: Examples from SAT/PSA Textbooks

 Notes

 Works Cited

 Index

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Acknowledgments

T   I volunteered to participate in a two-week evaluation of te SAT—Sistema de Aprendizaje Tutorial(Tutorial Learn- ing System)—program in Honduras. My assignment during te evalua- tion was to explore te ways in wic te SAT program empowered women. his took me muc, muc longer tan two weeks, and many people elped along te way.  First, I am deeply indebted to te women and teir families wo agreed to participate in tis researc. hey trusted me wit teir stories, and I ope I ave faitfully sared teir views and experiences. hey wel- comed me into teir omes, and tey believed enoug in te importance of tis project tat tey were willing to sare sensitive personal informa- tion tat igligts te complexity and contradictions of te empower- ment process. Gracias por las tajadas, las siestas en sus amacas, las risas que compartimos, y más que todo su confianza y amistad.I especially tank Leonidas homas and Lourdes Lino Mejia for letting us stay in teir extra room and feeding us many delicious meals.  hank you to te members of BASED-UK, particularly Micael Ric- ards and Geeta Gandi Kingdon, wo supported my first visit to Hon- duras, and to Marcia Bernbaum, te team leader of te first SAT evalua- tion. he staff at Bayan, particularly Soeil Dooki, Alejandro Martínez, and Ricardo Edén, spent countless ours answering my questions to elp me understand te istory of SAT in Honduras. I am also grateful to te Dooki family for osting me on multiple occasions during my stays in La Ceiba, and for welcoming and protecting me like a fourt daugter. I tank Azarnoos Dooki for transcribing te interviews.  I would like to tank faculty members I worked wit at te Harvard Graduate Scool of Education, including Fernando Reimers, Suzanne Grant Lewis, Pedro Noguera, and Carol Weiss. I am particularly tankful to Carol, wose mentorsip and friendsip were a sustaining feature of my final two years in graduate scool. My dear friends from te Harvard Graduate Scool of Education, Sonya Anderson, Dorinda Carter, Allison

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