Across the Global South, most programs promoting adolescent girls’ education and development are grounded in concepts and methods from psychology and communications and give limited attention to constructs and methods from adult education and community development. Collective Transformative Learning (CTL) is an important construct in adult education that promotes community-wide learning and change through an inclusive and active process of dialogue and consensus-building. Developed in Nigeria, CTL embodies the notion that social change requires collective reflection and action (Mejiuni). In Senegal, extensive evaluation of the Girls’ Holistic Development program, based on a CTL framework, reveals strengthened community capacity and social cohesion that has catalyzed change in harmful social norms affecting girls, e.g. child marriage and teen pregnancy.
People-driven solutions Most development programs in the Global South engage communities in discussion of specific needs, perceived by external experts, and encourage them to undertake pre- defined actions to address those issues. Girls’ Holistic Development (GHD) is an example of an approach that challenges communities to identify their own solutions, i.e. people-driven solutions. Key facets of the CTL process used in GHD include: it is inclusive, involving three generations of men and women; it strengthens intergenerational relationships; all activities are based on local cultural roles and values; dialogical and critical thinking methods are used in all activities; and it accords grandmothers a central place in the change process.
Given the severe breakdown in communication in all communities at the outset, GMP identified as the first priority – building trust and communication between community members, essential for open dialogue and learning. GHD activities created spaces for inclusive and participatory interaction between community leaders. Subsequent activities contributed to further strengthening relationships and promoting dialogue between the generations and sexes. With increased social cohesion between community actors, transformative learning activities provided new information and challenged participants to critically reflect on how existing norms and practices could be modified to promote GHD. Community groups identified and planned collective actions to promote those changes. In all cases, communities have undertaken some actions to promote GHD and these have contributed to the process of changing deeply ingrained social norms. A significant conclusion from an extensive evaluation of GHD in 2019-20 is “the main outcome of this intervention is that it has brought community members together, strengthening community ties”. Increased trust, communication and collaboration between community actors has provided the foundation for collective transformative learning to support change for girls.
