APPRAISAL REPORT Title of Material: HOW 2B AIDS AWARE Technical Information Type of Materials: Handbook and CD Year of Publication: Handbook (2004) & CD (2006) Target of Material: Students in Secondary Schools and Colleges Country: South Africa Author/Publisher: Tabeisa (Technical and Business Education Initiative in South Africa) Number of Pages: 169 (Handbook) Abstract HOW 2b AIDS AWARE aims at increasing the knowledge of students on HIV and AIDS issues as well as inspiring them to learn from a number of innovative HIV and AIDS awareness projects in Sub Saharan Africa. It consists of a handbook with an attached CD and has as its primary audience, secondary school and college students. The information is presented by 7 students who try to understand HIV and AIDS and how they can contribute to stopping it. The handbook consists of 2 sections. The first section covers issues on HIV and AIDS whiles the second section highlights exciting and innovative AIDS Awareness projects in South Africa, Uganda, Nigeria, La Cote d Ivoire, Zambia and Tanzania. The first section addresses questions such as What is HIV, What does HIV do in our bodies, How does HIV get into our bodies, How do I know if I have HIV, How is HIV linked to AIDS, If I get HIV does it mean I will die, Is there a cure for HIV and How big is the problem of HIV and AIDS. The attached CD is interactive, fun and informative and significantly enhances the learning process. The second section highlights key strategies of HIV Awareness projects such as; using music as a tool to build consensus for HIV projects among youth, engaging young people and empowering them with skills to develop their own stimulating messages, working with the community to identify its own problems and making efforts to solve them, using photographs to highlight problems within a community, etc. These projects are meant to encourage young people and teachers to think creatively and develop effective HIV projects within their contexts. As a supporting material, How 2b AIDS Aware can be a very useful tool in the response to the HIV and AIDS epidemic among students. However, its coverage is limited to salient HIV and AIDS issues and does not include many other related themes. It will be most useful as a supportive learning material for students. 1
OVERVIEW OF APPRAISAL Overview of Appraisal of 'How 2b AIDS Aware' (Handbook & CD) Mean score 5 4.5 4 3.5 3 2.5 2 1.5 1 0.5 0 Mat. Development (Criteria 1) Timeframe & Assessment (Criteria 2) Goal, Obj. & Target (Criteria 3) Basic Inf ormation (Criteria 4) Me, my emotions & others (Criteria 5) Gender Issues (Criteria 6) Human rights & Stigma (Criteria 7) Community & Culture (Criteria 8) Learning Activities (Criteria 9) Layout & Presentation (Criteria 10) KEY Fig 1 Mean score of 3.0 or above (Relatively Good to Outstanding Performance) Mean score of below 3.0 (Average to weak & May Require Improvement) How 2b AIDS Aware (referred to subsequently as the material ) showed a relatively stronger performance on criteria 3, 4 and 10, and a relatively weaker performance on criteria 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 as depicted on Fig 1 (above). Please see attached excel worksheets ( Assessment ) for details. STRENGTHS CRITERIA 3 (Goal, Objectives and Target) Though not explicitly stated, the objectives of the material appear to be effectively captured in the statement The idea of our book is to find out more about HIV and AIDS and to work towards developing our own AIDS awareness projects. The primary audience of this material is students in secondary schools and colleges. The contents are very suitable for the target audience and the strong imagery may increase the appeal to include a younger audience. This material is appropriate for its socio-cultural context, utilising 7 different characters who reflect the cultural diversity of South Africa. CRITERIA 4 (Basic Information) The material provides information in a clear and accurate manner. It addresses relevant HIV and AIDS issues such as; What HIV and AIDS are, Ways of transmission of HIV and Ways of prevention of HIV and AIDS. Additionally the material explores issues such as; How big is the virus, What does HIV do in our bodies and Which cells does HIV target. The relationship between certain high risk behaviours such as kissing and tattooing and HIV & AIDS are explored. The impact of HIV and AIDS on health and the fact that HIV positive persons may look healthy are covered. 2
CRITERIA 10 (Layout and Presentation) The material performed outstandingly on this criterion. It is presented in an attractive manner with appropriate font size and imagery. The presence of a significant number of illustrations and the interactive and intuitive nature of the CD increases the appeal and user-friendliness of this material. It is also reasonably sized and appears durable enough to withstand the robust handling of students and young persons. WEAKNESSES & The material performed relatively weaker on criteria 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9. Please see Fig 1 and attached excel worksheet for mean scores on these criteria. This section of the report will focus on the relatively weaker areas and suggestions and recommendations for improvement CRITERIA 1 (Material dev. & inclusion in prescribed curriculum) It appears this material may not be part of a defined policy framework as this is not stated. It is also unclear if HIV and AIDS education has been integrated into existing official school curricula with allocated time. The eventual use of HIV and AIDS material does not depend only on the quality of the contents alone but also on the institutional support in schools. The material development process does not appear to have been described. First, to increase the likelihood of using this material in school settings, editors and material developers are encouraged. When developing new material, to work together, from the start, with Ministries of education, for the integration of HIV and AIDS education into school curricula with allocated time and ensuring that their material is part of a defined policy framework. This way, teachers and students are more likely to use the material. Tools 1, 2, 3 & 4 of the IBE Manual for the integration of HIV and AIDS education into official school curricula provides useful insights into the process of integrating HIV and AIDS into official curricula. Second, the material may be also improved if its development process is described. Though relevant, most materials do not adequately describe their development process. Describing the material development process improves the material by highlighting the contribution of the multidisciplinary team approach to the support the material receives from stakeholders. It is worth noting that the political aspect of the development process is as important as the technical contents of the material (IBE, 2006). 3
CRITERIA 2 (Timeframe and Assessment) The material does not appear to have time allocated to its chapters and sections and there are no learning assessments prior to initiating the learning process. First, this material may be improved by allocating time to each chapter and section. This is important information for an effective and relevant use of the material in school settings. Tool 5 of the IBE Manual for the integration of HIV and AIDS education in official school curricula provides useful guidelines to facilitate this process. Second, the introduction of learning assessments prior to the initiation of the learning process may improve this material as it provides learners with the opportunity of comparing their knowledge and skills prior to using this material to the same after the learning process. Tool 7 of the IBE Manual for the integration of HIV and AIDS education in official school curricula provides guidelines to facilitate the development of learning assessments covering knowledge, skills, attitudes and behaviours. CRITERIA 5 (Me, my emotions and others) Youth related issues such as managing emotions, self confidence, self esteem, overcoming fears, dealing with peer pressure, alcohol and drugs do not appear to be adequately explored in this material. The material may also be strengthened by the provision of information on counselling support for students. This material may be able to better empower students if tools on managing emotions, building self esteem and self confidence, overcoming fears, resisting peer pressure, acquiring negotiation/refusal skills and understanding the relationship between alcohol/drugs and increased vulnerability to HIV infection are integrated. Sustainable behaviour change is more likely to be achieved when different issues that influence the ability of young persons to make and take decisions are concurrently addressed. 4
CRITERIA 6 (Addressing gender issues) Gender issues are important determinants of the HIV and AIDS epidemic (UNAIDS, 2006). This material appears relatively weaker in its coverage of gender issues. First, the introduction of tools on gender issues may significantly strengthen the support this material provides to students. The inclusion of topics covering issues such as respect and understanding between genders, traditional roles of masculinity and femininity, power relationships between men and women, gender discrimination towards girls and women and most importantly, the relationship between these practices and increased vulnerability to HIV infection may improve the material. Second, the introduction of a How to put on a condom section for the female condom (in the handbook) will significantly improve the quality of this material. CRITERIA 7 (Promoting Human rights & overcoming stigma and discrimination) The contents of this material may be improved with the inclusion human rights issues since they are crucial to reducing stigma, discrimination, social marginalisation and exclusion, all of which increase vulnerability to HIV infection. SUGGESTIONS/RECOMMENDATIONS It is recommended that topics covering universal human rights, children's rights, right to physical integrity, coercion, violence against women and sexual harassment/abuse be introduced into this material. Such topics empower men and women and increase their ability to resist harassment and violence while challenging stigma and discrimination within their contexts. CRITERIA 8 (Community and Culture) This material appears relatively weak in the area of establishing a relationship between HIV & AIDS and the culture and community in which students live. Human behaviour is influenced by the culture of the community. Exploring cultural norms and values and how they impact on the spread of HIV is thus crucial. SUGGESTION/RECOMMENDATIONS First, this material may be improved if it establishes a link/relationship between HIV and AIDS and the culture of the people within the community. By providing tools to explore issues on sexuality, marriage, family, positive cultural practices and negative cultural practices, this material may be improved. Second, it may be important to incorporate tools which encourage mobilization of the community to challenge and 5
overcome stigma and discrimination thereby significantly strengthening community action. CRITERIA 9 (Learning Activities) This material appears to have been presented in a question and answer format. Seven student characters lead the discussions as readers are taken through different aspects of HIV and AIDS. There appears to be no guidelines for the use of participatory learning methods. Instead, students are expected to read the questions and the answers on their own. SUGGESTIONS/RECOMMENDATIONS The learning experience may be considerably improved by introducing guidelines to participatory activities. Participatory learning methods such as games, role plays, group work, creative work and peer teaching may contribute to increasing the involvement of learners and enrich the learning process significantly. Such guidelines may also support teachers who use this material. INTERNAL CONSISTENCY The contents of this material are generally consistent. TRANSFERABILITY AND USEFULLNESS FOR DEVELOPING OWN MATERIAL First, the multicultural composition of the 7 main student characters makes it useable in many different contexts even though the accents on the CD may be slightly different from what exists in other contexts. Second, even though this material does not provide any guidelines to facilitate adapting it to suit different contexts, the style and story-telling approach could be used to develop new material or adapt existing material as it is very hilarious and educating. 6
SPECIAL FEATURES/ADDITIONAL COMMENTS This material is presented as a book and a CD hence to fully appreciate it, users need to have access to PCs. Combining the CD with the book significantly enhances the learning process. The material could be useful for an audience below the level of secondary schools because of the illustrations, imagery and vocals on the CD. Some of the contents may however appear advanced but the main themes should be easily understood. The material presents a valuable collection of effective HIV and AIDS Awareness projects in different nations which inspire; creative thinking, the use of entereducational techniques, the use of participatory decision making methods at all stages in project development, the use of photographs to depict messages, etc. This section is very useful for persons involved in developing HIV and AIDS projects. 7