Training of reading data with children
The National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda (NISR) and its partners recognize that achieving the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030 will require successful advocacy which will heavily rely on how data and information are communicated, presented, and shared among the public. “Reading Data with Children” is a departure from the NISR’s data dissemination approach that recognizes children and the young population as change agents, children are able to communicate data with family, peers, and community members. In this initiative, selected social and economic data from Integrated Household Living Conditions Survey, Rwanda Demographic and Health Survey, Labor force Survey, and other sources, are presented and visualized in a child friendly approach to have an interactive discussion about data among children. The process does not only generate rich information which feeds into the official data analysis but also educates and empowers children in expressing their views and needs in fulfilling their rights to development. At the same time, children’s voices can serve as a powerful advocacy tool for flagging the government’s accountability in the human development process.
In collaboration with UNICEF and Rwanda Education Board (REB), NISR Training Center and Data Science Campus have developed a Teacher’s Interactive Discussions Guide to read data with children in the classroom, and series of training has to be provided to high school teachers to effectively facilitate usual classroom discussions with relevant official statistics as facts. It should be noted that the training is very empowering for children as they are allowed to speak out their vivid life experience without pressure from parents, teachers, and other caregivers, and with very little political influence. Building on this success, the NISR Training center is encouraged to see that the use of the teacher’s discussion guide will reach out to more children for discussions on child rights, especially those living in remote areas.
Target groups:
- About 50 children between 12 and 17 participate every year, boasting equal rates of girls and boys, including some children with disabilities. Children are fascinated by Rwanda’s Millennium Development Goal achievements, and by reading statistics for the first time. They absorb key messages quickly, such as the importance of education for girls and the correlation between educated mothers and good healthcare practices.
- High School Teachers are trained in Teacher Discussion Guide for Reading Data with Children in a Class Room. Participants are expected to be teaching, mathematics, statistics, social studies, entrepreneurship, general studies, etc.
- Relevant NGOs
Content
Relevant indicators from Surveys and censuses are selected for a discussion. For easy understanding and visibility, each slide contains not more than two graphs or maps. Those tables and graphs are accompanied by child-friendly illustrations which are produced by a local artist. A key message which helps children to grasp the major idea derived from the data is included in each slide. It is a powerful approach to contextualize equity issues by disaggregating data by geography, sex, wealth, etc.
For a well-structured child rights discussion, a discussion guide that contains a set of elaborated questions was developed. Typically, each discussion slide is accompanied by indicator definitions, a description of the table/graph, a key message, and a few questions.
Learning objectives for children:
Reading data with children offers a unique qualitative data analysis from the child perspective and hence, was ideal too;
- Understand and interpret data through child lens;
- Shed light on the prevailing but hidden issues that exist in the community and the environment which is surrounding children;
- Contextualize the data within the child rights framework;
- Relate data analysis to children’s life experience;
- Generate unique analysis which may not be picked by adults’ data analysis.
Learning objectives for high school teachers
- Understanding statistical concepts and the ability to facilitate classroom discussions using data
- Ability to use relevant methods:
- The explanation and application of activating and interactive methods and tools were provided for diversity.
- Small exercises, brief group discussions, and other micro-methods took place in the plenary.
- By means of interactive teaching conversations and the elaboration of texts in groups, the think, pair, and share method has been used.
- Work in working groups has followed the approach of a (semi) fictitious case study.
- Considerations at the meta-level have encouraged reflections on possible challenges that teachers might be facing in the course while training children back to their schools
Fees:
- Free