What We Do
Internationally – Initiatives
The International Family Literacy Initiative (IFLI)Building intergenerational literacy, supporting language and cultureWhat IFLI Does The International Family Literacy Initiative (IFLI) uses a literacy-in-social-context approach to promote early childhood development and strengthen families and communities. IFLI uses research-based methods, innovative adult learning approaches, and culturally competent materials to help parents help their children learn through play and everyday interaction. IFLI creates opportunities for parents and caregivers to strengthen their language and literacy skills and engage in critical thinking and problem solving. Parents who are concerned about the development of their very young children participate in learning sessions that provide literacy instruction in their home language while at the same time presenting techniques for nurturing child learning and development. Parents build new parenting skills and strengthen existing ones as they learn how to help their children grow and learn. Where IFLI Works IFLI currently works in the dense urban environments of Pune and Mumbai, India, and in the rural villages of Ngororero, Rwanda. We also plan to work with indigenous communities in New Mexico and Canada. In every community where we work, IFLI is demonstrating that teaching adults how to help their babies learn, regardless of their family’s material resources, is both a strategic and human investment. The IFLI Training Model IFLI does not work directly with families. Instead, ProLiteracy maximizes IFLI’s reach through community partnerships and a train-the-trainer model. In partnership with local agencies, the IFLI team trains local educators and practitioners in methods of adult literacy, early childhood development, and purposeful interactive play. This approach creates a facilitation team of grass-roots peer educators. As the program expands into additional countries and communities, it will create a globally connected team that remains responsive to local needs. The IFLI three-tiered training model focuses on three groups -- practitioners, trainers, and project implementation coaches. Practitioners
Practitioners are local neighborhood or village workers who care for groups of infants in a nursery school or child care center and may also visit parents in their homes. Their formal education varies, so they participate in a five-day residential course on the development of the infant brain, the central role of the adult caregivers, language recovery, and the importance of culture and language in supporting learning. Practitioners receive literacy manuals, activity cards, and a collection of culturally competent teaching objects to use in nurturing learning with children and facilitating groups with parents. Trainers
Trainers are local educators who understand the local culture, speak the local language, and have experience in adult learning. They participate in a three-day capacity-building practicum in which they learn how to teach the practitioner course and oversee practitioners' ongoing field work. During this practicum, trainers learn about the transformative learning approach and documentation methods. Project implementation coaches
Each IFLI site has a project implementation coach. They are local educators, administrators, or others who work in partnership with host agencies and local sites. Implementation coaches participate in a three-day coaching course in which they learn how to replicate and sustain the IFLI program in partnership with host agencies. Using this three-tiered model, ProLiteracy's IFLI team provides technical assistance, training, and support to local host agencies committed to implementing the IFLI intervention program. IFLI Evaluation IFLI evaluation has three components that document the: - child, family, and community change on a range of outcomes that have been determined by local communities, donors, and sponsoring organizations;
- local capacity to monitor and continuously improve programs as they are implemented in local communities; and
- IFLI program process in order to understand factors contributing to and inhibiting successful program implementation.
IFLI's History IFLI was developed and supported by donor activists committed to early childhood development, strong families, and intergenerational literacy. Core donors not only provided initial funding for the initiative but also volunteered time and talent to establish and grow the program.
Research has shown that playful interaction between parent or primary caregiver and child, especially during the first three years of a child's life, is an important factor in early child development and beyond. Parents are their child's first teacher, and key foundations for learning are established very early in life. Many families have so many daily life struggles, however, that there is no time left for play, and many parents have learning and literacy challenges of their own. The International Family Literacy Initiatives offers hopes to these children and families through literacy in action projects.
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