Social and Behavior Change Communication to Support Early Grade Reading

"Knowledge is necessary, but not sufficient, for behavior change."

Presented at the November 2015 Global Education Summit, organised by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), this document begins by outlining the evolution of health communication from information, education, and communication (IEC) to behaviour change communication (BCC) to social and behaviour change communication (SBCC). [Editor's note #1: This summary also incorporates content from "Applying Lessons from Behavior Change Communication in the Promotion of Family and Community-based Activities that Support Early Grade Reading" [PDF], by Karen Schmidt, April 5 2016.] As Karen Schmidt explains, IEC as it was usually practiced focused on delivering information to a "target", with the assumption that, given accurate information, people would reduce damaging behaviours and adopt healthy behaviours. BCC acknowledged that information is necessary but is usually not sufficient for behaviour change. BCC uses context-specific formative research to determine the motivators, barriers, and facilitators to behaviour change, and responds with a variety of techniques designed to incite the individual to change his or her behaviour. SBCC expands BCC, explicitly recognising the importance of changing social norms and increasing social support for behaviour change, and acknowledging that change at the individual level occurs within the concentric circles of influence of family, community, and society. Successful behaviour change interventions are built on an understanding of the complex social, cultural, and economic factors that make up the multiple levels of determinants of health and health behaviour.

Two complementary (and sometimes overlapping) types of theories are used in designing SBCC interventions: explanatory or predictive theories, which examine why a particular behaviour occurs; and change theories, which focus on how behaviours can be changed. One tool to guide the development, implementation, and evaluation of SBCC interventions is the "P Process" [see Related Summaries, below]. The P Process has 5 steps: Inquire; Design strategy; Create and test; Mobilise and monitor; and Evaluate and evolve (Health Communication Capacity Collaborative, 2013) However, the P Process is only as useful as the data and thinking that go into each step, Schmidt explains. Effective behaviour change interventions need to be informed by theory and build on information such as evidence for the success and failure of past attempts and an in-depth understanding of the intended audience. The P Process considers theory to be an essential crosscutting concept, and the evidence from past attempts and in-depth understanding of the audience are part of the first step, "Inquire". The rest of the process builds on that foundation.

Schmidt here suggests that SBCC experiences from the health sector may be able to be applied to engage communities around education. She outlines a SBCC pilot to promote family and community support for early grade reading that was launched in Senegal in October 2015 as part of the Education Data for Decision Making (EdData II) project, funded by USAID and implemented by Research Triangle Institute (RTI). The Senegalese non-governmental organisation (NGO) Associates in Research & Education for Development (ARED), which implements a French-Wolof bilingual programme for grades 1 to 3 in three regions of Senegal, was the implementing partner for the project. Senegal-based Africa Consultants International (ACI) conducted the household survey to measure impact.

The project's communication objectives were to (i) enhance perception of the value of reading for children's success in school and to ensure a better life in the future (behavioural belief > attitude); (ii) promote reading and literacy of children as a pleasure and a shared responsibility, with benefits for individuals and families (normative belief > norms); and (iii) strengthen the confidence of parents in their ability to improve children's success in reading, even if they are not literate (control belief > self-efficacy). The initiative engaged artists, scriptwriters, musicians, theatre groups, ad agencies, and so on to create content: radio spots, radio programmes, theatre sketches, characters, a logo, and posters, banners, and flyers. The central message was: "Reading is the root of knowledge. Dear parents, read with me!" Other messages included:

• "The time that you give me will create my success."
• "Household chores should not be an obstacle to a child's learning to read."
• "If you read with me, you won't regret it!"

In the first phase of the proof-of-concept study, there were 13 intervention communities in Kaolack and 13 control communities in Rufisque. The intervention was rolled out in the Rufisque communities in a second phase. Pre- and post-campaign surveys were conducted to measure behaviour, attitudes, and beliefs - reflective of steps 4 and 5 and the P Process model. Selected Kaolack results from the baseline revealed, for example, that 37% of parents surveyed "never" help their child(ren) with schoolwork. In terms of a measure of self-efficacy, when asked, "Can you help your child learn to read?", 67% said "yes". In terms of measuring norms, when asked, "Do your friends and neighbours read with their children?", 59% said "yes".

When considering how to change what families and communities do to support children learning to read, Schmidt says it is important to recognise some of the common constraints people face when trying to change behaviour, as well as what might motivate them to change. Some features of interventions that have successfully overcome these constraints include:

• Multiple reinforcing communication channels and techniques: The most successful interventions use a variety of methods and media, and they go well beyond information to cover skill building, modeling, ongoing support from peers or others, and other active interventions. The most successful interventions use 3 or even 4 categories of techniques, engaging participants at the behavioural, social, sensory, and cognitive levels.
• Community approaches: Social norms and pressures have a major influence on behaviour, and this is key not just in initiating behaviour but also for reinforcing it through feedback that makes successes visible and supports maintenance of the behaviour.
• Appeals to the heart as well as the mind: In general, the less willing and able the audience is to change, the more the intervention has to be creative, entertaining, and emotive.

Editor's note #2: Click here to access documents and multimedia from the 2015 Global Education Summit. Key takeaways, as well as speakers' names and their presentations, including the one summarised above, from the session related to reading in primary grades can be accessed here. Editor's note #3: Karen Schmidt has since presented results at: (i) the International SBCC Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethopia, in February 2016; (ii) the Comparative and International Education Society (CIES) 2016 conference in Vancouver, Canada, in March 2016; and (iii) as part of the Global Reading Network literacy day in Washington, DC, US in September 2016. The evaluation report of the first phase of the Senegal proof-of-concept can be found here; see Related Summaries, below.