JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

The onset of puberty is a pivotal period of human development that is associated with significant changes in cognitive, social, emotional, psychological and behavioral processes that shape identity formation. Very early adolescence provides a critical opportunity to shape identity formation around gender norms, attitudes and beliefs before inequitable gender norms are amplified during and after puberty. The Discover Learning Project integrates strategic insights from developmental science to promote positive transformation in social, emotional and gender identity learning among 10-11-year-olds in Tanzania. Through a pragmatic randomized controlled trial (RCT), the intervention scaffolds the development of critical character strengths (curiosity, generosity, persistence, purpose, growth mindset and prosocial behavior) delivered by conducting 18 after-school, technology driven, experiential learning sessions in small, mixed gender groups.

Objective:

The aim of the Discover Learning Project is to integrate strategic insights from developmental science to promote positive transformation in social, emotional and gender identity learning among 10-11-year-olds in Tanzania. Through a pragmatic randomized controlled trial (RCT), the intervention scaffolds the development of critical character strengths (curiosity, generosity, persistence, purpose, growth mindset and prosocial behavior) delivered by conducting 18 after-school, technology driven, experiential learning sessions in small, mixed gender groups.

Methods:

The Discover Learning Intervention is a three-arm RCT that will be delivered to 579 participants selected from four public primary schools in Temeke District, Dar es Salaam. Randomization will be done at the individual level into three treatment groups receiving incremental intervention components. The treatment components range from watching Discover Learning content curated into child-friendly videos, facilitated discussions and a parent-child workbook, to be implemented over two phases, each six-weeks long. A baseline survey will be administered to participants and their parents prior to the intervention. The process will be observed systematically, and data collected using surveys, in-depth interviews, observations and focus group discussions with adolescents, parents, teachers and facilitators conducted prior, during and after each implementation phase.

Results:

This study builds on formative and pilot studies conducted with the target population to inform the design of the intervention. The results will generate new evidence that will inform strategies for achieving scale in Tanzania and provide insights for replication of similar programs that are invested in gender transformative interventions in peri-urban, low-resource settings.

Conclusions:

The Discover Learning Intervention makes an important contribution to the field of Adolescent Developmental Science by designing an intervention for very young adolescents in a low-resource setting. Clinical Trial: This trial was retrospectively registered with ClinicalTrials.gov registry on July 7th, 2020 identifier number NCT0445807: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04458077