Through a gender lens: explaining North‐Eastern Thai women’s participation in adult literacy education

This ethnographic study employs a gender perspective to understand the motivations of eight women literacy learners participating in a village‐based functional literacy programme in rural North‐eastern Thailand. Field research took place over six months of periodic residence in a North‐eastern Thai village, and involved participant observation, individual interviews and informal focus groups. An analysis of the women’s reproductive, productive and community roles, and their practical and strategic gender needs (Moser ) is used to frame findings on the women’s participation in the literacy programme. In brief, although the women valued educational programmes that reduced the burden of their reproductive labour, offered income‐generating opportunities in their productive roles and supported their leadership roles in the community, the village literacy programme had limited effect in addressing these practical gender needs. However, because a patriarchal ideology and Buddhist institutions had denied the women access to schooling as children, they now saw the literacy programme as both a symbolic return to school and a collective women’s space to advocate for more desirable adult educational programmes. In these ways, the programme addressed their strategic gender needs. The study argues that a gender lens is critical in explaining women’s participation in literacy programmes and in designing literacy education for development.     

Curriculum-making in South Africa: promoting gender equality and empowering women (?)

The United Nations Millennium Development Goals (2000?2015) are clearly embedded in South Africa's education policy documents. However, they are not adequately infused into the curriculum. This article focuses specifically on the third Millennium Development Goal (MDG) ? promoting gender equality and empowering women ? and the need to place this curriculum content at the centre and not on the periphery, to achieve its goal. Qualitative document research was used to explore the extent to which South Africa's curriculum-making has promoted gender equality and the empowerment of women during the promotion of the 2000–2015 MDGs. The findings of this research show potential intersections of poverty, age and worldviews with gender; a stronger focus on human rights values; and concrete strategies to combat unhealthy sexual behaviour. However, the curriculum continues to be saturated with negative perspectives and binary perceptions of gender. There is also a lack of attention to the world of work. The assumption underlying this seems to be that gender equality and the empowerment of women are unattainable or that they are unimportant. This article concludes by underlining the need for the curriculum to be a genuine agent of change, which necessitates a new gender discourse in curriculum-making.     

Higher education and women’s empowerment in Pakistan

This paper summarises the findings of a 2005 doctoral study by Malik which explored to what extent participation in higher education offers empowerment to women in Pakistan. A survey instrument was used to question female faculty members and female students from 10 public universities in Pakistan; 1290 students and 290 faculty members responded. Subsequently, semi‐structured interviews were held with 10 faculty members and 10 students. Respondents highlighted economic independence and an increased standing within family and society as the main benefits of higher education participation. A major finding is that participation in higher education enables women to impact on a number of discriminatory practices simultaneously and thereby effect change for the better. The main recommendation is that future educational strategies be developed with the aim of further promoting gender equality in all areas of education in Pakistan, but particularly with the aim of increasing female students’ participation in higher education.     

Roma women’s higher education participation: whose responsibility?

There are striking gaps between Roma and non-Roma higher education (HE) participation rates, with less than 1% of Roma possessing a tertiary-level qualification [United Nations Development Programme, World Bank and European Commission. 2011a. “The Situation of Roma in 11 EU Member States.” Accessed 3 April 2015. http://issuu.com/undp_in_europe_cis/docs/_roma_at_a_glance_web/1#download]. As the Decade of Roma Inclusion (2005–2015) closes, this renders the present a salient moment to reflect on Roma students’ HE experiences. Widening educational access for marginalised groups raises specific questions about where responsibility for doing so lies – with tensions between individualised articulations of raising aspiration and notions of collective responsibility framed in a social justice agenda. Drawing on interviews with five Roma women students, this paper unpacks the contradictions between desiring access to HE for individual self-betterment and concurrent pulls towards educating for the wider benefit of ‘improving’ Roma communities. Using Ahmed’s [2012. On Being Included: Racism and Diversity in Institutional Life. Durham, North Carolina: Duke University Press] work on institutional belonging, we explore the specifically gendered nature of these narratives in how ‘doubly’ marginalised bodies are positioned as outsiders, in receipt of an educational gift.     

Basotho teachers’ constructions of gender: Implications on gender equality in the schools

Abstract

This paper gives prominence to rural teachers’ own accounts of gender in three co-educational primary schools in Lesotho. The paper employs the social constructionist paradigm as its theoretical framework. Drawing from ethnographic data (observations and informal discussions), it discusses factors that inform teachers’ constructions of gender and the implications of these on gender in/equality in the schools. Twelve teachers’ (male = 1; female = 11) participated in the study. Analysis denotes how teachers constructed masculinities and femininities as inherent gender qualities, and the role of Basotho culture, language and its discourse in promoting gender inequalities. The conclusion provides strategies that would strengthen teachers’ ability to promote gender equality in schools.     

The successful education sector development in Tanzania – comment on gender balance and inclusive education

In this paper we discuss to what extent the international and national equality goals regarding gender balance and inclusive education have been reached in the education sector development in Tanzania. According to recent reports, the development trend has been generally positive, and the country is close to achieving its primary education targets. More detailed reviews suggest, however, that current monitoring and evaluation mechanisms are too narrow to catch the critical factors regarding equality, particularly in secondary education. Our comment concerns the achievements and challenges, and emphasises the significance of a multidimensional set of information including in‐depth qualitative research on connections between socio‐cultural factors and education.     

Patterns and trends in part‐time adult education participation in relation to UK nation,class, place of participation,gender, age and disability, 1998–2003 1

Analysis of data from six years of the British Household Panel Survey (1998–2003) has been used to look at variances in take‐up of part time learning opportunities by adults over time in the UK and, separately, by its four constituent nations. The paper provides a useful backdrop of ‘facts and figures’ on patterns of take‐up in part time education and training over the first six years of Labour Governments. Whilst the home‐international comparisons show differences in terms of general levels of participation they show similar patterns of participation along gender and class lines. Apart from evidencing a steep upturn in the take‐up of home‐based learning amongst women, a persistent finding was how little had changed over this six year period in terms of removing barriers that position some as disadvantaged and others as advantaged.     

Shaping a gender equality policy in higher education: which human capabilities matter?

South African institutions still confront gendered inequalities, irrespective of transformative national policies, compounded by the absence of a national gender equality policy for higher education. We therefore explore the potential of the capabilities approach (CA) to inform policy formation and argue for the development of a policy for higher education institutions based on opportunities for valuable functionings as the informational basis for gender equality. Using one university as our case study, data from 38 interviews with female and male students were analysed as part of a longitudinal study on Gender, Empowerment, Agency and Higher Education. The data reveal which opportunities these women and men find important for their personal development and directly and indirectly for gender equality. We conclude by discussing the implications of the data for stimulating public dialogues towards formulating a capabilities-based gender equality policy, as well as reflecting on the broader contributions the CA brings to policy development.     

Negotiating for change: women’s movements and education reform in Taiwan

The dramatic changes during the past 20 years in Taiwan offer a good example of how gender policy in education is facilitated by a combination of interrelated economic, political and social forces. Taiwan’s policy on gender education emerged from the interaction of state, education, academic and non‐academic feminist positions in reforms. This paper demonstrates – first, the importance of the socio‐political contexts in which reform was proposed, and second, the actions of feminists in making best use of the opportunities thrown up by a confluence of social factors. The social, economic and political transformations of the 1980s saw the rise of a ‘new’ state both supposedly and in reality more responsive to the needs of non‐profit organisations. In testing out relationships of partnership with the state, feminist activists saw the deregulation of education as an opportunity to get women’s issues on the agenda. These reforms were catalysed by a series of social events bringing together supporters in a mood of celebration, protest or mourning specifically in response to particular events. The struggles, contentions, and negotiations that underlay the eventual approval of gender reform in education are illustrated.     

Parental expectations of children’s higher education participation in Australia

The role of parental expectations in determining children's higher education participation is important in understanding both participation and potential policy responses. Using a nationally representative longitudinal survey of Australian households, providing repeat observations on expectations for individual children, this study extends the literature in several respects. First, it examines the adaptation of parental expectations over a 4-year time frame. Second, it looks at how parental expectations for school children are associated with actual higher education outcomes in the future. Third, the longitudinal aspect of the dataset permits more robust analyses of factors that shape parental expectations. The findings indicate that parental expectations of their children's attendance at university are generally stable across time. Perceptions of children's academic achievement at school are shown to be the key influence in shaping parents' expectations, and behavioural issues at school adversely affect expectations. Australian parents from non-English-speaking backgrounds were more likely to form positive expectations of university participation by their children, consistent with studies from other countries. A more nuanced picture of the formation of expectations for sole-parent mothers is also presented. Positive effects of parental education and children's enrolment in a private school on parents' expectations, over and above any effect on school achievement, highlight these socioeconomic factors as potential causal channels for the intergenerational transmission of socioeconomic outcomes.     

Education and sustainability: reinvigorating adult education’s role in transformation,justice and development

Distinctively economic objectives for lifelong education, especially adult learning and education, feature prominently in policy-making agendas and educators’ practice in much of the world. Critics contend that humanistic and holistic visions of lifelong learning for all have been marginalised and neglected. The current turn of political attention to issues of planetary environmental sustainability and to global societal transformation and interconnectedness raises further questions and prospects. Two United Nations’ publications in 2015: UNESCO’s Rethinking Education: toward a global common good? and of the United Nations’ Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development pose intersecting concerns for lifelong learning and environmental sustainability. This article engages with those questions in particular regard to the role of adult learning and education. It discusses a field study of non-formal adult education in Ghana. The field study contributes evidence that resiliently humanistic conceptions and practices of non-formal adult education practically succeed to foster transformation, development and human flourishing. That effective humanism gives credence to the ambitiousness of UNESCO and UN agenda for transformation and sustainability and informs international debates.     

Labour force participation of married women in China and Congo

INTRODUCTION In both China and the Congo, perhaps the moststriking change in the labour market over the past 50years has been the growth of female labour forceparticipation and the subsequent consolidation oftheir position at work. Of course, women have alwaysworked. Only, throughout the twentieth centurywomen’s work has increasingly meant participationin the paid labor force in addition to housework pro-duction. Women in large numbers have joined the paidlabour force. In …     

‘We understand better because we have been mothers': teaching,maternalism, and gender equality in Bolivian education

This article explores Bolivian schoolteachers’ attitudes and practices surrounding gender in the context of a national educational reform law that mandated gender equity. Teacher interviews and primary school classroom observations indicate teachers’ discourses and practices reflect a sometimes paradoxical blend of advocacy for gender equality and reinforcement of existing traditions of patriarchy. Specifically, long-standing cultural assumptions that essentialise women's maternalism were common within schools and supported by both teachers’ attitudes and classroom practices. While this served to reinscribe gender inequality and women's subordination, teachers’ discourses also drew upon ideals of maternalism as a basis of women's strength and empowerment in opposition to sexism. In this article, we explore the tensions that arise as teachers negotiate their own staunch support for girls’ rights alongside their assumptions about gender differentiation.     

The third-order multiculturalism: civil rights,diversity, and equality in Korea’s multicultural education

This paper examines the politics of South Korea’s multicultural discourse and locates its recent development in the context of a broader analytical discussion about multiculturalism. Utilizing the historical experience of the USA, this paper identifies the three orders of multiculturalism. Up until the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s, the USA exhibited the first-order multiculturalism where diverse populations coexisted under discriminatory policies. The post-civil rights era exemplifies the second-order multiculturalism because it not only institutionalized the equality discourse in public spheres, but also provided legal protection against discriminatory practices. Both Korea and the USA, however, share the challenge of achieving the third-order multiculturalism that fosters inter-cultural understanding and addresses the socially embedded inequalities.     

Relational equality in education: what,how, and why?

Relational equality is broadly understood to be about relating to others as moral equals. I consider three questions of relational equality as applied to education: what, how, and why? Relational equality is important on a macro (societal) level, a meso (school) level structuring of relationships, and a micro (interpersonal relationships) level. I focus on micro level relational equality in schools, and connect theoretical perspectives from two neighbouring fields: education and humanistic counselling, suggesting that we might usefully draw on theory from humanistic counselling to inform our understanding of how egalitarian interpersonal relationships might manifest in education. I emphasise the importance of considering what we are trying to communicate through our behaviour and suggest that in order to treat someone as a moral equal, educators should work towards communicating empathy, unconditional positive regard, and congruence. Such an understanding gives a clearer focus for increasing equality than broader understandings of relational equality, and greater scope for challenging inequality than distributive accounts.     

The vocational turn of adult education in Denmark – an analysis of adult education policy from the late 1990s

ABSTRACT

Denmark has a strong and versatile tradition of adult education. Over a long historical period, adult education for public enlightenment and leisure, for continuing study and for vocational and professional competence have been developed, been made part of state policy and been used by citizens. But in recent years the public and political presence of Danish adult education has changed. While education policy issues generally abound in public and political debates, adult education is given much less attention than earlier. In this article, we trace the causes of this and conclude that it reflects a turn towards focusing on vocational types of adult education and a relocation of adult education policy to networks linking the state and the social partners. Drawing on theories of policy streams, policy networks and the competition state, we provide a historical analysis of Danish adult education reforms during the past two decades and document how the vocational turn has manifested itself.     

Roles of women’s higher education institutions in international contexts

Women??s colleges and universities persist around the world, even as the vast majority of tertiary institutions are open to men and women. In nearly every nation, women can attend even the most elite formerly all-male universities, and in several nations women are the majority of all college students. Questions therefore arise about the continued need for a single-sex sector in the 21st century. In this study I examined the contribution of these institutions to their national systems of education and society. I used a qualitative, comparative, multiple case study approach to understand 14 diverse women??s colleges and universities in nine nations on five continents. Five key roles emerged: access, campus climate, gender empowerment, leadership development, and cultural paradox. I make recommendations for research and practice.     

Encountering education in the rural: migrant women’s perspectives

ABSTRACT

This paper explores migrant women’s encounters with formal and informal education in what can be termed new immigration rural destinations. We ask to what extent educational opportunities are realized in these new destinations. We show that education aspirations may be jeopardized because of the desire to achieve economic goals and thus require remedial action. Specifically, we refer to qualitative data collected in rural (and remote) Boddington in Western Australia, and rural Armagh in Northern Ireland. The paper engages with two interrelated dimensions of this migrant/migration experience. English is not a first language for our participants and we first examine the provision and consumption of informal English Language classes. In doing so, we demonstrate the complex social and cultural dimensions of community-based English language instruction. Second, we attend to migrant mothers’ perceptions of and responses to children’s formal education. We highlight transnational senses of, and tensions around, ‘local/rural’ pedagogies and resultant migrant strategies.