Working paper 1 (pdf - Institute of Education, University of London

implicated in horizontal inequalities. These inequalities are cross-cut by internal divisions of gender
and age. Lewis and Lockheed (Lewis & Lockheed, 2006, 2007) have argued that there is a high
correlation between high levels of ethno-linguistic fragmentation and discrimination against girls from
certain groups entering school, possibly because policies supporting girls access to school have not
been tailored to particular groups or anti-discrimination laws have not been put in place.
In the analysis we develop below we draw on all these elaborations of the difficulties in putting gender
equality policy into practice in highly unequal societies to draw out how four forms of disconnection
are evident in the implementation of gender and education policies in a Kenyan and a South African
school. Firstly, there is a vertical disconnection, which resonates with forms of local policy enactment
identified by Ball and the struggles of the state to assert hegemony outlined by Grindle. We consider
whether this form of disconnection has special features because it is concerned with gender, or
whether there are similar issues related to other areas of policy contestation that have been well
documented, for example concerning parental rights, cultural emblems or high stakes testing
(Brighouse, 2000;Gillborn and Youdell, 2000; Gereluk, 2008).
The three other forms of disconnection we identify highlight aspects of disconnection between schools
and the poor communities in which they are located, and between the different interpretations of
gender equality. In this we think that the deep-seated historical divisions Stewart (2008) notes based
on race or ethnicity might be coming to characterize socio-economic relations in both societies. We
also draw out the ways in which understandings of gender equality are particularly contested and
controversial and how processes of „rational‟ policy implementation have cut off opportunities to
explore very different ideas about what gender equality is.
Enacting Policy
Methods of Data Collected
Work with two schools, one in each country, was undertaken in order to explore how global and
national initiatives regarding gender equality in education were being interpreted, reasons for this and
the form of actions which followed. In each country one co-educational primary school was identified
as a research site. These schools were selected because they enrolled a high proportion of children
from families classed poor, were well managed by engaged head teachers, and each had an active
school governing body. The schools were thus well functioning sites in which global and national
policy could be put into practice.
Roughly similar socio-economic conditions were identified in both school locations before data
collection began. Both are in peri-urban areas roughly 20 kms from the centre of large cities (Durban
and Nairobi), both are in townships with a reasonable community infrastructure of post office,
transport links, shops, health centre, and some local employment. In both neighborhoods electricity
and water are available. Both schools have a relatively long history: the South African school opened
in the early 1980s and the Kenyan school in the early 1950s. Both schools have seen some changes
in administrative oversight. The Kenyan school was initially founded by Christian missionaries but is
now a state public school administered by the District Education Board of the Kenyan Ministry of
Education. The South African school was initially administered by one of the racially segregated
education departments of the apartheid era, but now falls under the province of KwaZulu-Natal which
administers schools for all children in the area.
The communities in which the schools are located both comprise large numbers of people who have
spent less than 20 years in the area, many migrating from rural areas. The South African township
was established partly because of a large urban migration from impoverished rural areas of KwaZulu-
Natal province. Levels of unemployment are high with considerable economic dependency on state
grants and pensions. People in work are employed in or around Durban or are active in the informal
sector. The community served by the school is almost entirely Zulu speaking. English is the second
language. The Kenyan school community, although based on land once owned by Maasai, comprises
two other ethnic groups, who have lived in the area for about 20 years, as well as some Maasai.
Some people are engaged in small scale agricultural and dairy farming, while others are wage
labourers employed in Nairobi or its environs; many work in the informal sector. At the time of field
work many of the pupils at the school lived in an informal settlement, adjacent to the school. In the
immediate post-election violence of January/February 2008 large numbers of internally displaced
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