Performing Identities in Urban Spaces; Kampala, Uganda - Royal ...

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acknowledged the inequality implicit in a girl being refused a position as head prefect purely on the basis if her gender, but felt powerless to affect change. The normalisation of male leadership at St Annes silenced their objections, allowing the school to reinforce hegemonic male leadership. Mirembe and Davies (2001) saw this unequal distribution of responsibility, whereby girls are undermined in the school decision-making processes, as worrying. Young girls at school are learning to be dependent on boys as leaders, increasing the power imbalance between boys and girls, making them vulnerable to exploitation (Mirembe and Davies 2001:406). It became clear – through observations and interviews - that male students dominated classroom space and conversation, and in-line with other studies, they tended to gain more attention from teachers during lessons (Gaine and George 1999:42). Students seating arrangements were not controlled by teachers but are reflective of students’ active role in gender segregation (Dunne 2007:506). With the exception of Senior 5 and 6 (where student numbers were very low), the back few rows of tables in every classroom were exclusively occupied by boys, whilst girls and the few remaining boys took their seats in the rest of the class. Just as in Dunne’s research, teachers reiterated gender stereotypes when explaining this phenomenon, saying that it was because of the opportunity for misbehaviour that boys sat at the back, whilst girls were cast as more “compliant, co-operative and attentive” (Dunne 2007:507). In the lower classes in particular this seating layout felt intimidating, as older, bigger males sat at the back of the class ‘over-seeing’ the other students and creating an uncomfortable atmosphere. The femininity emphasised by girls - quiet, sensible, well behaved, gives power to boys who position themselves as louder and less-well behaved (Paechter 1998:20). It appeared that girls in the lower classes (S1-4) felt shy to talk up in classrooms, however outside of class girls were often more conscientious. This relies on girls taking the initiative and having the confidence to approach teachers outside of class and so does not necessarily counteract the effects of male classroom domination, though it is evidence that pupils negotiate school spaces and relations in diverse ways. 11
The Experience of Home University and school were significant discursive places where students created and negotiated their identifications. Similarly, the home was a discursive place where females’ everyday choices were shaped by intimate ties in community and amongst kin that influenced their decision making. The significant social relations and social spaces and places shaped and co-produced their identities. An interesting finding of this research is the extent to which the pupils at St Annes were influenced by their familial experience and by their experience of male and female role models. Traditionally, Uganda is a patriarchal society, and education has historically been the preserve of male children, as female children were instead married young or expected to support their mothers in the domestic running of the home (Mirembe and Davies 2001:402). Though attitudes are changing in Uganda, it is still the boy-child whose education is favoured in a majority of homes 2 . One teacher said that this is because “ladies are still blamed for being pregnant” and so their employment opportunities are much more restricted than males. As such, many parents cannot see the value in schooling their daughters. A significant number of girls spoke of a lack of support from male role models – fathers or older male family members – saying that it is their mothers who support them through school, whilst their fathers leave and have little, if any, contact with their children. Many students came from female-headed households, where their mothers were either widowed, separated or divorced, or had polygamous husbands who spread their time between a number of homes. Many of the girls held very negative views of men, which necessarily affected their relations with, and expectations of, boys and men at school. For many girls it was a negative experience of fathers, or vulnerability to abuse or exploitation from other older males, that encouraged them to continue their education. They recognised completing school and educating themselves as an important way of minimising the risk of exploitation. 2 Ratio of female to male secondary enrolment (% gross) was at 85% in 2010 in Uganda; Girls enrolment was at 26%, whilst the boys was 30%. “Gross enrolment ratio is the ratio of total enrolment, regardless of age, to the population of the age group that officially corresponds to the level of education shown” (World Bank 2012) 12
Page 1 and 2: Summer 2011 FIELDWORK REPORT: PERFO
Page 3 and 4: Research Site The Ugandan capital c
Page 5 and 6: At St Annes, interviews were conduc
Page 7 and 8: Key findings: The increasing focus
Page 9 and 10: to undergraduate and postgraduate s
Page 11: the ways in which staff and pupils
Page 15 and 16: creates a cyclical problem as girls
Page 17 and 18: Fig 1: 16
Page 19 and 20: Fig 3: 18
Page 21 and 22: Fig 5: Limitations The method used
Page 23 and 24: Getting acquainted with our surroun
Page 25 and 26: One of us was almost mugged in the
Page 27 and 28: Kane, E. (1995)Seeing for Yourself:
Page 29: APPENDIX 1: 28

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