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”…boys should always be prioritized

before girls…”
A Minor Field Study of gender awareness in Gambian schools

Emelie Entoft & Lovisa Carlberg

Handledare: David Kronlid

Examinator: Germund Larsson

1. Abstract

The aim of this study is to investigate in what ways a gender perspective is present in Gambian
public schools. In particular we are interested in if, and if so how, teachers in the Gambian school
express gender awareness. To collect data, ten semi-structured interviews and ten observations
are conducted with teachers from two rural regions in the Gambia. The collected data is analysed
using Hirdmans gender system theory with the main focus on four central concepts from the
theory, where this study’s analysis has its foundation.

Studies of previous research show that boys get more attention than girls in the classroom and
that a separation between the sexes occur in different ways. The results in this study show that
the teachers are aware of the term gender equality based on the interviews, thus, some utterances
show that different expectations and norms occur in the Gambian society depending on the sex.
The boys receive most attention from the teachers in practise, regardless if it is positive or
negative.

Keywords: the Gambia, education, gender equality, attention, awareness

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2. Acknowledgements

There are many people we would like to thank that made this Minor Field Study possible for us
to accomplish. We will always be grateful to everyone who helped us gain this valuable
experience, from the beginning of our idea until the final end of our stay in the Gambia. First of
all, we would like to thank Katarina Gahne who works as an international coordinator at Uppsala
University and who gave us the inspiration and all the relevant advice connected to the Minor
Field Study application. Secondly, we would like to thank Ola Winberg, director of studies at
Uppsala University who made it possible for us to travel to the Gambia since he supported us to
conduct our bachelor thesis abroad and thereby enable the application for the Minor Field Study
scholarship.

The chairman of Gambiagrupperna, Kristina Lundahl, is the person who made it possible for us
to go to the Gambia, which makes us forever grateful to her. She made this opportunity come
true and she also supplied us with two amazing contact persons, which we also could call our
supervisors in the field studies. Those two kind-hearted persons are Kemo Kinteh and Kebba
Jobe who helped us fulfilling our purpose with this study. The number of teachers and the
distribution of the different schools in two rural areas in the Gambia, would not have been the
same without them. We are also thankful to all the remaining staff at Future In Our Hands and
especially to those in The School Development Unit, who have been welcoming since our first
day in the Gambia.

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Table of contents
1. Abstract ................................................................................................................................................ 2
2. Acknowledgements............................................................................................................................. 3
3. Introduction ......................................................................................................................................... 6
4. Background .......................................................................................................................................... 7
4.1 The Global Goals ......................................................................................................................... 7
4.2 The National Development Plan of the Gambia .................................................................... 8
4.3 Education in the Gambia ............................................................................................................ 9
4.4 Gender issues in the Gambia ................................................................................................... 10
4.4.1 The gender policy in the Gambia..................................................................................... 10
5. Research survey ................................................................................................................................. 11
5.1 Gender differences ..................................................................................................................... 11
6. Theoretical framework ..................................................................................................................... 14
6.1 The gender system ..................................................................................................................... 14
7. The didactic relevance of this study ............................................................................................... 16
8. Aim and research questions ............................................................................................................ 17
9. Methodology ...................................................................................................................................... 18
9.1 Interviews .................................................................................................................................... 18
9.2 Observations ............................................................................................................................... 19
9.2.1 Observation schedule 1 ..................................................................................................... 19
9.2.2 Observation schedule 2 ..................................................................................................... 20
9.3 Reflections on the method........................................................................................................ 20
9.3.1 Considerations about the interviews ............................................................................... 21
9.3.2 Considerations about the observations ........................................................................... 21
9.4 Relevant ethical considerations ................................................................................................ 21
10. Analysis of the data......................................................................................................................... 23
11. Results and analysis ........................................................................................................................ 25
11.1 The teachers attention to girls and boys in the classroom in theory ............................... 25
11.2 The teachers attention to girls and boys in the classroom in practice ............................. 27
11.3 Analysis of the teachers attention to girls and boys in the classroom ............................. 28

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 11.4 How does the teachers express their awareness apart from attention and distributed
speaking opportunities?......................................................................................................................... 29
11.5 Analysis of how the teachers express their awareness apart from attention and
distributed speaking opportunities ...................................................................................................... 32
12. Discussion ........................................................................................................................................ 34
12.1 Gender differences................................................................................................................... 34
13. Conclusion ....................................................................................................................................... 38
14. References ........................................................................................................................................ 40
15. Appendix .......................................................................................................................................... 44
15.1 Appendix 1 – Interview questions......................................................................................... 44
15.2 Appendix 2 – Observation schedule ..................................................................................... 45
15.3 Appendix 3 – Consent form request..................................................................................... 49
15.4 Appendix 4 – Approval form................................................................................................. 50

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3. Introduction

As teachers, we have the responsibility to shape the future. We will help children to become
respectable individuals and teach them about life and the world. The world is not just about
which society we live in, which street we live in or which school we are placed in. According to
us, life is more global than that. Our planet is full of different cultures, religions and lifestyles that
we need to be given more knowledge about in order to become more caring and respectful
individuals. We believe that the base of knowledge is being given from written sources and
classrooms, but the knowledge that comes from personal experiences give us more inspiration to
further teach our future students.

We believe that it is important to gain and receive inspiration from people within the profession
of teaching in other parts of the world, which differ from the society in Sweden that we are used
to – in this case, the Gambia. The reason for our choice of country was mainly that neither of us
had ever been to the continent of Africa. We wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to do
our bachelor thesis in a low-income country to investigate questions related to gender. Gender
equality is an issue that interest us, and thereby the starting point from where the three research
questions of this Minor Field Study have their foundation.

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4. Background

This chapter is divided into four different parts to gain an insight of the Gambia as a country in
relation to the three research questions in this study. The Global Goals, The National
Development Plan of the Gambia, education in the Gambia and gender issues in the Gambia will
be presented.

4.1 The Global Goals

There are 17 global goals in the world called “The Global Goals for Sustainable Development”,
which the world's leaders commit to achieve until the year of 2030, by the United Nations. The
objectives mainly focus on the following: to eliminate extreme poverty, to reduce inequalities and
injustices in the world, to promote justice and peace and to solve environmental problems
(UNDP, n.d). Both gender and education are highlighted topics in The Global Goals and these
two goals are the main focus in the following description. The goals are related to sustainable
development and can be achieved in all countries and for all people. In order to achieve these
goals, among other things, it is important that all people are aware of their existence (UNDP,
n.d).

The fourth global goal is “Quality Education”, which is a fundamental human right, but it is still
estimated that 250 million children are illiterate when they reach the fourth grade. 774 million
people in the world can not read or write and two thirds of them are women. Inclusive quality
education for all is one of the most important bases of gender equality, health and prosperity in
every society (UNDP, n.d).

The fifth global goal is “Gender Equality”, which is a prerequisite for peaceful and sustainable
development. Gender equality is achieved when people have equal conditions, rights and
opportunities to shape their lives and contribute to the development in the community regardless
of sex. Women's subordination compared to men must cease and the distribution of resources,
power and influence in society should be distributed in a fair way. The traditional and social
norms that exist in many societies that contribute to inequality must change. Welfare increases if
individuals would contribute on equal terms through their knowledge and resources, regardless of
sex (UNDP, n.d).

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4.2 The National Development Plan of the Gambia

To gain an insight of the gender and educational issues that the Gambia is faced with and what
priorities the country wants to pursue, a description of the political situation of the Gambia will
be presented. Gender and education is mainly described in the country’s national development
plan.

During the last 22 years and up to 2017, the Gambian government has been led by the president
and dictator Yaya Jammeh. During this period, many reports of restrictions on freedom of
speech and other violations of civil and human rights were registered. In the beginning of 2017,
Adama Barrow entered as the new president of the Gambia. Since the change of regime, the
Gambian political climate is more liberal and politically freer but the country still has many and
major problems (Utrikespolitiska institutet, 2018). Gender equality, women's empowerment and
education are only a few of the difficulties that the Gambia is faced with. Girls’ education in the
Gambia has been developed at primary level. Regarding enrolment, however, are lacking
relevance and quality, for instance teaching materials and curricula, which leads to a critical
situation for the students, in the end (National development plan, 2018:6).

The National Development Plan of the Gambia 2018-2021 (NDP) includes eight strategic
priorities in order to achieve a good foundation for a modern democratic country and to address
the most pressing social and economic issues in the society. Visions and goals in this three-year
development plan are for instance that children, youth and women should realize their full
potential and to increase the education (NDP, 2018:3, 8). One priority includes the vision of
”Investing in our people through improved education” and the objective of the education system
in the Gambia is intended to focus on increasing accessibility of education for children and also
improving the quality of learning (NDP, 2018:13).

Many significant changes has been achieved in the Gambia to the benefit of women, such as
efforts to ensure gender parity in primary education, thus, society is still dominated by men. The
right to education has become more equal than it used to be in the Gambia. Further
improvements need to be made, and therefore the government has decided that gender equality
and empowerment must be promoted for the future development of society. The priority
“Empower the Gambian woman to realize their full potential” in The National Development
Plan of the Gambia means that gender mainstreaming is more integrated into the society (NDP,
2018:16).

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4.3 Education in the Gambia

The nine-year primary/elementary school was introduced in the Gambia in 2002

(Nationalencyklopedin, 2018) and children would start when they turn seven years old, but
schools are not compulsory in the country. The education is free of charge, but there are yet costs
for the family of the students, such as materials and school uniforms, which means that the
access to school is not available for all. Approximately 70 per cent of the children who start
school completes the first six years (Utrikespolitiska instutitionen, 2018).

In The Management Team of the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education in Gambia
(MoBSE), there is a school management manual that includes rules and statements about how
the children should be treated in school. Two of the topics are that the teachers should treat the
students with respect, follow the law against corporal punishment and abstain from using
physical or humiliating punishment and to always act in the best interest of the students, ensure
that the full range of gender, special educational needs, background and age is taken into account
(MoBSE, 2011:112).

The Gambia College of Education offers teacher education at different levels and the teaching
program is important for the national development of the education system (The Gambia
College, n.d.). The teacher education at the college in the Gambia is free of charge and therefore
many students choose that profession even though it might not be their first choice. The quality
of education over all is developing in the Gambia but there are still improvements that needs to
be made (Gambiagrupperna, 2016).

Future In Our Hands The Gambia (FIOHTG) is an organization with many projects. The
mission of the organization is to work against poverty in the Gambia through education. They
primarily target the poorest population and the least developed regions in the Gambia
(Gambiagrupperna, 2017). FIOHTG has a training program for teachers called ”Basic active
learning”. Every workshop focuses on different themes for 60 minutes, such as democracy,
children's rights, gender and equality (Gambiagrupperna, 2016). The idea is that the residents will
gain a greater extent of more influence on decisions that could change their life, if they get
educated (Gambiagrupperna, 2017).

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4.4 Gender issues in the Gambia

The Gambia as a country is faced with many issues related to gender. According to the statistics
from 2015 at Globalis Gender Inequality Index, where number 0 stands for total equality and
number 1 for inequality, Sweden has an index of 0.048 compared to the Gambia where the index
is 0.641 (Globalis, 2017). In the Gambia, considerably more men can read and write compared to
women. In the first years of primary school, there are more girls than boys and approximately
half of the students continue to high school where the majority are boys. Many children starts
working early in the household or in agriculture, which is one reason for staying home from
school (Utrikespolitiska instutitionen, 2018).

Different groups of people in the country may have variations in their daily lives, however,
generally speaking, women are subordinate men, despite the fact that the country should be equal
according to the law. Polygamy exists within all ethnic groups and many marriages are arranged.
Many young women are forced to marriage, especially in the rural areas. The division of tasks is
usual between the sexes. Often, women take care of daily tasks, unlike men who spends a lot of
time doing physical work (Utrikespolitiska instutitionen, 2018).

4.4.1 The gender policy in the Gambia

To address the existing gender imbalances in the Gambia, a gender policy has been developed as
an integral part of the national development objectives. Gender being a cross-cuting issue, the
policy has created six thematic areas that encompass the government's priority developmental
problems. These six areas particularly supply the priority gender issues that must be integrated
into development policies and programmes within the years of 2010-2020 (NPAGW, n.d).

The vision is to create a dignified living standard for all humans in the Gambian society and the
purpose is to achieve gender equality and equality at all institutions of project and programmes
and on policy levels. One of these areas is “Gender and Education” where the goal is to ensure
equitable access to equality education, gender equality at all levels and an eligible livelihood skills
for both sexes (NPAGW, n.d).

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5. Research survey
This chapter contains prior research that was relevant to the three research questions that were
investigated in this study. There is unlimited research on gender, thereby a delimitation of the
selection was necessary. A balance between the theoretical work and the empirical work was
required for the limited time frame for this study. The reason for choosing research from
different countries was to strengthen Hirdman's gender system as it becomes apparent that her
theory is consistent in a global context. Research close to 30 and 50 years old will be presented to
investigate whether there are any similarities when comparing research from the 1970’s and 90’s,
to the results of this study.

5.1 Gender differences

Baker and LeTendre at Pennsylvania University mean that in low-income countries, gender
inequality is significantly greater in comparison with high-income countries and that girls do not
have the same opportunities as boys when it comes to education. They explain that girls are
discriminated in school and that girls are seen as less intelligent. Girls are also connected with
domestic chores like cleaning, taking care of their siblings and fetch water for the family (Baker &
LeTendre 2005:62). According to Wittrup's research from 1990 in the Gambia, the role of a girl
in this population can be summed up to feed children, to be patient and to endure. When girls are
eleven to thirteen years old, they are considered ready to marry and have children (Wittrup,
1990:121-122). Boys are considered to be more desired than girls by the parents. The reason for
this is that they are used as good labor, and that they bring home wives to help their mothers in
their housekeeping. The men also have control over the woman, both in cultural and social
aspects (Wittrup, 1990:136-137). A study by Daly examines the phenomenon of ”out-of-school
children” in the Gambia from the perspective of children and families. The main obstacles to
participation proved to be a mixture of family and school-based factors, such as cost and
availability for family and school and cultural conditions (Daly, 2014).

One recent study by Njie from the Gambia shows that the access to school for girls has
improved in the country, thus, expectations from the parents still persist that girls should prepare
themselves for future responsibilities in the household and as mothers. However, a profound
tension between the values of female education versus the gender socialization is current in the

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Gambia. Girls in the country are expected to remain feminine, which has a negative effect for the
girls performance in school. The girls values about their own social status, gender roles and their
future employment capabilities also effects negatively of the mindset of acting ”feminine” in the
society (Njie, 2015:48).

Research from Sweden shows that teachers give boys more attention in the classroom. Skolverket
investigated for instance how the teachers divided their attention between talking to the class in
general and referring individually to boys and girls respectively, in the classroom. The result
showed that teachers more often addressed boys than girls (Eliasson, 2016). In another study
from Sweden, Nordberg describes how teachers allow gender differences to continue by having
different expectations on the sexes. Boys tend to get more attention from teachers than girls and
a rowdy behavior is perceived as more normalized by boys than for girls (Nordberg, 1999:12).
The influence of the interaction between teacher and student depending on their sex has also
been shown by previous research from the United States by Brophy and Good, where they found
that there is a clear tendency for boys to get most of the teacher's attention in the classroom
(Brophy & Good, 1970:372). A Swedish study by Holm is about how teachers maintaining the
gender identities, despite the school's mission to counteract them. Holm’s study was conducted
through interviews and observations that showed how teachers create gender differences (Holm,
2008:117). Holm observed a pattern in the classroom that showed that the teacher supervised the
boys more than the girls. In addition, a greater commitment was shown to get the boys involved
in classroom discussions rather than to the girls (Holm, 2008:118).

A study from Australia by Merret and Wheldall was based on examining the teacher's valuable
feedback to the students. In the observations, the teacher's responses to the students were
divided into different categories. They observed the teacher's response to criticism and praise of
student performance and their behavior. The observed teachers were working in the middle and
lower secondary school. The result of the study showed that the difference between reprimands
and praise for girls and boys in the lower ages in school was not remarkable (Merret & Wheldall,
1992:75). In the older ages there were more noticeable differences in the teachers' use of praise
and reprimands depending on the sex of the accused. It was apparent that the boys got more
attention, both when it came to criticism and praise in their achievements. The boys also received
more contempt in order to counteract a disturbing behavior (Merret & Wheldall, 1992:75). This is
also confirmed in a british study made by Swinson and Harrop that resulted in boys getting more
attention from the teacher, both regarding positive and negative response (Swinson & Harrop,
2009:52).

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In a Swedish research by Einarsson, the focus were on examining whether more variables such as
the age and sex of the teacher and the students, affect the interaction in the classroom. Einarsson
used observations focusing on the exchange of replies and the contact between the teacher and
the students. The observations showed minimal differences in which 56 per cent of the total
interaction between the teacher and the students were addressed to the boys and the remaining
44 per cent to the girls (Einarsson, 2003:61, 69). Einarsson discusses her result in comparison to
previous research, which shows greater differences, and believes that the interaction has become
even more visible, as the area has become more investigated. Most likely, teachers have gained a
greater awareness of the distribution of the attention to the students regardless of sex, and
thereby, there are reasons to question whether the male dominance in the classroom is still
relevant, according to Einarsson (Einarsson, 2003:61, 69).

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6. Theoretical framework

A theory is used to analyze and interpret the collected data. It is through a theory that the result
of a research is put into a larger and more scientific context (Harboe, 2013:88). In this following
chapter the theoretical framework based on Hirdmans gender system will be presented. Her
theory will also be strengthened by Kåreland, Hedlin and Bourvoir.

6.1 The gender system

The gender researcher Yvonne Hirdman is a professor at the Institute of Labor and Historical
Studies at Stockholm University (Hirdman, 2001:13). She had and still has a major influence in
gender research in Sweden, including when she introduced the Swedish meaning of gender as
“genus” in the Swedish vocabulary (Hirdman, 1988/2012:457). Hirdman wanted to get away
from the notion of “gender roles”, as she believes that the distribution between gender and role
is simplified. She prefers to use the concept of a gender system instead (Hirdman, 2001:13). She
describes the term as an order structure of gender (Hirdman 1988/2012:458).

There are two principles that build the gender system. First of all, it is the separation between
male and female called dichotomy, and the other principle is about the man as a norm, which
leads to a sort of hierarchy (Hirdman, 1988/2012:459). The fact that the man is the norm in
society is maintained by the separation, according to Hirdman, where women are the
subordinates. Hirdman believes that the woman has had lower value than the man both
historically, geographically and generally, which, according to her, is a subordination (Hirdman,
1988:1,8). Kåreland also talks about gender as a pattern in which the definition of female is
subordinate to the definition of male (Kåreland, 2005:39). Another term that is discussed by
Hedlin is gender structure which means that society in general is based on gender patterns. This
is influenced by society's traditions, frames, norms and expectations, as well as what is considered
acceptable and usually which, in turn, creates patterns. Depending on what sex you have, society
has different expectations on what certain areas are acceptable for women and men (Hedlin,
2006:7).

The societal perceptions of male and female as well as the division of labor between the sexes are
examples of factors that contribute to the separation between the sexes (Hirdman,
1988/2012:460). When the sexes become separated, Hirdman believes that men is given a power
creation in which the man is identified as positive and the woman as negative. Hirdman

14
sympathizes this belief with Beauvoir's expression that "one can not be an A without repressing a
B", which means that ”A” stands for men, and ”B” for women (Hirdman 1990:52). Beauvoir also
strengthen the theory that society forms two different categories where the man is superior to the
woman. The older the child becomes the more apparent the male superiority gets and the woman
is forced to a fate according to society's norms (Beauvoir, 2002:325, 336).

Male and female genitals are something that humans are born with, gender is what is formed
through the culture, the language and the thinking itself. Thus, gender is a term used to
distinguish culture from biology which means that it is created (Hirdman, 1990:50, 52). The
relationship between the sexes and how they should act, is explained by Hirdman through the
term "gender contract". Each individual society has some kind of contract between the sexes, but
these can be expressed in different levels and forms. Examples of this can be how men and
women should look, what employment they have, where to be settled, and how to speak based
on the given sex. In this gender contract, the man is the norm, which is something that lives on
from generation to generation (Hirdman, 1990:54). A termination of the gender system would
mean that women are allowed to do what men do and the opposite, which would mean equality
and equal worth of everyone (Hirdman, 1988:30). All the people in a society are involved in
creating the gender order, which happens unconsciously and is perceived as normal because it is
conceived that it should be in a certain way (Hirdman, 1988/2012: 459).

In Beauvoirs book "The second sex", she means that it is enough to look around to recognize
that men and women are divided into two different categories, both through their appearances
and superficial aspects such as clothes. Beauvoir claims that men and women are not equal, but
that the man is the starting point of which the woman is measured and compared to, which
means that the gender is divided into the superior and inferior category (Beauvoir, 2002:24-26).
The meaning of the gender system will be linked to the perceptions of the observed and
interviewed teachers in this study about gender and the extent of a certain interaction to the
different sexes.

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7. The didactic relevance of this study

There are two long term aims with teacher education; equality and quality. Multiculturalism can
be linked to racial discrimination. People are stuck in thinking ”we” and ”them”, limited to the
values associated with Europe, which is excluding some of the population and creating an
eurocentric thinking (Sjögren et al., 2005:102). Is it possible to value all our differences of
knowledge, languages and traditions all over the world? In the teaching education, these
questions are challenging because it is important to create an intercultural education and for that
to be possible, it requires engagement from everyone (Sjögren et al., 2005:102).

The school is not an isolated place. Sometimes, many different cultures could be included in one
class, which means that the spirit of globalization is present (Nihlfors, 2008:18). The global goal
number four “Qualitative education for all” is to increase the presence of educated teachers by,
inter alia, collaborating internationally on teacher education in low-income countries by 2030
(UNDP, 2015). This present study was performed in the Gambia to collect further experiences
from teachers, to bring this knowledge forward into the future classrooms. As teachers, it is
relevant to give and receive knowledge and experiences from others to promote the development
of the profession.

A skilled teacher performs something in a thoughtful and systematic manner, which partly has its
foundation in the teachers own experiences. An experienced teacher has knowledge of how
something should be done, but the ability to develop this further is to be aware of how and why
something should be mastered. By analyzing experiences and comparing these with others, this
can be systematized (Bronäs & Runebou, 2010:34-35).

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8. Aim and research questions

The aim of this study is to investigate in what ways a gender perspective is present in Gambian
public schools. In particular we are interested in if, and if so how teachers in the Gambian school
express gender awareness. This aim will be investigated through the following research questions;

- How are the teachers’ attention distributed between girls and boys in the classroom based on
praise and reprimands?

- How are the teachers’ distribution opportunities to speak out in the classroom between the
sexes?

- How does the teachers express their awareness apart from attention and distributed speaking
opportunities?

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9. Methodology

Two qualitative methods were used to collect data, in order to strengthen the validity and
reliability (Larsen, 2009:81), by interviews and observations. Ten teachers from nine different
schools in two rural regions in the Gambia participated, five from each region. The teachers were
in the age of 23-40, consisted of four women and six men. Nine out of ten teachers were
qualified and one teacher will get the teacher qualification this summer. The teachers had worked
in the profession between 3-15 years. The respondents were teachers who all had participated in
FIOHTG’s training programs. How many schools the teachers had worked at differed from one
to seven. The observations were performed before the interviews of the observed teachers to
collect as trustworthy data as possible, otherwise, the teacher could adapt his or her lesson in
relation to the interview questions (Larsen, 2009:92).

9.1 Interviews

Qualitative semi-structured interviews were used to be able to ask as comprehensible questions as

possible. This is a relevant method to use in order to get exhaustive answers (Trost, 2010:25).
Semi-structured interviews are usually about a situation where the interviewer has several
questions that could be defined as a questionnaire, but the sequence of the questions varies. The
interviewer also has a certain tendency to ask further questions to follow-up important answers
for more detailed information (Bryman, 2011:206), which was common in this study’s interviews.
The interviews were divided into two different parts with 17 questions in total. The different
parts were “background information” that included questions about the teacher’s background in
the profession and “gender equality in teaching” that included questions about the gender
awareness and questions about the teacher’s relation to The Global Goals and The National
Development Plan of the Gambia. The reason for dividing the interviews into two different parts
was to gain a broader view of the teacher's background in the profession in general to clarify the
interest of the interviewed teacher’s experiences and views (Ahrne & Svensson, 2015:45). All the
interviews were recorded. Every second interview was performed by Researcher 1 while
Researcher 2 had the main responsibility to take notes of the teacher's response in order to
facilitate the monitoring work, for instance the transcription process. When Researcher 2 had the

18
main responsibility for the interviews, Researcher 1 took notes (Cf. Gillham, 2005/2008:168).
The interview questions can be found in Appendix 1.

9.2 Observations

All the participants in the ten observations in this study were aware of them being observed,
which is called open observations (Larsen, 2009:90-92). Structured observations were performed
through one observation schedule, that was prior defined and categorized (Simpson & Tuson,
2003:27). The observation schedule was divided into two different parts of which Researcher 1
was responsible for the first part and Researcher 2 for the second part. The reason for the
division was to get as balanced work distribution as possible and collecting qualitative data
efficiently. All observations were carried out with the same framework, divided into two different
schedules focusing on different things (see the following discriptions of the observation
schedules). In order to facilitate the follow-up of the results of the observations, information
about which school that was observed, in the form of a pseudonym, was available on all
schedules. One observation of a lesson, 30-45 minutes, was carried out per teacher (see the
observation schedule in Appendix 2). The observations were carried out during a five-day period.
Since observations take a lot of time and energy, it is recommended to write down all field results
as soon as possible after the observations have been made (Merriam, 2009:122). This was taken
into account for these observations which means that everything observed was written down the
same day. The observations were made in the conditions of a calculation of the situations in the
classroom and were thereby compiled in percentage terms in the result (see Table 1). The
calculations were based on the number of hand raising, point outs, reprimands and praise which
are presented as “situations” in this study. Since the number of girls and boys was not equal, an
estimate of how many situations that occurred will also be presented in the result.

9.2.1 Observation schedule 1

The theme “reprimands” was numbered as 2 in the observation schedule. The definition of the
term in this observation schedule meant everything the teacher said, which indicated to the
student to stop a certain behavior. The teacher's voice or attitude was not taken into account in
this study. The reason was that the measurement of voice mode was considered to be too
challenging due to many factors that could have an impact, for example the cultural difference

19
and the teacher's personality. To gain a deeper insight into the theme of reprimand, there was
also room for writing down the reasons behind them.

The theme “praise” was numbered as 3 in the observation schedule. In order to limit the theme
praise, the focus was on words and therefore not if the teacher made an encouraging gesture. All
words that indicated an encouragement to a specific behavior or school effort to the student
were noted. Reprimands and praise were written down to the extent they were perceived. If the
teacher whispered something to a student that was considered to be a reprimand or praise, this
was not included in the calculation of the number of praises and reprimands. However, if a
situation arouse which was considered to be deviant or interesting for this study, this could be
noted in “general notes”.

9.2.2 Observation schedule 2

The situation “hand raising” and “point out” were included in the headline “the quantitative
distribution of the word” in the observation schedule, numbered as 4. These situations focused
on the teachers’ distribution of the word to a student, either by hand raising or when the teacher
made point outs at a student to answer a question. The definition of point out is when the
teacher points at a student who has not raised their hand, and expects some kind of response.
The theme “punishment” was numbered as 5 in the observation schedule. This theme included
all the consequences that the student may endure as a result of an undesirable behavior. The
punishments were calculated whether they were physical or mental.

9.3 Reflections on the method

There are considerations to have in mind while reading this study. The respondents in this study
consist of people who were available for the investigation which is a method called convenience
sampling. One problem with this strategy is that the results are impossible to generalize (Bryman,
2011:194). The number of teachers that participated in this study and the fact that they all had
benefited from FIOHTG’s training programs make this study non-generalized for Gambian
teachers.

20
9.3.1 Considerations about the interviews

The language barrier varied within the interviews, and thereby some of the questions had to be
reformulated. When cross-cultural interviews are made it could be difficult to get familiar with
the variety of cultural factors that affect the conduct between the interviewer and the person
being interviewed. It is important that the interviewer sets time to get to know the new culture in
a foreign culture, such as verbal and non-verbal factors that could be misunderstood.
Communication in foreign languages can result in cross-cultural misunderstandings (Kvale,
2014:184). Thereby, some questions were conducted during the interviews which could have
affected the result of this study. During all interviews, follow-up questions were asked if the
teacher’s answer was considered as relevant for this study or if there were any misunderstandings.
All these follow-up questions were spontaneous, in order to collect as much interesting data as
possible.

9.3.2 Considerations about the observations

When observations are made, the observer will always influence the situation in some way
because the circumstances are not entirely natural to those observed. The interaction can be
distorted and thereby that is significant to keep in mind (Merriam, 2009:137). This is important to
consider, because if the circumstances were natural, the outcome from the observations might
have been different.

The teachers’ choice of student in the hand raising situation was calculated regardless of how
many students of respective sex that were available to choose from which makes the
consideration important while reading the results. The reason for this choice was to prevent
difficulties in the management of the data collection and also the aspect of time during the
observations.

9.4 Relevant ethical considerations

The ethical considerations were important because of the responsibility to make sure that the
participants identity would not be disclosed and that no personal data will be shared by
unauthorized persons (Vetenskapsrådet, 2017:27). The respondents were informed through oral
information before the interviews about the aim of this study, which means that they were able to

21
choose if they wanted to participate or not. The focus of the observations was only on the
teachers and not the students (Vetenskapsrådet, 2002:7). Informed consent also means that you
inform the participants what risks and advantages that could be associated with attendance in the
study. The persons who were supposed to be interviewed could drop out anytime. These ethical
principles respect people's ability to make their own decisions and ensure that there will not be
any negative consequences by the participants (Kvale, 2014:107). The teachers were also
informed that all information will be kept confidential and handled with professional secrecy
upholding all ethical standards and the collected data will only be used for research purposes
(Vetenskapsrådet, 2002:7-14).

To record interviews is important because it gives the interviewer a possibility to concentrate.

Additionally, recording gives the interviewer better opportunities to perceive the information
correctly (Kvale, 2014:108, 218). Confidentiality is one important aspect in this study, which
means that the reader can not identify the person behind the answers (Kvale, 2014:109). This is
important since there was an agreement that all the teachers will be kept anonymous.

The approval for all the observations and interviews in this study was confirmed by the Ministry
of Basic and Secondary Education in the Gambia (MoBSE) and were signed by the director
Momodou Jeng Ag. This approval letter gave the permission to collect data as researchers,
through interviews with teachers and observations in classrooms at schools in two different
regions in the Gambia (see the consent form request and the approval form in Appendix 3 and
Appendix 4). Since cooperation together with FIOH during this investigation occured, the
approval was possible. The organization has the main permission to implement classroom
observations and interviews at all schools in the six regions of the Gambia. The physical consent
form from MoBSE was not practically necessary in the Gambia, however, it was needed to
strengthen this bachelor thesis.

22
10. Analysis of the data
All ten interviews were recorded. The term validity is for instance in line with the reliability of
what a person has said, therefore, to record the interviews enabled the possibility to obtain the
material again which strengthen the validity in this study (Kvale, 2014:298). There are 237
minutes of recorded material from the interviews, which corresponds to almost four hours. On
average, an interview took almost 24 minutes. The parts that were considered most relevant to
the study's research questions were transcribed and analysed. To exclude parts of a data collection
is called reduction which contains the aim of making an equitable representation of the material
(Ahrne & Svensson, 2015:22).

The interview material has been analyzed based on a qualitative content analysis, which means
that the material has been analyzed mainly based on interpretations. The analysis was also based
on the context and on what was not said during the interviews. The theory of this study based on
Hirdman's gender system was also highlighted in interaction with the collected information
(Harboe, 2013: 113). Analyzing and interpreting transcripts is done in a similar way as
interpretations are made in dialogues in fictional texts. Interpretations were based on how words,
sentences and linguistic expressions were included throughout the context. What can be taken
into consideration is expressions that were used and not used, how the answers were formulated
and whether the answers were developed or not. At the same time as the data was collected, the
theory that this study was based on developed (Harboe, 2013:114).

The answers can be structured and categorized once the interviews are transcribed. For example,
if there are specific topics that the respondents often encounter, then the answers can be
structured trough encoding. Coding takes place in conjunction with the theory of the study. This
can be done through a list of specific phenomena and topics that arose during the interviews.
This list should be the key phenomena that are constantly explored in the interaction with the
theory. This makes extracts and compilation of encoded phenomena between different data sets,
which means that a summary of all interviews has been made. This is done to clarify certain
phenomena to find shades and overall features (Harboe, 2013:116-118).

23
The first step of the analysis was to choose and collect key concepts from Hirdmands gender
theory in this study. These concepts are the base of what the analysis is focusing on based on the
result of the data. The central concepts from Hirdmans theory that is used in the analysis of this
study will now be presented;

- Dichotomy, which is the concept of the separation of the sexes. This is one of the principles
that build the gender system (Hirdman, 1988/2012:459).

- Hierarchy, which means that the man is the norm in the society which leads to that the women
are the subordinated (Hirdman, 1988/2012:459).

- Equality, means that both sexes have the same right and opportunities as the opposite sex
(Hirdman, 1988:30).

- Gender contract, Society's expectations that influence the view on what the sexes should and
should not do (Hirdman, 1990:54).

The ten observations that were made were transformed into a table were the results of the
distributed attention of the four situations got compiled in percentage. A quantitative data
processing was used which means that an analysis of numbers is used (Harboe, 2013:121). This
analysis method will also be linked to the key concepts used in the analysis of the interviews
based on Hirdman's theory.

24
11. Results and analysis
A collection of the observations and interviews was made to facilitate answers of the three
research questions. There are subheadings included in each research question and all parts end
with an analysis of the conducted data. Appendix 5 is presented to get an insight and
understanding related to the following quotes in this chapter to gain knowledge about the
teachers experiences according to their utterances. The reason for not presenting the teachers age
was mainly to maintain the ethical standards. There were between 16 and 38 students in each
observed class. In total there were 127 boys and 148 girls observed, the number of students
varied between 143 to 1400 at each school. To distinguish the different sexes were not difficult
since all the girls had either a veil or braids, and the boys had not. The grades in the schools
varied from two to ten grades including early childhood education and the number of classes
varied from four to 27. All the observed classes were between grade one to six. The schools had
between five up to 40 teachers.

11.1 The teachers attention to girls and boys in the classroom in theory

Three teachers referred to the boys as more disturbing or stubborn and thereby, these teachers
gave the boys most of the reprimands. Two other teachers expressed that girls are not
concentrated and also more disturbing, and that is the reason for giving them most of the
reprimands. The remaining five teachers expressed that both boys and girls gets equivalent
numbers of reprimands. The following quote is expressed by Teacher G who gave girls more
reprimands than boys, because of the closer relationship outside of school between the teacher
and the girls.

I have more girls than boys, so more reprimands to the girls. The girls are more used to me and
thereby disturb more than the boys. I always want to encourage girls. Sometimes in our society
here, there are some gender differences, like in Africa here, in Gambia, before and even now, girls
are left behind. But now certain people has motivated them to come to school and stuff like that.
So you know, you have to put that motivation to them that no one should be put out. In the
classroom everyone are equal of how I treat them, but outside the classroom I interact more with
girls than boys to give them more attention. (Teacher G)

25
According to Teacher G, girls are left behind in the society, which is a reason for Teacher G to
try and give girls more attention outside the classroom, but during the lessons, the girls and boys
are equal.

According to three teachers, boys get more praise than girls including Teacher B who referred to
one boy specifically. Teacher C said that the boys pay more attention during lessons and Teacher
A said that the reason is that boys have more time for studying outside school than girls (see
following quote 1 from Teacher A). This differs from Teacher H who said that the girls receive
most of the praise because they are more serious than the boys (see following quote 2 from
Teacher H). The remaining teachers stated that everyone receives reasonably equal praise and did
not develop their answers in any more detail.

For them, they have enough time to read their books, but for the ladies when they go from school
if they go home, they work almost half time of their mothers work, they were cooking, laundry,
sweeping all these things, and those things can not mark with readings. Boys have more time than
the females. (Teacher A)

Teacher A explains that the boys get more praise because after school, they have more time
to study than the girls. According to Teacher A, the girls need to help their mother at home
and thereby, they do not have as much time to study.

The girls receive most praise, because the girls are more serious than the boys. Boys normally, they
have their lazy time they always concentrate on playing football more than reading their books. The
girls study more outside than they. (Teacher H)

According to Teacher H, girls have more time to study after school because the boys are
too lazy on their spare time. The majority of the teachers said that they prefer to distribute
the word to a student who is considered as weaker, in their class, in order to encourage
them. The remaining teachers claimed that they pick the students randomly. Two teachers
mentioned the factor of gender awareness as something they think about when distributing
the word, which was something those two teachers mentioned without getting a follow-up
question. Teacher E and Teacher J talked about a competition strategy to get both girls and
boys active. Teacher J explained that dividing the girls in one group and the boys in another
group and competing against each other is something the students enjoy. Teacher E have a
similar strategy, see the following quote;

26
“Yes, I have a strategy, that I use, sometimes, if I give them a classwork, when I mark their books,
the highest people that have past, if it's always girls, when boys have performed well than the girls,
so you will see that the following classwork the girls will perform better than the boys, just to press
them. I will press them in front of the girls, next class, the girls wants to get the same credit, it's like
a competition. A lot of them become active.” (Teacher E)

Teacher E explains in this quote that the girls and boys wants to get the same amount of praise.
So if the girls have performed well and are praised by the teacher, the boys will work harder to
get the same praise as the girls.

11.2 The teachers attention to girls and boys in the classroom in practice

The following table shows the percentage division of attention targeted to each sex in the four
different situations. Since the number of boys and girls were unequal, the calculations were made
in per cents (%) based on a collocation of all the boys and girls, where “n” stands for number of
each sex, which corresponds 100 per cents. The percentage is based on the amount of girls and
the amount of boys separately. The reason for choosing this presentation is to gain a clear
understanding of how many students were observed for each sex, and how much attention the
respective sexes in total received from the teachers in all the different situations.

Results of the observed situations according to the number of each sex

Table 1.
Observed Girls received Boys received
situation: (n=148): (n=127):
Hand raising 36 % 40 %

Point out 13 % 19 %

Reprimand 16 % 17 %

Praise 21 % 27,5 %

The first situation of the result in Table 1 show that 36% out of all the 148 participated girls
received attention while raising their hands, compared to the boys where 40% out of all the 127

27
participated boys received attention through hand raising. All the four situations in Table 1 shows
that the boys received most attention percentage, regardless of if it was considered positive or
negative. A few examples of the common reprimands to both girls and boys in class were sit down,
speak louder and pay attention. When the teachers gave praise to the students in the majority of the
lessons, the teacher together with the students clapped their hands. Two common encouraging
words to the students were good and very good.

11.3 Analysis of the teachers attention to girls and boys in the classroom

What can be distinguished from the Table 1 is that the differences between girls and boys are
small, but in all the four different situations, the boys got more attention than the girls. This fact
that the boys got more attention is in line with Hirdmans theory that all the people in a society
are involved in creating the gender order unconsciously and that certain things is perceived as
normal (Hirdman, 2012:459). What Table 1 shows is also a result itself about trustworthy answers
from the teachers, since their answers from the interviews matched the calculation in the table.
Something that could be questioned by observing the Table 1 is the existence of equality – is the
data a result of an equal classroom or an unequal classroom? According to Hirdman, equality is
achieved when both sexes has the same right and opportunities as the opposite sex (Hirdman,
1988:30). In all four situations the boys received most attention from the teachers regardless if it
is positive or negative, and what does this mean? The division of attention clearly shows that the
students does not have the same rights and opportunities that an equal classroom would achieve.
Maybe there could be a question of coincidences, or the fact that more boys in percentage raised
their hands, but what about the three other categories? There is clearly a pattern by the observed
teachers that shows that boys is considered as the norm which leads to the hierarchy where
women are seen as the subordinated (Hirdman, 1988/2012:459). Hirdman also talks about the
gender contract which means that society expects different things from the different sex
(Hirdman, 1990:54). The result from Table 2 could also have had an impact on the teachers
expectations from the students. For example, the teachers might expect more accomplishments
from the boys which led to more point outs to the boys.

Hirdman explains dichotomy as a concept of the separation between the sexes (Hirdman,
1988/2012:459). The fact that two teachers mentioned their competition strategy in their classes
where the boys and the girls compete against each other, means that there were a separation

28
between the students. Since the students got separated depending on what sex they had, this
strategy inplies a contribution to upholding a gender dichotomy in the classroom.

Other utterances from the teachers also strengthen the dichotomy that occurs between the sexes.
Teacher A and teacher H had interesting comments on what the girls are doing after school.
According to teacher A, the girls do not have time for doing their homework because they have
to help their family with the daily work. This is the opposite of the expression from teacher H
who meant that the girls are studying more than the boys outside school because they are more
serious than the boys. Even though these expressions are opposites, they still have things in
common. Both of the teachers utterances strengthen Hirdmans consent dichotomy that separates
the sexes from each other (Hirdman, 2012:459). The equality could also be questioned since the
sexes does not have the same rights and opportunities as each other (Hirdman, 1988:30). It seems
like the different sexes are placed in two compartment separated from each other, where the girls
are doing their things and the boys are doing theirs, or at least based on the teachers
preconceptions.

11.4 How does the teachers express their awareness apart from attention and
distributed speaking opportunities?

Teacher G claimed that the voice sometimes could get a bit more sensitive while talking to the
girls in the classroom, because otherwise they might be afraid if you talk too “hard” to them.
Thus, that teacher is trying more or less to be equal while talking to the students in the classroom
and one reason for that is that the boys could think that the teacher values the girls more if the
teachers speak more soft to the girls. The remaining nine teachers said that their voice remains
the same regardless if they speak to a girl or a boy. When the teachers were supposed to answer
what gender equality means to them, all the teachers said that girls and boys should be treated
equally and that there should be no segregation between the sexes. The majority of the teachers
did not develop their answer in more detail. Teacher G explained the general thoughts in the
Gambian society about gender equality, see the following quote:

Okay, like, you know, sometimes here what they normally to say gender equality sometimes people
just voice it out like boys and girls should be equality or whatever, but to our communities, it is not
what is happening there, what we believe here is boys should always be prioritized before girls.
(Teacher G)

29
Teacher G, also compared the students’ conditions regarding whether they are placed in the
countryside or in the bigger cities in the Gambia.

...But more or less that is how people perceive it, like we use gender equality, we just hear it from
the west, that boys and girls are equal but is do. But when you come to your own settings here there
is not somethings that we believe too much, like the parents they do not believe too much in that
so you can see sometimes most girls if they are fortunable to go to like for example in the Kombos,
around Banjul, Serrekunda, Brikama, in the Kombos, there they will have that opportunity to be
able to finish school up to highschool level and all those stuff but if not, here alone they will go up
to maybe upper basic you have to drop out, because their parents are believe that up to this level
once you can read a little, you can write a little, it is okay. Then you have to get a husband to marry,
so you see it is a challenge here, so sometimes you want to give them that opportunity to always
feel like when they go to certain point they can stand on themself and defend themselves you
know... (Teacher G)

Teacher G expressed this utterances in a concerned way which strengthen that the mindset of
this teacher is not in line with the expressed mindset of the society in the Gambia. Nine teachers
uttered that they treat girls and boys equally. Thus, Teacher D claimed that girls and boys should
be equal in the world, but does not think they could, because they are different. According to
Teacher D, the class works better with boys as group leaders since they get more respect in the
class. The boys in that particular class also receive most punishments from the teacher because
the boys usually disturb more in the classroom compared to the girls in that class, according to
the teacher. See the following quote from teacher D about the punishments:

You know, certain boys are very stubborn. I try to give them, girls some boys when they do
something I can give in call them and punish them, like to boys to kneel down and the girls to talk
to them, talk to them, they understand, for girls they are easily talking to understand but for
stubborn boys is stop I tell them to kneel down, if they kneel down within few minutes when they
sit down they will be okay. (Teacher D)

According to the same teacher, Teacher D, the boys in that class disturb even more when they sit
together and thereby that teacher usually separate them to sit mixed with girls. The teacher
sometimes place the students from different tribes next to each other, so there are no other
opportunities for them than to be quiet.

Eight out of ten teachers had never heard about The Global Goals and the two who had, did not
know the purpose. Everyone got an explanation of the “Gender Equality” goal and the “Quality
Education” goal and the majority of the teachers expressed their positive views about it.

30
According to Teacher G, many girls drop out of school. One reason could be that after grade six,
the next school is too far away and the parents consider the travelling as more risky for girls than
boys and therefore some girls take the grade six all over again in a school closer to their home.
Teacher G explained that sometimes they see that they have a brilliant girl in their class but fear
that the parents will decide another path for them, which according to that teacher is really sad.
Teacher C claimed that the reason for girls dropping out of school is that they are not serious and
it is their own option even though they have the opportunity to education. This teacher also said
that girls get married early and get pregnant, and that it would be better for them to complete
school instead.

Teacher C also uttered that the priority of empowering the women in the national development
of the Gambia is good since women in the Gambia have been left behind for so long. All the
other interviewed teachers also agreed that the priority is a good one. According to Teacher G,
women can do a lot more than being a wife, working at a farm and be responsible for the family,
see the following quote:

“I think this is something that they should always try to develop, because you see as stereotypes,
men are always prioritized so because they believe the girls are the people responsible for the
family, to be a wife and stuff like that, but you see, it’s like giving girls that chance would also, you
know, show them that they can do better, not just to be married and working at the farms and be
gardeners because they can do more than that, people who work in eastern govern institution and
stuff like that, you could see that all of these questions are held by men” (Teacher G)

Teacher G really exposed the quote in a concerned way. The thoughts of girls not attending
school comes from their grandparents and it is important with education for girls, according to
Teacher J, which is in line with Teacher H’s utterance, see following quote:

Anyway, it is good - I think, it is not only men that can move a country forward. Women they are
also good models. They can also join and help to develop the country. But it is only through
education, so they have to have equal access, to the education. (Teacher H)

This utterance shows the view that the society should be developed by both female and male
together and that the education is the key for that to happen.

31
11.5 Analysis of how the teachers express their awareness apart from
attention and distributed speaking opportunities

Even though all the teachers expressed them being aware of boys and girls should be treated
equally and there should be no segregation between them, some teachers expressed gender
differences anyway. One example is Teacher D who said that boys get more respect in Teacher
D’s class. This is interesting since the teacher has the main responsibility in a class. If there are
differences of respect between the sexes in a class, the teacher should change that. This is in line
with Hirdmans theory that there is a hierarchy between the sexes which means that the man is
the norm in the society and thereby the women are seen as the subordinated compared to men
(Hirdman, 1988/2012:459). If the girls do not get the same respect in that specific classroom,
there is a current hierarchy that Teacher D is accepting by letting those scenarios proceed.
According to Hirdman, everyone in a society are unconsciously involved by creating the gender
order (Hirdman, 1988/2012:459), which this scenario is a prime example of. The fact that
Teacher D adapts with the situation about boys getting more respect in that class, strengthen the
normalization of a current hierarchically society.

One interesting finding is that nine out of ten teachers said that they do not change their voice
while talking to the students, depending on their sex. The teacher who said that the voice changes
in a more sensitive way, was Teacher G. This teacher’s words were touching and the gender
equality awareness was truly exposed in all answers. This fact could mean that this teacher was
the only one who dared to answer honestly. Thus, there were no remarkable differences noticed
from the observations about how the teachers spoke differently to the students. Even though
Teacher G showed gender awareness during the interview, it still becomes a dichotomy to talk
differently to girls, just because they are girls. According to Hirdman, dichotomy is one of the
principles that contributes to the gender system where there is a separation between male and
female (Hirdman, 1988/2012:459). When a teacher talks differently to the sexes, there is a
separation. This kind of separation between the sexes could also affect the gender contract by
strengthen the expectations that occurs in the society on different sexes (Hirdman, 1990:54). The
reason for talking in a different way to the girls comparing to the boys could have a foundation in
preconceptions, which the society unconsciously or consciously has created.

According to utterances from the teachers, it is clearly showed that the norm of girls being
responsible for housekeeping, getting married and have children in early ages, still is current in
the Gambian society. However, the majority of the teachers did not express any agreements to
these norms, but the fact that they were mentioned shows that the norms give benefits to some
and disadvantages to others. These kind of utterances shows that there occur expectations in the

32
society of what a specific sex should or should not do, which Hirdman calls the gender contract
(Hirdman, 1990:54) Several of the teachers meant that girls do not have the same opportunities
as boys according to their utterances. Expectations from the families also seems so occur if you
happen to be a girl, which also could affect the school results.

All teachers expressed their positive views of the existence of gender equality in relation to The
National Development Plan of the Gambia and The Global Goals. Despite this, Teacher C
claimed that it is the girls’ own choice not to complete school. This is worth considering because
the statement about quality education for all is one of the most important bases of gender
equality expressed in The Global Goals (UNDP, n.d). One reason for this utterance could be
based on the gender contract where society forms expectations on the sexes of what they should
and should not do (Hirdman, 1990:54). Teacher G who mentioned that some parents decide
another path than school for girls, is an example of how society has created the view of the
division between the sexes. The fact that the discernment between the sexes was easily made, is in
line with Hirdman’s theory about dichotomy where men and women are divided into different
categories partly by superficial aspects (Hirdman, 1988/2012:459).

In theory, all the teachers expressed their awareness of “gender equality”. For them, gender
equality meant that there should be no segregation between the sexes and that both girls and boys
should be treated equally. Hirdman explains gender equality in the a similar way, that both girls
and boys should have the same rights and opportunities no matter what sex they have (Hirdman,
1988:30). Even though the majority did not develop their answer in any more detail, it still shows
that the teachers are aware of the meaning of the term gender equality. However, it was clear that
some teachers were more familiar with the term than others.

33
12. Discussion

In this chapter there will be a discussion about the result linked to the previous research.

12.1 Gender differences

Wittrup´s research from the Gambia is almost 30 years old, however, it is still relevant based on
some teachers utterances. According to Wittrup’s study, girls of that time are ready to get married
and have children when they are eleven to thirteen years old (Wittrup, 1990:121-122). This
mindset is still current by certain people in the Gambia, otherwise statements about girls
dropping out of school caused by pregnancy and marriage, would not be mentioned. Even
though these interviewed teachers might not support these statements, it is still a proof about the
societies separation between the sexes. The utterances that girls more often drop out of school
strengthens Baker and LeTendre’s research that girls do not have the same rights to education
within low-income countries compared to high-income countries (Baker & LeTendre, 2005:62).
Njie’s recent study from 2015 also confirm that different expectations still exist on girls
respectively boys, within education (Njie, 2015:48). This is interesting because of the big time gap
between all these three research studies, but it is still in line with this study’s result. The different
conditions for girls have been a long term issue, and it still seems to be present in the Gambian
education and society. The consequences may be that the development of a more equal society is
hampered by the fact that the mindset is still up to date. If girls are dropping out of school, their
choices are reduced later in life and there may be a recurring pattern that may be inherited within
the family. It is worrying that research conducted 30 years ago can still reflect opinions in modern
times. The Global Goals that none of the teachers were aware of and the priorities in The
National Development Plan of the Gambia may take time to achieve if the view of boys and girls
are not completely equivalent.

Teacher G expressed that boys are prioritized in the Gambian society and this utterance
contradicts the meaning of equality which says that girls and boys should not be treated
differently, everyone should have the same rights and opportunities over their own lives
(Hirdman, 1988:30). Another utterance that shows lack of equality in the society was expressed
by Teacher G who said that some parents decide their daughters’ path. If you are not allowed to

34
decide by yourself about your life depending on your sex, it is not equality. Thus, it is important
to consider the fact that all participants in this study are located in rural areas. If the data
collection would have been conducted in urban areas, Wittrup’s findings might not have been
relevant to a similar extent. The study by Daly showed that students’ dropping out of school is
linked to factors within the school and the family, for instance costs and availability (Daly, 2014).
Utterances from the teachers in this study confirm Daly’s study partly, since the families
influence and the long distance to school were mentioned as reasons for dropping out of school.
This utterances were only referred to girls which confirms that girls are not as prioritized as boys.

According to Eliasson’s study, teachers more often address to boys than girls in the classroom
(Skolverket, 2016). The results of this study are similar since the boys received most of the
attention in all the situations (hand raising, point outs, praise and reprimands). Even though not
all of the attention is considered as positive, it is still attention. This result is compelling since it is
in line with almost 50 years old research from Brophy and Good, which showed that boys
received more attention in the classroom comparing to girls (Brophy & Good, 1970:372).
Nordberg’s study showed that teachers have different expectations on the students depending on
their sex, and that a rowdy behavior is perceived as more normalized for boys than for girls
(Nordberg, 1999:2). This kind of different expectations was perceived in some utterances from
the teachers, for instance, three teachers referred to the boys as more stubborn or disturbing, and
Teacher H considered the girls as more serious. If the expectations of the different sexes
continue to differ in the future, the dichotomy prevailing in society will not cease, which must be
done to ensure that society is able to achieve equality (Hirdman, 1988:30).

Holm’s study showed that the teachers supervised the boys more than the girls and a greater
commitment was shown for getting boys more involved in classroom discussions compared to
girls (Holm, 2008:118). This was also shown in this study since the boys got more point outs than
the girls, which could mean that the teachers subconsciously wanted the boys to be more active
in class. According to Einarsson & Hultman, research show that teachers change their tone
differently depending on if they are talking to a girl or a boy (Einarsson & Hultman, 2001:53-54).
This is partly in line with the results from this study where one teacher said that the voice gets
more soft while talking to girls, however, the teachers’ voice was not taken into account during
the observations. If this study would have included more numerous of teachers, it could be
possible that these utterances would have been more common.

35
According to Einarsson, there are reasons to question whether the male dominance in the
classroom is still relevant, since her results showed minimal differences within the interaction
between the teacher and the students depending on their sex. In her study, the interaction from
the teacher were addressed to the boys in 56 per cent and the girls 44 per cent (Einarsson,
2003:61, 69). The small differences in this study between how much attention girls versus boys
received from the teacher is similar to Einarsson’s result. The majority of the teachers pick
students randomly while distributing the word and do not refer to boys or girls consciously,
according to themselves. The majority rather pick students depending on their level and not their
sex, which was uttered in the interviews. Thus, the boys still received most of the attention in all
situations which could be a result that teachers unconsciously refer to them. The question
whether the male dominance is still relevant in classrooms is reasonable. However, why should
we question this, when the male dominance is obvious in both cases, just because the differences
might not be as big as they used to? There are still differences.

Merret & Wheldall’s study showed that the differences between reprimands and praise to the
respective sex were not remarkable in the middle and lower secondary school. Thus, in the older
ages boys got more attention including both reprimands and praise (Merret & Wheldall, 1992:75).
This is also similar with Swinson’s & Harrop’s study that showed that boys receive more
attention regardless if it is positive or negative (Swinson & Harrop, 2009:520). In this study, the
differences were not big between the sexes, but the boys received most praise and reprimands,
which results in boys getting more attention regardless if it is positive or negative. This is also
another aspect that strengthens Hirdmans belief that men and women are separated. The man is
the norm and the starting point of which the woman is measured and compared to (Hirdman,
1988/2012:459). In all the observations, there were no remarkable differences of the students,
neither in their behavior or accomplishments. Despite this, the boys received most of the
attention in all situations which is worth considering.

According to MoBSE, it is not allowed for teachers to use physical or humiliating punishments
for students (MoBSE, 2011:112). However, the fact that Teacher D explained how mainly the
boys receive punishments in terms of kneeling down, means that the guidelines from MoBSE are
not always followed. During one observation, one punishment against a boy was seen that
confirmed the lack of respect for these rules and statements. One speculation that comes to mind
is, what are the consequences, if a teacher includes punishments as a part of the practical learning
in the classroom? It might lead to children adapting this behavior and think that humiliating
treatments are fair approaches in school and generally in life. The similarity between Teacher D’s

36
utterance and the other teacher that performed a punishment is that the the target were boys.
These treatments also reinforces the separation between girls and boys, the dichotomy (Hirdman,
1988/2012:459). Teacher G expressed the changing tone while talking to girls respectively boys,
and claimed that girls could get scared if the tone would be too “hard”. One reflection that
comes to mind is if these utterance could have any connection with the punishment aspect. If
girls are seen as weaker, does the teachers unconsciously believe that the boys has a more stable
psyche and can handle physical punishments? However, no one should receive punishments in
school regardless of sex.

37
13. Conclusion

The aim of this study was to investigate in what ways a gender perspective is present in Gambian
schools and how the teacher express gender awareness. The following research questions were
investigated; 1. How are the teachers’ attention distributed between girls and boys in the
classroom based on praise and reprimands? 2. How are the teachers’ distribution of opportunities
to speak out in the classroom between the sexes? 3. How does the teachers express their
awareness apart from attention and distributed speaking opportunities? The study showed that
regarding research question 1 and 2, boys got more attention in all situations, regardless if it was
positive or negative. Research question number 3 showed that the teachers were aware of the
concept of gender and equality based on the interviews but on the basis of the observations, this
awareness was not available at all levels. All of the remaining selected central concepts from
Hirdmans theory in this study could be identified by either the observations or the interviews.
The result showed a presence of gender dichotomy, hierarchy and a current gender contract.

There could definitely be improvements considering the gender awareness. However, we

considered the results as surprising since we thought that the differences would be more
remarkable within the distribution of attention between the sexes, since previous studies
presented in this study showed those results. It is clear that the majority of the teachers are aware
of the gender issue in relation to the observations and interviews that were made. All the
interviewed teachers were aware of what the term “gender equality” actually stands for. Although,
it is noteworthy that only a few teachers developed the term. However, the spirit of the mindset
that girls and boys are placed in different categories in society is still current according to several
utterances by the teachers.

It is remarkable that even though the conditions differ between those countries mentioned from
the previous research, there are still similarities in the results that boys receive most attention. It
seems like it does not matter what conditions or circumstances that occur in society, girls and
boys are still in two different categories, and why is that? Even though Hirdman’s theory about
gender is Swedish, which culturally differs a lot from the Gambia, the view of the separation
between the sexes still seems to be similar, no matter where in the world we are. One reflection
is, what kind of requirements is needed in the society for these norms and expectations to fade

38
away, to make the gender system evanesce and thereby connect humans regardless of sex to a
unity instead of two separated categories.

This result can be taken into consideration for other teachers. A knowledge that can be brought
into future classrooms is the fact that theory and practice do not always go hand in hand. Self-
awareness can be a major part of the problematization. It is important to question habits and
consider how to act in certain situations and why. People can certainly believe in acting in a way
that turns out to be different in practice. It would be interesting to make further investigations to
gain deeper knowledge about the gender awareness in other regions in the Gambia, for instance
in the urban areas too. This study focused on two rural regions, as previously mentioned and
thereby the results could be different if the research would include all seven regions and thereby
be possible to generalize. It would be a significant investigation to compare the gender awareness
in the rural and urban areas to discover if there are any similarities or differences and thereby
examine the motives.

39
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43
15. Appendix
The following appendix consist of the 24 interview questions that were used in this study.

15.1 Appendix 1 – Interview questions

The interview questions are divided into four different themes (see following).

Background features:

1. What’s your age?

2. For how long have you worked as a teacher?

3. What schools have you been working at?

4. For how long do you think you will stay in the teaching profession and why?

5. What subjects do you teach?

6. How did you become a teacher?/ Why did you choose to become a teacher?

Gender equality in teaching:

7. What students do you usually distribute the word to?

8. How does your voice change when you speak to girls versus boys?

9. What students receive most reprimand and what are the reasons for telling them off?

10. What students receive most praise and why?

11. Do you treat girls versus boys differently in your classroom? If yes, how?

12. What is your strategy when you organize the class into group exercises?

13. Do you have any strategy to give girls and boys equal attention in your classroom?

14. What does gender equality mean to you?

15. Have you ever heard about UNDP’s 17 Global Goals?

16. Why do you think quality education and gender equality is two of the topics from these 17
goals?

17. One of the priorities in Gambia’s National Development Plan is to “Empower the Gambian
Women to realize their full potential”, what are your thoughts about this?

44
15.2 Appendix 2 – Observation schedule

Observation schedule 1 is presented first in this Appendix and followed by Observation schedule
2.

Observation schedule 1 (Emelie)

School:__________________ Subject of the lesson:__________________

1a. General information about the school:

Number of pupils: Grade:
Boys: Length of lesson:
Girls: Teacher’s sex:
School uniform: Teacher’s age:

1b. General notes about the school

2a. Reprimand (Regardless of attitude):

To boys (number): To girls (number):

Reasons why: Reasons why:

45
 2b. General notes about the reprimands

3a. Praise:
To boys: To girls:

Reasons why: Reasons why:

3b. General notes about the praise

46
Observation schedule 2 (Lovisa)

Observations from the school:__________ Subject of the lesson:_______________

4a. The quantitative distribution of the word (hand raising, point out):
To boys To girls
Hand raising: Hand raising:

Point out: Point out:

4b. General notes about the distribution of the word

5a. Punishment:
To boys To girls
Number: Number:
Type of punishments and the reasons: Type of punishments and reasons:

5b. General notes about the punishments:

47
6a. The organization of the class in group exercises:

Boys together: Every other girl/boy:

Girls together: Mixed in no structured way:

6b. General notes about the organization of the class in group exercises:

7a. How the students are placed in the classroom

Boys together: Majority of girls in the front:
Girls together: Majority of boys in the front:
Every other girl/boy: Every other girl/boy:
Mixed in no structured way: Mixed in no structured way:

7b. General notes about the placement

48
15.3 Appendix 3 – Consent form request

The following consent form request was sent to the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education
in the Gambia.

Consent form request

Personal information
We are two students from Uppsala University in Sweden, Emelie Entoft and Lovisa Carlberg. We
are in Gambia to do a Minor Field Study as our bachelor thesis before we graduate as teachers
this summer.

About the project

The purpose of this study is to observe how the arrangement of the lessons are made from a
gender perspective. We will also interview teachers to get their view about gender equality.

Ethical aspects
All the participants in this study will be made aware of its purpose through oral information.
They also have the right to decide on their participation, which means that they can drop out at
any time. All individuals in the survey will be anonymous and personal data will not be shared by
unauthorized persons. Since we will not use the real names of the participants of this study, it will
not be possible to identify them in our results. All information will be kept confidential and
handled with professional secrecy upholding all ethical standards. Our collected data will only be
used for research purposes, and the essay will be published to a database at Uppsala University
called DIVA.

Consent
This form gives us the permission to collect data as researchers, through interviews with teachers
and observations in classrooms at schools in different regions in Gambia.

49
15.4 Appendix 4 – Approval form

The following paper is the approval of permission to conduct data through interviews and
observations in the Gambia.

50
Appendix 5.

The teachers in relation to their age and teaching experience

Table 2.

Name: Teaching experience:

Teacher A 15 years

Teacher B 5 years

Teacher C 8 years

Teacher D 3 years

Teacher E 12 years

Teacher F 6 years

Teacher G 7 years

Teacher H 5 years

Teacher I 6 years

Teacher J 7 years

51