A research report submitted to the Faculty of Education, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Education, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 1991 / This research report explores attitudes and trends in relation to the education of girls in single-sex white secondary English-medium schools in the Transvaal; it identifies the ways in which these have changed and possible reasons for the shifts. [Abbreviated Abstract. Open document to view full version]

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Juxtaposing historical evidence with fiction, this thesis probes into the social marginalization of Third Republic schoolmistresses reflected in literary stereotypes. Despite their manifold representation in novels, the general stereotype is still predominant: a displeasing teacher in misery. Mostly secluded in provincial posts, they suffered not only from material indigence and burdensome teaching, but also from the hostility projected from their surroundings. Under these unfavorable circumstances, many took refuge in professional devotion and abnegation. However, they sometimes developed an ideal of heroism and self-sacrifice, which were comparable to nuns’ religious credos. Women teachers’ political portrait is often left out of literary representation. Because they could not even defend themselves and have their interests protected by superiors, political engagement would mean little to their secluded lives. Yet in the masculine Republic, women educators shouldered a political task of forming girls as qualified mothers and companions who embraced republican values. The Republic’s reinvention of the secular faith and the lay School manifested its inheritance of the Catholic legacy it strived to eradicate, best demonstrated by its imitation of a laicized religious discourse, epitomized in literature by institutrices’ spirit of martyrdom. Through their professional efforts, they came into the public sight and increased their political impact. With their pacifist ideal, militant teachers safeguarded the Republic as well as republican schooling. Above all, as a result of their continuous struggles, they shattered the image of domestic women by proving themselves to be independent and public, shaping the New Woman “prototypes” of the new century. The “vices” of new career women were evident, for their new professional identity contravened conventional norms of gender roles. It was the teaching career that gave them an anomalous sexual experience, by depriving them of their womanly roles as wives and mothers. The image of the embittered “vieille fille” thus became a target for demonization, which was presumably a cultural motive behind Colette’s writings. She arguably employed the image of schoolmistress as a vehicle for exposing a public polemic between traditional and modern views on gender roles, in the context of major social transformations especially in thought. Schoolmistresses are a metonymy of French republicanism: a republican experiment which conflicted with women’s traditional functions and undermined the inveterate masculinist order. Third Republic schoolmistresses underwent a metamorphosis from domestic to public as they acquired new social roles. While institutrice literature shares profound bonds with autobiographical accounts, many testimonies also suggest an inclination of being attached to and even governed by novels. Despite the fact that literature is fabricated upon a universe of stereotypes, many teachers spontaneously chose fictional texts as the representative of their professional voice, making these “republican mythologies” a collective autobiography which articulated institutrices’ individual career pathos to a broader audience. / published_or_final_version / Modern Languages and Cultures / Master / Master of Philosophy

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The changes that affected Iranian women's lives after the coming of Islam in the seventh century were similar to the changes that occurred in their lives after the Islamic Revolution of 1979. In both cases these changes were largely wrought by men. / Iranian women have been actively involved and have participated fully in diverse religious, political, and social contexts since the eighteenth century, but frequently without due acknowledgment. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries the belief that education was a pillar of freedom began to gain popularity among Iranian women. The efforts of women to secure an equal place with men in the nation's educational institutions received support from a number of women writers and poets in the form of protests and petitions. It was through this process that Iranian women learned the importance of education in freeing them from patriarchal bondage. The twentieth century, however, witnessed the destruction of most of Iranian women's hopes and quests. Different Iranian governments enacted a series of important laws and regulations touching on "women's issues." Most of the time, however, these governments failed to consider the voices, positions and demands of women concerning these "issues." / In the last two decades, under the Islamic Republic, male authority figures continue to determine women's rights, identity, education, employment, and so on. Changes which affected the status of Iranian women came in the form of different religious decrees and laws that were justified by the argument that they all complied with the Quran and the hadiths. / Iranian women have refused to abandon their quests for an improved or even equal status. Among these women, there are those who still believe that equality can be achieved under the Islamic Republic. Women such as Rahnavard and Gorgi are relying on a "dynamic jurisprudence" that would lead to "Islamic justice." There are also other women who argue that in order to bring about true social justice, women's oppression and subordination in any form must be eliminated. They find such injustice ingrained in the existing culture. Women such as Kaar and Ebadi are making women and those in power aware of the need to achieve a "civil society," based on "social justice" through the process of "revealing the law." This group is hoping that a gradual cultural revolution brought about by women will lead to the establishment of "such justice."

The overall purpose of this study was to explore the effectiveness of a feminist methodology in examining the inter-organizational relationships (IORs) of a partnership for girls' education in Uganda. An in-depth case study was carried out on the Alliance for Community Action on Female Education - Uganda chapter (the Alliance). The Alliance was a multi-sector partnership between international donors, the Ministry of Education and Sports (MOES), and Ugandan non-governmental (NGOs) and community based organizations (CBOs). / Using a feminist approach to spatial mapping, interviews, focus groups and collaborative research activities, the study explored the 'lived' inter-organizational experiences of the Ugandan women and men involved in the Alliance partnership. This choice in methodology responds to the belief that there is limited attention placed on how inter-organizational relationships are examined through the lens of gender, and that there is a need to challenge the male-dominated policy discourse and literature around international cooperation and development. The findings of the study yielded evidence of two main concepts: (1) the Alliance Model---the components that make up the Alliance partnership; and (2) the Alliance Approach---the pedagogies and processes through which the partnership is carried out. These concepts articulate how participants understand the Alliance's IORs from a gender perspective and how these IORs affect gender transformation in education. / The study also discusses the challenges implicit in using feminist methodology to interrogate inter-organizational relationships through the lens of gender. The findings of the study are therefore presented as a 'mapping' of a new language on how we understand and talk about multi-sector partnerships through the lens of gender. / The study has important implications for the way development partnerships in education are designed and managed. It recommends the use of explicit gender analysis and frameworks to ensure that programs and partnerships move beyond simply meeting 'practical' needs for girls and women and focus on creating models and approaches that lead to transformative gender equality results for girls' education.