Othering in the newly sex-desegregated international schools of Saudi Arabia: identity, gender roles and social engagement

ABSTRACT

Two of the goals of elementary school are to help students to develop a healthy sense of identity and learn social communication skills. However, there are many factors figure into students’ experience during their early years of school. Othering by the other sex is one of these factors, especially in Saudi Arabia, which has just sex-desegregated their elementary schools for the first time. Through in-depth, semi-structured interviews and field observations, the authors explore the role of othering in the experience of students in first to third grade. Open and focused coding of the interviews and structured observations help to identify the mechanisms of othering and resistance, which shape the students’ sense of identity, their understanding of gender roles, and their social interactions with one another.

KEYWORDS:

• Othering
• gender role
• identity development
• elementary education
• social interaction

Acknowledgments

The authors extend their appreciation to the Deanship of Scientific Research at King Saud University for funding this work, as well as providing the assistance in editing services through its cooperation with professional editors at Editage, a division of Cactus Communications.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 https://www.arabnews.com/node/1430586/saudi-arabia.

2 https://sabq.org/swvfW9.

3 We did not find documentation of this step, but according to the teachers at the observed schools, sex-desegregated early education began around 2009.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Abdullah Almutairi

Abdullah Almutairi is Associate professor of philosophy of education at King Saud University.

Abdulaziz Aldossari

Abdulaziz Aldossari is Associate professor of sociology of education at King Saud University.

Rashed Aldoosry

Rashed Aldoosry is professor of foundations of education at King Saud University.

Huda Alsalem

Huda Alsalem is a PhD Candidate at Educational Policies Department, College of education, King Saud University.

Maha Alboqami

Maha Alboqami is a graduate Student at Educational Policies Department, College of education, King Saud University.