Gender, forced migration and education: identities and experiences of refugee women teachers

Abstract

Drawing on narrative data from women teachers in a refugee camp in northern Ethiopia, this article explores how women’s lived experiences of being teachers in a very local context are shaped within and against globalised geographies. Particular attention is paid to the forces of forced migration, to the complexities of local–global economies and their interplay with the social context and gendered relations of the camp environment. The article begins with a brief description of the conceptual framing in relation to understanding women teachers’ lives and continues to describe the context and the research methodology. Research findings are presented and then discussed in sections of broader ‘reflections’ and ‘concluding thoughts’.

Keywords:

• refugee
• women teachers
• Eritrea
• teacher identities
• forced migration

Notes

1. Molyneux’s (1985) differentiation between the women’s practical gender interests and women’s strategic gender interests has been particularly influential in the framing of gender and development theory. It draws attention to the differences between responses to the concrete, practical, and more immediate needs of women, and responses which are more strategic interventions, aimed at longer‐term, more transformatory goals, such as women’s emancipation. Moser (1989) takes up the differentiation, and applies it to policy planning but also suggests the need for more considered policy interventions which, even if aimed at meeting practical gender needs, are aware of longer‐term needs, and larger, strategic possibilities.