Empowering young female teachers to create inclusive learning environments for marginalised girls

Research Focus Gender norms and pedagogical standards, poverty, and poor sexual and reproductive health constitute significant barriers to girls' retention, achievement and learning in primary schools in rural Malawi. ... [ view full abstract ]

Research Focus
Gender norms and pedagogical standards, poverty, and poor sexual and reproductive health constitute significant barriers to girls' retention, achievement and learning in primary schools in rural Malawi.

Research Methods
The research method is hypothesis-driven and empirical through the establishment of a two-arm, quasi-experimental, timed fixed effect regression technique to measure a cohort of participants on the dependent variables (sexual and reproductive health, learning and attendance), both before (baseline), during (midline) and after (endline), the manipulation of the independent variable, i.e. teacher performance.

Findings of Research
The baseline results demonstrate significant differences between out of school and in school girls, driving project design to address specific issues of equity, equality and inclusivity, such as challenges to attendance presented by school based and community attitudes to menstruation, early marriage, poverty and gender based violence. The baseline also differentiated between varying levels of literacy and numeracy (through standardised EGRA and EGMA testing) in the two groups, with some surprising results. Midline results focus on these key issues that determine girls' access to learning and its relationship with sexual and reproductive health, and the impact that inclusive and participatory pedagogies have on self-confidence and self-efficacy.

Recommendations
Greater sustainable learning can be achieved through systemic strategies and participatory pedagogies that are based on an evidenced-based understanding of gender norms, sexual and reproductive health, the role of parents, the community, and their relationship to learning in school. Tensions between quality of learning for marginalised girls and scalability remain key areas for project exploration.