The case of Meena Raju Manch:A school-based gender intervention program in Maharashtra, India

Abstract. The focus of this master’s thesis is a school-based gender intervention called Meena Raju Manch implemented from 2012 to 2015 in Maharashtra, Western India. Through the lens of gender theory from India as well as multiple approaches to gender norm change, this research aimed to find answers to two questions: How does the curriculum of Meena Raju Manch address traditional gender norms in the context of Maharashtra? How do the gender facilitators describe their experience(s) of using the Meena Raju Manch curriculum? The study followed a retrospective, single-case instrumental design as this intervention ended in 2015. The curriculum of Meena Raju Manch is the case which is being used as a medium to understand how the curriculum itself aims to address gender norms and what were the experiences of the gender facilitators who worked with the curriculum. The primary data sources comprised of document sources (curriculum of Meena Raju Manch in Marathi and English) as well as interviews with four gender facilitators. The data was analysed using Creswell and Poth’s (2017) data analysis spiral. The findings of the study suggest that Meena Raju Manch aims to challenge gender norms using a critical gender lens, but it lacks content related to intersectionality, sexuality and abuse. Gender facilitators who worked with Meena Raju Manch curriculum recalled using the curriculum to tackle certain gender norms. However, gender facilitators were faced with difficulties while trying to address deep-rooted patriarchal norms. Based on the analysis of curriculum and interview data from gender facilitators, Meena Raju Manch shows potential to challenge and change unequal gender norms in the Indian context. This research has broader implications such as how Sustainable Development Goal 5 is interpreted and implemented at the grassroots level, cultural sensitivity while addressing gender issues, sex education in India and finding intersectionality in even the seemingly homogeneous populations. In addition, this research aims to contribute to the research on gender done by the scholars in the Global South which is underrepresented in the field of gender and education

Approaching global education development with a decolonial lens:teachers’ reflections

Abstract In this paper, we as the teachers and researchers of a course titled Global education development informed by theories of decoloniality, report on our analysis of our self-critical and constructive dialogue on the course design, its underlying assumptions, expectations, implementation, success and needs for improvement. We centered decoloniality from the beginning of the course, problematised binary-thinking and encouraged our students to look at issues within the field of development and education in pluriversal ways. Our gestures toward decolonial pedagogy in the course were complicated by our own entanglements with coloniality as well as structural factors such as the context of Finland, where the colonial past is seldom addressed. Despite these contradictions and challenges, we aspire to continue thinking through decoloniality to decenter the dominant liberal frameworks within global education development