Öztürk, T., Köseoğlu, S., Uçar, H., Bozkurt, A., & Karahan, E. (2019). The paradox of distance education in girls' education. In proceedings of VIth International Eurasian
Educational Research Congress (pp. 2230-2236). Ankara University, Ankara, Turkey.
EJERCongress 2019 Bildiri Kitabı / EJERCongress 2019 Conference Proceedings
The Paradox of Distance Education in Girls' Education
TUĞBA ÖZTÜRK
SUZAN KÖSEOĞLU
HASAN UÇAR
ARAS BOZKURT
ENGİN KARAHAN
ANKARA ÜNİ.
GOLDSMITHS,
UNIVERSITY OF
LONDON
BİLECİK ŞEYH
EDEBALİ ÜNİ
ANADOLU ÜNİ
ESKİŞEHİR
OSMANGAZİ ÜNİ.
ABSTRACT
Distance education has a vital role in creating and providing access to education for all. However, the role of distance
education can be paradoxical in girls’ education. On one hand, socio-economic conditions, health issues, and geographical
distance are noted as some major barriers to girls’ educational attainment. One of the most disadvantaged groups is out-ofschool children who cannot continue their formal education for different reasons including armed conflict and war, poverty,
and social discrimination. In that sense, distance education plays a significant role in creating access to education as a
human right. On the other hand, from the perspective of feminism and social reproduction theory, distance education may
reproduce and perpetuate existing inequalities. For example, if education is confined to homes with distance education, this
may reinforce or even legitimize the idea of females living in isolation, away from public spheres. Taking these issues into
account, we highlight some ethical issues in the provision of distance education for girls’ education through a qualitative
analysis of reports and peer-reviewed articles.
Keywords: Ethics, feminism, gender inequality, K-12, open and distance learning, social reproduction
Introduction
Distance education (DE) has a vital role in creating access to education for all, including children of school age. In Australia,
for example, as early as in preschool, DE programs are available for students who are unable to attend compulsory
education due to geographical isolation or other special circumstances (“Distance education,” 2019). In the US, DE emerged
as an increasingly recognized method for the provision of K-12 education within the past 10 years or so (Halverson, Spring,
Huyett, Henrie, & Graham, 2017). In the Global South, there is also growing interest in DE, coupled with an enthusiasm to
use it as a method to reach disadvantaged students and promote gender equity (see for example, Kwapong, 2007; Mapolisa
& Chirimuuta, 2012; Situma, 2015).
Indeed, a detailed report (Barbour, et al., 2011) on online and blended learning in K-12 schools shows that although there
are regional differences based on factors such as “economics, government support, infrastructure, population, and local
district innovation,” as well as the culture of teaching, K-12 distance education is on the rise on a global scale. In the report,
existing problems are noted, and calls are made for addressing issues with governmental involvement and funding, cost,
professional development and training for teachers, quality, and availability of digital resources. Yet, our research shows that
the literature is limited in terms of analysing the ethics of online provision for children, in particular, for marginalized girls. This
is the central issue we explore in this paper.
Background
The affordances of DE (i.e., learning anytime, anywhere) creates a paradox in girls’ life that needs to be examined more
closely. On one hand, factors such as geographic isolation, health issues, armed conflict and war, gender division of labour,
poor economy, etc. may become significant barriers to girls’ education. For example, in the context of Nigeria, Nkechinyere
Amadi (2011) notes that those who are out-of-school are “primarily girls, the poor and other marginalized groups” (p. 987).
According to Nkechinyere Amadi, “girl-child education is elusive,” and therefore, “access simply means the right to
education” (p. 988-989). von Prümmer (2000) notes that especially girls from a working-class background are among the
most disadvantaged groups for access to secondary and tertiary education in Germany. In the presence of such barriers to
traditional education, non-conventional methods such as DE can play a significant role in creating access to education for
girls.
On the other hand, in the absence of social and financial support, funding, and well-designed student-centered curricula, DE
may also reproduce and even perpetuate social norms, traditions, and gender belief systems which marginalize females.
Feminism and social reproduction theory (Doob 2016, also see Sayılan, 2012) are helpful lenses to examine how this may
occur. Based on Karl Marx’s critical theories (1918-1988), Doob (2016) uses social reproduction theory to refer to structures
in the society that reinforce social stratification and social inequality across generations. An example would be the treatment
of people differently based on gender, race, ethnicity, and/or class, and how that leads to limited social mobility across
generations. This is a complex process that is embedded in “the activities and attitudes, behaviours and emotions,
responsibilities and relationships directly involved in the maintenance of life on a daily basis, and intergenerational” (Laslett &
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Brenner, 1989, p. 382). Social injustice can also be embedded in institutions and organizations, including the system of
education.
One adverse example for social reproduction via DE is that DE can reinforce the idea of females living in isolation, away from
public spheres. In patriarchal societies and communities, boys typically have more privileges to attend and successfully
complete compulsory education compared to girls (Akomolafe, 2006). Bhushan (2008), for example, quotes a male learner
living in India:
“I can pick up my bike or go to a friend’s house anytime. Cyber cafes are open till 11 o’clock in the
night. My sister, however, cannot do that. I have to escort her to the place and sit with her. She cannot
go out until 11 o’clock at night even with an escort” (p. 134).
Unfortunately, this is the case in many places around the world. While male students enjoy the social and public life
surrounding education and are supported by their families and communities, with DE female students may become
housebound (Nkechinyere Amadi, 2011). Thus, the much celebrated affordances of DE (as we noted above, in particular the
notion of learning anytime, anywhere) can legitimize the practices and assumptions of patriarchal and andro-centric
communities. Another example is the enculturation of girls into social sciences and boys into STEM careers in formal
education (von Prümmer, 2000). To put it simply, to promote gender equity through DE, either the broader education system
should be just or there needs to be an explicit agenda to achieve equity socially, economically and politically.
In this context, the research questions are as follows:
x
x
What are the reasons for girls to enroll in DE rather than traditional (face-to-face) education?
What is the current state of the art with regards to distance education in girls’ education?
Method
A qualitative research method is adopted in this research. Governmental and intergovernmental reports (includes reports by
the World Bank, UNESCO and the UN) as well as peer-reviewed articles relevant to the research questions are identified via
Scopus, WoS and ERIC indexes, as well as the journal International Women Online Journal of Distance Education. The
following keywords are used in title, abstract and keywords: girls AND open AND distance AND education OR learning. We
used the constant comparative method to identify themes emerging from the data. The final sample constitute 18 studies that
clearly meet the sampling criteria and research goals. Two coders analyzed a section of the sample individually and noted
their findings on a shared spreadsheet. Interpretive rigour was maintained by the triangulation of sources, team discussions,
and the use of theoretical frameworks.
Findings and Discussion
We present countrywide distribution of the sample, years of publication and Gender Inequality Index values (Table 1) to help
readers understand the composition of the sample and contextualize findings and discussions. Gender Inequality Index (GII)
was first released by the United Nations Development Programme in 2018. The index measures:
“...gender inequalities in three important aspects of human development —reproductive health,
measured by maternal mortality ratio and adolescent birth rates; empowerment, measured by
proportion of parliamentary seats occupied by females and proportion of adult females and males aged
25 years and older with at least some secondary education; and economic status, expressed as labour
market participation and measured by labour force participation rate of female and male populations
aged 15 years and older” (“Gender Inequality Index,” 2018).
Table 1
Countrywide Distribution, Publication Years and GII Values*
Country
Frequency
Publication Year(s)
Gender Inequality Index
(Value-Rank)
Afghanistan
1
2017
0.653 (153)
Bangladesh
2
2016, 2017
0.542 (134)
Ethiopia
1
2015
0.502 (121)
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Honduras
1
2015
0.461 (109)
Kenya
1
2015
0.549 (137)
India
2
2017
0.524 (127)
Malaysia
1
2018
0.287 (62)
Malawi
1
2015
0.619 (148)
Nepal
2
2001, 2015
0.480 (118)
Nigeria
3
2009, 2011, 2016
N/A
Pakistan
1
2017
0.541 (133)
Papua New Guinea
1
1997
0.741 (159)
Paraguay
1
2015
0.467 (113)
Saudi Arabia
1
2015
0.234 (50)
Syria (refugees)
1
2016
N/A
Tanzania
1
2015
0.537 (130)
USA
3
1996, 2006, 2008
0.189 (41)
*Reports of international organisations (e.g. World Bank) may involve information on more than one country.
Higher GII values indicate higher inequalities and thus “higher loss to human development,” “due to disparity between female
and male achievements in three dimensions, reproductive health, empowerment and economic status” (“Gender Inequality
Index,” 2018). It is revealing, yet not surprising, that many of the countries in our sample have a high Gender Inequality
Index, pointing to important issues with gender equality. All countries noted in Table 1, except the United States, Saudi
Arabia, and Malaysia, rank below 100. One of the main reasons why the United States, Saudi Arabia, and Malaysia have
lower GII values than the rest in our sample was the high percentage of female population aged 25 and older with at least
some secondary education, which is an important indicator for the empowerment dimension of the GII.
Not surprisingly, issues with girls’ education vary in different countries and regions due to socio-economic and cultural
differences. While girls in some Global South countries are unable to study because of gendered division of labour, safety
concerns, and societal expectations/assumptions (Ferreira, Cruz, & Smith, 2017; Nkechinyere Amadi, 2016; Ofoegbu, 2009),
issues with media literacy, equal access to STEM careers and the form and structure of existing DE provision surface in the
Global North (see Campbell & Storo, 1996; Hobbs & Rowe, 2008).
In general, studies show that in countries with low GII values there is a tendency to view DE as a solution for “balancing
inequalities between age groups and extending geographical access to education” (Nkechinyere Amadi, 2011, p. 986). A
small number of studies also show deep structural issues, to the extent that inequality results in violence and abuse. For
example, Nkechinyere Amadi (2016) notes “female genital mutilation, son preference, early marriage, violence against
women, sexual exploitation” as examples of gender discrimination. Child labour is also noted (Ofoegbu, 2009; Nkechinyere
Amadi, 2016). This involves “both economic activities (paid or unpaid work for someone who is not a member of the
household, work for a family farm or business) and domestic work (household chores such as cooking, cleaning or caring for
children)” (UNICEF, 2017).
As expected, main reasons for girls to enrol in DE are to gain an opportunity to study and gain academic knowledge (Table
2). We also observed that in countries with low GII values, DE is offered as a practical way for girls to enter formal education
because they may not be able to study traditionally (face-to-face education). Geographical isolation, distance to school,
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limited infrastructure and resources, and safety are noted as some reasons for the preference of DE as an alternative to
formal education. Domestic and/or paid labor and under-age marriage are also reported as barriers to traditional education in
Saudi Arabia and in some Asian and African countries such as Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Nigeria (see for example,
Ferreira et al., 2017; Yamin, 2015). In response to these complex societal issues, DE is commonly viewed as a path for
empowerment and eradicating poverty in families and the larger society. DE is also used to teach refugee girls important
skills such as “conflict resilience” and “basic literacy, numeracy, English language, and entrepreneurial skills” for individual
empowerment and for “paving the way for new economic activity to flourish after war" (Lewis & Thacker, 2016, p. 1).
Table 2
Reasons for girls to enrol in Distance Education
Themes
Exemplar references from the sample
gain the opportunity to study
Akhter (2014); Campbell & Storo (1996); Frey et al. (2017)
gain academic knowledge
Baker & Karp (2006); Geissinger (1997); Nik Farid et. al., (2018)
a safe and secure place to study
Bosch (2001); Ruffino (2005); Lewis & Thacker, 2016
overcome
(distance)
geographical
obstacles Geissinger (1997); Ferreira et al. (2017); Ruffino (2005); Lewis & Thacker,
2016
eradicate poverty
Ferreira et al. (2017); Frey et al. (2017)
empowerment
Nkechinyere Amadi (2011); Ofoegbu (2009); Situma (2015); Lewis &
Thacker, 2016;
poor physical conditions of schools
Nkechinyere Amadi (2011); Bosch (2001)
develop literacy skills
Hobbs & Rowe (2008); Ofoegbu (2009); Lewis & Thacker, 2016
study in addition to domestic and/or Nkechinyere Amadi (2016); Ofoegbu (2009), Sabri, Abdulrahimzai,
paid labour
Witteveen, Lie, & Van Der Meulen (2017); Yamin (2015)
We would like to highlight four studies in our sample that provide important recommendations for girls’ education via DE.
Campbell and Storo (1996) draw attention to “who is taught, what is taught and how the teaching is done” in DE. They call
for more research into racial bias in DE, stereotypes that might discourage girls from studying STEM subjects and
androcentric views in content and instruction. Bosch (2001) calls for good role-models for girls, active teaching, affirmative
action, and reduced cost. Situma (2015) notes “e-learning curriculum, development of digital content, establishment of
infrastructure and development and sharing of e-learning resources,” hardware and teacher education with ICT as some
primary areas of concern for effective DE provision. One notable study is the collaborative The Reaching the Unreached
(RtU) project (Ferreira et al., 2017), which examined barriers to women’s and girls’ education in India, Pakistan and
Bangladesh. In the report, “the importance of community-based initiatives to support women’s and girls’ empowerment and
sustainable livelihoods” was highlighted (p. 19).
Conclusions and Recommendations
Some important implications can be drawn from this research:
●
The literature predominantly focuses on the implications of technology mediated education and DE in girls’
education and related policies and strategies; however, in general, it falls short on exploring and analysing the
ethical aspects of DE in girls’ education.
●
Further examinations into “who is taught, what is taught and how the teaching is done” (Campbell & Storo, 1996) is
very important, as well as an examination of the cultural, economic and political tensions that give rise to and
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shape the provision of DE. The “gender bias in content, teaching and learning process” (Ofoegbu, 2009) is also an
underexplored issue.
Although there are cultural differences in the way children and their rights are understood, they are a vulnerable group whose
rights need to be protected universally. One such effort is the United Nations (1989) Convention on the Rights of the Child
(UNCRC), which “recognis[es] that all children have the right to be treated with dignity and fairness, to be protected, to
develop to their full potential and to participate” (UNICEF, n.d., p. 1). DE, or any educational program for that matter, should
be evaluated ethically and legally in terms of the rights of the child. In addition to Article 28, the right to education, we would
like to highlight two other articles in this convention:
Article 3 (best interests of the child): The best interests of the child must be a top priority in all.
Article 4 (implementation of the Convention): Governments must do all they can to make sure every child
can enjoy their rights by creating systems and passing laws that promote and protect children’s rights.
Thus, technological determinism, the perspective that technology alone is a primary change agent in society, should be
questioned, in particular with reference to the two articles we stated above. Is DE the answer to girls’ problems in education?
What is best for their happiness and well-being? Our starting point is that each and every child is precious and deserves the
best possible care and education. However, if DE means girls do not enjoy public services and spaces as much as other
children of their age, if it means they do not see the benefits of DE directly, (eradicating poverty and empowerment may take
a long time and the ones who benefit from education and paid labour may not necessarily be the females in the family), what
actions should educators, families, and policy makers take to ensure their well-being? In relation to this, we would like to
highlight the collaborative project, The Reaching the Unreached (Ferreira et al., 2017) — one partner in this project was the
Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child. Such carefully designed collaborative projects are key to develop local
strategies for sustainable and ethical educational programs that benefit both girls and the society as a whole:
“initiatives for women’s and girls’ empowerment require a holistic approach that addresses taking
responsibility for one’s own health, developing support structures to circumvent physical and emotional
isolation, and capacity and confidence building for long-term, sustainable change in women’s and girls’
lives” (Ferreira et al., 2017, p. 20, emphasis added).
We also would like to note that we agree with Noddings (2015) who said, “we should move beyond the traditional tendency
to defend one best way of approaching the problems of education. When we reject the stubborn either/or attitude, we may
create a richer, broader, picture of genuine education” (p. 232). We recognize that parents and caregivers might choose DE
as an efficient system for education for many reasons, some which are poverty, conflict of war, or concerns with safety. It is
also possible that DE could be delivered in such a way that girls might enjoy a very good education, perhaps even better
than face-to-face educational opportunities. However, either way, there need to be protective mechanisms in place to make
sure children are treated with “dignity and fairness,” and that their “happiness” (Noddings, 2017) is a central educational aim.
It is equally important to critically explore how girls might be marginalized in DE in intersectional ways, based on class,
ethnicity, abilities, etc. Otherwise, DE, to everyone’s dismay, might reproduce and perpetuate gender inequality in the society
and may not lead to a fulfilling education.
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