© Feminist Formations, Vol. No. (Fall) pp. –
Equity, Power, and Capabilities:
Constructions of Gender in a
Tanzanian Secondary School
Matthew A. M. Thomas and Allen Rugambwa
This article aims to move beyond issues of access to schooling for girls to investigate
the constructions of gender through a macro-level analysis of policy and micro-level
analysis of practice at a secondary school in Tanzania. State-sanctioned school
texts are examined, as well as classroom discourse and teachers’ understandings
of gender, to show how both “gender as equity” and “gender as power relations”
perspectives interact in schools. While there have been advances in the recognition
of gender as a structuring force within schools and society, this article contends that
the capabilities approach adds value to these views by considering how gendered texts
and discourses may still be limiting the capabilities of female and male students in
Tanzanian secondary schools.
Keywords: capabilities approach / gender / international development /
pedagogy / secondary school / Tanzania / teacher education
Introduction
Issues of gender equity and equality have in recent decades moved to the
forefront of both international development agendas and educational policy
making in countries of the global South. Commitments made by United Nations
agencies, international donors, and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) at
prominent conferences and international meetings have resulted in significant
agreements, including the 1990 Jomtien Declaration, which emphasized equi-
table access to basic education for girls. The 2000 Dakar Framework for Action