DISCRIMINATION AGAINST GIRLS IN SCHOOL: THEIR PERCEPTIONS AND RESPONSES

1. DISCRIMINATION AGAINST GIRLS IN SCHOOL: THEIR PERCEPTIONS AND RESPONSES

2. PURPOSE OF THE STUDY • The main purpose of this study is to explore discrimination against girls in school and to explore girls’ perceptions and responses against discrimination.

3. RESEARCH QUESTIONS • Main research question “How are girls discriminated in school and how do they perceive it and respond?” • Specific questions • How are discriminations expressed against girls in and around classroom and school? • Who expresses such practices against girls and why? • How girls perceive such practices? • How girls response against such practices?

4. RATIONALE OF THE STUDY • Access, retention, policies, problems, experiences and so forth are in general, the issues related to girls education. • Much of the past research focused on: • Barriers, role of female teachers, impact of scholarship and incentive programs, and gender disparity. • There has been little focus on girls’ personal experiences and perception on discrimination against them in school. • This micro level study will provide a base to understand ground realities and incorporate them in mainstream discourse in the classroom as well as in the society in the broader context.

5. DELIMITATION OF THE STUDY • Only those girls attending schools. • Study focus only in and around classroom, school and to some extent in home. • Public schools within and periphery of Lalitpur district. • Discrimination based only on gender.

6. REVIEW OF LITERATURE • Theoretical Review • Policy Review • Empirical Review

7. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK STUDENTS (GIRLS AND BOYS) TEACHERS PARENTS STRUCTURE AND AGENCY BEHAVIOR STRUCTURE AND AGENCY DISCRIMINATION (GIRLS) FEMINISTS’ THEORY PERCEPTIONS AND RESPONSES(GIRLS)

8. METHODOLOGY • Research design • Sociological research deals with ontological, epistemological and methodological concern. • Natural model and humanistic model are two main models of social research. • My research is based on humanistic models and my inquiry will follow qualitative premise.

9. RESEARCH METHODS • Derives from the principles of ethnography. • Brewer (as cited in Aryal, 2001) explains that ethnography is based on the ontological premise that assumes knowledge and realities are in the form of intangible, localized, having multiple constructions, created and perceived by the people themselves. That people have the capacity to construct and interpret their social meanings. Meanings are thus created and recreated in the process of interaction between the researcher and the respondents.

10. SELECTION OF FIELD, RESEARCH PARTICIPANTS • Within and Periphery of Lalitpur district i.e. Patan and Bungamati. • Two public schools. • Girls and boys students, teachers and parents.

11. RESEARCH TOOLS • In-Depth Interviews • Observation

12. VALIDITY AND RELIABILITY • Credibility, transferability, dependability and confirmability are the criteria of validity and reliability (Guba & Lincoln, as cited in Morse et al., 2002). • Triangulation is one of the techniques to address validity and reliability. • Triangulation involves use of two or more data collection tools to study the human behavior. • It also attempts to study same aspect from different standpoints.

13. DATA PROCESSING, ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION • Data recording in the form of note taking and recording in the tape. • Transcribing data. • Coding. • Categorizing based on the themes.

14. Ethical consideration • Confidentiality