Construction of Female Identities in Imam Hatip Schools: The Case of Turkey

• In Event: Gender Equity in Global Perspective

Abstract

As part of recent educational policy changes in Turkey, Imam Hatip Middle Schools (religious and single sex) were opened in 2012, which was widely criticized for being politically and religiously motivated. In Imam Hatip Schools, school culture is shaped traditionally in a framework that reinforces gender inequality (Acar and Ayata, 2002). This study examines particular female identities promoted in Imam Hatip Schools through a critical discourse analysis of policy documents, newspaper coverage of educational policies, and teachers’ perceptions of gender policy in education in the last decade in Turkey. According to the results, a submissive and conservative female identity was reinforced in those schools and girls were taught religious rules and cultural values that orient them into the domestic sphere

Authors

• Pınar Mercan Küçükakın, Middle East Technical University

• Cennet Engin Demir, Middle East Technical University