ABSTRACT

This paper focuses on the experiences of out-of-school girls in Zimbabwe. It draws on a research strand of SAGE (Supporting Adolescent Girls’ Education), a UKAid programme funded through the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office’s (FCDO) Girls’ Education Challenge (GEC) initiative. Using a digital storytelling approach the research highlights critical events that have changed girls’ lives and impacted on how they see their futures. The paper explores insights made possible by this alternative methodology. Crucially, it challenges the often-static representation of ‘marginalised’ and ‘out-of-school’ girls in Sub-Saharan Africa by illustrating the unpredictability of individual circumstances and girls’ perceptions of these, within broader contexts of persistent vulnerability factors. Drawing on the capability approach the paper also offers new insights into the perceived value and purpose of school for out-of-school girls. The findings have implications for conceptualising more creative, contextually appropriate policies and practices for young people who miss out on formal school.

摘要

本文重点关注津巴布韦失学女孩的经历。它借鉴了 SAGE（支持青春期女孩教育）的研究，这是一项由英国对外、联邦和发展办公室 (FCDO) 的女孩教育挑战 (GEC) 倡议资助的 UKAid 计划。该研究使用数字叙事方法突出了改变女孩生活并影响她们如何看待未来的关键事件。本文探讨了这种替代方法所带来的见解。至关重要的是，它通过在持续脆弱因素的更广泛背景下说明个人情况的不可预测性和女孩对这些情况的看法，挑战了撒哈拉以南非洲“边缘化”和“失学”女孩的经常静态表现。利用能力方法，该论文还为失学女孩对学校的感知价值和目的提供了新的见解。这些发现对于为错过正规学校的年轻人制定更具创造性、更适合环境的政策和实践具有重要意义。