IMAGINE Mali Girls’ Education Project: The Importance of Place and Space Inquiry to Inform Education Programming in a Conflict-Affected Context

Abstract

PCF10 Sub-theme: Building Resilience // IMAGINE contributes to the Canadian government's commitment to quality education for girls by improving their rights to inclusive, gender-transformative, quality education in two conflict-affected regions in Mali. Since 2020, this humanitarian-development/nexus project funded by Global Affairs Canada and implemented by a consortium of NGOs, has been affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, school closures due to the security situation, teacher strikes and coups, while public schools, once safe learning spaces, have experienced attacks by armed groups. // This paper shares lessons learned and challenges from IMAGINE, exploring the theme and sub-theme of Building Resilience and Education for Girls and the socio-political potential of education as a peacebuilding agent. Geographic Place and Space Theory establishes that place is an integral and inescapable aspect of community and individual life experiences. Butler and Sinclair (2020) argue that “place inquiry and spatial methodologies can strengthen the potential of education research by advancing our knowledge of the nature of and potential solutions to educational injustice.” We ask: How can education projects in the humanitarian-development/nexus space leverage geographic place and space inquiry to improve approaches to equitable educational access, particularly for girls? // As a gender-transformative education project, IMAGINE will contribute findings to this under-conceptualized space in education research. // Paper ID 8891