Female Student Voice and Breaking the Silence: A Post-Intentional Phenomenological Exploration of Arab Female Students’, in the U.S., Lived Experiences of Digital Storytelling

Abstract

The purpose of this post-intentional phenomenological research study (Vagle,2018) was to study the phenomenon of female student voice within young girls attending an Arabic elementary K–4 school in the United States. The setting was chosen in order to approximate the effects of student voice and digital storytelling on critical thinking (McLellan, 2006; Robin, 2008), identity development (Papadimitriou et al., 2013; Davis, 2004; Alismail, 2015), and breaking the silence of oppression (Freire, 2000) that may be expected under similar conditions in Saudi Arabia. Historically, Saudi Arabia has ascribed to the banking model of education (Alharbi, 2014), in which female students are required to listen obediently to the teacher, who is recognized as the sole authority figure (Hamdan, 2005). As such, young females grow up without a firm sense of identity, lack knowledge and skills to compete in the job market, and struggle with critical thought under the heavy hand of traditional hegemony. Recently, Saudi Arabia has made significant strides toward progressive change for girls and females, with a goal that society will reflect gender equality when Vision 2030 is realized. Given the oppressive educational system and its deleterious effects on voice and identity in young female students, it is imperative that public education allows female students to resist oppression and break their silence. The post-intentional phenomenological philosophy and methodology explicated here explores how the phenomenon of female student voice and resistance is produced, provoked, and takes shape (Vagle, 2018). Participants were engaged in three distinct phases to discover the phenomenon. These stages included: deconstruction, reconstruction, and social action. Data was analyzed using the whole- part-whole process (Vagle, 2018). Phenomenological materials included post-reflexion journal entries, chasing the lines of flight (Deleuze & Guattari, 1987), and following Jackson and Mazzei’s (2012) methodological requirements for using thinking with theory. Thinking with theory is focused on the critical post-structural feminist (CPSF) theories of Jones (2006), Davies (2003), and hooks (1990, 1994). Study findings included three constructional illuminations, including moment of integrating hopes and dreams, moment of constructing identity, and moment of resisting oppression with female voice. Each illumination includes an explanation of itsrelationship to the phenomenon, implications, and the significance of the findings toward female student empowerment and voice development. These illuminations reveal the products and provocations of female student voices as they emerged throughout the digital storytelling process. Analysis and discussion of findings provides a deep and invoking examination of female oppression, and develops feasible and thought-provoking recommendations for changes in female student education in Saudi Arabia in anticipation of upcoming progressive changes in Saudi society.