Date of Award
Summer 8-2019
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
Education
First Advisor
Lilia D. Monzo
Second Advisor
Peter McLaren
Third Advisor
Maria del Pilar O’Cadiz
Abstract
This is a qualitative research study that investigated the understanding of the concept of “critical consciousness” by female teachers teaching Arabic in Saudi Arabia’s high schools, the opportunity they have to develop critical consciousness, and how and why they develop it. The researcher engaged in semi-structured interviews with 25 female teachers who have at least nine years teaching experiences. The findings revealed that these teachers: (a) have a collective sense of the importance of critical consciousness skills to better themselves and Saudi Arabian society; (b) they are interested in and motivated to develop their critical thinking skills; (c) they develop critical consciousness in informal ways; and (d) the teaching practice in Saudi Arabia mostly relies on “banking education.” This is an unprecedented study in the field of students’ critical consciousness development in Saudi Arabia. The results have a number of important implications for future work and research in Saudi Arabia, as well as in neighboring countries that share similar complications related to the role and status of women in society.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Almutairi, E. (2019). Women’s right and education in Saudi Arabia: Raising critical consciousness in Arabic studies courses in female high schools in Saudi Arabia [Doctoral dissertation, Chapman University]. Chapman University Digital Commons. https://doi.org/10.36837/chapman.000088