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The Experiences of Saudi Female Teachers Using Technology in Primary Schools in Saudi Arabia

Alabbasi, Dalal Omar a

[Thesis]. Manchester, UK: The University of Manchester; 2017.

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Abstract

This qualitative study explores Saudi female teachers’ experience of technology use in their practice and life. The aim is to present the voices of these female teachers living in the context of Saudi Arabia, and to document how personal characteristics, society and technology come to influence one another.The field work was done in Saudi Arabia, with female teachers from three public-sector primary schools. The data generation included individual, semi-structured interviews with four Saudi female teachers - one from each of two schools and two from the third school - and focus groups sessions with five to six teachers - one session in each of the three schools. The focus group methodology used Ketso, which is a collaborative mind-mapping tool developed at the University of Manchester. The interview and focus group sessions were audio-recorded, transcribed and then analysed using broad principles of thematic analysis. The data suggests that technology use affected the teachers’ classroom practices, communication with others and their professional development. The teachers were active agents in this technology use, including taking responsibility for the technology use in their schools, and improvising solutions and ways of using available resources in their practice. This active role of the teachers seemed to contribute to localised use of technology, enabled the teachers to resist some of their social positions as females and teachers, and occasionally included a determination to create new positions for themselves. Overall, technology use appeared to enhance the Saudi female teachers’ sense of agency, and crucially, seemed to enhance their awareness of their lived experience.The above insights might benefit Saudi educational policy makers, other Saudi teachers as a way of sharing experiences and practices, and researchers who are interested in studying the intersection between technology and society. In addition, the study exemplifies the novel use of the Ketso collaborative mind-mapping tool as a tool for qualitative research.