Papers by Merethe Skårås
This article analyses the teaching and learning of South Sudan history from 1955–2005 in secondar... more This article analyses the teaching and learning of South Sudan history from 1955–2005 in secondary schools in South Sudan with a speci c focus on national unity. The article draws on two periods of focused ethnography, from September to December 2014 and July to September 2015, including classroom observation and interviews with teachers, student teachers and students in two geographical locations. Additionally, 69 written essays from secondary school students of History have been analysed in order to get an insight into their knowledge of the recent violent past. The use of classroom video observation makes a signi cant contribution to the eld as most studies focus on documents and textbooks. The analysis focuses on national unity and uses theories of collective memory and attribution to examine the narratives of the past. The article argues that the national narrative of South Sudan is still closely tied to enemy images of the former enemy of Sudan in the north, while internal ethnic tensions are suppressed and excluded from the of cial national narrative taught in the classroom.
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This article analyzes how central features of focused ethnography produce knowledge on teaching a... more This article analyzes how central features of focused ethnography produce knowledge on teaching and learning history in conflict zones. In particular, it argues how five specific challenges of research in conflict zones are addressed through the methods of video observation, ‘hanging out’, and interviews, which are all central methods in focused ethnography. Through empirical examples from fieldwork in South Sudan, the article illustrates how the challenges of restricted access, psychological stress, complexity, positionality of the researcher,
and unpredictability might be addressed in research on teaching and learning history in a society divided by ethnic conflicts. Thus, the article argues that focused ethnography increases validity in doing research in conflict zones by allowing for an in-depth analysis and triangulation of data both in the field and after leaving the field, and specifically under the conditions of psychological stress that such conflict settings can put the researcher in. Ultimately, the study advocates the use of focused ethnography as a methodological approach in conflict zones – specifically, educational research in South Sudan.
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Drafts by Merethe Skårås
Within the sociology of science there is a constant debate of how we acquire knowledge of reality... more Within the sociology of science there is a constant debate of how we acquire knowledge of reality and whether this knowledge can be considered " true " and if, how reliable this knowledge might be. This is often referred to as the epistemological problem. In the process of aiming at true knowledge, if true knowledge exists, I will in this paper take a closer look at concepts in social science, characteristics of vagueness in concepts, how we define concepts in social science and what consequences choices regarding definitions might have for the outcome of research in education. When discussing vagueness and the definition of concepts I will use the concept national identity as an example. My interest in the concept national identity is grounded in my own research project looking at how secondary school teachers in South Sudan develop the sense of nationalism, patriotism and national unity, as stated in the Syllabus for Southern Sudan Certificate of Secondary Education (GOSS, 2007), among their students when teaching the recent history.
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Thesis Chapters by Merethe Skårås
The signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) in 2005 marked the end of Africa’s longest... more The signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) in 2005 marked the end of Africa’s longest civil war between the government of Sudan and Sudan People’s Liberation Army/Movement. A few years prior to the signing of the CPA, the SPLA started to demobilize children from their ranks. This is still going on. While some children are formally demobilized with assistance from organizations as well as the UN, others are not. This study examines the reintegration process of these youth into life as civilians and students in schools in Malakal.
The main findings of the study shows that in general, Children Associated with Armed Forces and Groups (CAAFG) do not get specific attention in Malakal. However, there are both international and national policy documents that address them. They are labeled and stigmatized by the society and some suffer from trauma. Half of them have lost one or both parents and they struggle to get money for school and basic living. Currently, none get the support that is necessary to secure their future and give them a good education which is needed to rebuild Sudan.
The sourounding environments do not cooperate to their benefit and they are not addressed in particular in the schools. If the reasons that made them choose to join the armed group are not addressed, they might as well find their way back. Therefore the reintegration process into the school system is of crucial importance, not only for the individual CAAFG, but for the future of Southern Sudan. The study shows that former CAAFG are marginalized in numerous ways.
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Papers by Merethe Skårås
and unpredictability might be addressed in research on teaching and learning history in a society divided by ethnic conflicts. Thus, the article argues that focused ethnography increases validity in doing research in conflict zones by allowing for an in-depth analysis and triangulation of data both in the field and after leaving the field, and specifically under the conditions of psychological stress that such conflict settings can put the researcher in. Ultimately, the study advocates the use of focused ethnography as a methodological approach in conflict zones – specifically, educational research in South Sudan.
Drafts by Merethe Skårås
Thesis Chapters by Merethe Skårås
The main findings of the study shows that in general, Children Associated with Armed Forces and Groups (CAAFG) do not get specific attention in Malakal. However, there are both international and national policy documents that address them. They are labeled and stigmatized by the society and some suffer from trauma. Half of them have lost one or both parents and they struggle to get money for school and basic living. Currently, none get the support that is necessary to secure their future and give them a good education which is needed to rebuild Sudan.
The sourounding environments do not cooperate to their benefit and they are not addressed in particular in the schools. If the reasons that made them choose to join the armed group are not addressed, they might as well find their way back. Therefore the reintegration process into the school system is of crucial importance, not only for the individual CAAFG, but for the future of Southern Sudan. The study shows that former CAAFG are marginalized in numerous ways.
and unpredictability might be addressed in research on teaching and learning history in a society divided by ethnic conflicts. Thus, the article argues that focused ethnography increases validity in doing research in conflict zones by allowing for an in-depth analysis and triangulation of data both in the field and after leaving the field, and specifically under the conditions of psychological stress that such conflict settings can put the researcher in. Ultimately, the study advocates the use of focused ethnography as a methodological approach in conflict zones – specifically, educational research in South Sudan.
The main findings of the study shows that in general, Children Associated with Armed Forces and Groups (CAAFG) do not get specific attention in Malakal. However, there are both international and national policy documents that address them. They are labeled and stigmatized by the society and some suffer from trauma. Half of them have lost one or both parents and they struggle to get money for school and basic living. Currently, none get the support that is necessary to secure their future and give them a good education which is needed to rebuild Sudan.
The sourounding environments do not cooperate to their benefit and they are not addressed in particular in the schools. If the reasons that made them choose to join the armed group are not addressed, they might as well find their way back. Therefore the reintegration process into the school system is of crucial importance, not only for the individual CAAFG, but for the future of Southern Sudan. The study shows that former CAAFG are marginalized in numerous ways.