The Case for Feminist Schools

How Girls Achieve by Sally Nuamah
Harvard University Press, April 15, 2019

In How Girls Achieve, Sally Nuamah explores the obstacles that girls face in schools. She provides solutions to the question of how schools can become more supportive and equitable places for Black girls, in particular. Naumah draws her conclusions from her experiences in schools in the United States, Ghana, and South Africa. She argues that lecturing about grit does not help girls and that developing resilience is not a gender-neutral or binary phenomenon. Nuamah offers a solution for achieving equity when she boldly proposes “feminist schools” to dismantle injustice and combat inequities. The idea of feminist schools provides girls with achievement-oriented identities that will actively instruct them to challenge societal norms. Feminist schools teach Black girls the key skills of confidence building and tenacity and provide them with strategies that promote lasting achievement. Schools arguably are the most important institutions for improving the life trajectory of disadvantaged girls. Nuamah calls leaders to action and offers concrete recommendations to improve the standards and quality of education for Black girls.