Although it is one of the poorest countries in the world, Malawi promises children universal public access to eight years of primary education (Tietjen, 1995). In the final year, Standard Eight, students take an examination for the Primary School Leaving Certificate of Education. Their scores determine whether or not they get into secondary school. Fewer than 20% do (Maluwa-Banda, 2003), and the ability to read and especially write in English is a key determinant of their success. Along with ChiChewa, the most widely spoken indigenous language, English is one of the two official national languages of Malawi (Matiki, 2003; Kamwendo, 2002). Instruction in Standards One through Four (U.S. grades one through four) is conducted in ChiChewa, with English taught as a school subject. Instruction beyond Standard Four, however, and all of the crucial selective examinations, are conducted in English. At higher education levels English becomes the key school subject: If a student excels in all other subjects but fails his English paper, she or he is considered to have failed and cannot get a certificate, let alone advance to the next level of education (Matiki, 2003, p. 206). As Alfred J. Matiki (2003) notes, this emphasis has produced a situation in which: Malawians have come to view English as a socially and economically more viable language than Chichewa. Speaking English is equated with being educated. The use of English as a measure of intelligence in the educational system forms the basis for similar use in other spheres of life, such as in employment. [. . .] To many Malawians economic success is predicated on one’s ability to speak, read, and write English. [. . .] While Malawians accept that literacy empowers, they contend that it is only literacy in English that pays. (p. 207) This article explores how the social situation of girls in Malawi and the gender discourses embedded in their school texts shape their school experiences and access to English, and thus their chances of educational advancement. The paper grows out of a teacher-research effort by two U.S.-based authors, Liz Barber and Connie Herman, at the time both public school teachers in Virginia, and four teachers at Domasi Demonstration Primary School in Domasi, Malawi: then School Head Teacher Alippo Ussi, and Standard Eight teachers Lucy Kapenuka, Reuthers Malembanje, and Frank Chikhasu. The work was supported through a Fulbright collaborative teacher education program partially funded by USAID and run by Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. We begin by providing a brief overview of the educational context in Malawi and the role of English in the educational system, with special attention to the situation of girls. After describing the teaching-inquiry methodology underlying the study, we then examine a particular instance in which representations of gender roles in textbooks intersect in problematic ways with children’s efforts to write. Finally, we conclude with questions and reflections on the nature of collaboration and literacy raised by the study.