History and Philosophy of education

SPF 20403-01

How are students and teachers affected by gender?

Abstract

Going along with this theme I’d like to make it clear that race and gender are the themes that are closely connected with each other. Talking about race it is almost inevitable to discuss it without touching gender aspect in education - the differences between males and females in the process of studying and teaching. If you ever thought about gender disagreements in schools probably you comprehended about such a fact as violation and people who are involved in these matters. Studying these disagreements I would like to clarify some interesting facts about race and gender, its’ connection and ways out, historical background and contemporary overview.

How are students and teachers affected by gender?

Girls and boys are always compared in schools. It's like two confrontations. Nevertheless, comparing an education system years and years ago I can’t claim that we have so discriminative situation nowadays. In the years of emerging an education system classroom was divided into boys who study only ''male'' job and girls doing ''female'' work as knitting, cleaning etc. Gender gap was too deep at the very beginning of schooling and females were prepared for being a good wife in the future consciously lessening women' rights.

‘’The education of America's girls was so limited that less than one-third of the women in colonial America could even sign their names. For centuries women fought to open the schoolhouse door. Although a woman gave the first plot of ground for a free school in New England, female children were not allowed to attend the school.'' (J. Banks, ch.6,ph.1). From these early years of emerging a ''gender gap'' in America women tried to fight for their rights. From 1830s women tried to fight for justice, for equality. ''In New York, Emma Hart Willard battle to establish the Troy Female Seminary, and in Massachusetts, Mary Lyon created Mount Holyoke, a seminary that eventually became a noted women's college. By the 1850s, with the help from Quakers such as Harriet Beecher Stowe, Myrilla Miner established the Miner Normal School for Colored Girls'' (ph.3). One of the breaking points in education of females is Title IX. It's a document denying separation in schools between men and women and claiming equity.

How are students and teachers affected by gender?

Education Amendments Act says ''No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance''. (ch.6, p.128)

Nevertheless the gap exists and everyone may see it in the classrooms on their own. There are clear academic, psychological and physical breach between males and females. The main issues in school remain about math and science. Mostly boys are good at math, and girls are not. Survey shows that in the elementary school girls like math and the percentage of them is 81% (p.11) But the interesting fact is that boys do too. They also like math and the percentage is almost the same (84%). So, I may suppose that there's no gap in this point. And the percentage of girls who name math as their least favourite subject jumps from 15% in the elementary school to 28% in high schools. Here we see gap in interests between girls and boys. The question of this gap concerns gender equality in the classroom. Why do challenges happen? The answer is because attitude toward girls in the classroom is different comparing with boys. If there is a situation when one girl has the hang of it - arguments appear. One thing that is of great importance here is a teacher. An educator should treat everybody in the same equal way no to ‘highlight’ somebody in the classroom negatively or positively. An educators’ reaction is a significant point in relationships in the classroom. More than that, making students interested in a

How are students and teachers affected by gender?

class that he/she attends you increase the possibility of ‘liking’ the class by students what leads to decreasing the ” interest gap”.

Another aspect in learning is self-esteem. In its’ relation I should say that it is a prominent part of succeeding, not only in the classroom, but in the life in general. Being confident and pretty sure what you do is a key to develop a skill which can serve you as a ‘guardian’ in life. That’s why its essentiality especially at the beginning of your life, in school in particular plays an integral part in arising a pupil/student as a personality. It is a well-known fact that boys are much more confident than girls. Survey Summary (1991) says ''Finding it difficult to dream and feeling constrained by gender rules, girls start out with lower hopes for their careers, and already less confident in their talents and abilities. Girls are much more likely than boys to say they are ''not smart enough'' or ''not good enough'' for their dream careers'' (p.9). ''Although more women than men are college students, overall, women still lag behind men in earning Ph.Ds and professional degrees (ch.6 p.130). In most cases adolescent girls report higher levels of stress and depression and a lower level of confidence. From it follows that women have lower self-esteem than do males and clear discrimination between boys and girls exists and is seen as stated

How are students and teachers affected by gender?

above. Teachers are affected by the issue of gender on subconscious level, separating girls and boys in their abilities.

What is more interesting, is that according to statistics schools set girls up to fail. ''In dozens separate studies, researchers have found that girls receive less attention, less praise, less effective feedback, and less detailed instruction from teachers than do boys» (p.14). Professors of education at American University conducted a research and revealed some facts proving that it isn't a fiction about lack of attention towards girls from the teacher: ''Teachers typically initiate more communication with boys than with girls in the classroom, strengthening boys' sense of importance. Teachers tend to praise boys more often than girls for the intellectual content and quality of their work. When boys perform poorly, teachers often blame failure of lack of effort, Girls receive a different message. the implication is that effort would not improve their results''(p.14). According to this survey, we can see ''gender discrimination'' maybe on the subconscious level. But still it is a clear example of giving less opportunities for girls in studying than to boys. Moreover, it affects self-esteem too.

How are students and teachers affected by gender?

Here we may conjecture that girls are offended and boys are proud of themselves. Quite unfair from a teacher's side. How to achieve gender equity? Everybody thought about it but we still see discrimination in the classroom and even laws and different official papers don't save us. ''We thought that gender equity could be achieved by gender-blind practices in the classroom. We though that if only teachers would treat students as individuals, treating all students equally, then gender equity would be achieved. We have come to believe that this is not enough. We now believe that in order for gender equity to be attained, teachers will have to attend to it directly in their classrooms'' (J. Trentacosta, ch.5. ph.3,p.236).''When we tried to envision a gender-equitable classroom, our vision is blurred – blurred because we are torn between an idealistic stance and a pragmatic stance'' (p.237, ph.2). ''Our nation’s segregated schools result from decades of systematic neglect of civil rights policy and related educational and community reforms. According to the UCLA report, what is needed are leaders who recognize that we have a common destiny in an America where our children grow up together, knowing and respecting each other, and are all given the educational tools that prepare them for success in our society'' (http://www.projectcensored.org/top-stories/articles/2-us-schools-are-more-segregated-today-than-in-the-1950s-source/ ). Solution is hidden in us. Think and be conscious of what is happening around you and act, try to change things, begin with yourself.

How are students and teachers affected by gender?

Considering gender and education in the classroom I have come to conclusion that as time goes by everything remains the same. All the things happening nowadays in the classroom connected with ''gender gap'' are vestiges of the past. From this point, the issue of gender inequality is directly connected to the issues of social justice and equity.

Social justice is a question concerning different aspects of fairness and appreciation in a society, relationships between both sexes in the classroom. Social justice implies that society is equal, everybody is equal and our relationship towards the whole population (it doesn't matter whether you are male or female) should be equal. Respect towards everybody – here's the main point of social justice. It is also a point of argument between all the members of a society who are involved in different spheres such as politics, religion, education etc. The question of social justice in schools is a burning issue, which is related straight to the issue of the ''gender gap''. This gap emerges because of the absence of equity in schools, which flows into inequality between girls and boys. If all the pupils/students were equal we might not think about social justice, especially of equality between everybody. The last thing a fish notices is the water in which it swims. So, if we have something it doesn't lead us to evaluate it. Having ‘inequality’ in schools we have a clear motivation to improve it as the main essence of education is to be equal and to share the same rights. However, it doesn’t mean that all people really know what to do if they talk about it. Society needs actions, strong actions to keep living as a person.

How are students and teachers affected by gender?

Talking about equity I would like to say that it is a notion that goes ''inside'' social justice. I mean that equity is a part of social justice as well as equality. The problem is that the differences between these two definitions are not so clear. Equality is ability not to divide males and females into these categories even if it is obvious to think that there's a clear devision. It is something that allows us to think that everybody has the same rights, no privileges to men more than women etc. We can observe this tendency in schools nowadays: there’s no discrimination, everybody is treated the same. There are no ’’visible’’ differences of gender separation. It’s a kind of veiled problem, which occurs in schools. For example, differences in treatment of being good enough in math, science, etc. Some scholars proved that girls do not like math like do boys. Here there is a difference in studying and achievement consequently. While boys have more “scientific” brains girls fail at this point. Science is a “male” field according to many people. While some people believe in that teachers are not an exception. They treat boys with more praise than girls as if Victorian era is still alive. From this point the gap in math and science appears. The same concerns attention from a teachers’ side, boys are at an advantage here.

Equity means that everybody has a right to be considered as a personality with his own preferences and interests. Equity is something that correlates with fairness and honour between men and women. Males and females should be treated fairly. However, there are no written “fringes’’ in fairness. Everybody should be equal. Traditionally women are more ‘’domestic’’ than men. Education for them was not a big deal, as a family should be the first priority. Consequently, some rules for women were

How are students and teachers affected by gender?

‘’prescribed’’ a long time ago, preventing the opportunity to be well-educated. People consider women to be housewives, which is quite inappropriate and insulting for females. From this point the fringe of ‘’fairness’’ begins.

Mostly, scholars use ''equity'' for explaining ''equality'' which isn't the same actually. Its vagueness makes the question of equity an urgent problem/point in the educational system. Fairness is valued above everything and equality follows from it. It means that schools must have a well-organized system of social justice, where you can find a place for equity and equality – for a simple understanding that we are people and should be treated properly (fairly) and that everyone needs to have equal opportunities towards everything ( education in particular) in spite of differences we have.

It's a very complicated task for an educator to create a personal, ''warm'' atmosphere in the classroom. Everyone tries to do their best to be a good teacher and looks for many ways to expand this atmosphere in the classroom. I believe a good teacher means treating boys and girls equally.

What can we do to create change in the classroom? The answer is – everything. Everything that is in under our power and by virtue of our opportunities. The main goal is to decide for yourself what do you really want from your students. It happens quite frequently, that an educator is in a charge of the classroom and his authority is invincible and unshakable. However, nobody says that it is the most appropriate decision to be ''Napoleon'' of your

How are students and teachers affected by gender?

classroom, but being too strict and controlling literally everything ( breaks, behaviour, grades, relationships with the other classmates) may cause total dissatisfaction of you as an educator. Consequently, something that is more efficient and favourable can be done to achieve a good condition in the classroom.

What are these ways of doing a good job in the classroom as a respectable teacher? So as not to be firm and strict, but understanding and demanding at the same time. I would like to offer you my ''plan'' of the classroom I am going to teach in the future.

Firstly, the thing that must be done immediately is class time. During this hour an educator should introduce himself to his students/parents, whoever who would like to attend this appointed hour-session. While telling people who is he and what is he going to do in this class, he also should ask for parents' opinion according to his wishes that will be made. Approvals and disapprovals should be considered with the same attentiveness. As an educator I should pay ''equal'' attention to boys and girls, not to cause discrimination in the classroom. Recent research shows that a lot of girls are influenced by teachers' preferential kindness towards boys. Girls become victims because of lacking of attention from a teachers' side and they suffer from it. Decreasing of a self-esteem is one of the reasons of being too careless to girls. Another reason that may be caused by lessening attention to girls is a lost of interest in relation to the class. While having a teacher who is not interested in you as in a future ''advanced pupil'' your interest

How are students and teachers affected by gender?

in being successful in the classroom cam disappear. A student/pupil do not have any motivation to procede studying if his/her efforts are not appreciated. That is why paying attention to everybody is one of the most valuable things in the classroom.

Secondly, after the lapse of some time, when you see how the realization of the plans works an educator should think about advantages/disadvantages of the methods offered before. While analyzing the consequences of the effects of innovations, a teacher should pay attention to students and their behaviour, finding ways to decrease negative dealings. When a situation of disobedience appears, I as an educator should not praise somebody who is not guilty, but be loyal to everyone, not to single out somebody, who behaved better. I ought to figure out the reason of students' behaviour and explain in an equal manner how they should act in a situation. My aim is to provide equity to everyone. Boys should not be in the advantage and be superior to girls.

Another thing that should be done is changing ''the air'' in the classroom. Everyone makes a decision in advance whom he/she would like to be for the students. Either good friend and a teacher in the same face, or strict and unflexible emperor. Let's see pros and cons of this option. If you act thoughtfully, not allowing the students to disrespect you being a good friend and allowing for flexibility – it is definitely great that your relationships are friendly. Otherwise, if something is done wrong and a student shows some kind of disobedience towards an educator,

How are students and teachers affected by gender?

being rude to a child or simply showing his bad attitude towards a teacher, you as an educator should sound the alarm and extricate yourself from this situation. It will be hard enough to force students do something if they do not respect you. To avoid such a situation you should not be very relaxed in your teaching. Every time you give homework you should encourage students to do it. Inspiration is one of the leading things in teaching and a guarantee of success. Since many research studies are made in comparing boys and girls skills in math/ science, and conclusions are that these ''gaps'' between girls and boys in studying are also questions of interest. Hence, interest is another item of improving your teaching in the classroom. Making your students interested in what you are teaching plays a significant role in changing environment in the classroom. Just give students understand that you are an educator, you know your profession and you are pretty sure, that everyone can succeed, regardless of his skills. Boys and girls have the same rights, no privileges. Teachers must practice with fidelity.

Another point of changing the classroom is the following. Make your students feel free in your classroom. This freedom is multiple. At first, it is a freedom of expressing your opinion. While asking about something, I ought to give to understand that they will not be punished for their thoughts. Especially drawing thorough attention to girls I ought to realize that they have weak feeling of uncertainty about some things and giving them such opportunity not to be lost among mentally and physically strong boys I could improve their self-appraisal. Secondly, it is a

How are students and teachers affected by gender?

freedom of choice. Girls must have the same homework as boys have. From the other side, I as an educator should suggest some variants of any assignment. It is important because each student is a person and the skills and abilities are different as preferences. Give them 2-3 ways of doing some tasks and you will see what is more tough and what is easier. I will see what girls preferences are and how they are differentiated from boys predilections. According to these results I will have a space to identify weaknesses and encourage them for their good results. Giving them different homework ( a chance ti make a choice what they want to do) I should imply, that rules are the same for everybody. If one task is more complicated than another one that I may give to a girl it does not mean that a boy will be graded higher that a girl. I should be fair and treat everybody according to their own abilities to do homework. I as an educator ought to point a standard for every student regardless of a gender he or she has. If it is math I will evaluate students equally, not giving more praise to somebody as he is a boy etc. Everybody has the same freedom as far as expectations from a teacher.

Encouragement has sense too. ''Good job'', ''nice work'', ''you are doing fine'' or ''you are so good at it...''. These are expressions that your student wait from you when he did his work even if everything is not so smooth these phrases are essential. By means of praise, not to one particular person, but to everybody, you ''highlight'' each students' ability to do his job properly, whether it is male or female student.

How are students and teachers affected by gender?

Plainly, what could be done to avoid discrimination in the classroom is to think about this issue profoundly. I as an educator ought to realize that everybody would like to live equally, with the same privileges and my classroom would be a rehab for students whose self-esteem is undermined and whose lack of confidence is visible. Examining a ''gender gap'' in the classroom I thought about this kind of gap in Ukraine. According to my personal experience there was no clear example of it in my school. I studied in four different schools and the only tendency I met was discrimination according to stereotypes teachers gave students in the very beginning of schooling. If you are a high achiever from the middle school you will have a label in your high school. Consequently, it affects the reputation you will have. If you are a poor student you will have a label of a ''silly dude''. The thing I ran into was labelling pupils, not gender discrimination.

Probably, there were cases of ''gender gap'' among pupils and they were not noticed by me.

References:

Trentacosta, J (1997). Multicultural and gender equity, 1997.

J. Banks '' Multicultural Education, Issues and perspectives'', 2001

Shortchanging Girls, Shortchanging America (AmericanAssociation of University of Women),1994

History and Philosophy of education

How are students and teachers affected by gender? Historical and contemporary relationship of these issues

Yevgeniia Kontsevaya

Nazareth College of Rochester

Girls and boys are always compared in schools. It's like two confrontations. Nevertheless, comparing an education system years and years ago I can’t claim that we have so discriminative situation nowadays. In the years of emerging an education system classroom was divided into boys who study only ''male'' job and girls doing ''female'' work as knitting, cleaning etc. Gender gap was too deep at the very beginning of schooling and females were prepared for being a good wife in the future consciously lessening women' rights.

‘’The education of America's girls was so limited that less than one-third of the women in colonial America could even sign their names. For centuries women fought to open the schoolhouse door. Although a woman gave the first plot of ground for a free school in New England, female children were not allowed to attend the school.'' (J. Banks, ch.6,ph.1). From these early years of emerging a ''gender gap'' in America women tried to fight for their rights. From 1830s women tried to fight for justice, for equality. ''In New York, Emma Hart Willard battle to establish the Troy Female Seminary, and in Massachusetts, Mary Lyon created Mount Holyoke, a seminary that eventually became a noted women's college. By the 1850s, with the help from Quakers such as Harriet Beecher Stowe, Myrilla Miner established the Miner Normal School for Colored Girls'' (ph.3). One of the breaking points in education of females is Title IX. It's a document denying separation in schools between men and women and claiming equity. Education Amendments Act says ''No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance''. (ch.6, p.128)

Nevertheless the gap exists and everyone may see it in the classrooms on their own. There are clear academic, psychological and physical breach between males and females. The main issues in school remain about math and science. Mostly boys are good at math, and girls are not. Survey shows that in the elementary school girls like math and the percentage of them is 81% (p.11) But the interesting fact is that boys do too. They also like math and the percentage is almost the same (84%). So, I may suppose that there's no gap in this point. And the percentage of girls who name math as their least favourite subject jumps from 15% in the elementary school to 28% in high schools. Here we see gap in interests between girls and boys. The question of this gap concerns gender equality in the classroom. Why do challenges happen? The answer is because attitude toward girls in the classroom is different comparing with boys. If there is a situation when one girl has the hang of it - arguments appear. One thing that is of great importance here is a teacher. An educator should treat everybody in the same equal way no to ‘highlight’ somebody in the classroom negatively or positively. An educators’ reaction is a significant point in relationships in the classroom. More than that, making students interested in a class that he/she attends you increase the possibility of ‘liking’ the class by students what leads to decreasing the ” interest gap”.

Another aspect in learning is self-esteem. In its’ relation I should say that it is a prominent part of succeeding, not only in the classroom, but in the life in general. Being confident and pretty sure what you do is a key to develop a skill which can serve you as a ‘guardian’ in life. That’s why its essentiality especially at the beginning of your life, in school in particular plays an integral part in arising a pupil/student as a personality. It is a well-known fact that boys are much more confident than girls. Survey Summary (1991) says ''Finding it difficult to dream and feeling constrained by gender rules, girls start out with lower hopes for their careers, and already less confident in their talents and abilities. Girls are much more likely than boys to say they are ''not smart enough'' or ''not good enough'' for their dream careers'' (p.9). ''Although more women than men are college students, overall, women still lag behind men in earning Ph.Ds and professional degrees (ch.6 p.130). In most cases adolescent girls report higher levels of stress and depression and a lower level of confidence. From it follows that women have lower self-esteem than do males and clear discrimination between boys and girls exists and is seen as stated above. Teachers are affected by the issue of gender on subconscious level, separating girls and boys in their abilities.

What is more interesting, is that according to statistics schools set girls up to fail. ''In dozens separate studies, researchers have found that girls receive less attention, less praise, less effective feedback, and less detailed instruction from teachers than do boys» (p.14). Professors of education at American University conducted a research and revealed some facts proving that it isn't a fiction about lack of attention towards girls from the teacher: ''Teachers typically initiate more communication with boys than with girls in the classroom, strengthening boys' sense of importance. Teachers tend to praise boys more often than girls for the intellectual content and quality of their work. When boys perform poorly, teachers often blame failure of lack of effort, Girls receive a different message. the implication is that effort would not improve their results''(p.14). According to this survey, we can see ''gender discrimination'' maybe on the subconscious level. But still it is a clear example of giving less opportunities for girls in studying than to boys. Moreover, it affects self-esteem too.

Here we may conjecture that girls are offended and boys are proud of themselves. Quite unfair from a teacher's side. How to achieve gender equity? Everybody thought about it but we still see discrimination in the classroom and even laws and different official papers don't save us. ''We thought that gender equity could be achieved by gender-blind practices in the classroom. We though that if only teachers would treat students as individuals, treating all students equally, then gender equity would be achieved. We have come to believe that this is not enough. We now believe that in order for gender equity to be attained, teachers will have to attend to it directly in their classrooms'' (J. Trentacosta, ch.5. ph.3,p.236).''When we tried to envision a gender-equitable classroom, our vision is blurred – blurred because we are torn between an idealistic stance and a pragmatic stance'' (p.237, ph.2). ''Our nation’s segregated schools result from decades of systematic neglect of civil rights policy and related educational and community reforms. According to the UCLA report, what is needed are leaders who recognize that we have a common destiny in an America where our children grow up together, knowing and respecting each other, and are all given the educational tools that prepare them for success in our society'' (http://www.projectcensored.org/top-stories/articles/2-us-schools-are-more-segregated-today-than-in-the-1950s-source/ ). Solution is hidden in us. Think and be conscious of what is happening around you and act, try to change things, begin with yourself.

Date: 2014-12-22; view: 1008