ES3207: Constructions of Gender Roles in Schools
Week 1:
The Gender
Question
return to module outline.
last updated 22.09.10.
Introduction to the gender debates
I do not expect you to have read the reading for week 1 by the Monday afternoon but please read it in conjunction with the readings for week 2 – reading packs will be available in the first session.
‘Natural Women and Men’ in R.Alsop, A.Fitzsimons, K.Lennon (2002) Theorising Gender, Cambridge: Polity, pp.12-38.
As preparation for the session spend some time on the internet - type ‘construction of gender roles in schools ’ into Google (ignore the references to this module!) You will find numerous references – follow some of them and identify what appear to be the main features of this topic. Is it automatically constructed as a ‘problem’? Why is the issue of the ‘gender gap’ still such a hot topic or have we moved towards a sense of gender equity in the classroom? Either way, why (or how) is gender used as a defining feature in so many pieces of research?
You will find the Journal; Gender and Education a useful resource for this module – their website is also informative – see below for the latest discussion:
http://www.genderandeducation.com/issues/gender-hysteria-2010-examination-results/
The issue of boys’ literacy is also addressed in a new TV programme headed by Gareth Malone
In level 6 of the Education Studies programme you are asked to ‘critique’ issues. Inevitably this means considering and comparing different approaches to, for example, understanding how the way that we think about gender affects day to day practise in schools. One of the central questions for this module is ‘does gender matter?’ Is it a concept that has been used by the media as an easy ‘catch all’ for discussing the general failure or success of education policy or is it an ingrained organising concept within our education system? Even if we recognise that many of our ideas about gender are socially constructed, are we in a position to change anything?
And as if the academic outcomes of schooling were not enough, in addition to the formal curriculum there is also the socialising aspect of the experience of schooling – what influence do peers have on the formation of gender identity?
Central to the concern of this module is the way that we understand the term gender – and what its relationship is to notions of ‘essence’. Is it helpful to make such a specific division between the social and physical differences in the sexes given the impossibility of the task of drawing a clear boundary between the two? An inequality of power and success based on the concept of gender is implicit in many of the articles you can access on the net. Are these inequalities necessarily based on social characteristics – which might be changed? Or are they based on physical characteristics which remain constant?
Discussion points for the first session:
What gender roles within schools can you identify?
What – or who – constructs these roles?
And this leads us to consider what part the formal education should play in the formation of gender roles.
Critique
What does ‘critique’ in terms of this module mean? How is it different from level four where we talked about experience and level five when we focused on theories?
Independent study for week 2
You have three readings this week – the Alsop et al from week 1 and the Paechter and Fuss for week 2.
Make sure that you are able to access journal articles online – this facility will be useful for all your modules and probably for your FYP study. The library have changed their site over the summer so take some time to get re-acquainted with it!
I will put the Paechter article outside my room if you would prefer to photocopy it
All these three readings provide an insight into the complex relationship between what is seen as ‘natural’ and the characteristics that are seen as ‘socially constructed’. This approach is central to the theoretical framing of the module so try to make some notes about how each of these authors explains their position in the debates.
