Voices from the classroom: A gendered perspective

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Voices from the classroomA gendered perspective

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Teachers practice

• Overarching question
• What messages about gender and academic
  performance are communicated in the classroom?
• Sub-questions
• Do teachers classroom practices perpetuate
  or negate gender stereotypes?
• Do teachers treat male and female students
  differently or the same?

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Classroom interaction research

• Classroom interaction research findings in the UK
• Contributions from boys predominate both
  physically and verbally
• Girls request help to a greater extent than boys
  do
• Girls support their conversational partners more
  than boys do
• Boys have more experience than girls of having
  their contributions evaluated during classroom
  interaction
• (Howe, 1997)

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Classroom interaction research in other countries

• Teachers, even those who espouse equal
  opportunities, interact differentially with their
  male and female pupils and this may operate to
  the disadvantage of female pupils. Boys receive
  more praise even though teachers insist that they
  do not give more attention to boys
• (Kaiser,1991Drudy Ui Chathain,2002

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British studies of classroom interaction

• Teachers often exploit rivalry between the sexes
  to motivate or manage pupils
• Teachers often gear lesson content towards boys
  to retain interest and control
• ( Wilson,1991 cited in Drudy Ui Chathain, 2002)
• Differences in interaction patterns appear
  unrelated to the gender of the teacher or
  his/her years of experience

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Classroom interaction research in Nordic countries

• Boys dominate in the classroom, are given more
  talking time and attract more teacher attention
  both positive and negative
• Middle class boys talked most, then middle class
  girls, then working class boys and finally
  working class girls
• (Reisby, 1994)

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Caribbean classroom interaction

• Teachers tend to treat male and female students
  differently particularly with respect to
  discipline. Male students are treated more
  harshly
• Teachers expect gender appropriate behaviour and
  tend to reinforce gender stereotypes
• ( Parry,2000)

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• Teachers paid more attention to girls but tried
  to encourage and motivate the boys whom they
  considered less competent
• Boys received more harsh and unfair treatment
  than girls i.e. more corporal punishment, insults
• Female teachers showed girls preferential
  treatment
• ( Evans, 2001)

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Research settings

• Coeducational seven year, traditional and senior
  comprehensive schools
• traditional seven year girls and seven year
  boys schools
• Curriculum areas observed Mathematics and
  Science (male and female teachers)
• English, Spanish and French ( female teachers)

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Findings

• Themes
• Teachers response to students academic
  performance
• Teachers response to students behaviour
• Teachers response as indicators of teachers
  attitudes to gender issues

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Theme 1 Teacher response to academic performance

• Teacher praise and encouragement
• That is absolutely correct. Bring it. (to male
  student, math class)
• Excellent! ( to male student, English class)
• Very good, youre seeing it now, you understand
  it. (to male student math class)
• Yuh was going good yuh know but something went
  wrong ( to male student, math class)
• Top of the line, excellent! ( to male student
  science class)

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Teacher response to academic performance

• Teacher criticism
• Yuh make mistakes! Some of this yuh make mistakes
  ( to girl, math class)
• Yuh did that for yuhself? (to girl, math class)
• Something isnt right here (to girl, math class

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Theme 2 teachers response to student behaviour

• Verbal admonitions
• If you sit up Kevin I could hear what you are
  saying ( to male student, English class)
• Do not throw things across the class, pass it
  along and do not eat. It is not break time (to
  male student, French class)
• Omari stop showing off! (to boy in English class

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Teacher response to student behaviour

• Intervention and non-intervention
• Teacher sends disruptive student out of the room
  for some time
• Teacher instructs students to go to deans office
• Ignores off task behaviour of both male and
  female students e.g. heads on desk, non
  participation, refusal to answer questions
• Teacher threatens detention for male students if
  he does not see work

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Theme 3 teachers interpersonal relationships
with students

• Teacher interest in student non-school
  activities
• Do you all know that Rishad got his license? (to
  mostly male science class)
• Yuh went to the concert yesterday? ( to female
  student, math class)
• Ok, Jamal whey is your story today? Who upset
  you? (to male student, math class)

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Conclusions

• Observations coincided with studies from other
  countries in that teachers paid more attention
  both positive and negative to male students
• Gender of the teacher or years of experience did
  not seem to have any effect on whether they
  treated male and female students differently

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Conclusions

• Teachers used gender as a tool to manage the
  classroom and encouraged rivalry between male and
  female students.
• Unlike other Caribbean studies however in this
  sample of schools and classes researchers did not
  observe teachers using insulting remarks, sarcasm
  or harsh disciplinary measures

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Conclusion

• While it appears that in these classes teachers
  did treat male and female students differently,
  it seemed to be as a result of expectations they
  held with respect to academic performance.
• There was no evidence in the observations of
  gender stereotyping in the classroom with respect
  to curriculum content and in the interactions
  between teacher and student.
• However there was some evidence of gender
  stereotyping in the student to student
  interaction

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