Intro/Conc

research limitations- small scale mixed method study. future study could consider how perceptions change when also considering other aspects like race, ethnicity, religion, socio-economic position, lgbt. intersectionality. Scale of this wouldn't allow this

important to look at jobs because of the gender pay gap/ job gap- and interesting to look at how early ideas/ notions of gender roles can limit perceptions

younger generations need to be encouraged to dispel stereotypes and adults and teachers need to reflect on their own role within this

why gender in school?

schools can either reproduce the dominant gender ideology of the wider society or be a potential site for developing non-traditional gender identities (Myhill and Jones, 2006)

gendered expectations by teachers potential to affects not only academic achievement but also behaviour inequity

possibility that teachers have to create a classroom environment that promotes gender equity and to actively engage in disrupting traditional gender performances p.35. Giraldo and Colyar.(2009) Dealing with gender in the classroom: a portrayed case study of four teachers. International Journal of Inclusive Education, vol 16, no 1. Jan 2012, pp. 25-38.

teachers were aware of the importance of their interactions with children and impact that they have on students' gender perceptions and perfomances. p.35

giraldo and coylar- their study shows how teachers everyday interactions impact the construction of children's gender identities in multiple ways: selecting topics and materials, talking with children, setting up the environment, letting children explore different gender performances and engaging children in a variety of activities.' p. 36

Lynch 2015, guys and dolls: a qualitative study of teachers' views of gendered play in kindergarden.
teachers project onto their kindergarten students many of their own gender prejudices about play.

suggests: teachers could benefit from becoming aware of their unintentional teachers and learn to better encourage gender equity in play-based class activities ** (in toy part of discussion?)

2010 eva arlemalm-hagser- gender choreography and micro structures...
listening to children's own understandings of gender will shed light on hidden structures and stereotyped actions so far invisible in early childhood professions

gender in the classroom is not a simple binary of boy/girl fem/masc

Sunderland 2000- gender identities as processes shaped by gendered talk, gendered discourse
a learner's gender identify may be shaped by cannot be determined by gendered texts, since an individual is an agent who always has some capactiy for contestation

to me, this suggests that you need to provide children with the tools to reflect themselves on what they read and take in and therefore develop their own gendered identity which is not fixed/ is fluid

bigler and liben, developmental intergroup theory:
work suggests that biases may be largely under
environmental control and thus might be shaped via educational, social, and legal policies

studies show bias and prejudice exist by age 4

children likely to internalise stereotypic beliefs explicitly communicated in their envitonment
and detect covariations between social
groups and attributes that would have otherwise gone unnoticed.

process of gender typing/ sex typing (psychology)- acquisition of 'gender-appropriate' preferences, skills, personality attributes, behaviours, and self concepts-- p.365 M. Kollmayer et al.

Social learning theory highlights the explicit reinforcement of gender-appropriate behaviour by important others such as parents and teachers, as well as indirect learning via observation and modelling (e.g. Mischel, 1966)

Cognitive-developement theory emphasizes children's cognitions about their own gender as the basis for gender typical preferences and behaviour, and stresses the importance of recognising that one's gender is stable over time and situations for gender typing: a child knows about his/her gender before showing gender typical behaviour (Kohlberg, 1966)

Bem's gender schema theory (1983)

both social learning and cognitive deve

'According to Bem, children observe their environment, learning the various associations with masculinity and femininity, including the physical differences between men and women, they societal roles, the characteristics of each gender, and also how society treats each gender. Children then adjust their behaviour to align with the gender norms of their culture, with parenting, schools and the media serving as factors of influence. Like cognitive-developement theory, gender schema theory proposes that children's cognitive processing is crucial for gender-typing: children learn to recognise and organise incoming information in gender-based categories. A gender schema comprises networds of ideas and information that filter perceptoins before the child is even aware of this process (1981, 1983)

this recognises how important others perceptions are in influencing children

gender-schematic processing involves spontaneously sorting objects, attributes and behaviours into masculnie and feminine categories, regardless of their differences in dimensions unrelated to gender. Individuals constructt their self-concept within the framework of these gender-based categories.

Bem, S. L. (1983). Gender schema theory and its implications for child development: Raising gender-aschematic children in a gender-schematic society. Signs, 8(4), 598–616. https://doi.org/10.1086/493998

an alternative theory to social learning theory, psychoanalytic and cognitive development theory

child organises and encodes information about self according to cultures ideas of maleness and femaleness

I think it suggests that gender is constructed rather than inherently biological and in terms of teaching schools have a big role/strong potential in recreating/carrying on/ perpetuating gender stereotypes and differences which is why I think it is important to look into both teacher and child perceptions of gender within the classroom

stereotypes

descriptive and prescriptive components of gender stereotypes lead to different expectations of men and women, or boys and girls, with regard to skills, personality attributes and self-concepts. These expectations are transmitted to children beginning with the day of their birth by parents, teachers, peers, the media, and other agents of socialisation and contribute to the development of children's gender schemas and consequently to boys' and girls' self-concepts and available repertoires of behaviours and actions. p.367

in the context of education, gender-stereotyped expectations particularly concern interests, abilities and vocational aptitudes attributed to girls and boys. These expectations have a strong impact on girls' and boys' educational careers.

gender stereotypes expectations are often confirms even though they are false, as expectations often lead to self-fulfilling prophecies and to perceptual biases (see Jussim, Eccles, & Madon, 1996)

teacher perception and actual achievement of students - self fullfilling prophecy: Social Perception, Social Stereotypes, and Teacher Expectations: Accuracy and the Quest for the Powerful Self-Fulfilling Prophecy. LeeJussimJacquelynneEcclesStephanieMadon . Volume 28, 1996, Pages 281-388. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology

written in 1966 but still merit

Eccles, Jacob, Harold (1990) Gender role stereotypes, expectancy effect and parents socialisation of gender difference.
self fullfilling prophecy-
parental perceptions and child self-perceptions and task-perceptions influence the choices children make about their involvement in various activities

differences in self-perceptions and skills influence the type of jobs and activities that females and males seek out and qualify for (shows that has or can have long lasting effects, although was written in 90s)

gender-stereotyped expectations play a central role in the perpetuation of gender differences, as they determine the behaviour of important others and thus lead to vicious cycles in the development of children's gender-stereotyped motivation and performance.

Teachers are promising starting points for enacting change e.g. Hattie 2021) they are easier to reach than parents, and in turn reach more children themselves. p.371

Fagot 1978- reinforcing contingencies for sex-role behaviours-- by time children reach group setting, they already have sex typed preferences

having strong gendered dichotomies in the classroom doesn't leave room for those who transgress (or wish to transgress) societal norms. pg16 (despite looking at Canada and older children)

Boys are like puppies, girls aim to please: how teachers' gender stereotypes may influence student placement decisions and classroom teaching. Alberta Journal of Educational Research, Vol 60, No1 Spring 2014 1-21 Dr Tasha A. Riley

Once teachers are aware of the influence unchecked biases may have upon learners' educational opportunities, teachers may be more inclined to re-examine their practice and reconsider what steps are necessary to facilitate change p.17

Paula Hamilton and Bethan Rogers- 'Man-up, go and get an ice pack.' Gendered stereotypes and binaries within the primary classroom: a thing of the past? International Journal of Primary, Elementary and Early Years Education, 45:1, pp.122-134. DOI: 10.1080/03004279.2015.1059871

Social constructivist theories purport that men and women are products not of biology,
but of culture and society.

it is from about the age of five years, children begin to follow gender
stereotypes and enforce gender conformity with zeal (Devarakonda 2013)

children look to adults and their peers for guidance, picking up on explicit rules and implicit cues as to what it means to be a 'proper' girl of boy (Paechter, 2007; soylemez 2010)

however recognise that gender socialisation is a complex, fragile and incomplete process (Ryle, 2015)

although children engage in behaviour that often reinforces traditional gender norms, they may chose to ignore or reject certain discourses of masculinities or feminities, for example, they do not always select a same-sex friend to model or identify with a parent of the same sex

feminist post structuralist perspectives, more recent

social relations of power between males and females are perpetuated through the cultural male/female binary and, how children are active agents in the construction of their own gendered identities (Robinson and Jones Diaz 2006)

urge educators to introduce children to the concept of gendered power relations

post structuralist perspective--- children AND adults actively take part in production of gender identities (Blaise 2005)

gender is constructed in everyday practices, which implies gender construction differ from one setting to another (put this somewhere else?) (Eva Angard, 2011 (Sweden)

a feminitst post structuralist study of children 'doing' gender.-- children take active part in 'doing' gender by socially constructing meanings about femininities and masculinities from gender discourse available to them in their everyday lives

e.g. Elizabeth Marshall, 2004- stripping for the wolf: rethinking representations of gender in children's literature. girlhood is socially constructed categoty

gendered expectations are deeply embedded in fabric of society and classroom is no exception- many children start primary school with established gender roles and behaviours

Macnaughton 2006- constructing gender in early years education.
talks about:
sex-role socialisation theory- gender is socially learnt--- educators wishing to create gender equity must reteach (resocialise) chd to be non-sexist by modelling non-sexist behaviour and offerent non-sexist curriculum, lang, resources, play. (seen as simplistic)
relational/ fem post-structutalist theory- gender as socially constructed
---active constructors.
gender not distinct categories by relational and interdependent. (big request to ask chn to be non-sexist)

Kollmayer- parents are most important socialising agents for children before they start schools- gap between parents explicit and implicit attitudes

important to be reflexive and aware of the complex ways gendered stereotypes manifest themselves within the classroom whether that be children's perceptions or teachers' perceptions. Being aware of your personal impact and reflecting on choices within the classroom may help to improve the experience and opportunities of all children in the classroom regardless of gender. The finding that most teachers did not think about gender in the classroom and did not make intentional steps to move away from stereotypes yet the children often had views that aligned with traditional notions, suggests there is a gap that could be explored to bridge the gap/ make more intentional steps to improve...

intersectionality important as gender can't be experienced or performed (butler) separately from other identities

As seen in Myhill and Jones' study (2006) children from primary school through to secondary schools can have gendered perceptions of how they believe teachers unfairly treat boys and girls. With this in mind, and the rest of my small scale research, it feels paramount/imperative to be aware and always consider the implications of how you interact, present yourself and your classroom as a teacher because it can have far reaching consequences/impacts.

the teacher's were not able to easily suggest books that challenged stereotypes very easily, which for me suggests that for my future practice I need to make intentional decisions about what is available in the classroom and the impact this can have.

providing a classroom where children are free to explore their gender expression/identities without limitations

It is something that needs constant work and reviewing/reflecting on
e.g. in the giraldo and coylar study getting used to not using a 'he' pronoun for a truckdriver- challenge. and as they say 'teachers are always situated within the broader social context in which gender is used to define and describe individuals in particular ways.'

a responsibility of teachers to try to organise and create a gender inclusive classroom where everyone has equity/ opportunities/ not limited by their gender and to do this more intentional steps need to be taken

play is often an area where teachers reinfoce gender boundaries and traditional gender roles but found that there were instances of resisting stereotypes. They suggest more research into ways and means to help teachers organise their classroom play activities in more equitable ways.
teachers need to be encouraged towards heightened self-awareness of how their behaviours can model detrimenal gender stereotyping for impressionable students (can see that asking the teachers about this makes them rethink what they were doing e,g, HN said 'maybe i need to think about this more'- so need opportunities for reflection) (lynch 2015)

leahy and foley 2018- need for professional development looking at acknowledging own biases

make a classroom that is gender safe and gender fair- teacher support/explicit rules (reowrd)

the idea of animals as influencing factors/ potential agents of change was something I had not considered fully before this, but the extent to which children mentioned them and related to them suggests there is potential for animals to be used in such ways that promote equality and this can be used intersectional, so not just in terms of gender but also race, ethnicity and socio economic backgrounds. Obviously this can also pose issues but creating moral dilemmas and solutions through animals for young children is interesting.

importance also of teacher's role in being consciously selective in how they manage their classroom. I found that teachers addressed issues when they arose but there were limited steps that were intentional. I think in order for me to create a classroom environment that allows for gender equity- steps need to be more purposeful and intentional rather than reactive.
This is not to say that the teachers were not successful in addressing issues of gender inequality in the classroom, as they made things that cropped up into teaching points which is important to be adaptable and fluid, but there seems to be a conscious effort that is missing and could make a difference. and this also becomes more far reaching than just gender as other sensitive issues also arise.

initially, i was going to use triangulation and compare teachers views, children's views and see how these align with how the classroom was resourced. This is something that would be interesting to look into further, but I decided was too big for the scope of this essay, especially if i wanted to really go into teacher's and children's perceptions

the question therefore arises: are teacher's doing enough to create gender equity in the classroom?