Sunday, October 30, 2011

Talking Point #7

     As I read through articles and watch videos about gender equity in the classroom, I have found one common observation - that American educators, regardless of their gender or the grade level at which they teach, continue to focus more attention on male than on female students.  Sadly I have found this to be true in the classroom that I volunteer in.  The most alarming part about this is that now that I think about it, I have done so myself.  A study done in the classroom by Sadker and Sadker found that boys are called on more than girls, boys are given more and different kind of feedback than girls, and boys are allowed more leniency for mild classroom misbehavior.  I can't say why the teacher that I work with does this but for me, I seem to think that the girls don't need as much of my attention, that they can self motivate better than the boys and are overall better behaved.  I'm definitely going to pay more attention to the way that I do things in relation to gender in the classroom.

This article titled Education expert: Classroom gender bias persists by Jill Goatz goes into more detail about the study done by Sadker and Sadker.


I like this video more for the questions that it raised.  It just gets you thinking about gender and it's role in the classroom


This is a video of a group of sophomores at Sydney Boys High School (an all-boys, selective, public high school in Sydney, Australia). Their goal is to raise awareness about gender equality as part of their High Resolves Community Action.

This article titles Single Sex Classes on Trial Expect Girls to Sit Down and Shut Up is about a schools principal who sought to segregate students based on a gender stereotyped idea that girls and boys cannot learn in the same environment.

In class I would like to see if anyone else has had any realizations about themselves in Service Learning?  I never realized that my way of thinking is actually a problem and can negatively impact students :(

2 comments:

Lang Prum said...

For my students, I tend to focus more on the student who is not behaving and so I constantly have to make sure they pay attention. Most of the time, I guess I spread my attention to all of them equally. I like the second video you posted. I am relating myself to the boy who said he was not aware that gender inequality affects him. I never knew that gender inequality was something that affects not only females but everybody else. It's so great to know that I have the potential to help too.

Phil kenney III said...

The vids are great!