Christina
Pryor
PDS
Intern
Park
Forest Middle School
May
14, 2001
Gender
in the Classroom
Do
you like what girls are learning in school? When I was in middle school, I had
a male English teacher who left an impact on me. In class, he called only on
boys. He had posters in his classroom of male athletes and male movie stars. He
told stories about past students who were male. The worst part about the class
was that this teacher did not even realize that he was excluding female
students from his classroom. However, this behavior caused me to withdraw from
participation and discussion in his classroom. For the first time I realized
that it really did matter if you were male or female. The NJEA Review article
"Girls in the Middle: Working to Succeed in School" states,
"Gender and the way society interprets gender are not the only factors
influencing a girl in middle school, but they are critical factors
("Girls"). The adolescent girl is going through physical and
emotional changes all in a time where she is also negotiating her place in the
social world. Many factors influence how girls develop into adults, and a
significant factor is school. The New Jersey Career Equity Assistance Center
for Marketing and Resources defines gender as "the cultural notion of what
it is to be a woman or a man" ("Day By Day"). Not only are girls
learning reading, writing, and arithmetic, but they are also learning how to be
a woman.
As
I was reading articles about gender issues, I noticed four main areas of
research that paralleled some of the gender issues I was seeing in my the
classroom. Therefore, I want to focus my inquiry project on gender in the
classroom. Also, I want to specifically focus my research on female students in
four areas: language in the classroom, strategic environmental approaches girls
use while in the classroom, teacher interaction with students, and classroom
environment.
The
first unit I focused on was Greek mythology which was taught to seventh grade.
The
students used the text, Heroes, Gods, and
Monsters of the Greek Myths by Bernard
Evslin.
The main objectives of the unit were:
to
identify 12 main gods/goddesses
to
discuss the stories of the Greek gods/goddesses
to
examine hoe Greek mythology has influenced modern life
to
create a Greek mythology booklet
to
work in collaborative groups
to
interpret and illustrate scenes from the text
However,
the students added one more objective to unit that I was not anticipating:
‑‑
to openly discuss gender issues dealing with the gods/goddesses
Greek
mythology already has overt gender issues to be addressed such as Zeus being
the dominant god over all the other gods and goddesses. I had one girl in my
sixth period class say that "the gods are sexist because there were only
four girl gods, and all the rest were guys." During the chapters, students
addressed the issue of the infidelity of the gods and goddesses. One girl in my
seventh period asked, "Was it alright for them (gods) to have mistresses
back then? Were they allowed to have more than one wife?" None of the boys
in sixth or seventh period made comments about the sexist and unfaithful
behavior of‑the gods.
The boys were more involved with the action of
the Greek mythology stories, and the girls were more involved with the
relationships between the gods in the stories. For example, after the students
read the story of Perseus, one male student in my sixth period class commented
that "the blood and guts was cool," and one of the girls followed by
stating, "no, it was gross." This student interaction prompted me to
take a class poll with the question: By a show of hands, how many people liked
the graphic and action parts of Perseus and how many people did not? All of the
boys raised their hands to indicate that they liked the graphic parts, and all
of the girls raised their hands and indicated that they did not like the
graphic parts. Are the female and male students in this class facing peer
pressure to raise his/her hand to fit in with a particular gender group? Do
male students prefer action stories, and female students prefer relationship
stories?
The
unit that I taught to my eighth grade students was short stories. The main
objectives
of this unit were:
to
read, interpret and analyze a variety of short stories
to
work in collaborative groups
to
understand the basic elements of the short story (setting, theme, plot,
character)
to
create a piece of writing with dialogue
This
unit also had gender issues that needed to be discussed, particularly the roles
that men and women played in the short stories. The unit consisted of reading a
short story and then discussing questions that the students had about the text.
One story that the students worked on a group project was "The Ransom of
Red Chief' by 0. Henry. In their groups, students had to pick an important
passage from the story that they felt was important to the setting, plot, or
theme of the short story. I was shocked when over half of the groups chose the
passage, "I was awakened by a series of awful screams from Bill. They
weren't yells, howls, or shouts, or whoops, or yawps, such as you'd expect from
a manly set of vocal organs‑‑ they were simply indecent, terrifying,
humiliating screams such as women emit when they see ghosts or
caterpillars" (0. Henry). This passage is filled with stereotypes of how a
man should act and how a woman should act. It is saying that men should not
show fear, but it is accepted for women to show fear. Also, this passage really
has nothing to do with the importance of the plot, setting, or theme of the
short story, so I could not understand why over half of the groups chose it. In
my first period, eighth grade advanced English class, I asked a group of four
boys why they chose this particular quote to include in their project. One of
the group members said, "It's just a funny quote." However, I asked
this same question to a group of three girls. One group member stated, "I
don't know ... I guess it shows how scared and fed‑up he (Bill) was to act that
way." I found this interesting because the boys found the quote to be nothing
more than "funny," while the girls perceived it to mean that the
character "acted that way (like a girl)" because it shows "how
scared he was."
I
focused on specific gender issues to observe during this unit. One way that I
noticed gender issues in the classroom was from the everyday conversations that
I have with my students. The article "Day By Day: Language is the Vehicle
of Thought" states that "as educators we have the responsibility to
realize that our language sends a message to our students. Sex bias can have a
negative effect on self concept and occupational choices" ("Day By
Day"). The language that teachers use sends a message to students, and so
it is important to realize exactly what the students are extracting from the
words. For example, I noticed that I refer to a classroom full of male and
female students as "you guys." With one phrase, I have excluded all
the females in the classroom. It bothers me even more because I should have
been aware of the language that I use in the classroom since I was a female
student not so long ago. Why couldn't I say "everyone" instead of
"you guys"?
The
first tip from the "Day By Day" article states, "avoid male
pronouns when referring to hypothetical persons" ("Day By Day").
This is another problem that I have. Regretfully, one of my Greek mythology
test questions was "Compare and contrast what life was like for man before
and after Prometheus gave him fire." To my surprise, every student
answered the question by using the noun "man" and the pronoun "he."
After I graded the tests, I was upset with myself. How could I make such a
careless mistake? The "Day By Day" article also states that
"research evidence reveals that the masculine 'generic' seldom functions
as generic. In various studies, words like ¡°he¡±, ''man¡±, and ¡°mankind¡± in
generic contexts were presented to young students and adults. They were asked
to indicate their understanding by drawing a picture... In all 14 studies
children and adults of both sexes‑usually interpreted the masculine 'generic'
to mean male people only" ("Day By Day"). This research is
telling me that when I use the term "man" or "mankind" to
represent all humans, my students are only picturing men in their minds.
Another tip that the
"Day By Day' article suggests is that "when reading a text that
contains stereotypes or bias reference, stop and help the student identify the
stereotype or bias" ("Day By Day"). At first, I made the mistake
of not addressing a stereotype or bias when it came up in class. For example in
the Prometheus chapter of Heroes, Gods,
and Monsters of Greek Myths by Bernard Evslin, the chapter only uses the
noun "man" to describe the situation in the story. For example,
"you have caused the race of man to appear on earth, but you keep him in
ignorance and darkness" (57). 1 used this "language" the whole
way through class and never addressed the issue. After doing this research, I
wish that I could turn back time and reteach the class period where the
students and I could talk about the specific bias in the word choice. I would
address the issue and have students identify the bias and discuss why it was
there. However, I cannot turn back time. All that I can is do is try to do it
better the next time, so that is what I did.
When I taught short
stories to eighth grade, we read a story by Dorothy M. Johnson entitled
"The Day the Sun Came Out." This story is set in the nineteenth
century and is about a father, Pa, who is taking his children west. They pick
up a female traveler, Mary, and Pa is mean to her. I asked the students why Pa
treats Mary the way he does, and a student commented "Pa treats Mary like
that because of the time period. That's just the way it was back then." I
found this response quite often in stories where men played the dominant role
and women played the submissive role. Many students blame the way men treat
women on the "time period." It seems to be an answer both male and
female students accept without an argument or discussion. This response makes
me wonder what students believe about our time period. Is it still okay for men
to treat women demeaningly because of the time period?
I wanted to find out
an answer to this question, so later on in the year, I addressed this same
issue with eighth grade. The classes read the mystery novel, / Know What You Did Last Summer by Lois Duncan.
We discussed some issues of gender, and I'm not so sure that students view the
treatment of women in our time period differently from how they viewed the
treatment of women 50 years ago. I think that students might still view men in
dominant roles and women in submissive roles. For example, there are four main
characters in the book that students matched with certain stereotypes during a
class discussion on stereotypes. The students said that Barry is the "jock,"
Helen is the "blonde ditz," Julie is the "perky
cheerleader," and Ray is the "nerd." Overwhelmingly, the male
students said that Barry was dating Helen because as one male student stated,
"He could have any girl he wanted because he was the captain of the
football team." Also, a female student stated, "Helen only loves
Barry because she doesn't think for herself." This evidence suggests that
both male and female students will identify Barry as the dominant role and
Helen as the submissive role even though the book is more from "our time
period."
The
next issue that I started to take notice of is the strategic approaches girls
use to get noticed in the classroom. The April 1997 NJEA Review article
"Girls in the Middle: Working to Succeed in School" states,
"three strategic approaches that we saw used by girls identified as
'successful' in school, we call 'speaking out,' 'doing school,' and 'crossing
borders"' ("Girls in the Middle"). After I read this article, I
observed the girls in my class to see if any of them fit into any of the
categories. Surprisingly, many female students did.
The
"Girls in the Middle" article defines "speaking out" as
"some girls tend to assert themselves, speaking out and insisting on being
heard" ("Girls in the Middle"). I noticed that two girls in my
seventh period class speak out every class period. I find that I give these
students more attention because they are always asking or answering questions.
Unfortunately, I also realized that I do spend more time with these female students
than I do with other female students who are quiet in class.
The "Girls in the
Middle" article defines "doing school" as "some girls
behave in ways that have been traditionally expected of them in school, doing
what is asked and speaking in turn, if at all" ("Girls in the
Middle"). I observed my classes to see if any students fit into this
category. A large number of girls in my sixth period class fit this
description. These girls are very quiet. They get nervous when talking in front
of the class. For example, the students were presenting their individual Greek
mythology projects. I let the students pick their own order in which they
wanted to present. There was one girl who wanted to go last and got more and
more nervous as her turn approached. I had to tell her that everything was
going to be okay and that I would be in the back for support. She got up in
front of the class and just kept looking at me for reassurance. I had to keep
smiling at her to let her know that it was okay. Did this girl act this way
because she is shy, or is it that she does not feel comfortable in front of the
class because it goes against her notion of what it is to be a female in
school? Also, the girls in sixth period rarely volunteer to answer a question
and never ask me any questions. When I come around to help students with class
work, their response is "everything is okay." Another approach I use
with particularly two girls from sixth period is that I spend individual time
with them during AREA quiet studies. I walk around the classroom and talk to
the students who are doing their work. Then, I approach these particular girls
who always sit together and start talking to them. They talk about horses or TV
shows, and I listen to their interests outside of school. Then, I ask them if
they have any questions about English. Generally, these girls are more open to
receiving help because it seems like they are more comfortable with me after I
have talked to them for a while. One of the girls even commented to another
teacher that "I can tell Ms. Pryor cares about my interests outside of
school." This really made me feel like I was helping these girls because
not only do I care for them academically, but I care about them as growing
individuals as well.
The
"Girls in the Middle" article defines "crossing borders" as
"girls who cross borders between different cultures or sets of norms and
expectations may achieve success in school and with peers" ("Girls in
the Middle"). I found this to be true with a female student athlete in my
fifth period class. She is an excellent soccer player, but she also is popular
among her peers. She does well in school and is at the top of her class in
fifth period. She negotiates three worlds: the sports world, the social world,
and the academic world. She succeeds in all three because she is confident and
friendly, and she is not afraid to voice her opinion. For example, the eighth
grade students created an "I Have a Dream" speech after analyzing
Martin Luther King's famous speech. The speech could be about any dream that a
student wanted to see come true. This particular female student wrote her
speech about men and women playing professional sports together on one team
instead of having separate teams. She believed that the ability of a person is
what should determine his/her spot on the athletic team, not gender. As this
student was delivering her speech to the class, I watched the reactions of the
other male and female students in the class. Both male and female students
accepted her words and clapped for her at the end of the speech. This female
student is successful in all three worlds. Also, this observation leads me to
believe that there is a connection between participating in sports and
achievement in the social and academic worlds.
The
next issue that I read about is teacher interaction with male students versus
female students. In "Gender Equity in Middle School Science Teaching:
Being Equitable Should Be the Goal," Lalita Subrahmanyan and Heath Bozonie
write, "not only do teachers interact more with boys, the quality is also
different. Teachers have higher and different expectations of boys than they do
girls, and this results in girls being rewarded and challenged much less than
the boys to achieve academic excellence" (Bozonie and Subrahmanyan). After
reading this article, I made a conscious effort to see how I really interacted
with my students. Immediately, I noticed that I pay more attention to boys,
especially in my third period. The boys in this class are loud, and they tend
to be more disruptive than most students. Therefore, they get more attention
for discipline purposes. However, this builds a relationship with the student
so what when he is not disruptive, I reward him with positive comments to keep
up the good behavior. Meanwhile, I give no positive feedback, or rather no
feedback at all to the female students in the class who are always quiet and
follow directions. The girls should be receiving positive feedback, but when I
only have 42 minutes to get the lesson out and to deal with classroom
management, sometimes these girls get lost in the shuffle. I chose this class
for the assistant principal to come in to observe because I wanted some
feedback on how I could change the environment of the class. He suggested that
I use more "wait time" so that the more quiet and shy students would
have a chance to participate. Also, he suggested that I use participation cards
with each student's name on a card so that I could randomly choose students to
participate. Another strategy that I used is that during the fourth nine weeks,
I let the students in third period choose their own seats (unless it becomes a
discipline problem). Since there is a limited number of girls, this gives them
the opportunity to sit by students who they feel comfortable with. In this
particular class, all of the girls kind of clumped together into the front left
comer of the class, which I guess is "safety in numbers." Finally, I
started to make a conscious effort to go up to the girls individually and make
sure all of their questions were answered. Does this take more time? Yes, but
it is time wellspent.
The
next issue that I read about is the classroom environment and its affect on
gender issues. In "Gender Equity and Gender Bias: Issues for the Middle
School Teacher," authors Carole B. Shmurak and Thomas M. Ratcliff classify
sexist practices in the classroom. The most disturbing to me is "embedded
discrimination" because it is something that a lot of people do not
realize. Shmurak and Ratcliff define embedded discrimination as "sexism in
linguistic usage, historical records, literary texts, or visual displays, such
as bulletin boards reflecting only male authors" (Shmurak and Ratcliff).
Even though it is the new millennium, it might not seem that way when walking
into some teachers' classrooms. The posters with only male authors is the most
widely abused embedded discrimination that I have observed. That is the one
thing that bothered me most about my middle school English teacher who taught
and talked only about males is that he had posters of all male athletes and
authors. I could try to tune out his words and his stories about male students,
but I couldn't tune out all the visual images around me. Now as a teacher
myself, I make a conscious effort to include female and minority authors on
bulletin boards. I also pick short stories and poems by female and minority
authors to read in class such as Lucille Clifton, Langston Hughes, Shirley
Jackson, and Dorothy M. Johnson. These authors give balance to the white male
authors such as Edgar Allan Poe, Rudyard Kipling, Ernest Hemingway, and Walt
Whitman.
Since
this is my first year in the classroom, I readily admit that I am not fully
comfortable with talking about gender issues with my students. I still need to
read and research more articles on gender to gain enough knowledge and form my
own beliefs. I feel that I need to do this before I can adequately discuss
gender issues with students. However, I have found through my research and
observations for this inquiry project that gender does play an important role
in the classroom. The Career Equity Assistance Center For Training article
Mythbusters 11 states, "Females, males and people of color receive
different treatment in many classrooms. The different treatment can have a
detrimental effect on achievement, self‑esteem, career and educational
aspirations" (Mythbusters 11). That is why it is important that educators
follow three steps to combat gender issues in the classroom. The first step is
awareness. Teachers need to be aware of their students and their surroundings
in order to offer the best education for both male and female students. The
second step is discussion. Teachers and students need to openly discuss gender
issues as they appear in language use, literary texts, and the classroom
environment. The third step is change. Only through awareness and discussion
will the future change for both male and female students for a sound and
equitable education.
Bibliography
Duncan,
Lois. / Know What You Did Last Summer. New
York: Random House, Inc., 1973.
Evslin,
Bernard. Heroes, Gods and Monsters of the
Greek Myths. New York: Bantam Books, 1966.
"Girls
in the Middle: Working to Succeed in School." New Jersey Education Review. April 1997.
Henry,
0. "Ransom of Red Chief." Prentice
Hall Literature: Silver. Enlewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall, 1989.
Johnson
Dorothy. "The Day the Sun Came Out." Prentice Hall Literature: Silver. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall,
1989.
New
Jersey Career Equity Assistance Center for Marketing and Resources. Day By Day: Language is the Vehicle of
Thought Perth Amboy, NJ, 1997.
Ratcliff,
T. and Shmurak, C. "Gender Equity and Gender Bias: Issues for the Middle
School Teachers. Middle School Journal. May
1994.
Subrahmanyan,
L. and Bozonie, H. "Gender Equity in Middle School Science Teaching: Being
Equitable Should Be the Goal." Middle
School Journal. May 1996.
The
Career Equity Assistance Center for Training. Mythbusters //. Trenton State College, 1996.