Data Gathering Strategies Linking To Existing School Programs And Procedures ]
One of the lessons emerging from this study is the extent to which schools are integrating their gender equity needs analyses into existing school programs and procedures and regular curricular activities.
The point has already been made that because of the nature of their work and the need to be responsive to what is happening around them, teachers are well tuned to gathering the data that are part of their everyday work.
The following section illustrates some of the existing programs and procedures that teachers have been linking into to find out what they need to do to work towards gender equity. Often, unexpected gender issues emerged when programs were implemented or data were analysed. In the first example, the school was concerned that in their Behaviour Management Program there was not enough time for staff and students to discuss issues before they became behaviour management problems. In the process of providing students with more opportunity to talk, it became obvious that gender was a contributing factor to student management problems.
EXAMPLE 22 BEHAVIOUR MANAGEMENT PROGRAM
Issue:
Major obstacle to good behaviour management was seen to be time constraint
Considered important to give students time to talk about issues that arise through the Behaviour Management Program
Students also encouraged to write about behaviour issues
Outcomes:
Gender often an underlying issue in behaviour problems
Gender issues integrated into the supportive school environment program
EXAMPLE 23 PUBERTY EDUCATION PROGRAM
Issue:
Gender issues through puberty
Within the program, students have the opportunity to anonymously write in questions which are answered
Community Health Nurse involved and alerted to issues
Mostly issues are about body changes, sexuality and gender issues about power games that can be played between girls and boys
Outcome:
Information from this program often a springboard to work on issues of gender equity
EXAMPLE 24 SCHOOL COUNSELLING PROGRAM
Issue:
Using available data from School Counselling Program
School Counsellor and principal spend more time talking on issues of concern to boys than to girls
Documentation and analysis of time spent by boys and girls in counselling (about 90% spent with harassment, bullying and violence of boys)
Outcomes:
Harassment and violence emerge as clear issues of gender and equity to be dealt with in school based gender equity reform
EXAMPLE 25 SCHOOL NURSE PROGRAM
Issue:
Sexual harassment
Sexual harassment is an issue in the school, but is seen to be a 'touchy' subject for teachers to deal with in the community
School Nurse is the sexual harassment officer at the school and is able to provide general information on incidents
Some girls who may be reluctant to talk to teachers have another person on staff from whom to seek counsel
Outcome:
Program to raise awareness and inform students of their rights
EXAMPLE 26 STUDENT SERVICES PROGRAM
Issue:
Racism, violence and sexual harassment
Concern about the level of racism, violence, and sexual harassment at school and reflected in the wider community of which the school is part
Need to provide a well structured student services program with the necessary information flowing through to the right people
Data are gathered from key Student Services program personnel such as the Nurse, the School Psychologist, the Aboriginal Contact Officer and the Welfare Officer
Outcome:
More comprehensive data base on gender and violence and better procedures to manage and integrate gender based data
EXAMPLE 27 DISADVANTAGED SCHOOLS PROGRAM
Issue:
Single sex activities
Teacher professional development on the basis of research promoting single sex approach to Mathematics and Technology
Special activity days in these two areas run on a single sex basis - a day for girls and a day for boys
Through DSP, school surveyed regarding preference for single sex or coeducational situations
Outcome:
Strong message that coeducational situations preferred generally but with single sex classes and single sex activities from time to time
EXAMPLE 28 PASTORAL CARE PROGRAM
Issue:
Pastoral Care system a 'dragnet' for all problems
System of Year Coordinators as chief Pastoral Carers with a network of tutors below them
Students meet with 'tutor' at beginning and end of day with good back-up from School Counsellors
Outcome:
Problems, issues, trends, including gender related issues, picked up and passed on to principal
EXAMPLE 29 ANTI-RACISM PROCEDURES
Issue:
In response to Departmental anti-racism policy, procedure put in place for dealing with complaints of racism
Formal complaints recorded
Records scrutinised and analysed for emerging trends and to plan whole school response
Data revealed students were often talking about gender based harassment
Outcome:
Link made into sex based harassment program
EXAMPLE 30 MONITORING OF SCHOOL 'TONE'
Issue:
Harassment
Supportive school environment
Strong school philosophy about respect for the individual, for one another, and the pursuit of individual excellence
Principal regularly involved in disciplinary actions, informal monitoring of school 'tone' and well placed to observe emerging behaviours
Impressive gain over the years in girls' level of confidence, compared with the boys... and even 'mothering' of the boys to urge them to 'have a go'
Outcome:
Additional day-to-day observational data about gender, especially emerging boys' issues to supplement other data sources
EXAMPLE 31 SCHOOL DEVELOPMENT PLANNING
Issue:
Overall school planning
School collects a variety of data, especially in terms of students outcomes, as a basis for whole school planning and setting of priorities for the coming year.
Individual Departments contribute - through analysis of their area - student achievement, behaviour patterns and other classroom data
Gender and race a focus of school needs analysis and planning
Outcome:
Integration into mainstream planning of issues of gender and race
EXAMPLE 32 MAZE
Issue:
Use of existing data programs
MAZE is a systematic data collection program used fairly extensively by schools in several States
Data can be analysed according to gender, ethnicity etc
School uses MAZE for upper school, building data base tailored to their needs so that it gathers behavioural and other data as required
MAZE a useful starting point to look at gender and achievement (with right input and if right questions asked) and a useful stepping point into gathering more sophisticated data on gender
Outcomes:
More comprehensive use of data program
Readily accessible information on gender
EXAMPLE 33 JUNIOR SECONDARY REVIEW
Issue:
Junior secondary/middle school and gender
Problems identified with Years 6 and 7 suggesting a need to look at what was being offered, how to improve student learning at this level
State system implemented Review of Junior Secondary
School moved into new time-tabling arrangements and students having more than one teacher ... simultaneously experimenting with single sex classes
Outcome:
Focus on single sex classes and gender at lower secondary/middle school
EXAMPLE 34 WELFARE RECORDS
Issue:
Gender data available through student welfare records
Issue often raised of students access to resources - especially since the education of girls has been on the agenda
Welfare records show boys dominate the welfare program - since 1992 only one girl who got through to the stage of student welfare meeting
Also an issue of boys and their behaviour disruptive to school as a learning environment
Outcome:
A more informed basis for gender equity reform program and behaviour management program
EXAMPLE 35 SCHOOL FORUM
Issue:
Collaborative decision-making
Previous history of staff making all the decisions with little input from others, especially the students and Aboriginal parents
Establishment of weekly class reviews with strong - and valued - student input
Outcome:
Formalised procedure for student views on all issues including gender based ones
EXAMPLE 36 COMMUNITY PROFILES - DSP
Issue:
Multicultural profile of school
Undertaking community profiles a regular part of DSP school data gathering and planning
Profiles gather data on family background and things such as parent expectations of school, attitudes to learning, resources in the home and aspirations for girls Community liaison officers translate and act as information officers and intermediaries between school and community
Outcomes:
Meshing of gender and multicultural issues
Greater school sensitivity to gender issues in a strongly multicultural setting