Case Studies Case Study 7: Empowerment ... from the bottom up ]
The school is co-educational and is part of a multi-campus college situated in the outer suburb of a State capital city. The student population of 450 students in Years 7-10 is representative of about 20 different ethnic backgrounds. There is diversity in the socioeconomic status within the community, ranging from industrial and working class to upwardly mobile, fairly affluent professional and business people.
Needs analysis was based on:
The beginning ...
When the present principal was appointed he found a staff that tended to use traditional classroom strategies and very few who were interested in gender issues. A small group of women had worked on some areas, focusing on enhancing girls' opportunities in science, mathematics and technology and through this some changes had been made. However the principal saw overt gender differentials remained within many facets of the curriculum, the classrooms and the school yard. The incidence of gender based harassment in the school was significant.
As part of an internal school review process a small working group was established consisting of the principal, two teachers, a parent and four student representatives. Their task was to review policy.
Student action research
Students were uncomfortable with the language and activities associated with the policy development. They decided they wanted to be involved in other action. An action research group, formed with student councillors, initiated a survey of student perceptions of the incidence of objectionable or inappropriate behaviours. They developed the survey, administered it, and fed back information to teachers and to the other students.
The responses showed staff that all students had a major concern with inappropriate behaviours and the girls forcefully drew attention to the fact that gender based harassment and other behaviours were particularly evident. The staff were alarmed by the students' perceptions which included concerns with staff behaviours in their dealings with students. They were surprised that harassment was given such a high priority. The girls, in particular, persisted in wanting changes made. Some of the staff were willing to take the students' concerns seriously and to work on appropriate strategies.
Policy review and new strategies introduced
The existing discipline policy had been based on sanctions and consequences with little understanding of sexual harassment or of different gendered behaviours. Welfare and Discipline, Equal Opportunity and Sexual Harassment policies were reviewed or developed by the staff working group. The whole staff generally supported this as it was done as part of the review process which was in place and fitted comfortably with that approach.
The student action research group looked at a variety of issues that had arisen from the survey. For example, they mapped the playground and as a result the school tried to make changes to its usage by girls and boys `Girls only' sessions were trialed for the computer room and girls' sports, such as netball, were scheduled at lunch time or after school. This did not prove to be very successful as there was a need to focus on why the girls felt excluded or uncomfortable in these areas.
Despite the policy changes and the activities of the staff and students, the principal felt that undesirable behaviour still existed but had become more covert. When the survey was re-administered at the end of the year it showed that students' perceptions of safety were not changing.
Staff resistance to change
The staff were happy to let the working group carry on and to report their findings and those of the students. However the working group met resistance when they wanted to implement changes to school structures and practices. There was significant resistance from many of the men and others who viewed the grounds for the changes as `feminism gone astray'. Despite the girls' concern some staff were not comfortable taking on sexual harassment as a priority, , as they did not fully understand what sexual harassment was. The attention of the school was diverted into `access and equity' programs such as equal access to facilities, the monitoring of gendered participation in elective programs and the organisation of non-traditional career days for girls. These programs however did not change the level of harassment.
Professional development program
In order to raise staff awareness and to encourage reflection among the teachers, a number of whole staff professional development days were planned and implemented. These focused on gender as a social construction and expert speakers were brought in to address the issue. School staff led sessions about sexual harassment. In this way everyone was informed of the issues but it was still left largely to the working group to initiate action.
A burgeoning staff interest in professional development generally led to the development of a symposium style discussion group where people presented issues associated with trialing new teaching and learning strategies.
Teachers' action research
The teachers formed a `mixed ability network' addressing a whole range of issues to do with teaching and learning. In their work they constantly discovered the influence of gender (for example, the under achievement of boys in areas of literacy) and this was discussed. Action research at classroom level was undertaken by individual teachers within their own areas. Other staff gradually became interested. Teachers looked at their own teaching in each learning area to see what was happening, particularly with low achieving boys and low achieving girls. They began to look at learning strategies which specifically addressed gender differentials. This led to support for whole school action and change. Work was done to enhance student participation generally and to investigate the school's Recognition of Achievement program to see how student awards reflected what was valued across the school.
Learning about construction of gender
The girls generally felt they were being more valued by these activities and were motivated to engage in goal setting. The boys still appeared to be in a `cultural malaise' where negative attitudes such as `it's cool to be a fool' still prevailed. This led teachers to place greater emphasis on the students gaining an understanding of the construction of gender and how it influenced their lives. Health Education in Year 7 and Year 9 was chosen as the vehicle and suitable units of work were developed within that curriculum. The teachers found that there was little curriculum material available to support them in addressing construction of gender and issues of violence in the classroom. Fortuitously, at that time, the school was invited to participate in trialing materials for the No Fear kit, the national project on gender and violence. The staff were able to select materials from the trial which supported the units they had developed.
Whole school change
The student action research survey was used over six years. It indicated that the initial action, aimed at discipline and welfare policies, had little impact on students' perceptions of safety. Behaviours simply shifted from overt to covert. Later action, addressing staff and student understanding about gender construction, was designed to have an impact on student culture. This `bottom up' approach was shown to have had significant impact. Within 5 years, students' perceptions of safety improved by 80%.
