Whose Knowledge? Valuing What The Students Say ]
At school, the primary informants on gender must be the students themselves. While teachers and others can observe and second-guess (often very accurately) what the issues are, clearly it is important that when schools are undertaking a gender equity needs analysis, data are gathered directly from students themselves.
Apart from the fact that they are the key subjects and have a very legitimate right to be heard, students can provide very good gender data. They are, in a sense, specialists in the area; they can talk directly from first-hand experience about gender issues that affect them. Once it is established that the knowledge they have will be valued and that adults are keen to listen, they can be very willing informants.
There were many examples in this study of schools using students as informants. Sometimes this occurred through formal procedures such as student surveys or class and group discussions on focused topics. More often though, it was schools with good rapport between staff and students where students felt free to talk and knew that staff listened. As indicated by one principal:
Very often, because the majority of our children now know their rights, they will come and talk to me or the deputy or the school counsellor about things that they're concerned about in the school classroom, and often they may be right. They feel very free to talk about the sort of things that are happening. That's a really good first step.
Acknowledging students' perceptions
Apart from its emphasis on children feeling they could come and talk about any issue, the quote raises an important consideration when using students as informants. It has to do with the rightness or validity of student information - an issue that is not confined to student informants. Though there are many ways that the validity of data, especially qualitative data, can be confirmed, it is important to acknowledge individual perceptions and give students a sense they have a voice and are being listened to. This is especially so with respect to areas such as gender equity where perceptions can be so varied.
This issue of children's voices is illustrated in the following excerpt from a secondary school principal talking about her visit to another school to talk about sex based harassment. The other school was seeking advice on how to address the results of a survey they had just conducted and staff were questioning claims made by students.
Their survey results came out tremendously above the average of this particular survey. They [the teachers] said, 'But, oh, the students were only mucking around, and rah, rah rah'. However I said, 'But the students perceive it as a problem'. Whether the teachers want to deal with it or not, if the students perceive it as a problem then you have to deal with it.
A similar theme emerged in another school which used the formal structures and processes of its Student Representative Council to tap into knowledge of gender issues. This was not necessarily done in a formal way focusing on gender equity, but rather by having a forum in which students felt comfortable and safe enough to raise any issues. As the principal pointed out, often the issues that are raised seem trivial, but `at the end of the day', for students they may be burning issues. It was also important that as students raised issues in forums such as this, they were also seen to be accepting ownership and some responsibility for it.
Kids do come and we have had some recent issues raised with respect to uniforms and a dress code. We seem to be, like, back in the middle ages but they are finally raising the issue and saying 'Is this just and equitable?' And that is really good because it is challenging people. To raise issues like that is good. Some of the issues that the girls have raised, probably on a very informal level are, like, girls saying 'Can you make sure that there is toilet paper in the girls toilets because there is never any there'. They don't know who to talk to but they know it is fairly safe to talk to us. We say 'Yes that is really important'. It seems really trivial but in fact, at the end of the day, it really was a big issue for them.
Single sex groups
One other interesting dimension that was raised with respect to using student data has to do with group discussions and whether girls and boys should be grouped together or whether they should be in single sex groupings. Examples were given where girls and boys were taken together, (and even where parents and students were grouped together) to enable both groups to share their insights. However, in the case cited below, a secondary school with a dominant boys group, single sex situations were used to probe student information. According to the principal:
Dealing with students, they will tell you things and they will have attitudes and behaviours where you suspect there is something behind what they are telling you. And you check it out and find that there is. They perform differently in different environments. With the first move into single sex classes, we realised that when we took a particular group of girls and separated them from the boys they actually became quite open and interactive and they were nothing like that when they were with the boys. The boys were just dominating. That was one group and they were a special case but obviously the problem went right through in one form or another.
Formalising student data gathering
An example of a more formalised procedure which was established in one school to allow for student and teacher input is what was referred to by the principal as a forum structure; a system of weekly class reviews where the class reviewed what had been going on and they had the opportunity to `express concerns, raise issues and make suggestions for improving the school'. The emphasis in these reviews was on seeking student input on all issues including gender equity issues. As described by the principal, the forums and student input are enmeshed within a school which emphasises `collaborative communities' and which sees gender within a broader equity framework.
We have a high level of student input, and we really do value what the kids say because a lot of their suggestions we do up-and-run-with, and we always investigate their concerns. They feel valued and I think this has also helped in terms of making them more receptive to the different views that we're presenting to them. In terms of construction of gender, you do it right across all your teaching. It has to be something that you operate within the framework of equity and social justice.