Interpretive Frameworks Recommendations ]
How individual teachers and schools undertake gender equity reform will be largely determined by their perceptions of gender and gender equity. This section has focused on different interpretive frameworks used by the principals and teachers in this study.
We recommend that the issue of the different ways that people see gender issues be opened up for discussion, ongoing reflection and professional development; that professional reading of recent research is encouraged; and, where possible, teachers are provided with opportunities to attend conferences and seminars where current thinking on gender issues is presented for debate.
The following might be useful as ways to help teachers reflect on their personal perceptions of gender and to consider them not as something fixed but as ideas moving dynamically as they find out more about gender and reflect collaboratively with others.
Which of the interpretive frameworks best describes your current perceptions of gender?
Have you changed your perceptions on gender? If so, what was the catalyst for the change?
What are the issues and questions about gender that continue to challenge your views?
What literature or current research on gender have you read recently, and specifically, on the above issues and questions?
Consider and discuss the following scenarios taken from the current study. For each one:
1 Analyse the above from the following three perspectives:
(a) in terms of the 'natural, biologically derived' framework
(b) in terms of socialisation and sex role stereotyping
(c) in terms of a 'construction of gender' framework
2 Consider what action might be taken by the school as a consequence of each way of interpreting the situation.
3 Which of the above interpretations do you think is likely to bring about more effective change, taking into account the girls' levels of academic achievement and peceived educational disadvantage arising from their lack of experience outside their own ethnic groups?
Scenario 1: A government primary school classified as a 'disadvantaged' school and located in a large country town not far from a capital city.
The school is concerned about the level of sexual harassment, mainly harassment by boys of girls. To quote the principal:
The boy-to-girl stuff ... it even got to the stage of boys grabbing girls and pulling down their tracksuit pants and saying, `It's just in fun, it's just a joke', or pulling up their bras, or stating things to girls, like, `You've got your periods now, and you stink'. And perhaps girls-to-boys, even though it is not as common; girls saying to boys who are victims, `You're playing with yourself', etc. We're really up-front about what is sexual and what is racial harassment.
Scenario 2: An all-girls' high school with a large population girls from non-English speaking backgrounds with concerns about the academic achievement of girls from NESB and low socio-economic backgrounds.
A cross-faculty forum of teachers was held so that staff could share and confirm observations of the main needs of the girls.
Observations were made on ...
Lack of adequate literacy and numeracy skills ...
Poor reading results on entry into high school ...
Lack of world experience ... a world restricted to the local area and to specific ethnic groups
Scenario 3: A P-10 government school has worked extensively on issues of gender and violence (particularly harassment and bullying) with some success. Work has also been done in making the curriculum more gender-inclusive. However, boys still dominate the playground space and girls do not participate fully in physical activities. There is also a concern that boys are not achieving well academically, particularly in literacy.
There is a perception that 'Boys don't feel that reading and writing are masculine subjects, they see them as feminine subjects'. Categorisation of subjects, by students and society, as masculine and feminine is seen as problematic.
It is planned that boys and literacy will be a focus for future school programs.