IF THE SHOE FITS: THE POWER OF THE GENDER-BIASED NARRATIVE IN
THE PRESCHOOL CLASSROOM
A Project
Presented to the faculty of the Department of Education
California State University, Sacramento
Submitted in partial satisfaction of
the requirements for the degree of
MASTER OF ARTS
in
Education
(Behavioral Sciences Gender Equity Studies)
by
Katherine Raines
SPRING
2012
IF THE SHOE FITS: THE POWER OF THE GENDER-BIASED NARRATIVE IN
THE PRESCHOOL CLASSROOM
A Project
by
Katherine Raines
Approved by:
__________________________________, Committee Chair
Sherrie Carinci, Ed.D
Date
ii
Student: Katherine Raines
I certify that this student has met the requirements for format contained in the
University format manual, and that this thesis is suitable for shelving in the Library
and credit is to be awarded for the project.
__________________________, Graduate Coordinator
Rita Johnson, Ed.D.
Department of Teacher Education
iii
___________________
Date
Abstract
of
IF THE SHOE FITS: THE POWER OF THE GENDER-BIASED NARRATIVE IN
THE PRESCHOOL CLASSROOM
by
Katherine Raines
Statement of Problem
Classrooms at every grade level are infused with gender inequity and most
teachers are ignorant of the grave impact this bias has on girls’ self-esteem and
education (Sadker & Saker, 1986). While subsequent studies note some successes in
the educational arena for girls, gender bias continues in a very broad scope in today’s
classrooms (Carinci, 2007). Most teachers do not receive any type of gender equity
training and, therefore, do not actively promote equity in the classroom (Stromquist,
2007). Given the lack of uniform goals when developing the majority of preschool
curricula, there is even more risk to slip into stereotypical complacency with this age
group. Add a strong dash of the cloying delivery methods often practiced at the
preschool level and gender bias remains effectively in place. The absence of gender
iv
equity training for preschool teachers assists in perpetuating an unhealthy educational
environment for all students.
Purpose of Project
Preschool teachers impart powerful narratives to their students that are routinely
riddled with stereotypes that foment gender bias, most pervasively for girls. It has
been demonstrated that even a small amount of gender equity teacher training can
vastly improve the classroom environment (Leach, 1994). Teachers can help counter
the deficit messages received by girls by recognizing their own culpability in
perpetuating this acceptable practice. Providing preschool teachers with short-term
gender equity training to enable them modify their own gender bias preschool
narrative is the goal of this project.
Project Description
Comprehensive gender equity training should be an integral component of
teacher programs at all grade levels. Teachers learn a myriad of classroom strategies
and different approaches to implementing the curriculum but are rarely involved in
gender equity awareness training (Carinci 2007). The goal of this project was to
provide such training via an interactive lecture presented in a comfortable setting in
order to create an atmosphere that might inspire discussion and the acquisition of new
concepts. A PowerPoint slideshow (appendix A) comprised of applicable quotes,
graphics and photographs of preschoolers, was accompanied by pertinent, anecdotal
narratives, as well as hands-on materials, to underscore and clarify the points
v
presented. Opportunities were earmarked throughout the lecture for audience
participation. Short-term training has proven to increase awareness relative to the
inequitable treatment of students in the preschool environment (Sanders, 2000) and is
offered as temporary substitute while awaiting the implementation of comprehensive
formal education to assist in elimination of gender bias in the classroom.
, Committee Chair
Sherrie Carinci, Ed.D
Date
vi
DEDICATION
All I keep thinking about is what Precious said regarding a teacher who
inspired her – scooped her up, lit her up, reconstituted her enough to understand that
she was unequivocally something. Precious wonders “…how a stranger [could] meet
me and love me. Must be what they already had in they pocket” is her profound
conclusion (Sapphire, 1996, p. 131). How could this project not be dedicated to Dr.
Kimberly Bancroft who is absolutely replete with downright stuffed pockets?
vii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to thank Stephanie Levenhagen – a finely forged feminist who has
taught me more about the craft than any peer-reviewed article ever could.
I would like to thank Dr. Sherrie Carinci whose unbound, fervent practice of
feminist pedagogy has provided me the best base ever to rise.
viii
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
Dedication................................................................................................................... vii
Acknowledgements ................................................................................................... viii
Chapter
1. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................. 1
Introduction ..................................................................................................... 1
Purpose of the Project ....................................................................................... 5
Statement of the Problem ................................................................................. 6
Theoretical Basis of the Problem ..................................................................... 6
Methodology................................................................................................... 10
Limitations ...................................................................................................... 10
Definition of Relevant Terms ......................................................................... 11
Organization of the Project ............................................................................. 12
Background of the Researcher ........................................................................ 13
2. REVIEW OF RELEVANT LITERATURE ......................................................... 14
Introduction ................................................................................................... 14
Gender as a Social Construction..................................................................... 15
Gender Bias in the Classroom ........................................................................ 19
Preschool Teacher Requirements, Standards, Curriculum ............................. 23
The Story Teller .............................................................................................. 28
The Importance of How the Tale is Told ....................................................... 31
Summary......................................................................................................... 33
3. METHODOLOGY ............................................................................................... 35
Introduction .................................................................................................... 35
ix
Research Design ............................................................................................. 36
Summary ........................................................................................................ 43
4. DISCUSSION, CONCLUSIONS, LIMITATIONS,
RECOMMENDATIONS, AND REFLECTIONS ......................................... 44
Discussion....................................................................................................... 44
Gender Equity Training Lecture ..................................................................... 46
Conclusion ...................................................................................................... 51
Limitations ...................................................................................................... 52
Recommendations .......................................................................................... 52
Reflections ...................................................................................................... 53
Appendix. PowerPoint Presentation ......................................................................... 55
References ................................................................................................................ 114
x
1
Chapter 1
INTRODUCTION
Introduction
In a collection of transformed Grimm’s’ Fairy Tales, poet Sexton presents a
flip, dark rendition of Cinderella, recounting the stepsisters’ desperate attempts to
excise their identities by mangling their feet in order to fit the magical glass slipper.
The ensuing trail of blood easily halts that ruse as they attempt to trick the prince, with
Sexton (1971) pointing out: “That is the way with amputations. They just don’t heal
up like a wish” (p. 56). Lop off your heel to fit the shoe. Craft a female from a random
rib bone. Dumb down your voice to gain acceptance. The list is endless, a morass of
pointed messages to remind girls that less is more and their role is to “suffer sweetly”
even under the most dire situations (Thompson, 2009, p. 72). Ample opportunities are
available to deliver these messages alarmingly early in life as “…[g]endered
expectation patterns are well-learned from the time children are very young. Jill is a
follower from the time she is immortalized by Mother Goose – Jack fell down and
broke his crown, and Jill came tumbling after” (Benjamin & Irwin-DeVitis, 1998, p.
69). Female characters in many tales are almost ennobled by their “refusal to become
like [their] oppressors […thereby maintaining their] feminine integrity” but,
nonetheless, continue to remain second class citizens throughout the story line
(Thompson, 2009, p. 72). The whimsical explanation as to why boys will be boys and
prevail, while girls are destined to uncomplainingly accept the leavings, plays
throughout the preschool narrative.
2
A multitude of studies suggest that in most ways, girls and boys are more
similar than different. “Gender stereotypes and expectations have a developmental
history that starts with learned notions of femininity and masculinity” (Sadker &
Zittleman, 2005, p. 18). Those notions are the rub indeed, producing depressing results
for girls. While boys are often pegged with positive traits such as intelligence and
assertiveness, girls are typically earmarked with attributes that are decidedly less
powerful. Girls often feel that their lack of power is out of their control and an
inevitable part of their life (Zittleman, 2006). Boys follow more resolute roads and
“…learn to define masculinity in direct opposition to femininity” (Check, 2002, p. 47).
Anthropologist Mead concurs, “Many societies have educated their male children on
the simple device of teaching them not to be female” (as cited in Howard, 1984, p.
299). This deficit approach to girls has been the soup de jour for eons and continues to
resonate currently. If children are more the same, then why does it always seem like a
game of catch up that can rarely be won by females as the rules have been specifically
drafted with males in mind?
Decades of study by the Sadkers, and others, as well as pivotal reports from the
American Association of University Women (AAUW), document that gender bias is a
regular part of the classroom experience for girls, resulting in missed opportunities for
equitable instruction. While much attention has been paid to older girls’ demise in the
educational arena, Digiovanni (2004) contends “the lack of affirmation that can lead to
[girls’] drop in self-esteem and achievement begins so much younger than even
adolescence” (p. 10). It is even a younger age still, if one contemplates the gender
3
biased narrative that makes up the majority of preschool environments. Boys receive
more attention than girls and wield more power than girls; boys are praised for ability
and physical skills with girls receiving positive attention for appearance and
cooperative behaviors (Chick, Heilman-Houser, & Hunter, 2002).
There can be very specific curricula proffered in preschool settings but the
majority of preschools operate in a private capacity, allowing the practice of casually
culling a variety of sources in order to develop lesson plans (S. Levenhagen, personal
communication, November 29, 2010). Easy to implement canned curriculum and
attention-getting, stereotyped resource books abound for the over busy preschool
teacher and assist in the free-fall formulation of an environment not necessarily
positive to half of a school’s population. With no standardized dictum in place,
scrutiny can be merely happenstance. Adding the stereotypical delivery style
embraced by teachers in a male dominated culture can produce disconnection for girl
students in the preschool environment (Miller & Bogatova, 2008).
The American classroom has been reconfigured a thousand different ways and
has been continuously littered with new and improved curricula in attempts to better
the score. While conceptual materials are an integral component of the preschool
educational experience, attention should be better paid to the teacher as the primary
and pivotal delivery system (Zambo, 2011). “Girls and boys are…devalued when their
gender status is simplified into mere difference and dominance, ignoring the rich
subtleties of their ever fluid and evolving social identities” (Anderson, 2002, p. 422).
Teachers need to possess a fervent willingness to adapt, to improve, and to trust their
4
ability as teachers. They need to “demonstrate a keen awareness of their power and
responsibility as adults to contest the societal stereotypes imposed on children”
(Beauboeuf-Lafontant, 2002, p. 77). The catchy and colorful propaganda of the typical
preschool environment promulgates a phallocentric narrative that oppresses girls and
provides a feeble framework for authentic reference and reflection.
“All teachers have, in the past, narrowed choices. We have taught children a
language of exclusion. We have limited what they might think about. We have limited
many of their opportunities” (Greenberg, 1977, p. 126). To heighten teachers’
awareness, gender equity training should be firmly integrated into the teacher
education profession (Sanders, 2000). The paucity of such training is commonplace
across all educational levels but glaringly obvious at the preschool level as the lack of
standardized educational requirements for preschool teachers reduces the opportunities
for acquisition of new skills. While we await the advent of equity education to become
“an integral component of teacher training,” all teachers can benefit from easily
accessible modalities, such as lectures or workshops, to learn new concepts (Stroeher,
1994, p. 102).
Teachers report feeling overwhelmed by the increasing demands for academics
to be at the forefront of the preschool classroom, leaving less time to focus on other
areas of development (Stipek, 2006). Training offerings not entrenched with a lengthy
list of mandates might entice the busy educator. Short workshops and lectures can
impart important gender equity information in a dynamic setting that encourages
teachers to consider different approaches in their classroom. Providing teachers with
5
the ability to modify or even rewrite their delivery systems can produce resounding
effects. The notion of teacher as role model resonates resplendently when considering
the types of messages conveyed to students by discerning teachers. “Some things one
can see for oneself. Other things depend on the telling of the tale” (Thompson, 1998,
p. 12). These powerful tales can be told by teachers who are prepared to move beyond
the stereotyped stories and truly foster the potential in each and every student.
Purpose of the Project
Teachers maintain gender bias narratives on a daily basis in their classroom via
the delivery of the preschool curriculum. Children’s verse, oral and written stories,
songs, finger plays, social interaction, and learning environments are permeated with
stereotypes that foster gender bias, most especially for girls. When queried, teachers
profess ignorance regarding their inequitable practices (Sadker & Sadker, 1994).
Gender equity training can assist teachers in becoming better-able to assess and amend
their own biased practices in the classroom (Leach, 1994). Such training is limited in
availability, especially for preschool teachers, and is always considered an optional
component to any job requirements. This project incorporates lecture, a PowerPoint
slide show (see Appendix A), pertinent narratives and hands-on examples to clarify
the complicate issues of gender bias, as well as provision audience participation.
Providing short, informal training presented in a dynamic format can empower
preschool teachers to make necessary changes in their classrooms and is the purpose
of this project.
6
Statement of the Problem
Classrooms at every grade level are infused with gender inequity with most
teachers ignorant of the grave impact this bias has on girls’ self-esteem and education
(Sadker & Saker, 1986). This declaration was made 25 years ago and a modicum of
improvements have transpired sporadically. While subsequent studies note some
successes in the educational arena for girls, it can easily be concluded, gender bias
continues in a very broad scope in today’s classrooms (Carinci, 2007). The subject of
mandated gender equity training surfaces occasionally but most teachers do not
receive any type of gender equity training and therefore do not actively promote equity
(Stromquist, 2007). Due to the lack of uniform goals when developing the majority of
preschool curricula, there is even more risk to slip into stereotypical complacency with
this age group (Miller & Bogatova, 2008). Add a strong dash of the cloying delivery
methods often practiced at the preschool level and gender bias remains effectively in
place (personal communication, S. Levenhagen, November 29, 2010). The absence of
gender equity training for preschool teachers assists in perpetuating an unhealthy
educational environment for all students.
Theoretical Basis of the Problem
Even with over 25 years of research documenting systemic inequity occurring
at all levels of education, gender bias training has not been deemed an important
component of teacher training (Carinci, 2007). As the definition of gender
encompasses a myriad of ever-changing cultural and biological explanations, the issue
of confronting bias is often stymied (Lips, 1989). Risman (2004) argues “that gender
7
should be conceptualized as a social structure [in order to] organize the confusing,
almost limitless, ways in which gender has come to be defined in contemporary social
science” (p. 430). By viewing gender as a social structure, numerous theories apply in
the study of gender bias. Gender socialization theory, feminist pedagogy theory and
womanist theory, specific to the field of education, were utilized to better understand
the problem of gender inequity in the classroom.
Gender Socialization Theory
While teachers believe “gender to be a significant issue for early childhood
teachers, their understanding about many aspects of gender and gender equity [are]
heavily grounded in socialization theory” (Lee-Thomas, Sumsion, & Roberts, 2005, p.
21). Gender socialization theory posits that children learn their “culturally defined
gender roles […which are persistently reinforced through] countless subtle and not so
subtle ways” (Henslin, 1994, p. 76). Influences in children’s environment including
parents, media, teachers and peers, help young children learn to act in a prescribed,
acceptable manner. Heavy social conditioning from external forces “suggest that
children are helpless to impede the constant stream of gender information they
receive” and are, therefore, destined to live out their stereotyped identities (LeeThomas et al., 2005, p. 22). Teachers embracing socialization theory often express
helplessness “about their ability to intervene and disrupt dominant gender discourses
in light of strong social influences” (Lee-Thomas et al., 2005, p. 22). Adherence to
socialization theory can dismantle discourses as to the validity of advancing allimportant gender equity teacher training.
8
Feminist Pedagogy Theory
Questioning inequity is in the forefront of feminist pedagogy theory.
“Shrewsbury (1993) describes the vision of feminist pedagogy as including ‘a
participatory, democratic process in which at least some of the power is shared’” (as
cited in Gore, 1992, p. 57). Digiovanni (2004) further explains that “[f]eminist
pedagogy invites [one] to critique the unequal social relations embedded in
contemporary society and to ask why these circumstances exist and what one can do
about them” (p. 15). Feminist pedagogy addresses empowerment, including
“recognition of the power implications of traditional schooling, […negating this
patriarchal construct, and attempting to transmit power as] energy, capacity, and
potential, rather than as domination” (Shrewsbury, 1993 p. 168). Fostering a
collaborative foundation is a fresh and viable approach to addressing the negativities
of gender bias and is applicable to all levels of education, including preschool. While
claims of empowerment might “attribute extraordinary abilities to the teacher […we
must be reminded that teachers are] constrained…by their location in patriarchal
institutions and by the historical construction of pedagogy” (Gore, 1992, p. 57).
Gender equity training can provide tools to teachers to enable them shore up inequities
in the classroom. By building connections, encouraging avid participation and
developing communities, practitioners of feminist pedagogy transform educational
arenas, enabling full participation by their students.
9
Womanist Theory
Womanist theory offers a participatory and liberatory philosophy as well.
African-American writer and social activist, Alice Walker, coined womanist in 1983,
as feminist women of color performing “outrageous, audacious, courageous or willful
behavior” (Razak, 2006, p. 100). Beauboeuf-Lafont (2002) further explains that
womanist “defines ‘good’ women as voiceful, inquisitive, and socially active
community members who are guided by a vision of inclusiveness and fairness” (p.
437). Womanists teachers debunk the status quo experience as the central point of
reference and consider alternative perspectives; they know how it is to “stand outside
the circle of this society’s definition of acceptable women [and] learn how to take
[their] differences and make them strengths” (Lorde, 1984, p. 112). Understanding
their students might also be on the “outside looking in,” these teachers pass on a level
of care that is concrete and active, and fraught with specific intent that their students
learn to “take care of themselves” (Beauboeuf-Lafontant, 2005, p. 442). Care as
socially transforming is also demonstrated in the womanist classroom with students of
all ages expected to apply appropriate circumspection. Teachers “have found that
womanist caring offers us a constructive way to stretch our students beyond their
initial beliefs and positions” (Cozart & Gordon, 2006, p. 12). Application of this
caliber of care could, indeed, transform the typical classroom, even at the preschool
level.
10
Methodology
To encourage deeper understanding and application of gender bias principles, a
narrative style was incorporated into a 60 minute lecture to present the data.
“Narratives are an important source of order for qualitative research” and add
contextual significance for the participants of the lecture (Shank, 2002, p. 147). A
PowerPoint slideshow comprised of applicable quotes, graphics and photographs of
preschoolers was accompanied by pertinent, anecdotal stories and hands-on materials
to underscore and clarify the points presented. This visually-active mode can
accommodate quicker acquisition of the subject matter (Clark, 2008). Additionally, the
power of story easily resonates for preschool teachers, given the nature of their work,
and fosters a connectivity that is meaningful and long-lasting (Carter, 1993). Several
teaching methods were also incorporated into the narrative format with the goal of
creating an interesting and dynamic presentation. Educational presentations are
invariably packed with information that can be difficult to process in the limited time
allotted. By applying these methods, important points are made and robust
participation is fostered.
Limitations
The systemic negative impact of gender bias for girls in the classroom and the
encompassing steps required to eradicate this bias cannot be corrected by the proposed
project. Comprehensive gender equity training should be an integral component of
teacher programs at all grade levels (Miller & Bogatova, 2008). While teachers learn
about classroom management strategies and different approaches to implementing the
11
curriculum, they are not offered tools to assist in correcting gender bias in the
classroom (Carinci 2007). Opportunities are minimal for structured equity awareness
training given the variance of educational requirements for preschool teachers and the
absence of standardized curriculum (Miller & Bogatova, 2008). Short term training
has proven to increase awareness relative to the inequitable treatment of students in
the preschool environment and is offered as temporary substitute until such time such
training is implemented.
Definition of Relevant Terms
Canned curriculum - a packaged product peddled to teachers or schools, often
designed by educational experts, with set goals and predetermined outcomes (Yu-le,
2004).
Epistemological – “a branch of philosophy that investigates the origin, nature,
methods, and limits of human knowledge” (Merriam-Webster.com).
Feminist Pedagogy - a teaching methodology that is “concerned with gender
justice and overcoming oppressions. It recognizes the genderedness of all social
relations and consequently of all societal institutions and structures” (Shrewsbury,
1993, p. 167). Digiovanni (2004) further explains that “[f]eminist pedagogy invites
[one] to critique the unequal social relations embedded in contemporary society and to
ask why these circumstances exist and what one can do about them” (p. 15).
Gender bias – unfair preference for or treatment of one sex over another
(Sadker & Sadker, 1994).
12
Gender Equity - “parity between males and females in the quality of life,
academic, and work, outcomes designed to promote these outcomes” (Funk, 2002, p.
4).
Hegemony - the processes by which a dominant culture maintains its
dominancy (McGuffey & Rich, 1999).
Holistic – “relating to or concerned with wholes or with complete systems
rather than with the analysis of, treatment of, or dissection into parts (MerriamWebster.com).
Narrative – “an interpretive approach in the Social Sciences and involves using
storytelling methodology” (Mitchel & Egudo, 2003, p. 2).
Patriarchy – a form of social organization in which a male is the family head
and title is traced through the male line (McGuffey & Rich, 1999).
Socialization Theory - a process in which “gender construction is said to occur
from exposure to models in the child’s environment from which the child gains an
understanding of desirable ways to think, act and feel” (Lee-Thomas et al., 2005, p.
22).
Organization of the Project
This project is organized into four chapters, appendices, and references.
Chapter 1 introduces the topics which will be covered and explains why this project is
applicable. Chapter 2 consists of a review of the literature on the topic that is relevant
to this project and justifies why this research is important. Chapter 3 focuses on the
methodology of the project and explains the procedures utilized in the study. Chapter
13
4 includes the conclusions drawn from the study followed by the proposed
recommendations for further study.
Background of the Researcher
Katherine Raines earned her Bachelor of Art degree in English and multiple
subjects teaching credential from California State University, Sacramento. While
pursuit of various occupational transgressions has transpired, an interest in preschool
teaching persisted subsequent to working in this capacity at Peppermint Playhouse in
Seal Beach, California in 1970.
14
Chapter 2
REVIEW OF RELEVANT LITERATURE
Introduction
Author/poet Dillard speaks of an almost horrific fascination with the tale of
Alice in Wonderland and Alice’s ability to magically change sizes, especially when
she shrinks by simply eating a cookie. Dillard (1974) eerily imagines the process of
paring down, of slipping through “the merest crack” and being rendered almost
invisible (p. 269). This is a horrible tale indeed, which is often told with girls cast in
the bulk of these unrealized roles, reinforcing the ever-present theme of girl as
substandard with an inability to control even a portion of her own destiny (Benjamin
& Irwin-DeVitis, 1998). “How the tale is told” (Thompson, 1998, p. 211) is
paramount and when girls are represented in diminished capacities, or not at all, the
story is clearly told indeed (Benjamin & Irwin-DeVitis, 1998). In the preschool milieu,
children begin their steadfast immersion into a gender-biased narrative which is
reiterated throughout their educational journey (Sanders, 2003). The patriarchal notion
of female as subordinate or nonexistent is firmly woven into the early childhood
classroom curriculum and unwittingly supported by classroom teachers (Greenberg,
1977). This bias does not stop at the preschool door. Elementary and secondary
educational environments continue to bolster the concept that boy’s reign in most
arenas with the college classroom echoing similar sentiments as well (Sadker, 2002).
Decades of studies detail the negative impact of gender inequity for girls, with
this bias continuing to persist as a back-story in most educational settings (Sanders,
15
2003). A variety of modalities could counter these deficit messages, including
narratives replete with formidable females (Zambo, 2011). Artistic flair, mindful
metaphor and unending magic can render any tale memorable; girls’ stories are worth
telling too and deserve to be at the head of every American classroom (Greene, 1993).
The reviewed literature provides a summary of gender bias in the public
classroom and its negative impact on girls with an emphasis on teacher-student
interaction. The start of formalized gender inequity introduced in preschool is then
examined with a scrutiny of typical preschool teacher requirements, curriculum and
standards. How the biased narrative unfolds in the preschool classroom is suggested
with attention paid to the damaging delivery systems utilized by many teachers. The
importance of how the tale is told is reviewed and the absence of gender equity
training, especially at the preschool level, is noted. A recommendation of providing
short term training in a lecture format is presented as a temporary substitute while
awaiting the implementation of mandated gender equity training for all teachers.
Gender as a Social Construction
Carinci and Wong (2009) report that “[c]ultural and social norms shape
gender, and that the resulting gender differences are social constructs” (p. 536). It has
been determined that preschool children, aged three to five, only require a basic
understanding of gender in order to become easily entrenched in “sex-typed
preferences” (Martin & Little, 1990, p. 1427). While children arrive at school
gendered given parental and societal influences, the preschool milieu readily
reinforces gender difference and quickly builds upon them (Martin, 1998). “Children
16
are motivated to learn and practice in order to achieve what they consider to be
gender-appropriate behavior” (Chick et al., 2002, p. 149). Teachers aid and abet this
practice by unconsciously imparting their personal bias with the delivery of the
formally planned curriculum as well as active participation in the hidden curriculum
(Sanders, 2003). Cowell (1972) defines the hidden curriculum as “that which the
school teaches without, in general, intending or being aware that it is taught” (p. 13).
The hidden curriculum is an active component of the daily school schedule and
“serves to transmit tacit messages to students about values, attitudes and principles”
(Kentli, 2009, p. 88). In typical preschool settings, girls are indirectly praised for
“nurturing and helping behaviors,” dutifully tending to their friends and dolls, while
boys are allowed to use “power and control strategies in their play,” often
monopolizing the majority of the environment with scant remedial repercussions
(Chick et al., 2002, p. 151). “The strategies teachers employ and the messages teachers
give communicate their beliefs about gender” (Garrahy, 2001, p. 82). Adding the
hidden curriculum that reproduces the male dominant culture along with these biased
messages relegates girls to a less than optimal environment for learning.
“One of the goals we as educators of young children have is to help them
develop a positive self-image and identity. Gender is central to this identify”
(Biersteker & Hermanus, 2003, p. 88). Young children form ideas about gender at a
very early age. As young as 24 months, children begin to identify themselves as girls
or boys (Freeman, 2007) and “even 2 and 3 year old children have begun to form
stereotypes about the activities associated with each sex” (Martin & Little, 1990, p.
17
1438). Preschool children readily categorize toys with girls gravitating towards dolls
and dishes, and boys readily choosing trucks and tools (Freeman, 2007). Girls and
boys also tend to “segregate and organize themselves within the same gender grouping
[with boys] occupying more space than their female counterparts” (McGuffy & Rich,
1999, p. 609). It is well documented that preschool age children have a good
understanding of what is considered gender appropriate and easily fall into “typed
patterns of behavior” (Kane, 2006, p. 153).
Teachers reinforce gendered behaviors by supporting the hidden curriculum
and infusing their personal biases as well, perpetuating “the embodiment of gender in
childhood” (Martin, 1998, p. 495). Teachers help to encourage the differences in girls
and boys, making these “physical differences appear and feel natural” (Martin, 1998,
p. 496). When boys are engaged in boisterous activities at school, there is rarely
commentary, however, when girls are active, they are often “cautioned to be careful”
(Chick et al., 2002, p. 151). Boys are allowed to test the physical limitations of their
bodies with girls being consistently managed when attempting to move assertively in
the classroom. “Girls participate to a lesser extent in physical activities and when they
do, they are often interrupted” (Sandburg & Pramling-Samuelsson, 2005, p. 303).
Preschool play is valued by all teachers but female teachers often reinforce calm play,
specifically to girls (Sandburg & Pramling-Samuelsson, 2005). This is an alarming
fact as the majority of preschool teachers are female and they continue to “perpetuate
lowered expectations for students of their own gender” (Funk, 2002, p. 6). Unintended
18
consequences of teachers’ practices help to maintain a learning environment that
easily fails girls in a myriad of ways.
Discriminatory school practices reflect the real world of gender management
and continues to emphasize the “underlying lack of value for what it means to be
female” (Cole, 2009, p. 564, italics in original). Girls’ general lack of confidence can
often be traced back to the early childhood years when they learn to doubt their
physical abilities. “Play is a very important part of learning gender” (Chick et al.,
2002, p. 149) and an integral component of the preschool experience. Girls come to
school ill-prepared to move freely through their environment as they are often clothed
in restricted dresses and footwear. “Because of their discomfort, girls spen[d] much
time attuned to and arranging their clothing and/or their bodies” (Martin, 1998, p.
501). Teachers happily assist in this distraction by tucking in blouses, situating skirts,
and fixing ponytails. All this fussing with their physicality results in missed
opportunities for girls to actively participate in the all-important nuances of play.
Studies reveal that girls as young as three years of age are already highly invested in
body imagine and are eager perpetuators of socially established stereotypes (Harriger,
Calogero, Witherington, & Smith, 2010). Gender roles moderate what and how
children learn, with the rules for being a girl or a boy carefully delineated (Root &
Denham, 2010).
“Young girls continue to be socialized to take their stereotypically appropriate
gendered place in society” (McClure, 1999, p. 79). The restrictive guidelines of what
girls can realize in their preschool school educational experience based on gendered
19
expectations can have a long-lasting impact as the “[e]arly years of growth are critical
in charting a child’s later developmental trajectories” (Chen, 2008, p. 463). Time spent
emotionally internalizing the ideals of what the proper girl looks and acts like sets up
life-long patterns of placing appearance before ability. A lesson unfortunately learned
before girls even enter kindergarten. Lorber provides much documentation supporting
the fact that emphasis on gender difference is “socially constructed […and specifically
operates to] justify sexual stratification” (as cited in Risma, 2004, p. 430). Girls are
carefully reminded throughout the preschool day that they are clearly the subordinate
group in the classroom.
Gender Bias in the Classroom
The inequitable treatment of girls in the American classroom has been the
focus of extensive research and reveals disturbing results. Over two decades of study
conducted by the Sadkers documents that gender bias is a regular part of the classroom
experience for girls who clearly do not receive the same level of consideration boys
receive. The Sadkers (Sadker & Sadker, 1994) observed teacher-student interaction in
diverse settings and concluded that male students received a higher quantity and
quality of teacher attention. Males were provided detailed praise, complex feedback
and more remediation then girls, and were steadfastly reinforced for demanding the
teacher’s attention. Girls were given general praise, taught to raise their hands and
remained typically on the fringe of any dynamic classroom interaction (Sadker &
Sadker, 1986). Lips (1989) concurs that teachers react differently to boys and girls,
inadvertently rewarding boys for aggressive behavior and girls for acting passively.
20
This uneven distribution of attention resolutely conveys to female students that
boys concerns override theirs at all times (Lips, 1989). The AAUW’s seismic report
How Schools Shortchange Girls underscores prior dismal findings and details how
girls receive less, across the board, in American classrooms, “simply because they are
girls” (AAUW, 1998, p. 1). AAUW documents biased practices that begin as early as
preschool with teachers selecting activities directed more towards boys’ interest and
presented in formats that bolster their ability to succeed. This foundation confirms the
disparity of attention parceled out to students as well as unequal representation in the
classroom, resulting in significantly less self-confidence for girls as they move
through grade levels (AAUW, 1998). Girls consistently rate their abilities lower than
boys and often consider any academic success simply as “good luck” rather than
applied effort (Sadker & Zittleman, 2002). By fostering girls’ dependence and praising
them more for appearance rather than achievement, teachers help to inhibit girls’
ability to reach their full academic potential (Sadker & Sadker, 1986).
The standard classroom often operates under the de facto patriarchal structure
which invariably stymies complex exchanges between teachers and girls. The one size
fits all male-driven format continually reconstituted from bygone days does not benefit
girls. The “everyday classroom…use[s] practices that have not taken up girls’
experiences” (Gallagher, 2000, p. 71) and requires major reconfiguration as girls
“typically define their identity within a relationship” (Wood, 2001, p. 47).
Unfortunately, given the barriers girls confront daily regarding equal participation in
school, opportunities for authentic connections are resoundingly remiss (Berman,
21
1999). Retooled drill and kill curriculum and truncated teaching methods to
accommodate the multitude of standardized tests currently in use in most classrooms
further adds to the discomfiting displacement of girls (How Standardized Testing
Damages Education, 2007). This bustling preoccupation with high scores even
impacts the preschool arena, leaving less time for developmentally appropriate play,
an invaluable foundation for future learning (Haupt, 2007).
While teachers often believe they are gender-blind when it comes to treatment
of their students, this is hardly the case. This “false sense of objectivity and
impartiality” does little to balance the classroom as boys continue to monopolize the
attention of both female and male teachers and are the main recipients of teacher
interactions in the classroom (Stromquist, 2007, p. 7). Jones and Dindia (2004)
observed that a pattern of fewer opportunities provided for girls is sadly set in place by
teachers who often expect girls to succeed “through quiet diligence and hard work
[…with boys succeeding as they are] naturally clever” (Stromquist, 2007, p. 10).
Teachers convey a variety of biased messages proffered in their daily exchanges with
their students, most pointedly, how little they value girls, who are invariably missing
from important, classroom dynamics. Carinci (2007) reports that teachers are “not
entering the classroom prepared to teach using gender-equitable teaching approaches”
(p. 63). While teachers learn about class room management strategies and different
approaches to implementing the curriculum, they are offered little training to assist in
gender bias (Carinci 2007) and even short-term training would assist in positively
changing teachers’ perceptions about gender (Leach, 1994).
22
In the typical classroom, gender bias is rarely detected as “[g]ender inequity is
the norm, and anything else is not normal” (Walker & Foote, 2000, p. 88). Teachers
adamantly declare they equally recognize girls in their classrooms, suggesting they
present similar opportunities to encourage all students. Evidence repeatedly shows,
however, that “[g]irls are expected to sacrifice their interests, their fair share of teacher
attention and their right to a curriculum that rewards interests and talent on a parity
with those of boys” (Benjamin & Irwin-DeVitis, 1998, p. 64). Boys are allowed to
dominate the classroom at all levels of education and easily exert more power and
control even in the preschool classroom when their numbers are less or equal to
females (Chick et al., 2002). By quietly maintaining the status quo in the classroom,
teachers perpetuate a hierarchy that honors boys and displaces girls. Over 30 years of
research documents how this not so subtle practice limits girls’ ability to achieve
(Sanders, 2003).
The limitations placed on girls begin as early as the preschool level, with boys
encouraged to take active, decision making roles and girls not so subtly praised to
choose passive and compliant roles in their daily play (Biersteker & Hermanus, 2003).
Psychological and educational research has shown the impact teacher’s attention has
on children’s behavior (Dobbs, Arnold, & Doctoroff, 2004). Boys are rewarded for
misbehavior as well as encouraged to learn from trial and error, taking complicated
risks in all aspects of the classroom environment. It has been observed at all grades,
male students “captur[ing] conversation from the first moment…with females sitting
patiently awaiting their turn – only to be interrupted and overtaken by males as soon as
23
they spoke” (Benjamin & Irwin-DeVitis, 1998, p. 68). Girls’ intelligence is devalued
and dampened down as they are required to actively assist in accommodating boys’
needs. Girls are taught to do this, without protest, often sacrificing their own
opportunities for dynamic participation in the educational process (Benjamin & IrwinDeVitis, 1998). “American classrooms convey the weighty expectation that girls
accept as their preeminent destiny, their first and foremost role in life, the mantel of
nurturer and caregiver” (Benjamin & Irwin-DeVitis, 1998, p. 64). The Sadkers
(Sadker & Sadker, 1994) warn of the resulting consequences of “[s]exist lessons
transform[ing] girls into second-class students” if we do not provide equal
opportunities in educational settings (p. 32). Salient suggestions have been made, and
should be implemented, as to how thriving learning environments can robustly include
girls, not as an adjunct, but as an integral part of the classroom experience.
Preschool Teacher Requirements, Standards, Curriculum
Preschool teachers are the gatekeepers to formal schooling and often assist in
the “gender-role-socialization pressure as soon as children enter the educational
system” (Lips, 1989, p. 202). While it is implicitly understood that teachers at the
elementary and above grade levels are credentialed, preschool teachers are not held to
a similar standard. A national study conducted from 1990 - 2003 documented only
22% to 47% of preschool teachers held bachelor’s degrees (Miller & Bogatova, 2008).
Early childhood teachers are “among the most poorly paid professionals” (Torquati,
Raikes & Huddleston-Casas, 2007, p. 262), and given the lower wages and education,
the turnover of preschool teachers is at a staggering rate of 25%-50% each year
24
(Miller & Bogatova, 2008). It is strongly believed that education is the main catalyst
to “change teacher’s beliefs and classroom practices” and would certainly lend to the
consideration of intentful teaching (Heisner & Lederberg, 20011). hooks (1994) relays
the importance of intent and fervently believes that in order to maintain discernment in
the classroom, teachers must stay reflective and involved. Studies document that
teachers with at least a bachelor’s degree level possess a keener ability to stay better
engaged and are more discerning than teachers with less education (Heisner &
Lederberg, 2011). Educated teachers are better equipped to shape their educational
environments by including strategies that provide their students with equitable
experiences (Garrahy, 2001).
Discerning teachers are paramount to dampening the “male-voice culture”
dominating the preschool classroom (Brown & Glligan, 1992, p. 29). The boys will be
boys credo is safely ensconced in preschool curricula and is captivatingly promoted by
teachers’ automatic maintenance of this hegemonic standard. As in other educational
domains, preschool boys are allowed to be more disruptive in shared spaces and given
a wider berth when negotiating with the teacher as rowdy behavior is condoned and
often simply attributed to testosterone levels (Chick et al., 2002). Schools help to
reinforce the reproduction of our society, securely continuing a lockstep routine,
which ensures children follow the same path their parents did (Digiovanni, 2004).
Teachers have ample opportunity to reinforce gendered stereotypes that are
initiated well before children enter preschool. “[P]atriarchal structures and used
practices that [exclude] girls’ experiences and knowledge as distinct and unique” are
25
embedded within the classroom environment (Gallagher, 2000, p. 71). It has been
documented that even young children “pick up the cultural ambivalence about girls”
but do not necessarily have the cognitive and emotional acuity to resolve such
complicated issues (Funk, 2002, p. 10). Teachers possess “profound influences on
child development” and normalize gender bias with stereotypical curriculum and
classroom interactions by continuing to reinforce boys as the default and girls as
adjuncts (Zahman, 2008, p. 11). Gender is used to predict students’ behavior given
teachers’ stereotypical ideas as to how girls and boys should behave (Funk, 2002).
When the criteria for preschool teacher’s qualifications can be as minimal as the
ability to obtain a criminal record clearance, opportunities for contextual teaching is
drastically reduced. The complex ability to truly discern and amend gender bias in the
classroom might be too arduous a task for undereducated preschool teachers
(Sandburg & Pramling-Samuelsson, 2005). While predefined or canned curriculum is
readily available to assist even ill-prepared teachers in presenting seemingly polished
lesson plans, these lessons are typically riddled with unbridled bias that helps to
perpetuate girls’ diminished roles in the classroom (S. Levenhagen, personal
communication, November 29, 2010).
School curriculum is typically considered to be “an explicit, conscious,
formally planned course with specific objectives” (Kentli, 2009, p. 84). Preschool
formal curriculum is proffered in a bevy of colorful, concrete modes and continues to
disadvantage girls with a glaring lack of equal representation. Additionally, the hidden
curriculum handily underscores girls’ worth in the classroom with teachers often
26
unwittingly conveying biased messages throughout the school day (Sadker &
Zittleman, 2005). The hidden curriculum, consisting of “values, norms and beliefs that
are transmitted to students” occurs in a variety of ways (Langhout & Mitchell, 2008, p.
594). These unintended lessons are often quickly learned as young girls begin to
understand how to be successful students by rendering themselves more reserved in
school settings in order to fit in, to sit quietly and wait their turn, which does not
always come (Digiovanni & Liston, 2005).
Society’s assumption that males possess more power than females and,
therefore, maintain a higher overall status, is reproduced in the preschool’s hidden
curriculum on a daily basis (Ridgeway & Correll, 2004). In a study involving five
preschool classrooms over an eight month period, it was observed that boys were
allowed to be much larger than girls, able to “take up more room with their bodies, to
sit in more open positions and to feel freer to do what they wish with their bodies”
(Martin, 1998, p. 503). Boys often monopolize key areas in the classroom and
dominate the outside playground space as well (Evans, 1998). In this study, teachers
were observed to tell girls to quiet down 74% of the time as compared with that
request made to boys only 26% of the time (Martin, 1998). Preschool teachers
continually monitor “noise levels with their students and girls’ voices are disciplined
to be softer and in many ways, less physical [as] toning down their voices [also] tones
down their physicality” (Martin, 1998, p. 504). This constant reinforcement of the
hidden curriculum parceled out by what teachers deem appropriate behavior “turns
kids who are similar in bodily comportment, movement, and practice into girls and
27
boys,” as evidenced in preschool classrooms everywhere with boys maintaining an
obvious advantage over girls (Martin, 1998, p. 496).
Gender inequity has been documented at all levels of education, however,
given the lack of standardized curriculum and educational requirements for preschool
teachers, there is a greater risk of unfettered bias perpetuated by preschool teachers.
Teachers easily, unknowingly, aid in keeping the patriarchal hierarchy firmly in place
(personal communication, S. Carinci, October 10, 2010). Children are provided ample
opportunities to learn and practice their appropriate gendered roles while immersed in
daily preschool experiences. Teachers handily assist in this process with their student
interactions, delivery of the formal curriculum and reinforcement of the hidden
curriculum. Harmful stereotypical messages slip easily through a wide swath of the
preschool narrative and require a type of vigilance in order to counter them, a trait
rarely possessed by the majority of the preschool teachers in today’s classrooms. “It is
important that teachers are aware of the tendency for boys to receive more attention
than girls…in order that they can monitor their own classroom behavior” (Sunderland,
2000, p. 160). The Sadkers’ studies, and a myriad of other research, offer salient
suggestions as to how we might provide a thriving learning environment for girls. The
AAUW (1998) declares an absence of training for teachers in “practical solutions to
gender bias and methods to make the classroom more equitable” (p. 164). Short term
classes and workshops have proven to “positively change teachers’ attitudes toward
gender” (Erden, 2009, p. 5). Focused training can help raise teachers’ awareness
28
regarding gender equity issues and even provide opportunities to address personal
biased beliefs.
The Story Teller
It is easy to envision a stereotypical American classroom with the (white)
female teacher at the front of the class propagating the status quo with students
routinely situated in a tidy grid, or in the case of preschool, a loose circle, to dutifully
receive the day’s important messages. The original pool of women recruited for
teachers was expected to espouse a hegemonic standpoint that unfortunately continues
to maintain a healthy shelf-life in classrooms today (Beauboeuf-Lafontant, 2005).
While gender perspectives have thankfully shifted, the hierarchy of males securing
“more status and authority” than females remains a steadfast theme in our society and
is played out across in all grades at school (Ridgeway & Correll, 2004, p. 522). “How
teachers and students communicate with one another is a fundamental component
through which…a classroom environment is created and sustained” (Jones & Dindia,
2004, p. 43). Common educational formats often negate personal relationships, even at
the preschool level, where teachers deliver stereotypical modes of teaching to
approximate real school and, therefore, the real world. “Interactions that affect gender
socialization and gender-role development occur frequently” in preschool classrooms
(Chick et al., 2002, p. 153). Teachers routinely impart indisputably powerful
messages, assisting in the molding of appropriate deportment for girls and boys
(Freeman, 2007).
29
The power of teachers is evident across all grades but is especially pivotal at
the preschool level as “gender role expectations … can be internalized at a very early
age and become fixed and hard to change” (Biersteker & Hermanus, 2003, p. 88).
Children as young as three and four years of age demonstrate the “influence of societal
norms in their interactions with others […and quickly determine] what girl can’t do”
(Derman-Sparks, 2005, para. 10). In turn, teachers “are influenced by their own
identity development, based on their values, beliefs, prejudice. [An awareness of…]
how their personal perceptions and experiences […impact their interactions with
students] is the first step to changing stereotypical gender practices” (Biersteker &
Hermanus, 2003, p. 89). The preschool classroom environment offers a myriad of
opportunities to provide anti-bias approaches to teaching, assisting in the development
of a positive self-image (Biersteker & Hermanus, 2003). Educators need to offer
constructive ways to assist their students to reach past “their initial beliefs and
positions” (Cozart & Gordon, 2006, p. 12) and “learn to respect each other’s
differences” (Shrewsbury, 1993, p. 166). The notion of teacher as role-model rings
true when espousing this level of care, and can provide a reverberating foil against
societally-biased gender practices. “Since gender is a social construction, it is
amenable to change, but, as a deeply embedded social variable, gender also tends to
resist modification” (Stromquist & Fischman, 2009, p. 473). While research suggest
that variables outside of the classroom significantly aid and abet biased behavior
(family, society), it has been found that even a modicum of equity awareness at the
30
preschool level contributes greatly to positive and lasting self-esteem for both genders
(Biersteker & Hermanus, 2003).
“To create a caring culture in which children can be empowered, teachers must
be ‘reflective practitioners’ who can think critically about their own teaching
practices” (Derman-Sparks, 1993, p. 69). This requires an ongoing, specific
circumspection that is typically beyond the scope of today’s busy teachers.
“Awareness is the critical first step toward correcting classroom gender bias”
(Stroeher, 1994, p. 102). A commitment by teachers to discard stereotypical constructs
and consider new designs contribute greatly to revolutionary learning (hooks, 1994).
Beauboeuf-Lafontant (2005) urges “…if education is to be a liberatory rather than an
oppressive experience…teaching must be reinvented” (p. 436). Reinvention routinely
takes place in our educational system with oft-time mediocre results as evidenced by
the fact that United States ranks close to the bottom of the barrel with 24 out of 36
developing countries possessing a better high school graduation rate then the U.S.
(Zeitvogel, 2010). Important components, such as consideration of gender inequity,
are forgotten in the quest for higher educational rankings.
The quest for a liberatory classroom environment suggests educators move
beyond established modes and embrace a “tradition of emancipatory pedagogy
[…implicitly understanding that] teaching can play an import role in provoking
students into ‘wide-awakeness’” (Thompson, 1995, pp. 394-395). When teachers dig
deep to reflect ideas in different ways and invite their students to share in this process,
authentic connections can be established. These connections can fuel a desire for
31
teachers and students alike to “value everyone’s presence” and inspire a celebration of
“teaching that enables transgressions – a movement against and beyond boundaries”
(hooks, 1994, p. 186). hooks (1994) rigorously believes that in order to maintain
excitement in the classroom, teachers must stay reflective and engaged – ever ready to
include their students in their journey.
The Importance of How the Tale is Told
Current research suggests that “schools continue to serve the purpose of social
control through the reproduction of our society” (Digiovanni, 2004, p. 11). While
informed teachers agree that “gender is externally imposed on young children…and
heavily influenced by parents, media, peers and teachers,” there can be an almost
cavalier approach to countering the negativity of gender bias in the classroom (LeeThomas et al., 2005, p. 22). Often, teachers express an inability to alter the effects of
stereotypical messages received by children given the bombardment of biased
practices in society, relaying that “despite their attempts to facilitate gender equity, the
children often continued to engage in gender-stereotyped play” (Lee-Thomas et al.,
2005, p. 22). Equally abysmal is the fact that the majority of preschool teachers are
unaware that bias is even transpiring in their classrooms. Decades of research support
the idea that “a child's determination of appropriate role identity occurs through
imitation of adults [and] praise and encouragement from adults for perceived feminine
or masculine behavior,” underscoring the all-important role teachers play in
development and reinforcement of gender (Marchall & Reinhartz, 1997, p. 334).
“[T]he potential of the classroom as a space to reveal, complicate and challenge
32
gendered assumptions” lays latent and ready to be maximized by competent, present
teachers (Dutro, 2002, pp. 376-377).
“To provide gender equitable school environments for our children, the focus
should be primarily on teacher beliefs and attitudes” (Erden, 2009, pp. 410-411).
While it is easy to argue that it might be inordinately impossible to “change the school
environment without first changing the larger society,” the power of teachers to
influence their students should not be underestimated (Sanders, 2000, p. 184).
“Because young children are in the process of developing their gender schemas, [they
are] particularly amenable to environmental influences” (Trepanier-Street &
Romatowski, 1999, p. 159). Preschool teachers are in the unique position of positively
impacting young students as “…early modeling will provide a foundation for
[students’] positions on all gender issues” (Stroeher, 1994, p. 102). Of concern,
however, are the biased narratives typically played out in educational arenas. Teachers
have every intention of being fair and often believe instituting fairness will ameliorate
any concerns regarding gender bias (Brown, 2000). However, because boys typically
dominate the educational milieu, teachers are “accustomed to listening to male voices
and not recognizing bias” in their classrooms (Lundeberg, 1997, p. 55). Teachers
continue to unwittingly support an imbalanced discourse in the classroom.
“Gender equity is in its infancy in teacher education” (Sanders, 2003 p. 242)
with “nominal training…offered to educators […and an unawareness of the]
importance of gender inclusion methodologies” (Carinci, 2007, p. 410). Consideration
to equity training for preschool teachers is equally as important. “Many early
33
childhood education experts posit that education is [a pivotal] vehicle to change
teachers’ beliefs and classroom practices” (Heisner & Lederberg, 2011, p. 227).
Unfortunately, lack of uniform education and training for preschool teachers further
limits opportunities for providing comprehensive equity curriculum and “raising the
effectiveness of early childhood education likely will require a broad range of
professional development activities” (Early et al., 2007, p. 558). As “research showing
that the foundation for learning is laid well before a child enters elementary school,”
preschool teachers are perfectly positioned to transform current early-education mores
(Miller & Bogatova, 2009, p. 258). It has been demonstrated that “workshops can be
an effective mechanism for improving child care quality” (Burchinal, Cryer, Clifford,
& Howes, 2002, p. 10). While we wait for educational institutions to debate the
legitimacy of instituting mandatory gender equity training, teachers can currently
benefit from training presented in a variety of formats (Sanders, 2003).
Summary
Although decades of studies of research decrying the impact of gender bias has
“generated interest from the press and the public…its influence on teacher preparation
and educational reform remains marginal” (Stroeher, 1994, p. 101). The reviewed
literature provides a summary of gender bias in the public classroom and its negative
impact on girls, most often, perpetuated by unknowing teachers. Teachers equipped
with discernment can foster an educational environment that encourages all children to
soar. In an 1862 poem, Dickinson describes “dwelling in a house of possibility” which
34
begs the consideration of “what could be” (as cited in Parisi & Welton, 2008, p. 5).
What could be includes an educational environment that better supports girls.
35
Chapter 3
METHODOLOGY
Introduction
This project was designed to share research findings with preschool teachers
about the negative impact of gender bias for preschool girls and provide ways to
counter this bias in their classrooms. To encourage deeper understanding and
application of gender bias principles, a narrative style was incorporated into a 60
minute lecture to present the data. “Narratives are an important source of order for
qualitative research” and add contextual significance for the participants of the lecture
(Shank, 2002, p. 147). A PowerPoint slideshow comprised of applicable quotes,
graphics and photographs of preschoolers was accompanied by pertinent, anecdotal
stories and hands-on materials to underscore and clarify the points presented.
PowerPoint “can allow the lecturer to turn a traditionally conservative practice into a
bridge between direct and [reflective] learning models” (Clark, 2008, p. 40). This
visually-active process can accommodate quicker acquisition of the subject matter.
Additionally, the power of story easily resonates for preschool teachers, given the
nature of their work, and fosters a connectivity that is meaningful and long-lasting
(Carter, 1993).
Several teaching methods were incorporated into the narrative format, with the
intent of establishing an interesting and dynamic presentation. By establishing a
setting that encourages personal connection, strategies can be collaboratively
developed to “challenge a system in which inequity is perpetuated” (Cozart & Gordon,
36
2006, p. 11). The hour-long interactive lecture was presented in a comfortable room
replete with food and drink in an attempt to create an atmosphere that might inspire
discussion as well as the acquisition of new ideas to amend gender bias in the
classroom.
Research Design
This study employed qualitative research by utilizing the persistent theme of
narrative, which is woven throughout the presentation with the intent of connecting to
the audience in a familiar format. Given the ability to “present experience holistically,
narratives are rich and valuable teaching tools” (Bell, 2002, p. 209). The starting point
of the narrative method is the story and is an interpretive approach in the social
sciences (Mitchel & Egudo, 2003). “Literary adventures educate children about what
is expected and valued in the real world” (Dickman & Murnen, 2004, p. 373). Stories
are a major vehicle for learning in the preschool environment and are used in a variety
of ways in the classroom curriculum. Preschool teachers impart multiple narratives
daily to their students via the implicitly encompassing mediums utilized in the
classroom: literature, music, movement, play and social interactions (Digiovanni &
Liston, 2005). Thompson (1998) speaks of the power of stories, how they inform us
with “familiarity [and] complexity,” providing avenues for deep exploration and
consideration. (p. 14). Narratives are an intrinsic component of every preschool
teacher’s daily curriculum and, therefore, are an apt vehicle for the transmission of
important information.
37
Narrative Style
This project borrows from the narrative style with the intent of succinctly
covering a broad subject area in a short period of time. “Narrating is the art and skill
of taking different experiences and events and putting them together into a single
coherent story” (Shank, 2002, pp. 146-147). The use of narrative is a dramatically
effective method to garner the audience’s attention and convey the myriad of salient
points relative to gender bias in the classroom. “Narratives are an important source of
order for qualitative research” (Shank, 2002, p. 147). The lecture included relevant
preschool classroom scenarios accompanied by photos of the actual children involved,
creating a poignant backdrop for personal discovery and encouraging opportunities for
open-ended discussion.
“Teaching narratively calls forth images of storytelling… and is a significant
mode of human communication, a bearer of culture, and a potentially profound and
far-reaching educational methodology” (Moore, 1998, p. 248). The stories presented
in the hour long lecture are intended to underscore the profound impact of gender bias
for preschool girls in the classroom. “Recognizing the subtle ways that gender is
performed by children, and by us as educators, is difficult” (Dutro, 2002, p. 377) as it
is the “ingrained ideas and routine practices in everyday life that constitute and
reinforce sexism” (Kleinman, Copp, & Sandstrom, 2006, p. 126). A collaborative
environment utilizing a narrative approach, can move participants away from the
‘manifest destiny’ […of blame and allows teachers to] see that sexism is constituted
by social patterns” that they have unintentionally supported (Kleinman et al., 2006, p.
38
133). Constructive strategies can be discussed with the hope of incorporating “new
understandings of gender” into their own pedagogical practices (Sunderland, 2000, p.
169).
As relayed by Olson (1990), “narrative structures provide a format into which
experienced events can be cast in the attempt to make them comprehensible,
memorable, and shareable” (as cited in Carter, 1993, p. 6). By conducting an
interactive lecture and sharing compelling stories with participants, important
information can be conveyed in a memorable fashion, and increase the potential to
apply newly learned ideas in the classroom. Providing a proactive approach to the
often emotionally weighted topic of gender invites a less charged forum and
encourages productive exchanges. Narratives “represent a way of knowing and
thinking that is particularly suited to explicating the issues with which we deal” and
offer vibrant avenues for problem solving (Carter, 1993, p. 6). Noddings (1991)
underscores that “stories have the power to direct and change our lives” and provide
an indelible mode of imparting the impact of gender bias for preschool girls (as cited
in Carter, 1993, p. 5).
PowerPoint Presentation
An additional effective mode to help convey a body of information was the use
of PowerPoint, a presentation software, “that combines both visual and aural stimuli,
sometimes in quite complex ways” (Clark, 2008, p. 40). Current research confirms
“overwhelmingly positive response to PowerPoint…as it facilitates variety” (Clark,
2008, p. 42). Quotes, graphics, and photographs were utilized in the slide show with
39
careful consideration of wording, color, font size and use of quality graphics and
photographs. The impact of presentation software can be drastically degraded with
“oversimplified and unconnected bullet points, low resolution image reproduction,
restrictive templates and promotion of intellectual simplicity” (Clark, 2008, p. 40).
While the PowerPoint slide show was a major conveyance of information throughout
the lecture, it was also employed as a springboard to encourage further discussion.
The PowerPoint slide show was divided into three subject areas: language,
gender construction and the importance of teachers. An emphasis on the power of
language as a major vehicle of stereotyping was reinforced throughout the PowerPoint
presentation. Disch (1999) reports, “As ‘linguistic beings,’ we are interpellated (or
called) into existence by socially sanctioned forms of address that put us in our place
even as they make us feel at home” (p. 546). Clarification of this complex concept was
provided via specific examples as to how language assists in diminishing girls given
unequal representation in the preschool classroom narrative. Pointed scenarios of
preschoolers involved in various classroom situations emphasized the ease in which
stereotypes are reinforced. Audience discussion ensued resulting in further
elaboration, as well additional presentation of pertinent examples including use of
gender specific language and children’s literature portrayal of females.
The impact of gender bias for girls in the preschool environment continued
with the discussion of gender construction, as “[g]ender stereotypes and expectations
have a developmental history that starts with learned notions of femininity and
masculinity” (Sadker & Zittleman, 2005, p. 18). Examples were provided as to how
40
children arrived at school with established patterns of gendered behavior with further
reinforcement transpiring as a result of the stereotypical framework of most preschool
classrooms (Sunderland, 2005). In typical preschool settings, girls are indirectly
praised for domestic, nurturing activities as they dutifully tend to their friends and
dolls, and heavily complimented on physical appearance, rather than ability. Boys are
allowed to use “power and control strategies in their play” (Chick et al., 2002, p. 151),
often monopolizing the majority of the environment with little interference. Responses
from the audience were elicited to further highlight the reinforcement of stereotyped
gender in the preschool classroom.
Teachers regularly reinforce gender stereotypes in their preschool practice. The
importance and impact of teachers imparting damaging messages to preschool
children was detailed in the third portion of the PowerPoint presentation. Teachers
need to “demonstrate a keen awareness of their power and responsibility as adults to
contest the societal stereotypes imposed on children” and be willing to adapt and
improve their teaching methods (Beauboeuf-Lafontant, 2002, p. 77). The lecture
format of citing salient research and following up these quotes with current preschool
examples proved to be an effective vehicle for understanding key points. Ideas were
also generated from the audience as to how preschool teachers might alter their bias
interactions, and balance curriculum and classroom environments to better serve all
students.
41
Teaching Methods
Several teaching methods were also utilized when developing the gender
equity presentation for preschool teachers, including feminist teaching, lecture, and
direct instruction. Feminist teaching encourages the dismantling of traditional power
structures and suggests that the participation of teacher and students is of equal value
(Shrewsbury, 1993). Fostering a collaborative foundation is a dynamic approach to
addressing the negativities of gender bias and is applicable to all educational arenas,
including the presentation format. An interactive presentation encouraging dynamic
group participation is congruent with the principles of feminist teaching. “Shrewsbury
(1987) describes the vision of feminist pedagogy as including ‘a participatory,
democratic process in which at least some of the power is shared’” (as cited in Gore,
1992, p. 57). Feminist teaching honors the idea that participants are partners in the
process of learning. The “feminist pedagogue does not see herself as the authoritative
arbiter of student interpretation and understanding…instead, she emphasizes her own
situatedness, her own partial ‘take’ on the world” (Luke, 1994, p. 30). Anecdotal
examples of the presenter’s teaching practices were a component of the hour lecture.
Acknowledging the audiences’ worth and encouraging their active
participation during the presentation are a pivotal component of feminist teaching and
a major goal of this project. A careful attempt was made to create an atmosphere that
was causal and comfortable in order to encourage constructive interchange with
participants. “Feminist pedagogy includes thoughtfulness about classroom dynamics,
in classes from small seminars to large lecture classes, to distance learning courses”
42
(Cohee, 2004, p. 23). Utilizing feminist teaching practices in the presentation of
gender equity training for preschool teachers underscores the importance of
incorporating these modalities into everyday practices as an educator.
To effectively convey the research data, a structured overview lecture modality
was implemented within a direct instruction strategy. Educational presentations are
invariably full of salient information that can be difficult to process in the time
allotted. Gender construction, a major topic included in the presentation, is a confusing
concept at best. By providing a structured overview, which typically involves a
summary or outline of a topic, recipients can more readily assimilate complex
information (The Adaptive Dimension in Core Curriculum, 1991). In addition to
introducing a summary of the topic, the purpose of a structured overview is to help
participants place new ideas in context. As “ideas are simplified, it is easier for
[recipients] to see ‘the big picture’” (The Adaptive Dimension in Core Curriculum,
1991, para. 4). The ability to parse complicated ideas into understandable concepts
works well in attempting to convey a body of information in a short period of time.
Direct instruction is primarily teacher-directed and works well in “actively
involving [participants] in knowledge construction,” to better understand and
investigate […the impact of gender bias] in the classroom (The Adaptive Dimension
in Core Curriculum, 1991, para. 2). A variety of examples in the lecture highlight the
damaging effects of gender inequity for girls in the preschool milieu. Direct
instruction is a typical mode of disseminating information and is effective if the
teacher is “knowledgeable, perceptive [and] engaging” (The Adaptive Dimension in
43
Core Curriculum, 1991, para. 5). Information presented in a dynamic and personal
mode that integrates creative techniques “to spark increased understanding […and as]
Lorde says, ‘form a bridge between the sharers which can be the basis of
understanding’” (as cited in Shrewsbury, 1993, p. 167). The ability to impart
meaningful information while forming a connection with participants assists in
emphasizing the importance of the subject matter of gender bias.
Summary
“Identifying and highlighting gender inequities” can improve the current
conditions for females in education (Gender Analysis Framework, n.d., para. 2).
A variety of methods including narrative, PowerPoint and collaborative teaching were
utilized to promote acquisition of the presented material and ensure a meaningful,
contextual exchange between participants. This project encourages preschool teachers
to become informed, take action and begin to mitigate the impact of gender bias on
girls in the preschool classroom.
44
Chapter 4
DISCUSSION, CONCLUSIONS, LIMITATIONS, RECOMMENDATIONS, AND
REFLECTIONS
Discussion
When queried about gender bias practices in their classrooms, teacher often
claim that they treat all of their students the same. Teachers often reinforce gendered
behaviors by supporting the hidden curriculum and ignoring their own personal biases
(Brown, 2000; Garrahy, 2001). The hidden curriculum is an active component of the
daily school schedule and “serves to transmit tacit messages to students about values,
attitudes and principles” (Kentli, 2009, p. 88). Preschool teachers are the gatekeepers
to formal schooling and assist in the “gender-role-socialization pressure as soon as
children enter the educational system” (Lips, 1989, p. 202). Children enter school
already gendered, with teachers supporting stereotypical behavior throughout the
school day. Teachers often believe “many aspects of gender and gender equity [are]
heavily grounded in socialization theory” (Lee-Thomas et al., 2005, p. 21). By
assuming children’s gender is formed mostly as a result of biology, teachers
underserve their students and create an inequitable learning environment.
The inequitable treatment of girls in the American classroom has been the
focus of extensive research and reveals disturbing results (AAUW, 1998; Benjamin &
Irwin-DeVitis, 1998; Biersteker & Hermanus, 2003; Sadker & Sadker, 1994; Sanders,
2003). The preschool environment easily accommodates unequal gender treatment
given the typical play-based scenarios that make up the bulk of the school day
45
(Digiovanni & Liston, 2005). In most preschool settings, girls are indirectly praised
for “nurturing and helping behavior,” while boys are allowed to use “power and
control strategies in their play” (Chick et al., 2002, p. 151). Additionally, boys receive
more attention than girls, boys wield more power than girls, boys are praised for
ability and physical skills with girls receiving positive attention for appearance and
cooperative behaviors (Chick et al., 2002).
Although the National Association for the Education of Young Children and
other scholarly entities offer a variety of preschool curriculum that supports
developmentally appropriate practices, the majority of preschool operate in a private
capacity, allowing the practice of casually culling a variety of sources in order to
develop lesson plans (personal communication, K. Keller, October 27, 2010). Catchy,
canned curriculum and brightly polished resource books heavily marketed to the
overwhelmed preschool teacher assist in the non-standardized implementation of
curricula replete with stereotyped references (personal communication, S.
Levenhagen, November 29, 2010). Any type of quality control or peer review is often
lacking given the insularity of many preschool programs, resulting in the perpetuation
of gender bias (Sandberg & Parmling-Samuelsson, 2005). Adding the varying
educational requirements to qualify as a preschool teacher, ranging from no formal
training to graduate work, only enhances the ability to routinely and unknowingly
promulgate bias in the preschool environment (Sandberg & Pramling-Samuelsson,
2005).
46
The lack of gender bias training is evident across all educational levels but is
glaringly obvious at the preschool level given the lack of standardized educational
requirements for preschool teachers. Opportunities are greatly limited for preschool
teachers to acquire salient skills to consistently and successfully counter gender bias in
their classrooms (Sandberg & Parmling-Samuelsson, 2005). It has been demonstrated
that even a small amount of gender equity teacher training can vastly improve the
classroom environment (Leach, 1994). While we await the advent of gender equity
education to become an integral component of teacher training, alternatives can be
made available (Stroeher, 1994). Lectures can impart pointed information in a
dynamic setting that encourages teachers to consider different approaches. Providing
an informal setting that supports new concepts and allows for peer interaction can
assist teachers in scrutinizing and amending their inequitable teaching practices.
Gender Equity Training Lecture
The hour-long presentation was developed as a means to provide an overview
of the negative impact of gender bias in the preschool classroom, with the intent of
inspiring further consideration by teachers regarding personal bias practices. When
queried, preschool teachers agree “gender to be a significant issue for early childhood
teachers” (Lee-Thomas et al., 2005, p. 21), however, they also report feeling
overwhelmed by the increasing demands for academics to be at the forefront of the
preschool classroom, leaving less time to focus on other areas of development (Stipek,
2006). A primary goal of the lecture was to provide a relaxed, collaborative
environment and to emphasize the importance of discernment on the teacher’s part, the
47
need to think critically about gender bias and work towards eliminating this form of
oppression in their classroom (Derman-Sparks, 1993). Upon completion of the lecture,
a short survey with of five, open-ended questions was proffered in hopes of receiving
feedback to improve future gender equity lectures. Open-ended questions are designed
to encourage meaningful, more in-depth answers relative to the subject’s perception of
the themes presented and provide valuable information for future consideration (Knox
& Burkard, 2009).
Survey Questions
1. If the target audience of this presentation is preschool teachers, how effective
was the message?
2. What points in the presentation really worked?
3. What points were lacking or confusing or clumsily conveyed?
4. What could the presentation use more of?
5. What could the presentation use less of?
Participants
Fifteen female participants attended the hour long training session and
included a college professor, an elementary school teacher, four preschool teachers, a
government analyst, an executive director, a civil engineer, two nonprofit directors, a
preschool/elementary school owner/director, a civil engineer, one college student, and
one high school student. Education ranged from a doctoral degree to a first year
student in high school.
48
Setting
To foster a collaborative environment, an informal and comfortable setting was
considered to be an integral component for a successful training session. The MultiCultural Center at Sacramento State University was utilized as it afforded an intimate
space with a variety of seating options and the equipment necessary to present the
PowerPoint slide show. Food and drink was served and abundant opportunities were
made available for audience participation.
Survey Results
If the target audience of this presentation is preschool teachers, how effective
was the message?
One participant, the nonprofit director, a former elementary teacher who now
works with homeless young women, “like[d] the heavy quote, anecdote, examples,
pattern established in this lecture” which was a very notable point for this presenter.
Given the wide range of educational attainment relative to preschool teachers, there is
concern regarding the balance of providing academic research as well as clarity when
making salient points about gender bias. This delivery system was confirmed by the
civil engineer who noted this method provided “a vehicle to deliver the message in a
‘real world’ capsule.” An effort to pair narrative examples with research was
attempted in order to equivocally connect with a wide variety of participants.
Several audience members reported the “effectiveness” of the presentation
given the straightforward approach, with one preschool teacher declaring “the message
[brought] me to a state of clarity.” The use of “pictures to illustrate the points” was
49
mentioned by a number of participants, with others relaying the “statistical
information was what stood out the most.” However, three of the respondents,
believed more “stereotypical language examples” (executive director), “more
examples that teachers can use right now” (preschool teacher) and “more case studies”
(civil engineer) would strengthen the arguments presented. An elementary school
teacher relayed the presentation was “very effective – especially as a woman, it made
me realize all the dozens of mistakes I make daily without even realizing. You have
made me more aware. I’m ashamed of myself for lacking awareness previously – so
thanks!”
What points in the presentation really worked?
Overwhelmingly, respondents cited the opening story about a preschool girl
who had pretend pockets, with this allegorical message transmitted throughout the
presentation as to how girls are diminished in a variety of ways given gender bias in
the educational system. An opportunity arose to briefly work with a national award
winning artist who emphasized the importance of an opening story to “hook” one’s
audience and methods were utilized from this meeting to enhance the opening story.
Additional stories in the presentation were also commented upon. The majority of the
participants reiterated the “story-telling,” was quite effective, revealing that the
method of recounting truthful, poignant stories was unifying indeed. Comments
included, “I loved the stories – paints the facts” (preschool teacher), “the moments of
sadness in your stories” (nonprofit director), “I loved your stories – very salient”
(executive director), “the focus on stories” (college student), “stories were great –
50
pulled people in” (owner/director of private school/preschool), “I loved the stories.
Stories in my mind are hugely powerful” (preschool teacher).
Tangible items for specific examples were also considered an important
component of the presentation by the majority of the viewers. A child’s drawing that
emphasized how easily children are influenced by teachers and a “snowfriend”
figurine that is used to counter sexist language with children, assisted in conveying
powerful messages regarding gender bias. A number of participants commented on the
photographs of preschool children and the personal stories recounted therein.
What points were lacking or confusing or clumsily conveyed?
Given the relaxed atmosphere and the generosity of recipients, criticism was
minimal. A request that the presentation should be longer than 60 minutes was noted
by three participants. “Pausing” between ideas was also suggested by two individuals,
with more opportunities for audience participation cited by several participants.
What could the presentation use more of?
“More,” was the theme by six respondents. A suggestion for more examples,
more hands-on, more pictures, more examples from books, more examples of “what to
do exactly,” “more ideas on what to do tomorrow to start change” were made by the
majority of participants. A decision had been made to provide an overview of gender
bias without belaboring cures for remediation given the proposed time constraints of
containing the lecture within an hour timeframe. It is obvious, a consideration of
specific ways to correct gender bias in the preschool classroom should be included in
proceeding presentations.
51
What could the presentation use less of?
Two respondents relayed “avoid reading directly from PowerPoint slides” with
the majority commenting “nothing” regarding what would enhance the presentation
further.
Conclusion
An enthusiastic response to the lecture on the negative impact of gender bias in
the preschool classroom was received during the hour presentation. Given the relaxed
setting and a desire for honest feedback as requested prior to the commencement of
the lecture, a collaborative and equal exchange, the earmarks of feminist pedagogy,
ensued throughout (Shrewsbury, 1993). Feedback overwhelmingly confirmed that
acquisition of new information relative to gender bias transpired even within the short
time frame (Erden, 2009). While the intent of the presentation was to provide a
general overview of the impact of bias for girls in the preschool classroom and not
focus on specific remediation, the majority of audience members desired elaboration
in this regard. The format of citing research and clarifying or underscoring these
points with personal preschool scenarios resonated with the audience and assisted in
the conveyance of important information (Bell, 2002; Greene, 1993; Thompson, 1998;
Zambo, 2011). The reoccurring theme of narrative as a salient vehicle to transmit bias
as well as propel the overall presentation was equally successful (Noddings, as cited in
Carter, 1993).
Based upon feedback and further consideration, it is believed a more structured
component should be added to the lecture. The varying educational levels of preschool
52
teachers could also be better served with receipt of easily accessed information as to
how to begin to rectify gender inequity in the educational system. The feedback
received from the hour-long lecture makes it apparent that teachers are interested in
hands-on material and as well as any structured advice available regarding gender
bias. It is recommended the hour-long overview of gender bias in the preschool
classroom remain intact in the presentation, with the addition of several components
specific to remediation.
Limitations
The participants attending the presentation totaled 15 females, which is a very
small sample. Additionally, only four out of the 15 involved were preschool teachers,
the target audience of this gender equity training.
Recommendations
The systemic negative impact of gender bias for girls in the classroom and the
ensuing steps required to eradicate the immense negative impact of gender inequity for
girls in education cannot be corrected by short term training. Comprehensive gender
equity training should be a mandatory component of teacher programs at all grade
levels (Sanders, 2003). While teachers learn about classroom management strategies
and different approaches to implementing the curriculum, they are not provided
training that could help them to discern and amend their biased practices (Carinci
2007). To further compound the problem for preschool teachers, opportunities are rare
for gender equity training given the absence of standardized requirements to qualify as
a preschool teacher (Miller & Bogatova, 2008). Providing “professional development
53
activities […will greatly assist in] raising the effectiveness of early childhood
education” (Early et al., 2007, p. 558). However, given the limited scope that short
term training can only provide, it is considered to be a stopgap measure at best. To
shed a lifetime patina of their own enculturated gendering in order to discern and
ameliorate bias in their classrooms, preschool teachers would benefit from long term,
multifaceted training to address the problem of gender inequity (Sanders, 2003).
Reflections
hooks (1994) speaks of the “practice of freedom” that permeated her grade
school environment due to devoted African-American female teachers who set about
“nurturing intellect” to better equip their students (p. 181). hooks deeply believed that
these teachers unequivocally and contextually knew her and provided her the tools
necessary to venture out into the complex world. Her early educational experiences
inspired revolutionary ideas were espoused in her “engaged pedagogy” in which hooks
spoke of “progressive, holistic education…that emphasized well-being” (p. 187).
Revolutionary learning – can it really happen? Perhaps a tricky goal, given the
disconnected and convoluted schematics so often utilized in our schools today, but
deconstruction can begin. First step, dismantle the impact of gender bias for girls in
the classroom. “Gender inequities still exist in today’s classroom for females in
teachers’ interaction patterns with students, in the lack of females represented in
school curricula, and in issues of harassment and bullying affecting girls on school
campuses” (Carinci, 2009, p. 63). It has been demonstrated that provision of even a
modicum of gender equity training can empower teachers and enable them to discard
54
those precasted designs and consider drafting new plans. These should be grand plans
that embrace equitable involvement for girls, not simply as adjuncts, but as salient
members of an educational society who encourages all their children to soar.
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APPENDIX
PowerPoint Presentation
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