Women and Education
Sample Reading Journal
Articles: The Sociology of Education in Canada, Chapter 4, by Terry Wotherspoon
Schoolgirls: Young Women, Self-esteem and the Confidence Gap,
Chapters 1 and 7, by Peggy Orenstein
One of the concepts outlined in Wotherspoon’s writing that I found of great interest was
that of Student Response and Resistance. Wotherspoon writes that contrary to the common
perception of students as passive consumers, students are continuously engaged in shaping and
making sense of the education process.
Wotherspoon indicates the concept of “resisistance” is used by researchers to understand
how students engage in and respond to their schooling experiences. He defines resistance as
“student responses to the dehumanizing and restrictive aspects of schooling that diminish
creativity, enlightenment, and self-worth or that devalue meaningful social experiences.”
Resistance can be displayed in a wide range of actions from the extreme such as “vandalism and
destruction of school property, disregard for school rules, defiance of teachers’ authority, refusal
to complete assignments, absenteeism or dropping out” to the more subtle such as “lack of
attentiveness to lessons and instructions, whispered comments and notes passed to other
pupils, informal mocking of teachers, repeated errands and trips to the washroom, and pressure
to discuss issues not on the formal curriculum.”
As you read through Chapter 7 of Peggy Orenstein’s book, most, if not all, of the displays
of resistance described by Wotherspoon are demonstrated by the pupils of John J. Audubon
Middle School.
Taking the Krieger and Raynes classes as examples, you can see that on a daily basis the
students are subjected to attitudes of indifference and hopelessness, poor lesson preparation,
derogatory comments, lack of motivation, and lowered expectations. They are left in little doubt
of their worth and ability as perceived by the teachers and school administration and respond
accordingly by displays of resistance. In contrast, student behaviour in the Leland math class at
Audubon is markedly different. Ms Leland is a dedicated, caring teacher who puts great effort
into preparation and organization of her classes; treats students fairly and respectfully; and sets
clear rules and expectations. The atmosphere in her class is conducive to learning. Students
get the message they are can and are expected to learn. They work hard and their
achievements are reflected in the school’s state-wide test scores.
At Weston Middle School, the students, most of whom come from middle-class
backgrounds and who have the benefit of enthusiastic teachers striving to engage and inspire
them, are more secure in their feelings of self-worth and their place in society than the Audubon
students. Resistance is not displayed on the same scale as at Audubon.
Wotherspoon writes about another type of student response, compliance, which is
described as students accepting school rules and expressing enthusiasm for their schooling as a
way of gaining rewards.
At Weston Middle School, I feel the female students displayed compliance not only with
the official school rules, but also the unspoken rules: that certain types of behaviour, such
speaking out in class, are acceptable for males, but not for females; that females are less
capable in the fields of science and mathematics than males and therefore will not contribute or
achieve as much as males in those classes.
When female students at Weston did exhibit resistance by speaking out or fooling around
in class in an effort to get attention, they were not rewarded the way boys were. In one
instance, a girl was assigned a lower grade for being “disruptive” while similar activity by a male
student was accepted by the teacher with a “boys will be boys” attitude.