Gender 'matters' in the primary classroom: pupils' and teachers' perspectives

Skelton, C., Carrington, B., Francis, B., Hutchings, M., Read, B. and Hall, I. (2009) Gender 'matters' in the primary classroom: pupils' and teachers' perspectives. British Educational Research Journal, 35(2), pp. 187-204. (doi: 10.1080/01411920802041905)

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Abstract

A recent project involving Year 3 (seven–eight year‐old) pupils and their teachers revealed that ‘gender matters’ differently to boys and girls, and teachers. The study sought to elicit whether pupils and their teachers felt the gender of a teacher mattered to their experiences of schooling. Pupils were concerned about how effective teachers were in carrying out their professional functions and a teacher's gender was subsumed within this. For these pupils, ‘gender mattered’ in terms of the construction of their own gender identities. In contrast, teachers were aware of and attentive to the gender of pupils in managing and organising classroom interactions. The variety of differing views expressed and positions adopted towards the place of gender in teacher–pupil interactions demonstrates the complexity of developing ‘one size fits all’ approaches to tackling gender equity in the classroom.

Item Type:Articles
Status:Published
Refereed:Yes
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:Read, Professor Barbara
Authors: Skelton, C., Carrington, B., Francis, B., Hutchings, M., Read, B., and Hall, I.
College/School:College of Social Sciences > School of Education
College of Social Sciences > School of Education > Educational Leadership & Policy
Journal Name:British Educational Research Journal
Publisher:Taylor & Francis
ISSN:0141-1926
Published Online:20 March 2009

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