ED2095 Lecture 4: Gender and Multicultural Inclusion
Inclusive Education - Lecture 6 - Week 6
Gender and Multicultural Inclusion
Current Gender Perspective
- Feminist views no longer the sole focus
- Gender and what we expect of boys and girls is a changing, society and culturally driven concept
- Changes in family structures
- Allocation of resources on the basis of need
Gender Differences – What does Research Say?
- 4000 scans of more than 2000 children mapped different development paths in the brains of girls and
boys.
- "In general the girls' brains are maturing a bit faster than the boys' brains." But not in all areas. "Certain
parts of the brain involved in mechanical skills or projectile estimations mature somewhat faster in boys"
(Geidd, 2005, p.2).
- Important to pay more attention to the differences between the way boys learn and girls learn
- "Girls and boys differ profoundly in how they hear, how they see, how they respond to stress -and those
differences are present at birth” (Sax, 2005, p.1).
Educational Consequences
Societal differences
- From birth girls are rewarded for
Being polite
Being well behaved
Looking pretty
- Boys are rewarded for
Their assertiveness
Winning
Their Accomplishments
Perpetuating gender stereotypes
- Parental attitudes
- Societal attitudes
- Lack of appropriate role models
- Myths about aptitude and ability
- Classroom patterns of interaction
- Overt discrimination
Interesting Study (Michigan State Board of Education, 1991)
- 1000+ elementary students
- Both sexes had more positive things to say about being a boy
- 40% of girls saw advantages if they were boys (better jobs, more respect)
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