Handbook of psychology volume 7 educational psychology

Gender Issues in the Classroom

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Gender Equity in the Middle Grades and High School Years 277
CONCLUSIONS Creating a Gender-Equitable Culture in the Classroom
References 279

276

Gender Issues in the Classroom

test of speciﬁc subject matter given to students in 4th, 8th, and

12th grades. The gender gap increases with grade level.

African American girls, however, outscore African American

boys at every assessment point (AAUW, 1998; http://

nces.ed.gov).

A review of research within science and mathematics

classes provides insight and hope for creating a more equi-

table climate of participation and a more engaging curricu-

lum. Research demonstrates that when high school physics

teachers give appropriate attention to gender issues in their

classrooms, achievement and participation improve for

all their students—especially for their female students

(Rop, 1998). Creating a classroom culture that is emotionally

safe for females and males alike and sanctioning risks

and mistakes as vital to learning requires that teachers

model ways to take individual risks (Kasov, as quoted by

Rop, 1998). In high school chemistry and physics, assigning

students research articles by women, taking a direct approach

with females to actively encourage their participation in

advanced science courses, and providing female mentoring

are interventions that have proven successful. One such inter-

vention for chemistry students includes creating electronic or

face-to-face mentoring relationships with women chemists

who have successful careers. High school chemistry teachers

have reported that this intervention has resulted in encourag-

ing young women to consider science as a career (Campbell

& Storo, 1994; Kahle & Meece, 1994; Rop, 1998; Sanders

et al., 1997). High school science teachers have learned

that—in coeducational environments—often single-sex sci-

ence lab groups are more effective for encouraging young

women than are the mixed-gender groups (Rop, 1998). This

and other studies revealed that in mixed gender groups, the

girls are often the scribes or the recorders for the lab experi-

ence and the males are more often the doers; this situation is

eliminated in single-sex lab groups.

Restructuring curriculum to provide a holistic view of the

subject area encourages scientiﬁc study for both males and

females. Integrating the history, social context, and social

implications of scientiﬁc study by making connections to

contemporary issues in the scientiﬁc ﬁeld brings the physical

sciences to life in important and meaningful ways. Making

connections to lived experience is both an agenda for the

National Science Education Standards (National Research

Council, 1996) and for encouraging participation in the

sciences.

Meyer (1998) found that feeling included is a necessary

prerequisite to participation in school science. As a science

education professor, she was engaged in teaching physical

science to future elementary school science teachers. Renam-

ing her university course Creative Expression in Science, she

encouraged participation of her females in the physical

science course. Engaging her students in deep and lengthy

discussion and experimentation in a safe and inclusive envi-

ronment has led to female students’ pursuing science in ways

that the students previously had not imagined. In one inter-

vention, Meyer (1998) studied motion with her female

students by swimming in the university pool, ice skating at

the local rink, and doing simple gymnastics in the university

gym: “In-class discussions were richly based on the move-

ments we shared” (p. 469).

In studies, adult women reﬂect on their science experi-

ences through personal narratives. These stories reveal both a

sense of estrangement from the scientiﬁc disciplines as well

as fear of making a mistake (Koch, 1998b; Meyer, 1998).

Incompetent pedagogy and an inability to make connections

to students’ lived experiences can result in feelings of incom-

petence in science and—for women—a sense of feeling that

“this is not your space” (Larkin, 1994, p. 109). In these stud-

ies, surveys, personal interviews, and analysis of personal

narratives, sometimes called science autobiographies, reveal

that the distance that many women feel from afﬁliations

toward natural science is frequently a result of feeling like a

deﬁcient female. Although males may feel deﬁcient in

science, the images of scientiﬁc heroes and their stories create

a culture of entitlement to success that allows males’ feelings

of incompetence to be separated from issues of gender. Many

females feel that they are part of an aggregate group whose

members are not supposedly good in science.

The rigor of natural science is not seen as a deterrent to

female participation; rather, the method of teaching has em-

phasized a false disconnection between studying the sciences

and understanding their contributions to society. In a recent

study (Linn, 2000), researchers and teachers created impor-

tant curriculum contexts for making science relevant to stu-

dents’ lives. By integrating scientiﬁc controversies into the

secondary science curriculum, students gained the opportu-

nity to connect to a contemporary scientiﬁc controversy and

began to see that scientists regularly revisit their ideas and

rethink their views, empowering students to do the same.

I challenge all concerned about science education to remedy the

serious declines in science interest, the disparities in male and

female persistence in science, and the public resistance to scien-

tiﬁc understandings by forming partnerships to bring to life the

excitement and controversy in scientiﬁc research. (Linn, 2000,

p. 16)

In one study, students were engaged in exploring a contem-

porary controversy about deformed frogs. By using selected

Internet materials to construct their own arguments, students

prepared for a classroom debate around two main hypothe-

ses: the parasite hypothesis stating that the trematode parasite

Gender Equity in the Middle Grades and High School Years

277

explains the increase in frog deformities or the environmen-

tal hypothesis suggesting that an increase in speciﬁc chemi-

cals used to spray adjacent ﬁelds to the frog pond caused the

frog deformities. In order to construct an argument, students

examined evidence from research laboratories, discussed

their ideas with peers, and searched for additional infor-

mation. Using a Web-based environment, middle school

students partnered with graduate students working in a labo-

ratory at Berkeley as well as with technology and assessment

experts (see http://wise.berkeley.edu).

In the study of this project, researchers interviewed and

surveyed teachers and students prior to their participation in

this partnership. They designed pre- and posttests, inquiry

activities, and curriculum materials that ensured that curricu-

lum and assessment were aligned. The classroom research

continued to help teachers to reﬁne the materials used for in-

struction. Prior to this scientiﬁc controversy unit, the students

often reported that science had no relevance to their lives and

that science was best learned by memorizing (Linn & Hsi,

1999). In the deformed frogs study, pre- and posttest assess-

ments revealed that more than two thirds of the students were

able to use the mechanism for the parasite hypothesis that

they learned from the Internet evidence. The answers often

revealed the complex use of language and showed that the

students learned from reviewing and integrating Web re-

sources. On all assessment measures for content, females and

males were equally successful.

This scientiﬁc controversy unit about deformed frogs was

carried out with diverse middle school students—half the

students qualiﬁed for free or reduced-price lunches, and one

in four students spoke English at home. As a result of this sci-

entiﬁc controversy unit of study, more students participated

in science, more students gained scientiﬁc understanding, and

students became more aware of the excitement that motivates

scientists to pursue careers in science (Linn, 2000, p. 25).

The skills that students acquired by working in these part-

nerships and critically evaluating and interpreting scientiﬁc

data were contextualized and situated within the real world of

science—ponds and frogs. Using McIntosh’s theory (1983),

this Phase 4 curriculum brought science, scientists, and re-

search to life in ways that allowed students to be participants

and contributors, seeing themselves as valuable and capable

of working collaboratively. This type of curriculum transfor-

mation works on behalf of all students by stating overtly that

they and their thinking do matter. School science has been too

removed from real-life experiences, and thus it has suffered

from not attracting females; this type of curriculum transfor-

mation will potentially attract those who have seen them-

selves as other to the study of science.

Classroom researchers describe pedagogy and practices

that are employed to encourage girls’ participation in physics

that reveal the importance of gender-sensitive classrooms for

promoting girls’ interest in physics (Martin, 1996). The learn-

ing environments that are most effective include respecting

girls as central players—researchers refer to honoring their

experiences and their within-group diversity by encouraging

participation strategies, providing a safe classroom, high-

lighting the accomplishments as well as the barriers to

women and science, and becoming involved in making con-

nections between the physics and girls’ lived experience

(Martin, 1996; Meyer, 1998). Requiring that students main-

tain reﬂective journals in the physics class has been seen as a

useful strategy to engage all students in their thinking. Main-

taining reﬂective journals in the physics classroom helps

males and females integrate communication skills into the

understanding of the physics concepts (Sanders et al., 1997).

Results from gender-sensitive classes reveal that attitudes

and achievement increase and speak to the importance of

institutionalizing gender-equitable practices.

Mathematics educators have identiﬁed pedagogy and

curriculum interventions that result in attracting more females

to higher order mathematics while improving the quality of

teaching and learning in mathematics (Fennema & Leder,

1990; Noddings, 1990; Reynolds, 1995). In fact, strategies ad-

vocated by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics

(NCTM, 2000), afﬁrm the that gender-equitable teaching is a

prerequisite to excellent practice. Such practices are similar

for science educators—namely, making connections between

mathematics and lived experience, working in cooperative

learning groups, providing mentors and images of women in

mathematics, coaching females for deeper responses to higher

order questions, and holding out the expectation that females

as well as males will be successful in mathematics.

Addressing cognitive research, Reynolds (1995) includes

pointers for teaching mathematics to all students; suggestions

include using a constructivist approach to teaching (Brooks &

Brooks, 1999). The following behaviors are examples of those

advocated on behalf of all students’ learning in mathematics:

• Considering problems of emerging interest to the students.

• Studying the big picture and situating major concepts.

• Seeking and valuing students’ points of view.

• Communicating both verbally and in writing.

• Giving nonjudgmental feedback.

• Reﬂecting and caring.

• Interacting in groups.

• Listening to each other.

• Honoring creativity (Reynolds, 1995, p. 26).

By making connections between previously documented

gender-equity strategies for mathematics teaching and

278

Gender Issues in the Classroom

learning, Reynolds (1995) notes the overlap with construc-

tivist practice. Furthermore, in addition to teachers’ monitor-

ing their interactions with students to ensure that both

genders receive comparable treatment with respect to student

voice, extending wait time, and placing students at the center

of learning, Reynolds notes that constructivist teachers are

constantly monitoring student understanding, which is at the

core of more gender-equitable settings. It is hoped that tech-

nology instruction will follow the lead of science and mathe-

matics instruction by designing curriculum and pedagogical

practices that increase possibilities for females’ participation.

With each generation, gender images and gendered sys-

tems of privilege get revisited in schools and colleges. The

impulse to repeat offenses because they appear invisible is

pervasive in all schooling. As the new century begins, educa-

tors look anew at ways to improve the learning environments

for girls and boys—for men and women.

In an intensive study (Hopkins, 1999) of working condi-

tions for women academic scientists and engineers at MIT, it

was revealed that women scientists experienced many in-

equities in their working conditions, allocation of resources,

and salaries. The data were collected over several years and

the analysis was intense. Women at several other institutions

joined ranks with their colleagues in documenting differen-

tial research environments for men and women at their uni-

versities. In response to these data, the Ford Foundation has

awarded a $1 million grant to MIT to promote similar efforts

for equity at other campuses.

CONCLUSIONS

Creating a Gender-Equitable Culture in the Classroom

In all academic disciplines, research has shown that girls and

boys as well as young men and women sitting in the same

classroom and experiencing the same curriculum often re-

ceive differential treatment—usually unwittingly—based on

their gender. Most teachers, both men and women, elemen-

tary and secondary, interact more with boys than with girls.

In addition, both male and female teachers view girls as more

independent, creative, and academically persistent, whereas

boys are seen as more aggressive. Teachers who are success-

ful in addressing classroom interaction strategies that further

the growth and development of both females and males are

ones who are aware of the research ﬁndings about gender

and equity and who employ conscious strategies on behalf

of creating equitable environments. These strategies include

using nonsexist, inclusive language and avoiding sexist

humor. Gender-equitable teachers encourage all students to

participate in class discussions by employing speciﬁc strate-

gies for calling on students. They tend to value creativity and

multiple ways of solving problems, honoring differences.

In teacher sanctions, equitable teachers praise and afﬁrm

both girls and boys for performance and do not overpraise

girls for their appearance. In their interactions, they coach all

students to search for deeper meanings and provide role

models for both males and females from all socioeconomic

strata. Teachers can employ wait time to encourage risk tak-

ing when students are answering questions. By consciously

addressing gender issues, teachers adapt instructional strate-

gies to account for gender (i.e., girls-only science talks;

mixed-gender writing groups).

Gender-equitable teaching involves monitoring the class-

room discourse, understanding the context-speciﬁc com-

plexities of dominance in classroom environments, and

integrating cooperative learning into regular teacher-directed

environments. It is necessary for teachers to hold out the

expectation that both females and males can accomplish a

task or solve a problem. It is important not to perform a task

for a female student while expecting a male student to do it

on his own. This practice leads to learned helplessness

(Eccles Parsons, Meece, Adler, & Kaczala, 1982).

Gender-equitable teaching uncovers the hidden curricu-

lum and enables teachers to identify bias and confront sexism

in the classroom. Teachers must avoid comparisons of boys

and girls regarding behavior, achievement, and attitudes.

They need to ask students whether teachers are treating

persons differently because of gender. Additionally, teachers

should ask students to tell them when teachers are treating

either group differently. Finally, teachers need to accept and

encourage emotional expression from both girls and boys

(adapted from Greenberg, 1985; Pratchler, 1996; Sadker &

Sadker, 1994; Sanders et al., 1997).

The formal curriculum must be explored through the lens

of race, class, and gender: Who is included and who is signif-

icant to learn about? Formal curriculum must reﬂect the lived

experience of all students so that knowledge construction is a

shared endeavor. Schools limit possibilities for gender equity

when they fail to confront or discuss risk factors for students.

Risk factors for students must be addressed through the for-

mal curriculum. Deconstructing gender teachings means ask-

ing what programs, pedagogies, and curricula will best serve

the needs of female and male students.

In teacher education schools, colleges, and departments,

equity must be viewed as essential to professional education

programs; gender-equity issues must be integrated into pre-

service training. Colleges and universities must confront the

risks for girls and boys in school and develop programs to

stem high dropout rates and address the underrepresentation

References

279

of girls in computer science and physics. Understanding the

importance of extracurricular activities for girls, schools

should strive to recruit and retain more females in those ac-

tivities. Researchers need to explore the overrepresentation

of males in remedial reading programs and seek to learn the

causes. “Research should analyze educational data by sex,

race, ethnicity, and social class to provide a more detailed

picture of all students” (AAUW, 1998, p. 10).

Examining school violence gives clues to the gender so-

cialization of boys that alienates them from the dominant

school culture. Examining risk factors for boys and exploring

interventions on behalf of their healthy development must

become a priority.

Studies of girls and schooling need to explore single-sex

public schools for minority females, such as the Young

Women’s Leadership School in New York City. What are the

attributes of these environments that can be institutionalized

in coeducational schools? In coeducational classrooms,

researchers needs to explore girls’ silences and how entitle-

ment to voice differs across ethnicity and socioeconomic

class.

Studies need to examine how the computer science gender

gap is affecting the educational gap, and they should identify

useful interventions on behalf of girls and computer science.

Female participation in physics and engineering requires fur-

ther study because it lags seriously behind their participation

in the life sciences. Nancy Hopkins, a noted biologist who

led the MIT study on women scientists mentioned previ-

ously, stated, “It’s a different world now for women scien-

tists, but the question is, ‘How do you institutionalize it so it

will last for the next generation?’” (Zernike, 2001, p. A11).

That, indeed, is the question that underlies gender issues in

the classroom—what would institutionalizing this agenda

look like? It is hoped this chapter gives some glimpses.

REFERENCES