A Qualitative Study of How Gender Appears in the Thinking of Four Elementary Teachers

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A Qualitative Study of How Gender Appears in the Thinking of Four Elementary Teachers University of Massachusetts Amherst ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst Doctoral Dissertations 1896 - February 2014 1-1-2000 Teaching gender : a qualitative study of how gender appears in the thinking of four elementary teachers. Carolyn M. Pillow University of Massachusetts Amherst Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations_1 Recommended Citation Pillow, Carolyn M., "Teaching gender : a qualitative study of how gender appears in the thinking of four elementary teachers." (2000). Doctoral Dissertations 1896 - February 2014. 5400. https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations_1/5400 This Open Access Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral Dissertations 1896 - February 2014 by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. For more information, please contact [email protected]. TEACHING GENDER: A QUALITATIVE STUDY OF HOW GENDER APPEARS IN THE THINKING OF FOUR ELEMENTARY TEACHERS A Dissertation Presented by CAROLYN M. PILLOW Submitted to the Graduate School of the University of Massachusetts Amherst in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF EDUCATION February 2000 School of Education © Copyright by Carolyn M. Pillow 2000 All Rights Reserved TEACHING GENDER: A QUALITATIVE STUDY OF HOW GENDER APPEARS IN THE THINKING OF FOUR ELEMENTARY TEACHERS A Dissertation Presented by CAROLYN M. PILLOW Marion B. Rhodes, Member ACKNOWLEDGMENTS My advisor, David Schuman, came into my life during a time when I had little academic support as a graduate student. He changed a dark time into years of a true intellectual adventure for me. With the help of his gentle direction I explored more and more complex areas of knowledge. I will be forever grateful. Thank you, David, for providing an incredibly empowering experience for this female graduate student. I would also like to express my appreciation to my committee members for their special contributions to my learning process. Helen Schneider, in one sentence, provided me with the key that took my dissertation into complicated and interesting directions. Marion Rhodes gave me a view of gender issues in her world of science. I am grateful to both women for their support and for comments and questions that are still challenging my thinking. Finally, I need to thank my husband, Landon, who really struggled through the lengthy process of my pursuit of a doctoral degree. Although he often didn’t understand why I was so determined, he didn’t give up on me. IV ABSTRACT TEACHING GENDER: A QUALITATIVE STUDY OF HOW GENDER APPEARS IN THE THINKING OF FOUR ELEMENTARY TEACHERS FEBRUARY 2000 CAROLYN M. PILLOW, B.A. REGIS COLLEGE M.S.W. UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA Ed.D. UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST Directed by: Professor David Schuman $ Four elementary teachers were interviewed in a qualitative study to determine how gender was reflected in their thinking. All four teachers, three female and one male, had been at their job for 20 to 25 years and were designated by their colleagues as sensitive to issues of gender in the classroom. They grew up in the 1950's when gender roles were rigidly defined and were young adults when the women’s movement began to challenge the traditional roles of women and men in society. During the past decade these teachers worked in an area in which gender equity training and resources were readily available. Although there were no references made by the teachers to the cultural changes that occurred during their earlier years or to the current emphasis on gender equity in education, the data did indicate three ways that gender was reflected in the teachers’ conversations. Sometimes it was implied. At other times, although gender issues were explicitly described, they were not identified as relating to gender. There were also instances in their interviews where the teachers directly described how gender issues affected them or their students. v TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. vi ABSTRACT. v CHAPTER INTRODUCTION.1 I. THE INFLUENCE OF GENDER ON GIRLS AND BOYS IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL.7 Gender Socialization Begins in Infancy .9 Gender Socialization Continues in Preschool.12 Gender Socialization in the Elementary Classroom .13 Gender and Academic Achievement.16 Summary.22 II. PSYCHOLOGICAL AND BIOLOGICAL THEORIES OF GENDER DIFFERENCES .26 Psychological Theories of Gender.26 Early Theories on Gender.26 Gender Development Theories from the 1970's to the Present.29 Biological Theories on Gender.36 The Brain.37 Hormones and Genes .40 Biology and Psychology.43 Summary.44 III. METHODOLOGY. 45 Data Collection .45 Analysis of Data .51 IV. THE TEACHERS.53 Gina.54 Mary .56 Audrey.59 Joe.60 Summary.63 vi V. ANALYSIS OF THE INTERVIEWS ON THE ELEMENTARY TEACHERS’ BACKGROUNDS.65 Gender Roles and Career Choices of Family Members .66 Why The Became Elementary Teachers .70 Similarities Between Research Findings and Teachers’ Memories .75 Cultural Awareness.80 Summary.82 VI. ANALYSIS OF THE TEACHERS’ DISCUSSIONS ON THEIR CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES.84 Their Best Students and Their Most Difficult Students .85 Gender and Cultural Issues in the Classroom.92 Summary.101 CONCLUSION .103 APPENDICES A. RESEARCH AGREEMENT .114 B. INTERVIEW FOCUS FOR FIRST SESSION.115 C. INTERVIEW FOCUS FOR SECOND SESSION.116 BIBLIOGRAPHY.117 vii INTRODUCTION During the 1990's there has been increasing concern and discussion among educators that female students in elementary, middle, and high school classrooms are not receiving the same learning opportunities as male students. Findings from a number of studies on the effects and extent of gender bias in schools have provided data supporting the need for changes (Sadker & Sadker, 1994).1 In the Fall of 1990 the American Association of University Women (AAUW) conducted a nationwide poll of elementary, middle, and high school students to explore the impact of gender on their self-confidence, 2 academic interests, and career goals. The results showed girls' confidence in their academic abilities steadily declining as they moved through the elementary and middle grades and through high school. During this same period, the data also indicated a lowering of career aspirations for the girls polled. (AAUW, 1991) In 1992 the same association published a report of the major research findings on the accomplishments, behaviors, and needs of girls from preschool through high school. They concluded that: [This] research ... challenges traditional assumptions about the egalitarian nature of American schools. Young women in the United States today are still not participating equally in our educational system. Research documents that girls do not receive equitable amounts of teacher attention, that they are less apt than boys to see themselves reflected in the materials they study, and that they often are not expected or encouraged to pursue higher level mathematics and science courses. (American Association of University Women, 1992, p. 84) 'Gender bias' is defined as "the underlying network of assumptions and beliefs held by a person that males and females differ in systematic ways other than physically, that is, in talents, behaviors, or interests" (Streitmatter, 1994, p. 2). 2 In this paper, 'gender' refers to those behaviors, characteristics, expectations, and ways of thinking that are assigned to girls and boys and to men and women in our society and that are conveyed and reinforced through the structure of its institutions, i.e. the educational system, and through the interaction of its members. It is through the process of verbal and non-verbal interaction that the meanings of gender are created and maintained (Crawford, 1994). 1 Although the concept of gender equity implies that an environment is created in which girls and boys are given the same opportunities to learn and to achieve, teachers are being asked to change both their teaching methods and behavior primarily for the benefit of female students. The current idea of 'gender equity' is really about trying to eliminate ‘gender bias’ in the classroom. "The rationale is that it is fair to work in a somewhat unequal fashion in order to remove the factors that have previously placed this group [female learners] at risk for unequal achievement in the end (Streitmatter, 1994, p. 9).” One outcome of the research on the inequity that girls experience in the classroom has been the increase in gender-equitable resource materials, i.e. Women's Educational Equity Act (WEEA) Resource Center catalogues. Another has been the growth of training programs for classroom teachers to help teachers increase their sensitivity to gender issues, develop certain skills, and have access to the curriculum materials that will enable them to create a gender equitable classroom, i.e.. The National Seeking Educational Equity and Diversity Project (SEED) and the WEEA Resource Center. As a result of the research on gender in the classroom, teachers are being asked to change their curriculum, their methods of teaching, and their behavior toward female and male students. I am interested in this area for two reasons. For more than 30 years I have been providing therapy for individuals who want to change aspects of their behavior and some of the ways that they react to and relate to people. I know that change in this context is difficult. These individuals often have patterns of behaving and thinking that are not at the conscious level. They may also be strongly influenced by their cultural and family environments. Economic, racial, ethnic, and religious factors can have an impact on a person’s thinking and behavior. Because of my experience with this type of change, I believe that the notion of creating a gender equitable classroom involves more complex issues than curriculum and teacher behavior toward female and male students. I wanted to begin to discover what they are. 3 There are teachers who do operationalize 'gender equity' through classroom practices designed to give equal or the same opportunities to both girls and boys (Streitmatter, 1994.
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