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2014Mary Ann Wingrave Doctor of Education Wingrave, Mary Ann (2014) An old issue in a new era: early years practitioners' perceptions of gender. Ed.D thesis. http://theses.gla.ac.uk/5211/ Copyright and moral rights for this thesis are retained by the author A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the Author The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the Author When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given Glasgow Theses Service http://theses.gla.ac.uk/ [email protected] An old issue in a new era: Early Years Practitioners’ perceptions of gender. Mary Wingrave B.Ed. (Hons), PGC: EYEC Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Education University of Glasgow February 2014 Abstract This dissertation is an exploration of a group of Early Years Practitioners’ perceptions of gender. The current media and educational interest in the gendered brain suggests that children’s learning might be differentiated according to their sex. Based on assumed biological differences, approaches to the care and education of children could be established on sex categories rather than on an individual’s needs. My focus here is to explore understandings of gender to gain insight into how these might influence practitioners’ expectations of children’s behaviour and learning in the nursery environment. The study is premised on the belief that practitioners’ perceptions of gender could result in self-fulfilling prophecies being (re)produced and (re)created. Binary expectations could limit opportunities for children due to stereotypical assumptions and practices being employed. The dissertation adopts a Foucauldian lens to identify practices and perceptions that foreground children’s gender and sex categories and which do not reflect child-centred approaches. A number of themes permeate the dissertation, including the nature of gender, sexuality and play. The research data was collected from a group of eight Early Years Practitioners who took part in five discussion sessions as well as from a toy survey given to that group and a further 92 participants. The findings indicate that there is a belief among practitioners that gender impacts upon learning, behaviour and children’s play. In addition, there are clear indications that the participants believe children’s, especially boys’, early play behaviours predict their future sexual orientation. The conclusions presented suggest that changes to the education and training of Early Years Practitioners are required in order to raise awareness of gender issues in nurseries. I suggest that placing gender back on the training agenda with the use of Dewey’s critical thinking and Schon’s reflection-on-action may support changes to practice that could, in turn, provide children with more equitable teaching and learning experiences. Finally, areas for further research are proposed that investigate the perceptions of gender as understood by children and their parents. [1] Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................................... 1 Acknowledgments ............................................................................................................... 6 Certificate of Originality ..................................................................................................... 7 List of Acronyms Used ....................................................................................................... 8 Chapter 1 – Introduction and Rationale .............................................................................. 9 1.1 An old issue in a new era .............................................................................. 9 1.2 Gender and education .................................................................................... 9 1.3 Professional context and aim of the project .................................................. 11 Chapter 2 – Biological determinism – Defence and critique ........................................... 13 2.1 The debate ....................................................................................................... 13 2.2 Gender and sex ................................................................................................ 14 2.3 Biological determinism and the rise of feminism ........................................... 18 2.4 Wider social emancipation and second wave feminism .................................. 21 2.5 Third wave feminism and the reclamation of femininity ................................ 23 2.6 A new behaviourism ........................................................................................ 25 2.6.1 Colour preferences ................................................................................... 26 2.6.2 Brain differences...................................................................................... 27 Chapter 3 – The Social Construction of Gender .............................................................. 31 3.1 Introduction to social construction ................................................................ 31 3.2 Sex and gender ................................................................................................ 32 3.3 It's a boy! It's a girl! ......................................................................................... 34 3.4 Socialisation theories of gender ...................................................................... 35 3.4.1 Social Learning Theory ........................................................................... 36 3.4.2 Cognitive Development Theory .............................................................. 38 3.5 An interpretivist understanding of childhood and gender ............................. 40 3.5.1 Gender Schema Theory ........................................................................... 42 3.5.2 Socialisation theories, gender and society - limitations .......................... 44 3.6 Stereotypes ..................................................................................................... 45 3.6.1 Stereotypes and gender ............................................................................ 47 3.6.2 How children learn gender stereotypes ................................................... 47 3.6.3 Uniqueness of gender stereotypes ........................................................... 48 3.6.4 Stereotypes: crossing the boundaries ....................................................... 49 Chapter 4 – Stereotypes: Toys, Colour and Early Years ................................................. 52 4.1 Perceptions of toys and colour ........................................................................ 52 4.2 Children and toys ............................................................................................ 52 4.3 The gendered environment .............................................................................. 56 4.3.1 The environment and socialisation .......................................................... 57 4.4 The significance of colour ............................................................................. 57 4.5 Pinkification .................................................................................................... 59 4.5.1 Pink and clothes ....................................................................................... 60 4.6 Is there a problem with pink? .......................................................................... 62 4.6.1 The pink effect ......................................................................................... 63 4.6.2 Challenge to pink ..................................................................................... 64 4.7 Biopolitics in the nursery ................................................................................ 68 4.8 The role of early years education and care ...................................................... 70 Chapter 5 – Methodology and Methods ............................................................................ 74 5.1 Positioning the research .................................................................................. 74 5.2 The paradigm ................................................................................................... 74 5.2.1 The interpretative paradigm .................................................................... 76 [2] 5.3 Methods .......................................................................................................... 77 5.3.1 Discussion groups .................................................................................... 77 5.3.2 The discussion group and protocols ........................................................ 78 5.3.3 The setting. .............................................................................................. 79 5.4 Transcribing and analysis of the data .............................................................. 80 5.4.1 Transcription analysis during the research process ................................. 81 5.4.2 Transcription analysis after the discussion groups .................................. 84 5.4.3 Toy Survey .............................................................................................
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