In the 21st century, the school environment can sometimes be difficult for students because of their gender identity or sexual orientation. How can this be changed? It is important for prospective teachers to recognize the obstacles that students experience in school if they are to empower students for maximum intellectual growth and leadership and afford students equal opportunities. In this unit, we will explore some of the sexually-related issues that students face in U.S. schools.
SOCIAL PROBLEMS FACED BY MALES & FEMALES IN SCHOOL
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In today's schools, male and female students may confront a number of social problems, including, gender biases, gender discrimination, inadequate instruction, sexual harassment, and homophobia.
Gender Biases
Before entering elementary school, children begin to learn gender roles at home (i.e., expectations and behaviors that are based on their sex). In school, these roles tend to be reinforced by teachers. Boys are taught to be independent and to achieve while girls are taught to be responsible and nurturing.
Inadequate Instruction
Males and females are also prepared for different roles in society by being tracked into different educational programs. Males typically receive more math and science education than females and also tend to have greater access to advanced courses. In addition, researchers have found that both male and female teachers tend to treat male and female students differently. Many have higher expectations for male students than female students in scientific disciplines and higher expectations for female students than male students in English. Teachers also tend to call more on male students than female students, to allow male students to break rules, and to expect girls to behave and be passive. This results in unequal outcomes between males and females. Males have higher SAT and GRE scores and entrance scores to law school or medical school.
Some of the curricula taught in school may also be gender-biased when only one-sided perspectives are presented (e.g., history from the perspective of men), the voices of women are omitted, and textbooks and educational materials entail sexist messages about the particular roles that men and women should assume. Furthermore, some of the teaching methods used by teachers fail to address the cognitive styles of male and female students in the classroom. In particular, males tend to be field-independent (i.e., analytical thinkers) and to achieve through competition while females tend to be field-dependent (i.e., global thinkers) and to achieve through prompting. Thus female students benefit from coaching, solving real-life problems, and cooperative learning.
Sexual Harassment
In the world of school, students can also be subjected to sexual harassment. Sexual harassment is the act of making sexual demands on an individual who is not interested such as touching a person against his/her will or making comments of a sexual nature. Sexual harassment may be perpetuated by individuals who are in positions of control over students (e.g., administrator or teacher) or by students onto other students.
Homophobia
Students can also be exposed to homophobic behaviors while in school. Homophobia is the irrational fear of homosexuals. Due to limited exposure and lack of knowledge and understanding about homosexuality, homophobia is manifested through anger and feelings of disgust and typically results in prejudiced attitudes, harassment, discrimination, and even acts of violence.
Gender Discrimination
Teaching gender-biased curricula, as well as gender roles and sexist beliefs is a form of gender discrimination that may limit students' academic and personal development, occupational roles, and financial opportunities, and subsequently prevent students from participating equally in society. Teachers have a responsibility to help all students develop to their fullest intellectual potential irrespective of their gender or sexual orientation. Teachers are also responsible for ensuring that students are not the victims of sexual harassment or homophobia. If they witness inappropriate gestures or comments made by an adult or student, they should report the incident to an administrator and immediately discipline the student. They should always role-model positive values and behaviors and treat all students with respect and dignity. It is also recommended that teachers discuss sexism and homosexuality with their students to dispel any stereotypes that they may harbor and to bring about greater understanding and tolerance.
DIFFERENCES IN COGNITIVE STYLES
According to research, males and females think differently as they have different cognitive styles. What are the specific, cognitive differences between males and females? How do these differences come about and how do they affect the way that males and females learn? It is critical for the future generation of teachers to know the answers to the above questions in order to deliver quality instruction to students of both sexes and to afford all students equal educational opportunities. In this unit, we will examine the differences in cognitive styles between male and female students.
WHAT ARE THE COGNITIVE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN MALES AND FEMALES?
Males and females present differences in the lateralization of their brain function. This means that they prefer to process information on different sides of the brain. Studies show that females tend to be left-brain dominant and males right-brain dominant. The left side of the brain controls language and logical reasoning and the right side of the brain controls spatial functions and creativity. This explains why females perform better on the National Assessment of Educational Progress reading tests and males on the NAEP math tests.
Recently, research that involved the brain imaging of about 1,000 teenagers also showed that the male brain has more neural connections within each hemisphere from the front to the back parts of the brain whereas the female brain has more neural connections between hemispheres from the left to the right sides of the brain. This suggests that the male brain is also optimized for motor skills and the female brain for analytical thinking.
NON-GENDER BIASED TEACHING STRATEGIES
The trend in education nowadays is to stop gender stratification and to provide both male and female students with equal educational opportunities through non-gender differentiated teaching. To achieve this, three approaches to education have been adopted, including women's studies programs, single-sex education, and nonsexist education.
Women's studies programs focus on women's culture, status, historical development, and achievement in society. These programs are for female students only. They teach female students about women and train them to be assertive and competitive in a male-dominated world.
Single-sex education is an approach designed to develop male or female students' self-esteem, academic performance, and leadership skills. Male or female students are taught in separate settings and their cultural experiences are incorporated into the curriculum. This approach also adapts instruction to students' particular learning styles.
Nonsexist education, on the other hand, is intended for both male and female students. It focuses on the roles and contributions of males, females, and homosexuals and how they are treated differently in society. This approach allows students to develop to their fullest potential, to explore both traditional and nontraditional roles, to cultivate non-sexist and nonhomophobic attitudes, and to develop a positive self-concept.
Beyond the above approaches, it is also critical that all teachers encourage female students to participate in math and science classes and to take advanced courses in math, science, and computer science. One strategy that can be used to engage female students in these subjects is to relate content to real-life situations and to require female students to solve problems using technology. Teachers should also design classroom activities that require female students to have hands-on experiences and to take leadership roles and to collaborate with male students. Teachers should further encourage male students to engage in numerous reading and writing activities.
REFERENCES
American Association of University Women Educational Foundation. (2001). Hostile hallways: Bullying, teasing, and sexual harassment in school. Washington, DC: Author.
ChallengingMedia. (2006). Playing Unfair: The Media Image of the Female Athlete. Retrieved March 8, 2018 from https://youtu.be/luadmO7Cugc
Coley, R. (2001). Differences in the gender gap: Comparisons across racial/ethnic groups in education and work. Princeton, NJ: Educational Testing Service.
Gollnick, D. & Chinn, P. (2021). Multicultural education in a pluralistic society (11th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.
Ortner, S. (1996). Making gender: The politics and erotics of culture. Boston: Beacon.
Sadker, M. & Sadker, D. (1995). Failing at Fairness: How Our Schools Cheat Girls. New York: Touchstone Press.
TheLip TV. (2013). Men's and women's brains are wired differently. Retrieved March 9, 2018 from https://youtu.be/xDf0WJPqLE4
