The document discusses gendered discrimination in education and its implications for teachers and learners. It provides an overview of key topics that will be explored in a literature review and research on this issue, including how gender stereotypes are reinforced through socialization and the hidden curriculum, and the role of teachers in addressing or perpetuating discrimination. The proposed research methodology will analyze policy documents to examine how the current Scottish policy context addresses gender inequalities and what changes may be needed.

1. GENDERED DISCRIMINATION IN EDUCATION:
IMPLICATIONS FOR TEACHERS AND THE IMPACT ON LEARNERS
PAUL CAMPBELL B.ED. 4

2. CONTENTS/STRUCTURE
• Purpose
• Justification
• Key Questions
• Literature Findings
• Research Methodology

3. GENDERED DISCRIMINATION
(SEED, 2001; Paechter, 2006; Brint, et al. 2001; Kum, et al. 2010)
Gendered Inequalities, Imbalances, Inequities manifested across
5
society.
People’s understanding and attitudes towards these norms influence
4
actions, decisions, choices and development of identity.
Understanding of norms (not necessarily accurate)
regarding gender developed:- 3
stereotypes, expectations, patterns, the usual…
Preference offered to…
Expectation placed upon…  Those of a particular gender 2
Different treatment of… (GENDERED DISCRIMINATION)
Inbuilt beliefs and attitudes to what are gender norms –
Implicitly and explicitly recognised. 1
Implicitly and explicitly acted upon.

4. IT BEGINS FROM CHILDHOOD, AND IS WIDELY
EXEMPLIFIED IN ALL FACETS OF OUR SOCIETY.
9 out of
50 are

5. PURPOSE
• Gender stereotypes and discrimination embedded throughout education; curriculum
, teachers, relationships, establishment (NESSE, 2009).
• Manifested through preferences, attainment and qualitative experiences - influencing
greatly their attitudes and future choices (Tinklin et al. 2001).
• Impacts gender identity construction, sense of self often through a process of
socialisation -people, institutions, settings etc. (Stromquist, 2007; Hutchings, M., et al., 2008)
• It impacts everyone; be it their attitudes, understandings or opportunities (Blossfield &
Shavit,1993).
• Still a pertinent issue in, not just Scottish society, but also in Scottish education (SEED, 2001;
Scottish Government, 2008).
• Who has impact on children’s experience at school (who, what and where?) – teachers.
- who we have teaching
- how they are teaching and the context they are working in
- what they are teaching

6. WHAT NEEDS CONSIDERED?
• Gender identity construction
• Gendered patterns and Teachers
inequalities in education
Context/approach
• Impact on children and young
people + society
Curriculum
• Implications for the current
policy context

7. AIMS
• Discover what the literature has to say about how
and why gendered stereotypes are made manifest
through approaches to the hidden curriculum as
well as the teaching workforce, and how this is
related to individual practice.
• Establish the extent to which the issue of gendered
discrimination is problematised in the current
Scottish policy context, and whether these policies
relating to teachers, teaching and the curriculum
are sufficiently radical to address this issue.

8. JUSTIFICATION
• Personal Relevance
- ‘Non traditional’ career choice (Smyth, et al, 2011).
- Stigma attached to entering a ‘female dominated profession’ (Burn, 2001).
- Challenging the commonly accepted ‘norms’ (Brint, et al, 2001).
• Professional Relevance
- attitudes, values, behaviour patterns, inform all we do (Stromquist, 2007).
- Legislative and curricular changes haven’t had the intended impact
(Paechter, 2006) (NESSE, 2009).
- Curriculum for Excellence – positive, meaningful, sustained outcomes for all
(Scottish Government, 2008).
- Review of Teacher Education – the make up of the profession
(Donaldson, 2010).
- Review of Teacher Employment – professional roles and responsibilities
(McCormac, 2011).
• Future Relevance
- Already a highly politicised issue (Pech, 2011), (Randall, 2011).
- Matter of educational and social justice (NESSE, 2009).
- Meaningful experience, outcomes and opportunities in education, and beyond (Tinklin et al. 2001).

9. KEY QUESTIONS (LITERATURE)
1. What is the role of the socialisation process in children’s
constructions of their own self-perception in relation to
gender and what role do teachers and schools have in this
process?
2. How does the hidden curriculum that children experience
reinforce or reproduce gendered patterns in society, and
what impact does this have on children’s experiences and
outcomes?

10. LITERATURE REVIEW
My proposed structure for the literature review (key themes) prior to
my empirical research of the documents central to the current
Scottish policy context (Donaldson, McCormac and CfE) is:
1. The gendered nature of education.
2. Gender hegemony:
- Socialisation,
- Reinforcement and
- Gendered Patterns
3. The Teachers Role:
- Who teaches?
- What do they teach?
- How do they teach it?

11. 1. THE GENDERED NATURE OF
EDUCATION
• Despite a decrease in the inequality between boys and girls
when it comes to attainment, there are still massive differences
between the political and economic power that men and
women hold (NESSE, 2009, Scottish Government, 2008, Stromquist,
2007).
• Even although teacher believe they treat children fairly and justly,
¾ in one study believed they should and did respond differently
to pupils according to their gender (Skelton & Read, 2006).
• Perceived differences in interests, abilities, temperaments,
learning styles (!?) patterns of emotional development; therefore
different needs in the classroom.
But if these are based on traditional stereotypes, are they relevant
in today’s advanced, different, diverse society?
Our thinking has changed and is changing constantly.

12. 2. GENDER IDENTITY CONSTRUCTION
- Socialisation
Perception informs beliefs and beliefs inform actions; so there are implications for
experiences and outcomes (Jules, et al, 1997).
Our behaviour and thinking is a product of socialisation. We also learn from this what
is appropriate and inappropriate for both genders (Crespi, 2004).
- Reinforcement
The teachers we have and how they teach influences the attitudes and
understandings that children develop (Hutchings, et al., 2008).
Expectations we place on children of a particular sex (our firm notions of what
outcomes will be from males or females; academic, behaviour, career) lead to
different opportunities for these children (Stromquist, 2007).
- Gendered Patterns
Often ‘guarded’ by peers (Stromquist, 2007).
Subject, activity choice when there is the opportunity; attainment; career
opportunities (SEED, 2001).
Doesn’t cater for those who don’t ‘fit in’ with the norms and can be a negative
experience for them when they do challenge them.

13. 3. THE ROLE OF THE TEACHER
- Who teaches?
Our teaching workforce do not represent our diverse society (Kum, et al. 2010; Smyth, et al.
2011).
The appearance of the workforce impacts children and societies perceptions of teachers
(Jules & Kutnick, 1997; Kum, et al. 2010).
- What do they teach?
Curriculum construction, make up and flexibility can influence children’s choices, paths and
opportunities (Riddel, 1992)
Children believe what they perceive to be true (socialised, inferred based on experience)
and act upon this (Jules & Kutnick, 1997).
- How do they teach it?
All communication is educative.
Through how we communicate in the hidden curriculum, (our aims, aspirations, beliefs,
common understandings) we reinforce to children the societal and cultural norms that
make us and our communities who we are.
(Dewey, 1916; Wilkinson, 2003).
Teachers’ understanding of children's needs based on gender (Stromquist, 2007).

14. CURRENT SCOTTISH POLICY CONTEXT
WHAT?
WHO?
HOW?

15. KEY QUESTIONS (RESEARCH)
1. How do current policy developments in Scottish
education problematize the issue of gender
inequalities or discrimination?
2. How do current reforms and initiatives intend to
address the issue of gendered discrimination and
how does this relate to the literature?
3. Would it be possible for the current policy context
to allow for fundamental systemic influence on
addressing the issue of gendered discrimination?

16. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
(Thomas, 2009; Bell, 2010; Mills, 2001)
Ethical implications of class based research; capabilities and access that would have been
required meant:
- empirical research project using policy based data is most appropriate.
Focus is issue in the context of teachers and teaching and implications for learning and teaching.
Problem/issue orientated analysis of documentary evidence using primary and secondary
resources.
There isn't time to analyse every possible document when researching the issue; need to be
selective in choice.
Qualitative and quantitative data.
Supporting Data from
documents consultations

17. A FINAL THOUGHT…
‘Had I the heavens’ embroidered cloths,
Enwrought with golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half light,
I would spread the cloths under your feet:
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.’
W.B. Yeats (1865–1939)
"He Wishes For the Cloths of Heaven"
from the Collected Works of W.B. Yeats

18. REFERENCES
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http://www.edgehill.ac.uk/documents/education/research/June09Menintoprimary.pdf
Bell, J. (2010). Doing your research project. Open University Press, Maidenhead.
Blossfeld, H. P. & Shavit, Y. (1993). Persisting Barriers. In Persisting Inequalities – Changing educational attainment in thirteen countries. Westview
Press, Boulden, CO, US.
Brint, S. Contreras, M. F. & Matthews, M. T. (2001) Socialization Messages in Primary Schools: An Organizational Analysis. In Sociology of
Education. 74(3), pp. 157-180.
Burn, E. (2001) Do boys need male primary teachers as positive role models? Paper presented to the British Educational Research Association
Annual Conference.
Crespi, I. (2004) Socialization and gender roles within the family: a study on adolescents and their parents in Great Britain. Retrieved from:
http://mariecurie.org/annals/volume3/crespi.pdf
Dee, T. S., (2005) A Teacher Like Me: Does Race, Ethnicity, or Gender Matter? American Economic Review, 95(2), 158-165.
Dewey, J. (1916). Democracy and Education. Retrieved from:
http://www.worldwideschool.org/library/books/socl/education/DemocracyandEducation/doc.html
Donaldson, G. (2010) Teaching Scotland’s Future: A report on the review of teacher education in Scotland. Retrieved from:
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/Doc/337626/0110852.pdf
Hutchings, M., Carrington, B., Francis, B., Skelton, C., Read, B. & Hall, I. (2008). Nice and kind, smart and funny: what children like and want to
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19. REFERENCES CTD.
Mills, G. E. (2011). Action Research: A Guide for the Teacher Researcher. Pearson, London.
NESSE, (2009). Gender and Education. Retrieved from: http://www.nesse.fr/nesse/activities/reports/gender-report-pdf
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http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2093252,00.html#ixzz1e3IMpBfz
Randall, C. (2011, November 11). President wants profession to man up. Times Educational Supplement Scotland, p. 11.
Scottish Government. (2008). Curriculum for Excellence. Scottish Government, Edinburgh.
Scottish Government. (2008). Gender Equality Scheme 2008-2011. Retrieved from:
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SEED(2001). Gender and Pupil Performance in Scotland’s Schools. Retrieved from:
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Stromquist, N. P. (2007) The Gender Socialization Process in Schools: A Cross-National Comparison. Retrieved from:
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