Presentation on Gender

IntroductionIn ordinary speech, it is used interchangeably with "sex"

to denote the condition of being male or female.

Gender refer to the socially constructed roles, behaviors, activities, and attributes that a given society considers appropriate for men and women.

There are two main genders: masculine (male), or feminine (female).

Children develop their own ideas about gender at an early age, as evidenced by the clothes they wear, their dramatic play, their playground talk, and their classroom work.

According to gender schema theory, it suggest that children forms a gender schema( concept) for their sex from the message about typical gender preferences and behavior that are present in the environment( people with whom they interact such as parents, peers and others as well as from their observations of the environment).

When do we know our gender

Boys and girls are different.“Women is more compassionated than man and has a

greater propensity to tears…. But the male is more disposed to give assistance in danger, and is courageous than female”.(Aristotle, cited in miles, 1935.)

Girls tend to be more anxious, emotional and have slightly lower self esteem than boys of the same age and background (halpem,2006)

Gender Difference (male & female)

.Girls develop faster. acquire verbal and motor skills at

earlier age and prefer activities with a social components.

Boys are more oriented towards rough house play and playing with blocks, cars or video games- activities that are physical.

Boys prefer to learn and play with member of same sex. These tendencies together with sound expectation create gender role identity belief about appropriate characteristic and behavior of the two sex.

Are Differences Between Girls and Boys Socially or Biologically Determined?

Many educators continue to question whether girls and boys are indeed cognitively different and therefore need to be taught differently.

Are gender styles and preferences biologically or socially determined?

Christina Hoff Sommers (2000) says that the principle that boys and girls are the same and that masculinity and femininity are simply a matter of social conditioning does not hold up to careful study.

The progressive advancements in neuroscience, evolutionary psychology, genetics, and neuroendocrinology cast doubt on the social constructivist theory, indicating that the nature of boys and girls is genetically determined to some degree.

While Gurian (2001) argues that there is a deeper, natural factor-developmental chronology and structural brain-based differences between females and males.

Positronic emission tomography (PET) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans have captured gender differences in memory, processing, learning styles, and styles of intelligences.

Other investigations (Richardson, 1997; Streitmatter, 1994), however, conclude that gender variations in cognition result from males' and females' different experiences, not from biological causes.

In order to understand differences in performance and achievement, Sanders (2000) acknowledges that you must take into account both biological (individual) and sociocultural factors.

School related Gender differenceIn early grades. Girls score as high or higher than

boys on almost every standardized measure of achievement and psychological wellbeing. By the time they graduate from high school or college they have fallen behind boys in some area.

Women still lag far behind men in traditionally male college majors, such as mathematics. Physic, engineering and computer science(Alperstein,2005;Perkins- Gough. 2006)

Boys are cited for disciplinary infractions as much as 10 times more often than girls.

Boys score lower than girls on both direct and indirect measure of reading and writing ability.

Emphasis on neatness, obedience and quietness reinforce girls more than boys. Boys believe on competency and achievement.

Gender difference in classroomBoys participate in learning activities to a greater extent

than girls and they are more likely to ask question and make comments.(Brophy, 2004)

Teacher also call on them more often probably because boys are more confident and courageous (Altermatt & perry, 1998).

Gender related difference are particularly pronounced in science and math's ( LO’breien & grandall, 2003).

Boys are more likely to lead in setting up experiment, relating girls to passive role such as recording data.(Sandr&Nelson,2004).

The difference become greater as girls move through school with a significant decrease in girls participation in science and math activities .

In general girls are less confident about their abilities, even when aptitude and achievement are comparable with boys.

Gender stereotype and perceptionsSociety and parents communicate, both directly and

unconsciously , different expectation for their sons and daughter.(Tenenbaum & Leaper, 2003).

For example researcher found out that mothers gender- stereotyped attitude towards math and science adversely influenced their adolescent daughter entering these field after high school.(Bleeker7Jacobs,20004).

Moreover the perception that certain areas such as science, and computer science are male domain has a powerful effect on carrier choices(J.D. Lee, 2002).

Educational implicationsOffer a students a mixture of cooperative and

competitive approach of learning, in individual and group work and offering a choice of study topics.

Teacher must learn to recognize and eliminate gender bias, because it can limit students' ambitions and accomplishments.

Communicate openly with students about gender issues and concern.

Eliminate gender bias in instructional activities to ensure that all the student have chance to try and succeed in the range of task.

Be Sensitive to Ways of Providing Feedback.Wait longer for students response and establishing

procedures for turn-taking can encourage girls to participate in male dominated subjects.

An sound environment that support and encourages personal response.

Varying in the program offered, including both boys and boys.

Consider different learning needs of both boys and girls. Do not focus on boys need to the exclusion or neglect of girls needs.

Have a variety of strategies that address gender issues, including sometime grouping boys and girls together and sometime separating them depending on the activity.

Celebrate boys and girls achievements.

Reference listBerk, E. Laura. (2008). Child Development. (7th ed.). Dorling

Kindersley( India) Pvt. Ltd: New Delhi.

Eggen,P & Kanchak, D. (2010). Educational Psychology. (8th ed.). Pearson Education Ltd: London.

Frawley.(2010).Gender Bias in the Classroom: Current Controversies and ImplicationsforTeachers.Retrieved on 7th Oct. 2010 from http://www.google.com/images?client=firefoxa&rls=org.mozilla%3AenUS%3Aofficial&hl=en&source=imghp&biw=1366&bih=575&q=childrens+of+the+world&btnG=Search+Images&gbv=2&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=ens.

Gender bias in the classroom: current controversies and implications for teachers. (2005). Retrieved on 9th Oct.2010from

http:// www. Psychologycampus.com/ educational-psychology/ student- diversity.html

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