A.

Meaning/Nature/Perspective
 Gender is a social construct that impacts attitudes, roles, responsibilities and behavior
patterns of boys and girls, men and women in all societies
 Gender has been defined as: "The commonly shared expectations and norms within a
society about appropriate male and female behavior, characteristics and roles. Gender
can be considered a social and cultural construct that differentiates females from males
and thus defines the ways in which females and males interact with each other. These
roles and expectations are learned and they can change over time as well as vary within
and between cultures."
 The concept of gender also includes the expectations held about the characteristics,
aptitudes and likely behaviours of both women and men (femininity and masculinity).

 The gender perspective looks at the impact of gender on people's opportunities, social
roles and interactions. Successful implementation of the policy, programme and project
goals of international and national organizations is directly affected by the impact of
gender and, in turn, influences the process of social development.
 As a primary socializing agent, schools have a tremendous opportunity and
responsibility to be inclusive of all students, regardless of their Gender identity or
expression. School is the place where our children should be exploring ideas and
discovering new skills. It is inexcusable that any child might be prevented from pursuing
their passions simply based on others’ perceptions of their gender.

B. School as Gender Socialization

Gender socialization is the process by which we learn our culture's gender-related rules,
norms, and expectations. The most common agents of gender socialization—in other words,
the people who influence the process—are parents, teachers, schools, and the media.
Through gender socialization, children begin to develop their own beliefs about gender and
ultimately form their own gender identity.

 The socialization of gender within our schools assures that girls are made aware that
they are unequal to boys.
 Schools are major contexts for gender socialization, in part because children spend
large amounts of time engaged with peers in such settings.
 Schools can magnify or diminish gender differences by providing environments that
promote within-gender similarity and between-gender differences, or the inverse
(within-gender variability and between group similarity).
 An "agent" of gender socialization is any person or group that plays a role in the
childhood gender socialization process.

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  Teachers and school administrators model gender roles and sometimes
demonstrate gender stereotypes by responding to male and female students in
different ways. For example, separating students by gender for activities or
disciplining students differently depending on their gender may reinforce
children’s developing beliefs and assumptions.

 Schools are important contexts for the socialization of young children’s gender
attitudes and behaviour. Teachers and classmates shape children’s gender attitudes
and, in turn, gender differences in cognition and behaviour.

C. Gender Differences

Gender differences are variances between males and females that are based on biological
adaptations that are the same for both sexes.

 Gender differences also occur in the realm of classroom behavior. Teachers tend to praise
girls for “good” behavior, regardless of its relevance to content or to the lesson at hand,
and tend to criticize boys for “bad” or inappropriate behavior (Golombok & Fivush,
1994).

 Gender bias is a preference or prejudice toward one gender over the other. Bias can
be conscious or unconscious, and may manifest in many ways, both subtle and
obvious.

 Gender bias occurs when people make assumptions regarding behaviors,

abilities or preferences of others based upon their gender. Because there are
strong gender role stereotypes for masculinity and femininity, students who
do not match them can encounter problems with teachers and with their peers.
 Research shows many differences in the way boys and girls are treated in the
classroom and shows that differences in treatment by teachers and other
school personnel may be both conscious and subconscious.
 Teachers tend to pay more attention to boys than girls by having more
interactions with them. They tolerate behavior in boys that they don’t tolerate
in girls, and they tend to provide boys with more criticism and praise.
 Differences in the extra attention given to boys are due in part to the fact that
boys simply tend to demand more attention, while girls tend to be quieter and
more reticent. Boys tend to dominate classroom discussion, and they also
access computers and technology more often than girls do.

 The Gender inequities pervading society are carried into the school environment.
This is evidenced in school processes such as teaching, teacher–student interaction,

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 school management, and the plan and design of the physical infrastructure. Teaching
and learning materials, for example, may contain gender stereotypes.

 School management systems may not sufficiently address gender constraints such
as sexual harassment, and many schools do not have adequate or separate toilets
for girls and boys.

Ways to promoting gender equality in schools:

 Establish an award to recognize children who promote equity

 Do a play about gender equity in school

 Write an equity column or article in the paper

 Organize a walk, race, or athletic event for equity

 Honor people who foster gender equity in their work and life spirit

 Develop posters that promote equity

D. Implications for Parent, Services, and Policy


Educational policy makers should resist the creation of gender segregated
educational contexts (e.g., single-sex schools) and instead seek to enhance co-
educational schools’ promotion of gender egalitarian attitudes and behaviour.

Teachers need training to recognize their own explicit and implicit biases and how
these biases affect their classroom behaviours. Additionally, teachers should receive
explicit training in confronting children’s biases, so that they reduce peer policing of
gender normativity.

 Parents should seek educational settings for their students that are gender integrated
and that make use of curricula that directly teach about, and challenge, gender bias
and inequality.

Policy responses for the promotion and achievement of gender equality in education

 First, partnership approaches that bring together governments, donors and civil
society are key.

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  Second, is the need for enacting multiple and multi-sectoral interventions to address
the complex demand and supply-side challenges to girls’ education and gender
equality in education more broadly.
 Third, there is a need for strategic and evidence-based policy advocacy and support
for continued research, monitoring and evaluation.
 Fourth, there must be commitment on the part of governments and their partners to
the promotion of gender equality in education.
 Fifth, governments, with the support of donors and civil society, must ensure
adequate and sustainable education financing ibid.

E. Importance of School in relation tom Gender/Gender Socialization

Schools can play an important role in inculcating gender sensitivity in etiquettes and
manners of students. Teachers play a very important role in the early upbringing of a child. Their
idea and beliefs can change the thought processes of young children.

Classrooms need to be gender sensitive. We have to take care of few do’s and don’ts for
making classroom interaction gender sensitive.

 Encourage both males and females to be class leaders (perhaps one of each sex). Appoint
two monitors in each classroom, a boy and a girl
 Address and call on girls and boys equally. Do not segregate boys and girls in the
classroom in primary classes
 Make mixes groups for group activities and games
 Try to ‘switch role’ for breaking down gender barriers and stereotyping of gender roles
 Make both boys and girls share activities like cleaning, moving furniture, to the
chalkboard during a lesson.
 Plan and conduct activities that give opportunity to all children accepting one another as
equals.

Academic contents with lessons on gender sensitivity and moral traditions will
unconsciously mould the character of the tender mind.

Role of schools in challenging gender inequalities

1. Schools must be promoted to develop a healthy relationship between all the genders.
This will not only ensure gender equality but will also helpful in developing respect for
the other gender in future.
2. Infrastructure School should provide equal infrastructural facilities to all the students
without doing any discrimination based on the gender. Special attention must be given
for students with special needs.

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 3. Admission to all School should take care of giving admission to the students of all
categories without considering any differences based on caste or gender. As part of
inclusive policy school can take initiatives to accommodate all types of learners
including transgender.
4. Providing textbooks Care must be taken to provide textbooks to all the students equally
without considering their gender.
5. Scholarships must be provided to the needful without considering their gender, caste, or
their high status in the society. Their economical background can be considered.
6. No discrimination should be there in distributing or making available of the sports
equipment’s to the students.
7. School Programs. Equal participation must be given to all the genders in all the activities
in the schools. Equal responsibilities like leadership must be given to all the genders in
school programs.
8. Promote Education for girls in rural and remote areas in most of the remote and rural
parts of our nation; there is a huge restriction for girl children to go to school. This must
be taken up as serious issue and steps must be taken to make them accessible to
education.
9. Awareness programs. School can arrange awareness programs for teachers, students as
well as for the parents on gender equality and also for the need of educating female
children.

Role of Teachers in Challenging Gender Inequalities

Care must be taken to avoid conscious or unconscious practices that lead to the issue of gender
biases.

1. Teachers should make sure that all the students get seating arrangements as per their need
irrespective of their gender or caste or religion etc.
2. The practice of writing names of the students as per alphabetical order irrespective of
their gender can be followed to ensure gender equality.
3. Care must be taken to ensure equal participation of boys and girls in all the classroom
activities.
4. It’s the responsibility of the teacher to make sure that opportunities are provided to all the
students irrespective of their gender in all the classroom activities.
5. Teacher must assign roles and responsibilities to the students without considering their
gender.
6. Teachers should ensure that all the learning materials are distributed to all the students
equally without any discrimination based on the gender of the learners.
7. Awareness programs on ‘health’ should be organized considering both the gender.
8. While organizing awareness programs on ‘sex education’ also, there must be initiatives to
provide knowledge to both the gender.
9. Teacher can use gender fair examples, suitable to both the gender while teaching.

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10. To ensure gender equality teacher can use moral stories on the importance of mutual
respect between men and women in the classrooms.
11. Inspirational videos and films depicting the need and importance of gender equality for
the improvement of the society can be shown in the classroom during leisure time or at
some occasion.

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REFERENCES:
Akash (June 3, 2018). Importance of Nurturing Gender Sensitivity Through Education.
Retrieved from: https://digitallearning.eletsonline.com/2018/06/importance-of-nurturing-gender-
sensitivity-through-education/

AlleyDog (1998-2019). Gender Differences definition | Psychology Glossary. Retrieved

from: https://www.alleydog.com/glossary/definition.php?term=Gender+Differences
Beevi, Z. (Mar 24, 2018)Teachers and gender equality – SlideShare. Retrieved from:
https://www.slideshare.net/ZainabaBeevi/teachers-and-gender-equality

Chapman, A. (Equity Literacy Institute and EdChange project© Paul C. Gorski, 1995-
2019) Gender Bias in Education – EdChange. Retrieved from:
http://www.edchange.org/multicultural/papers/genderbias.html

Dr. Manion, C. Promoting Gender Equality In And Through Education: A Public Policy
Priority Retrieved from: http://africapolicyreview.com/promoting-gender-equality-in-and-
through-education-a-public-policy-priority/
ER Services; Gender differences in the classroom | Educational Psychology
Retrieved from: https://courses.lumenlearning.com/sunyeducationalpsychology/chapter/gender-
differences-in-the-classroom/

mumthazmaharoof (Mar 24, 2018) Role of schools in challenging gender inequalities –

SlideShare Retrieved from: https://www.slideshare.net/mumthazmaharoof/role-of-schools-in-
challenging-gender-inequalities

The United Nations Girls’ Education Initiative (UNGEI).EDUCATION FROM A GENDER

EQUALITY PERSPECTIVE. Retrieved
from:http://www.ungei.org/resources/files/Education_from_a_Gender_Equality_Perspective.pdf

Vinney, C. (February 4, 2019) What Is Gender Socialization?

Retrieved from: https://www.thoughtco.com/gender-socialization-definition-examples-4582435