He, she…hen?
A gender-neutral policy eliminates stereotyping and increases understanding of the LGBTQI community, but some researchers argue that it can do more harm than good
By Sophie Marie-Odum
“Good morning, boys and girls,” might seem like a harmless way to greet students, but it uses gender to ‘pointlessly’ label and sort students, leading to increased gender stereotyping, according to some academics. And they believe it is time for educators to grasp the issue.
Teacher attitudes and behaviours towards gender are contributing to children’s early reliance on gender as a social category. Yet many educators are unaware of their unconscious bias towards gender, which, if left unchecked, can create disparities between boys and girls.
By the time children first start school, many have deep-seated gendered beliefs, which are (unconsciously) reinforced by educators, parents and the media. Five state preschools in Sweden are among pioneering institutions counteracting this by operating gender-neutral policies. Their curriculum states that the same opportunities and rights must equally be given to both boys and girls.
Going against social norms
Swedish educators are very careful not to emphasize differences in gender, creating an environment where children feel like they can engage in whatever activities they want to, irrespective of their sex.
The approach is in response to the 1998 amendment to Sweden’s Education Act, which stipulated that all schools must work against gender stereotyping.
But some of the methods used to achieve gender neutrality have been regarded as somewhat radical. Teachers and students do not use gendered pronouns, replacing them with neutral terms: ‘hen’, ‘people’, ‘kids’, ‘humans’ and ‘friends’. Gendered language contributes to biases and causes stereotypical views, a 2015 study found.
Teachers are careful not to share stories and songs that reinforce traditional gender roles, and change narratives to make them more inclusive, explains Lotta Rajalin, head of the five preschools.
“We are not trying to change the children. We want to change ourselves,” she says. “If teachers are sharing stories that always show men in a certain way and women in another, children will believe that. We show them different ways of life, of building a family and ways of feeling.
“We don’t have traditional expectations on children. So if a boy wants to be calm, sitting, reading, not playing football or running around, we let him be that way. And if a girl is wild and wants to climb trees, she can be that way.”
Emotional intelligence plays a big part of the curriculum. All children are taught to understand and honour their feelings.
It was a massive shift for Rajalin and her team. At the start of the process, 20 years ago, she filmed teachers to see how they treated students. Even though the teachers were motivated, they were unintentionally treating boys and girls differently.
Child development
The schools have received mixed reactions — many have praised Rajalin’s efforts but she has also received threats. However, the approach has made a positive impact.
“Our students choose their activities out of their own interests, and not out of their gender. Friendship groups are more mixed and students are more accepting of differences, and understand that it is okay to be different,” says Rajalin.
Research supports this. Early preschool environments and gender: Effects of gender pedagogy in Sweden, from the Journal of Experimental Child Psychology (2017), found that a greater proportion of children in the gender-neutral preschools were interested in playing with unfamiliar other-gender children and scored lower on gender stereotyping tests, compared with those in typical preschools.
But the children’s tendency to spontaneously notice gender was not affected. Researcher Ben Kenward says: “Rather than trying to give the impression that boys and girls don’t exist as separate categories, it’s more important to not give children reasons to believe that these categories have functional importance. It’s one thing that there are boys and girls, but it’s another thing that boys do ‘this’ and girls do ‘that’.”
Kenward says gender-neutral schooling is positive for a child’s development: “If you don’t have typical ideas of what is gender appropriate, you don’t restrict your own behaviour quite so much, and that encourages more varied experiences, which would be beneficial to development.”
The results are similar for older children. Six- to 11-year-olds in gender-salient classrooms showed higher levels of gender stereotyping, according to a separate study by Rebecca Bigler, Professor of Psychology and Women’s and Gender Studies at the University of Texas at Austin.
Bigler says: “Children pay attention to gender only because adults so often label and sort people by gender. Gender-neutral schooling is a step in the right direction. There is no evidence that children would be harmed if their world were not gendered. However, children will still need to understand sexism to not develop biased attitudes. Teachers and parents shouldn’t become gender blind and gender mute. They need to discuss sexism and gender discrimination with children.”
A question of biology
Equality between sexes is always a hot topic as activists and organizations fight for equal opportunities for men and women. But the idea that we have to eliminate gender to achieve equality is wrong, says Debra Soh, a science journalist and neuroscientist.
While Soh agrees that gender-neutral policies work to remove barriers and encourage children to be what they want, she argues that it’s “dangerous” to deny the science as there is a huge body of research which shows that gender is associated with biology. “This sentiment that gender is something that is entirely learned and there is no biology behind it is factually incorrect. Children for the most part have stereotypical interests in terms of the biological sexes,” she says.
“There have been studies that have shown that gender preferences are very much innate,” she adds. “Teachers can help a child in terms of how much they accept what they are interested in, but you can’t override what they would naturally gravitate towards.
“Children’s preferences are connected with the prenatal environment that they were exposed to in the womb. Exposure to higher levels of testosterone in-utero is associated with more male typical interests as we see in boys. We also see this in girls with a genetic condition called congenital adrenal hyperplaisia, who are exposed to higher than usual levels of testosterone in the womb. So when they are born, they are more male-typical in their interests and behaviours.”
Gender-neutral policies can confuse children, especially when gendered pronouns are replaced, believes Soh. “It gives children too much information that they don’t need to be thinking about so soon. So long as children are free to behave as they please, that is what matters.”
Making students feel comfortable
The gender-neutral movement is growing. A school in Alaska, US, adopted ‘purple penguins’ as a gender-neutral term in an attempt to be gender inclusive, while in the UK, hundreds of state schools scrapped gendered uniform rules. Girls are allowed to wear trousers and boys skirts, recognizing the rights of students who feel they might not fit into the binary genders. The move is part of a UK government-funded drive to support LGBTQI (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer/questioning and intersex) students.
This is a step towards inclusion and helping students feel supported, respected and accepted, says recent IB graduate Jon Covert from Florida, US. Jon identifies as non-binary and gay.
“I think gender-neutral policies are very important. They help reduce gender discrimination in a school. In terms of the LGBTQI community, it is very helpful to have a gender-neutral policy so that the school is not imposing any hetero-normative and cis-normative ideas upon anyone and making LGBTQI students feel out of place, especially non-binary and trans students.”
Although Jon’s school did not have a gender-neutral policy, Jon says an IB education made school enjoyable as friends and teachers were accepting and open-minded. “My IB peers and my IB teachers were always the most supportive people that I had in the school.” But a gender-neutral policy would have made Jon feel safer to be more open outside the “IB bubble”.
IB World Schools take a stand
The IB aims to develop inquiring, knowledgeable and caring young people, who help create a better and more peaceful world through intercultural understanding and respect. But in many parts of the world there is little understanding of the LGBTQI community. In India, for example, the Hijra (transgender) community has no access to education or employment opportunities.
MYP students at École Mondiale World School in India took a stand and organized a school-wide assembly called Unheard Voices to educate the community. Many of the national schools probably wouldn’t have been as keen to explore the topic, says MYP History Teacher Radha Trivady. “Acceptance in India is a long way ahead. We need to accept everyone for who they are,” says Trivady.
“I hope India will one day have gender-neutral schooling but it seems a very long way away. However, if more schools raise awareness, then we have more children who realize the need to create a change. It is a good way to go forward.”
Many IB teachers operate a gender-neutral classroom to ensure equal learning opportunities. Nikka Hugo-Yap, IB Educator at The Beacon School in the Philippines, says: “It is no longer a time when children are judged to have certain traits and abilities based on whether they have one set of body parts versus another.
“In my classroom, students do not feel that they have boundaries prohibiting them from playing with certain toys, putting on costumes, participating in sports, or performing in school shows. Opportunities are laid out for all, and they are empowered to choose what they want to try.”
While a policy is a huge leap towards a goal of equality, acceptance and gender neutrality, it is not enough to change stereotypes. It requires input from parents, too, says Hugo-Yap.
A long way to go
Gender-neutral policies can be futile if children receive different messages at home, and in many parts of the world cultural norms and religious beliefs insist that boys and girls behave differently. Researchers stress that it is most important for children to recognize that their gender needn’t be a barrier to success.
The world is changing. An increasing number of children are identifying themselves as transgender, non-binary or gender fluid. If teachers’ expectations don’t evolve too, millions of students are at risk of feeling socially excluded.
“If more schools were to become gender neutral, there would be many more accepting people, and more people feeling open about identifying outside the gender binary system,” says IB graduate Jon.
Gender-neutral schools are all about democracy and humanity, adds Rajalin. “Democracy is something we have to work with every day in life. To remain open to new and different people is a good future skill because the world is changing very fast and it’s essential that we are prepared.”
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Word from the IB
By Jayne Pletser, Curriculum Manager for Inclusive Education
We welcome this article and suggest that it be used to promote awareness of gender bias and provoke reflection, research and discussion on the practices of sexism and gender discrimination. This will ensure equal learning opportunities, as well as the protection of human rights for all students.
To safeguard wellbeing and promote learning, the IB supports the creation of affirmative, responsive environments that foster a sense of belonging, safety and self-worth to ensure cognitive, and social and emotional development for all students.
While some IB World Schools will be able to take a stand — as demonstrated in the article — it will remain challenging for some schools due to their location and cultural contexts. To safeguard their students, school communities should be knowledgeable on global legislation and practices and where these may differ from in-school policies
and practices.
All members of the school community should be involved in discussions, decisions and eventual training. Any initiatives taken in this area should be well communicated to the whole school community.
Giving a voice to and listening to all students will ensure that their input and insights contribute to whole school development and enrich the school community.
Originally published in IB World magazine in October 2017.
