Graphs, Grammar and Gender Identity
Walk into any given elementary classroom and what do we expect to see? Pencils, a whiteboard and more than likely desks grouped to the teachers liking. normal classroom right? So what is with this idea of moving towards a gender inclusive classroom? Could traditional set-ups have a negative effect on our children? The problem isn’t just the set up of the desks, it lies within enforcement of roles brought about by the teacher. What we don’t know from walking into a traditional classroom is how many of those students are boys or girls — better yet how many identify as a boy/girl.
We like to think that gender stereotypes have no place in the classroom; after working in a school district for about 3 years, I’m sad to say they are just as evident inside a classroom as they are within society. Now this is not to say that it is part of our curriculum, the state doesn’t mandate teachers to explain the difference between boys and girls; however as an aspiring teacher I can tell you there is a hidden agenda.This so-called hidden curriculum is designed to help our students survive within society. For example, we teach them that saying please and thank you, making friends and being nice to each other will help them get far in life. What we don’t realize is that our simple decisions in creating classroom management can influence or discriminate our students gender choices.The act of going into a classroom, Monday through Friday at the exact time with the same exact dismal time sometimes serves as the only consistency within a child’s life — especially those within lower income cities. Now imagine having your only “safe haven” tell you, your gender choices are wrong. You should like the pink folder with the flowers, or the brand new camouflage pencils your teacher scoured Target for.
Granted by school age, we’ve began to identify, thanks to the ideologies of society — brought about by our exposure to toys and clothing — but should this reinforcement exist within our classrooms? Gender roles are implied in the simplest of ways, making it one of the reasons it is so hard for us to rid of them.Think back to kindergarten, your teacher had two separate lines — a girl line and a boy line — and if little Billy found himself standing behind Lily in line, the teacher was quick to remind him that he was in the “wrong” one.
The idea that colors have a gender identity, shows how deeply rooted into society gender stereotypes are. As if choosing the “wrong” color makes you any less of a boy or girl.Time after time, I’ve witnessed new teachers deciding how to color code their students in-class folders. One teacher stressed herself out over the fact that she didn’t have enough pink folders for all of the girls in the class. She then settled on picking orange — a “gender neutral” color — creating yet another obvious separation from the other students. Her class of fifth graders had dealt with this method of separation long enough that the color coding no longer needed to be explained. Remarks such as,“Well if you don’t have a pink or blue folder, what are you? Boy or girl?” jokingly echoed through the classroom, followed quickly by a warning from the teacher.
Outside of the material ways teachers separate students, there have been some cases in which personality traits have been assumed due to the students sex. Not only are students labeled, but they are disciplined according to this label before the child even has a chance to prove themselves other wise. By implementing the politics of relations into the already existing teacher-student connection, we can move towards setting an example for future generations. In general boys are seen as more outspoken and hyperactive than girls, leading to quicker and possibly even harsher consequences for misbehavior.Working as an after school tutor I’ve had many of the “rowdy” boys or “shy” girls within my classroom. Their school-day teachers constantly warning me of the type of kids each one of my students were. Taking a different approach than their previous teachers, my disciplinary action involved a clean slate rule. I didn’t know it at the time but by establishing a relationship between my students and I that went against the roles they’re assigned in class could be considered a step in the right direction. Now I’m not saying that I’ve got it right and I’m the leader in this movement, but I do think the idea of gender neutral classrooms is worth the time and effort. What harm can be done?
