EDUC 2301: Introduction to Special Populations

Learning from Girls and Women’s StoriesChapter 10

A Changing Society

CULTURAL FACTOR 1: HISTORICAL AND CURRENT TREATMENT IN THE U. S.

The Feminist Perspective• A Woman’s degree of participation in the economy as

well as her control over the products they produce affects her status in society.

• It is important to recognize that the nature of the division of labor by sex greatly affects the relative status of men and women, and influences their power and rights, and defines their relationships in society.

• The 1st and 2nd waves of the Women’s Movement evidenced many advances in the fight against sexism.

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Current Conditions

• Women continue to experience hiring discrimination, glass ceilings, and maternal walls. Affordable quality child care is not available for many working mothers, and women receive lower wages for the same work performed by men. In addition, mommy tracking is a widespread practice that reflects women's lost career opportunities and advancement when they have children.

• Even though equal pay has been the law since 1963, women are still paid less than men—even though they have similar education, skills, and experience. In 2007, women were paid only 77 cents for every dollar a man was paid.

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Iron Jawed Angels

Lead, Follow, or Get Out of the Way

Third Wave Challenges

Those currently active in the 3rd wave fight for women’s rights address issues such as women's admissions and treatment in military academies; women's reproductive rights; women's leadership in religious worship; affirmative action backlash and actions to repeal affirmative action; mommy tracking; sexual harassment; violence against women; the maternal wall; glass ceilings; and other forms of institutional discrimination that subordinate women in the United States.

©2012 Cengage Learning.All Rights Reserved.

The Flipside of Feminism

• According to a 2007 report from the National Bureau of Economic Research, as women have gained more freedom, more education, and more power, they have become less happy.

• http://radioboston.wbur.org/2011/03/18/suzanne-venker

II SPEAK FOR MYSELF: AMERICAN WOMEN ON BEING MUSLIM (EDITED BY EBRAHIMJI & SURATWALA)

“I finally saw the difference between the cultural Islam I was raised in and the true Islam based on original texts…At last, I had achieved the inner peace that comes when you find synergy among your beliefs, logic, and relationaships.After sincerely searching and wading through the enormous pressures and conflicting perspectives of life, I finally felt comfortable in my own skin.” Hebah Ahmed

CULTURAL FACTOR 2: INITIAL TERMS OF INCORPORATION INTO U.S. SOCIETY

• Originally, some women came to the U.S. as indentured servants and married women failed to legally exist apart from their husbands.

• Prior to the industrial era, women were not allowed to have ownership of any kind and were not even considered the legal guardians and custodians of their own children.

• According to Adkinson and Hackett (1995), at least four major themes have characterized incorporation of women in the United States: (1) neglect, (2) blatant sexism, (3) pathologizing women's concerns, and (4) denying women’s conditions and circumstances.

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CULTURAL FACTORS 3 & 4: SHARED VALUES, AND SPIRITUALITY

From our Textbook:• Gender stereotypes greatly influence male and female

behavior. • While males are expected to be boldly active in

pursuing their convictions and rights, task-oriented, and self-assertive, females in the U.S. are socialized to be passive, dependent, relationship-oriented, and selfless.

• This attitude of regarding men's assertiveness and the more constraining expectation that women act selflessly is a major factor in gender disparity outcomes.

©2012 Cengage Learning.All Rights Reserved.

CULTURAL FACTOR 4: View of Spirituality and Humans’ Relation to Nature

From our Class:• View of Spirituality – Group Sharing

Exercise

From the First Amendment Center:• Religious Liberty, Public Education, and

the Future of American Democracy

.

“Knowledge about religions is not only characteristic of an educated person, but is also

absolutely necessary for understanding and living in a

world of diversity.” National Council for the Social Studies

Finding Common Ground

How should I teach about religion in the public school setting?

• The school’s approach to religion is academic, not devotional.

• The school strives for student awareness of religions, but does not press for student acceptance of any religion.

• The school informs students about various beliefs; it does not seek to conform students to any particular belief.

How should I teach about religion in the public school setting?

• The school sponsors study about religion, not the practice of religion.

• The school may expose students to a diversity of religious views, but may not impose any particular view.

• The school educates about all religions; it does not promote or denigrate religion.

CULTURAL FACTOR 6: LANGUAGE DIFFERENCES, STRENGTHS, AND CHALLENGES

• Linguistic theory notes that the language one speaks not only reflects one's view of the world but also determines one's power in it. Consider the connotations for the following terms: tenderness, weakness, vulnerability, and timidity. Each typically brings to mind femininity and womanliness.

• Failure to recognize the impact of intentional and inadvertent sexism in language furthers the pervasive absence of females in written and oral discourse.

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Perspectives on Gender Identity

• The development of one’s sense of identity—the knowledge that one is separate from parents and family—begins early.

• A critical part of identity development, beginning at least at birth, is gender.

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Sex and Gender Identity

• Identification in terms of sex begins at about 18 months of age—“I am a girl,” “I am a boy.”

• However, while sex is a biological characteristic, gender is a social one—what it means to be a boy or girl in any given society; what the rules are.

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Gender Role Socialization

• The rules associated with one’s gender role may vary by race, ethnicity, social class, religion, and even by geographical region.

• The process of learning one’s gender role can be described in three parts, as follows:

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• The child learns to distinguish between men and women, boys and girls, and to know what kinds of behavior are characteristic of each;

• The child learns to express appropriate gender role preferences for himself or herself;

• The child internalizes the “rules” and learns to behave in accordance with gender role standards.

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The Impact of Gender in the Preschool

Social Component• Play Mates• Play Spaces• Play Styles• Play Themes• Resolving Conflicts

Implications for Teachers• Respect• Outdoor and Indoor• Balanced activities• Wide variety of materials• Rules and strategies

Gender Role Socialization in the Middle Class

• Parents:– Boys handled more roughly, girls get more

verbal attention– Boys given more freedom to explore; girls

kept closer to supervising parent– Girls get more help in solving problems;

boys told to “figure it out”– Parents’ approval of “appropriate” gender

behavior shapes the behavior of children

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Other Socializing Agents

• Television• Children’s books• Children’s toys• Nursery rhymes, religious stories• Proverbs and sayings

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Gender as an Issue of Legal Equity in Schools

• Title IX, Educational Amendments (1972)“No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any educational program or activity receiving federal financial assistance.”

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Some Important Court Cases

• Grove City v. Bell (1984)—Supreme Court agrees that schools that do not receive direct federal funds can be excluded from Title IX

• Civil Rights Restoration Act (1988)—overrode Bell; required all education institutions receiving any federal funds (e.g., student loans) must comply with Title IX

• Numerous cases have been brought in lower courts on the question of girls’ athletics; most have affirmed Title IX.

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• Other cases have been brought on issues of sexual harassment; the results have been mixed in adult-on-student cases:– Franklin v. Gwinnett County Public Schools (1992)—

petitioners may claim punitive damages under Title IX when intent to evade compliance is established

– Gebser and Mccullough v. Lago Vista Independent School District (1997)—denied compensatory damages from both the teacher involved and the school district

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• The first successful student-on-student harassment case was decided in 1995:– Doe v. Petaluma Unified School District

(1995)—plaintiff was awarded punitive damages of $250,000

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Major Studies on Gender and Schooling in the Last Decade

• Mid-Atlantic Equity Center and NETWORK Study (1993) found eight areas of concern related to Title IX still to be addressed in order to ensure equal educational opportunity for all students, as follows:

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– Girls at risk of dropping out of school– Gender bias in student–teacher interactions– Participation and achievement of girls in math

and science– Students enrolling and completing vocational

education courses historically nontraditional to their gender

– Gender bias in standardized tests– Gender differences in learning styles– Teen pregnancy and parenting– Sexual harassment of students by their peers

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Educating Our Boys

• Boys are now falling behind in reading, according to a 50-state survey released in 2011 by Center on Education Policy

• 62% of Community College graduates are female; 57% of students earning bachelor degrees are female

• “Raising Cain”

Ethical Issues

• The degree to which all students are encouraged to be open, reflective, and critical thinkers

• The degree to which open inquiry may place students at odds with their families or the community

• The degree to which the role of the school is seen as one which helps all students to understand, appreciate, and negotiate differences—of gender and sexuality as well as of other characteristics

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POTENTIAL BARRIERS IN LEARNING–TEACHING RELATIONSHIPS WITH DOMINANT-CULTURE TEACHERS AND SCHOOLS

• Teaching strategies must be informed by a comprehensive knowledge of gender socialization and its effect on human development and learning. In addition, they must be aware of their power and its use in the classroom and how male and female students experience power differently.

• Teachers must be aware of and continually review their own values and biases toward females in order to be advocates for equality and equal opportunities for women and girls in schools.

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