Gender issues

I found the 3 articles by Martino, Jetnikoff & King; and Gilbert to be fascinating reading. The dynamics of speaking and listening in classroom discourse is something that as teachers we do not reflect upon as often as we should, and an important element of classroom dynamic and student achievement.  As Gilbert concluded in her article " As teachers we need to learn to listen critically both to the talk - and to the silence - in our classrooms" to ensure that students are not being marginalised based on gender, race or sexuality. We need to examine 'what speaking positions we make available in the classrooms: at who is given authority to speak and how; at who is silenced and how' as well as look at the informal talk situations of language classrooms - who does the work - and who gets the credit - for successful group discussions? who have the skills - and who have yet to learn them - in informal speech contexts?.

Martino reflects on challenging masculinities and homphobia in the English classroom, and how boys bring with them to class particular social and cultural values and attitudes that inform how they relate to one another (p.155). He believes that we need to develop strategies to allow students to respond to particular texts and to encourage them to think about what we take for granted as 'normal' and 'natural'. What does it mean to be a 'proper' boy or to behave in 'appropriately' masculine ways? Boys need to reflect on issues of strength and power in their own lives as a way to interrogate dominant masculinity and its effects  and one way is by appealing to their sense of justice (McLean 1995). What are the 'negative consequences of masculine power at the hands of adult men and older boys' (McLean 1995, 23). Martino argues that "addressing issues of homophobia in schools must be situated within a social justice framework in which any form of violence is treated as unacceptable" (160).  There is a need to address  the issue of assumptions about gay students which are informed by fear and ignorance. Martino also notes that issues of class also need to be addressed e.g. the stereotype of 'rich'  as well as the role that sexuality plays such as the denigration of the feminine in defining 'acceptable' masculinities. Martino gives an example of how one text can be used to look at the above issues.  His references provide for further reading on this subject.

Jetnikoff & King look at 'intersecting images of gender, race and culture in pop media' in a commentary on a developed unit designed around the concept of visual and critical literacy. Students analyse the power relationships and images in video clips/film/magazines, producing their own recreation of these forms of 'text' and also reflect in journal writing about gendered, cultural and racial power relationships in the media.

I found the final article by Gilbert on 'gender, talk and silence' to be the most fascinating as it deals with how the ways students take up particular forms of masculinity or femininity will affect the way they will participate in classroom interaction and the way in which they will perform speech genres in the classroom context.  (185) Gilbert reflects on gendered perceptions of differences between women and men as speakers, and how this is impacted in the classroom by teachers and students. As teachers we need to observe the patterns of 'talk' that occurs, and be attuned to differences with and between the groups who talk. What is the situational context in which the discussion occurred? What was going on? What was the purpose of the interaction? Who was involved? In what relationship are the participants e.g. consider predominantly social relationships of power, of social distance, of gender, of race. How do these societal influences affect how the participants might speak to each other? Does the gender of the speakers sometimes override situational and generic expectations as a demonstration of broader societal male power? (p.188) . Are we perpetuating inequalities of access to talk and to speaking positions, and differential treatment of female and male students in the classroom? which sees girls speaking less than boys, given less attention than boys? Who has the 'speaking rights' in the classroom - are teachers allowing boys to break the convention rules of the genre and the speech situation. Gilbert comments on their research which has focused on the "patterns of gendered performances boys established within these classrooms, and the way in which these patterns appeared to affect the classroom context, enabling and disabling the performance of others" (p189) and how the "way in which boys are positioned as masculine subjects within their classroom - and the opportunities they have to play out dominant and more macho forms of masculine behaviour - influences their participation in classroom talk situations" compared to other boys - less obviously positioned as 'masculine' subjects - who were quieter within the classroom, and nervous and embarrassed about standing up in front of the whole class to present work orally.  She continues to state that "Gendered perceptions of speech and speaking have established expectations within classrooms - for girls, for boys, and for teachers - and impact upon the way we speak, what we might speak about, and even whether we will speak at all". (190).  Gilbert also notes how the control of speaking space within the classroom is not the only issue. Girls also face difficulties when boys 'engaged in crude and humiliating language practices designed to position the girls as sexual subjects objectified and controlled by men". To confront these unequal relationships of power, students need to be given 'access to knowledge about how language practices can be sexist or unfair to girls and women; how language practices are used to construct and regulated particular ways of being and behaving as 'men' and as 'women'. It may also mean giving students access to knowledge about how language may be used to 'do' things to people - to harass them, humiliate them, and silence them. And it may also mean giving students access to knowledge about how speakers are often positioned within discursive networks of power that may make it hard for them to speak at all, or may make it hard for them to tell their stories in ways they would choose" (191)