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Pergamon
Women's Studies International Forum, Vol. 20, No. 1, pp. 61-75, 1997
Copyright © 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd
Printed in the USA. All rights reserved
0277-5395/97 $17.00 + .00
PII S0277-5395(96)00065-9
THE GENDER INCLUSIVENESS OF A WOMEN'S HISTORY
CURRICULUM IN SECONDARY EDUCATION
GEERT TEN DAM AND HANNEKE FARKAS TEEKENS
University of Amsterdam and Hogeschool van Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Synopsis---This article focuses on the meaning of a "female-friendly" way of teaching history for girls
and boys in secondary education in the Netherlands. It shows how girls and boys experienced a
female-friendly learning method for two divergent types of subject matter: women's history and
traditional history. The research took place in the context of the introduction of women's history as a
compulsory examination subject in all secondary schools in the Netherlands. The article starts with an
elaboration of the (theoretical) background of a female-friendly teaching method and a description of the
research project. With help of the learner report methodology we then investigate the experiences of girls
and boys with a female-friendly teaching method in secondary school curricula for traditional and
women's history. Our research yielded two results. First, girls as well as boys preferred a female-friendly
way of teaching to a more traditional one. In the second place, students' evaluations of a female-friendly
teaching method and the subject women's history revealed an unexpected link: Women's history taught
in a female-friendly way was not recognized as a body of knowledge. © 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd
INTRODUCTION
In 1990 and 1991 women's history was a com-
pulsory examination subject at all Dutch sec-
ondary schools. 1 Students in vocational educa-
tion and general secondary education studied
the position of women in the Netherlands and
the United States of America in the period
1929-1969. This event was quite unique.
No
other country in the world featured such a com-
prehensive effort to include gender in the cur-
riculum of secondary education.
Within women's studies, however, it is gen-
erally accepted that the gender inclusiveness of
a curriculum is not only based on the content,
but on the
teaching method
as well (see e.g.,
Rosser 1990). Most experiments with female-
friendly ways of teaching have taken place in
higher education. The reason for this may be the
relative flexibility of the curriculum. Unlike
higher education, the objectives in secondary
education are usually fixed at a national level.
Neither students nor individual teachers have
Address correspondence to Geert ten Dam, Graduate School
of Teaching and Learning, University of Amsterdam,
Wibautstraat 2-4, 1091 GM Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
61
much influence on these targets. Textbooks are
developed to achieve the objectives set and in
most cases presume a certain teaching method.
This was also the case with women's history as
an innovative examination subject in secondary
education. The examination course books com-
piled for this purpose may be characterized as
traditional in terms of teaching methods. The
emphasis was on facts and cognitive aspects of
the subject, while emotional aspects were ne-
glected. Moreover, the relation of women' s his-
tory as a subject to the daily lives of girls and
boys was hardly elaborated.
In 1989 the Dutch Ministry of Education
asked us to evaluate women's history as a com-
pulsory subject in secondary education. Since
we wanted to investigate the gender inclusive-
ness of a curriculum in depth (i.e., in the course
content as well as in the teaching method), we
designed this investigation as experimental re-
search (ten Dam, Farkas Teekens & van Loos-
broek, 1991). We developed teaching materials
in order to conduct different ways of teach-
ing--a female-friendly and a regular teaching
method----on both women's history and tradi-
tional history. 2 We asked girls and boys who
had worked with the different materials about
62
GEERT TEN DAM AND HANNEKE FARKAS TEEKENS
their experiences. The research took place in the
second-highest grade of secondary schools for
general education. The main reason for this was
that we did not want examinations undertaken
in the final year to interfere with the aim of the
project. The teaching materials had to prepare
students for the subject matter of the final ex-
amination. Therefore, the materials designed for
the research focuses on developments in the
Netherlands in relation to events in the rest of
Europe and in the United States during the years
1900-1929.
This article focuses on the meaning of a
female-friendly way of teaching history for girls
and boys in secondary education. 3 The question,
how did girls and boys in secondary education
experience a female-friendly learning method,
will be answered for two divergent types of
subject matter: women's history and traditional
history. An elaboration of a female-friendly
teaching method precedes the description of the
structure and organization of the research. As an
example of the way we designed a female-
friendly teaching method and a regular one in
the context of history as a subject matter, we
will give four excerpts from the teaching mate-
rial used. The experiences of girls and boys with
the different teaching methods follow. The last
part of this article reflects on the research results
and explores questions that merit closer atten-
tion.
Female-friendly teaching method
The basic assumption of what is often called
"gender-inclusive education" is the idea that
current methods of teaching do not sufficiently
tie in with the way girls learn. The hypothesis of
scholars who subscribe to this line of thought is
that the learning processes of girls can be char-
acterized by a number of feminine attributes
like the need for completeness, continuity and
involvement and for concrete examples that en-
able them to relate what they have learnt to
everyday experiences. These attributes would
have already developed during pre-school so-
cialization (Volman, ten Dam, & van Eck,
1993).
Nancy.Chodorow's (1978) theory is often
used to explain gender-related learning pro-
cesses (e.g., Belenky, Clinchy, Goldberger, &
Tarule, 1986; Collins, 1989; Klein, 1987;
Rosser, 1989, 1990). Chodorow relates the dif-
ferences in the psychological structure of
women and men to the division of labor be-
tween the sexes, which generally means that
women are responsible for raising children,
while men go out to work. According to the
author, girls therefore establish direct and per-
sonal identifications with their mothers, who are
immediately available as models. Boys, how-
ever, have to make do with fantasies about their
fathers who may often be absent. They develop
their masculine identity by identifying with the
position of the father and by reacting against
femininity, an indirect identification.
Scholars using this theory to explain gender-
related differences in learning processes argue
that the learning styles of girls and boys have
the same structure as their earlier identification
processes. According to this view, closeness and
involvement are important elements in girls'
learning processes. Boys, on the other hand, are
better prepared to deal with abstractions and to
recognize the totality of a situation in its parts.
Moreover, the learning style of men and boys is
usually based on following rules. They can fol-
low such rules without wanting to understand
their meaning and background. A holistic style
of learning is more common among girls and
women; they want to understand something in
its totality before applying detailed rules within
that totality (e.g., Turkle, 1984, 1988; Rosser,
1990). The learning styles of girls are inter-
preted in this approach as more or less stable
traits of personality that merit greater consider-
ation in educational environments.
The idea of "feminine learning styles" is one
of the few examples of a so-called difference-
approach. 4 Instead of regarding girls in educa-
tion as a group that lags behind and using boys
and masculinity as the measuring rod for im-
provement, this approach stresses a positive ap-
praisal of girls as "being different."
The strength of projects on developing a
female-friendly teaching method lies in partic-
ular in the gathering of practical information
and ideas on the gender specific character of
education. Implicit statements like "girls require
a modified method of working," however, are
made all too easily. The reproaches primarily
address the dangers of stereotyping, of over-
looking differences between individual girls and
individual boys, and of (re)devaluing the femi-
nine learning style. Moreover, there has been
criticism of the tendency to view the learning
styles of girls and boys as fixed patterns without
Gender Inclusiveness of a Women's History Curriculum 63
considering the influence of earlier learning pro-
cesses and the educational context, thereby cre-
ating the risk of essentialism (ten Dam & Vol-
man 1995).
Despite these critical comments, the idea of
adapting to girls' leaming styles has been well
received. In the Dutch Policy Plan 1994, for
example, the learning style of girls is assumed
to be one of the main causes of gender inequal-
ity in education. Very little empirical research,
however, has been done. The research by Be-
lenky et al. (1986) is presumably one of the best
known studies on women's learning processes.
This study includes theoretical approaches such
as Chodorow's theory on socialization. Unfor-
tunately, the sample group consists entirely of
female respondents, which makes it impossible
to determine whether learning processes are
gender-related. This article explores this ques-
tion indirectly by assessing the extent to which
girls are more receptive than boys to a teaching
method presumed to be "female-friendly."
We have summarized the assumptions about
a feminine learning style or way of knowing, we
found in the literature, in the following guide-
lines for a female-friendly teaching method:
1. Girls and women learn more effectively
when the presentation of the course material
includes a familiar context (e.g., phrasing a
question relating to their experiences, ap-
proaching a problem from various angles, or
replacing multiple-choice questions with es-
say questions).
2. Girls and women learn more effectively
when the presentation of the course consists
of concrete examples with which they either
have or could establish affective links (e.g.,
providing examples related to the girls' im-
mediate environments, having the girls ac-
tively search their surroundings for applica-
tions for what they have learnt, or enabling
girls to become involved and to identify with
the course material).
3. Girls and women learn more effectively
when the presentation of the course material
relates to their areas of social competence
and when the classes enhance communica-
tion (e.g., issuing group assignments, avoid-
ing competition, creating opportunities for
cooperation, using the girls' associations to
produce personal meanings and enabling stu-
dents to speak and to write about these as-
sociations, using approaches that foster com-
munication in small groups).
We elaborated on these guidelines in the context
of history as a subject in secondary education.
The structure and organization of the research
Sixteen teachers from all over the Nether-
lands participated in this study. The teachers
were recruited via professional journals and in-
formal contacts. In addition, 497 students (291
girls and 206 boys) between 14 and 16 years old
were involved. We compiled teaching kits for
women's history and traditional history which
were used in their lessons in the second-highest
grade of lower general secondary education and
upper general secondary education. 5 One ver-
sion of each teaching kit was developed for the
regular teaching method, and another version of
each kit was designed for the female-friendly
teaching method. The women's history curric-
ulum consisted of 11 classes attended by 224
students. Five classes used the female-friendly
way of teaching, and six used the regular teach-
ing method. Eleven classes consisting of 273
students were taught traditional history: six
classes used a female-friendly way of teaching
and five classes a regular method. The teaching
kits used covered between 8 and 11 lessons,
which meant that every class worked with the
material for four consecutive weeks. Before the
research began, all teachers received written
instructions and attended a 1-day course about
the teaching material they would be using. The
teachers were assigned to the classes in a ran-
dom way. During the research period the classes
were observed at least one time. Neither the
teachers nor the students knew that the teaching
methods constituted an important part of the
research.
In order to investigate students' appreciation
of the lessons, we asked them to fill in a ques-
tionnaire after the experiment and to write
learner reports. A description of the methodol-
ogy of the learner reports appears later in this
article.
On the basis of background information on
students which we collected immediately before
the research began, we concluded that the two
groups did not differ in terms of performance in
history and that there were no significant differ-
ences between the groups regarding the stu-
64 GEERT TEN DAM AND HANNEKE FARKAS TEEKENS
Fig. 1. Two weeks ago the 24th child was born to the Vork family in the village of Noorden. The mother and baby are
in excellent condition, but that no complaints need to be made about the other members of the family will be evident
from the picture.
dents' backgrounds (gender, age, ethnic origin,
parents' education, parents' occupations, impor-
tance placed on school and on enjoying school).
Excerpts from the teaching materials
This section presents four excerpts from the
teaching kits we developed: a female-friendly
,teaching method in the context of women's
history; a female-friendly teaching method in
the context of traditional history; a regular
teaching method in the context of traditional
history; a regular teaching method in the context
of women's history. All excerpts address the
concept of pillarization. 6
Women's history~female-friendly teaching
method
The first excerpt deals with pillarization from
a women's history perspective according to the
guidelines of a female-friendly teaching
method. The concept is approached by a ques-
tion about the influence of pillarization on the
daily life of women. One aspect of daily life is
selected, namely sexuality. This topic from "pri-
vate" life is likely to appeal to girls and will
consequently activate both cognitive and affec-
tive skills. The illustration elicits amazement,
the statistical material is matter of fact. The
concept of pillarization is not presented as an
isolated historical phenomenon, but as part of a
complex reality. Students must order and reor-
der the subject content to understand the nature
of the problem. Subject content and questions
are presented in an open manner. As the rela-
tionship between cause and effect is somewhat
ambiguous, different answers to the questions
are possible, as well as ample opportunities for
communication. Information is conveyed in part
by formulating one's own questions, and group
work is requested. It will become clear that the
concept of pillarization has different meanings
for different people. Moreover, the concept's
meaning has evolved over time and is likely to
elicit personal feelings.
What was it like to be a woman in the Neth-
erlands at the beginning of this century?
Pillarization was a way of life. It meant so-
cial segmentation according to religion or
ideology with separate clubs and associa-
tions. We shall examine the effect of pillar-
ization on women's daily lives (Figure 1).
Gender Inclusiveness of a Women's History Curriculum 65
How did people view sexuality?
The neo-Malthusian association established
a chapter in the Netherlands at the end of the
19th century. This organization wanted to
limit the number of children. The underlying
ideology was that, especially among the
poor, large families prevented improvements
in the standard of living. Fewer babies might
improve the care given to the other children.
The association tried to achieve this goal by
providing information and means (contra-
ceptives). Many Catholics and Protestants
believed the neo-Malthusians were sent by
the devil. They believed that humans were
forbidden to interfere with God's work. Pre-
venting pregnancy certainly meant interfer-
ing. Sex was permissible only inside a mar-
riage and only for the purpose of having
children. As we read earlier, clergymen in the
Catholic and Protestant clusters were very
concerned with moral conduct. Conse-
quently, reverends and pastors monitored
sexual behavior within their clusters. The
table below contains data on the number of
children per family between 1919 and 1928.
Questions
1. Ask your parents or grandparents whether
they remember anything about living within
a cluster. Write a short essay about their
experiences.
2. (..) Imagine you are a girl in a Catholic or
Protestant cluster. If one of your girlfriends
were una~liated, how would you explain to
her what it means being part of a cluster?
Traditional history~female-friendly teaching
method
The second excerpt begins with a question. A
description is given of what pillarization entails,
by giving examples of what a girl would do
when she would belong to one of the pillars. By
contrast with the subject women's history,
here the explicit emphasis on "private" life is
lacking.
Did pillarization have an important influence?
One could say that pillarization influenced
all spheres of life in the Netherlands. "The
pillar" coached a person from the cradle to
the grave and would do anything to keep a
person "within the pillar." For instance a
roman catholic girl would go to a roman
catholic school, attend a roman catholic
sports club, and would marry a roman cath-
olic boy. She would listen to the roman cath-
olic radio station, be a member of the roman
catholic womens' society and (after 1919)
she would vote for the Roman Catholic Party
and she would take care that her children
would do just the same. Many girls became
nuns. Here you see a picture with a girl is
entering a convent. A choice for life, that is
why she is dressed as a bride (Figure 2).
Thus, pillarization is not a purely political
affair, but a general social phenomenon.
However politics contributed a great deal to
the awareness of people within the pillars.
The struggle for schools played an important
role in this respect. The impact of pillariza-
tion now is much less than 65 years ago.
People are not so obedient towards their pil-
lar anymore. But pillarization is not gone in
the Netherlands. You can still find it when
you look at radio stations, newspapers,
schools, and clubs. Just think of your own
environment. Do you yourself notice ele-
ments of pillarization?
Questions:
1. How many brothers and sisters do you have?
Table 1. Number of Children Per Family Between 1919
and 1928
Non-
Roman Dutch church
Catholic Calvinist Reformed Goers
In agriculture
Self-employed 8.50 6.50 4.00 3.50
Rural workers 7.50 5.00 4.75 4.50
Blue collar workers 5.25 5.00 5.00 3.00
Other self employed 5.25 4.75 3.25 2.75
Employees 4.50 4.00 3.00 2.50
Total 5.25 4.75 3.00 2.50
66 GEERT TEN DAM AND HANNEKE FARKAS TEEKENS
Fig. 2. Here you see a picture with a girl who is entering a convent. A choice for life,
that is why she is dressed as a bride.
.
3.
4.
Do you feel that this is a large or a small
family. Why?
Do you know how many brothers and sisters
your parents had?
In the picture you can see how the eldest
daughter of the family goes into a convent.
That means a Roman Catholic family is de-
picted. Could you mention another reason
why this picture presents "a typical roman
catholic family" from the 1920s?
Traditional history~regular teaching method
This part discusses pillarization in a tradi-
tional way, which means in a more or less
abstract manner. Historical information is not
provided in the context of a question. There is
little room for involvement and personal iden-
tification. Examples are taken from the tradi-
tionally male context and therefore represent a
masculine perception of the social environment.
Illustrations confirm this perspective by depict-
ing men and boys; they are not used as a source
of information in itself. Questions and tasks are
clearly described. Students have no opportunity
to elaborate on an answer while working on the
task. Group work and communication are not
required. The way the questions are formulated
suggests that only one answer is correct.
In the 1920s, Dutch society was character-
ized by pillarization. This trend involved
clusters consisting of segments of the popu-
lation pertaining to a specific group, each
with its own religious affiliation or ideology
and its own clubs and interest groups. These
clusters guided people throughout their lives
and did everything to retain the members of
their fold. For example, Catholic boys at-
tended Catholic schools, joined Catholic soc-
cer clubs, married Catholic girls, listened to
the KRO [a Catholic radio broadcasting net-
work], read Catholic newspapers and voted
for the RKSP [a Catholic political party]. In
addition to the Catholic cluster, there was a
Protestant, a socialist, and an unaffiliated
cluster. The unaffiliated cluster was not really
a cluster, but rather the group of individuals
Gender Inclusiveness of a Women's History Curriculum 67
Fig. 3. The priest gives the kick-off for the soccer-match.
that did not belong to any of the other three
clusters. Pillarization is, therefore, less a po-
litical than a general social phenomenon. It
created political stability in the Netherlands,
as everyone stood by his cluster. The conflict
over denominational and parochial schools
raised the awareness of members of the
Catholic and Protestant clusters. Universal
suffrage provided politicians within the clus-
ters with more supporters.
Questions
1. What is a cluster?
2. Which clusters existed in the Netherlands?
Women's history~regular teaching method
In this excerpt information is given about
sexuality as an aspect of daily life in the "pri-
vate" sphere, in a matter of fact way. To answer
the question about the influence of pillarization
historical insight is needed but no personal per-
ceptions are asked for.
The influence of pillarization
In a former paragraph we saw already that
the roman catholic and the protestant pillars
in particular were intensively involved with
the moral behaviour of people. Especially in
the field of sexuality very outspoken ideas
were prevalent. The roman catholics pre-
dominated the discussion, but the protestants
followed suit. The roman catholic ideal was
a large family with many children. The only
place for sexuality was within marriage and
sexuality had only one aim: having children.
The priest and the reverend supervised the
strict compliance with this ideal. When it
was felt that too few children were born in a
family the priest came by to have a talk. It
68 GEERT TEN DAM AND HANNEKE FARKAS TEEKENS
was absolutely forbidden to use methods to
avoid pregnancy.
Questions
A old Dutch saying goes:
'Twee geloven op een kussen
daar slaapt de duivel tussen'
(Two religions on one pillow
will make the devil sleep in the middle)
1.
2. What is the meaning of this saying?
Would there be great opportunity for the
devil to do so at the beginning of this cen-
tury? Explain why you think yes/no.
The learner reports
To analyze the learning experiences of the
girls and boys, we used the learner report meth-
odology. 7 The key question of the learner report
always concerns what the respondent has
learned (in this course, about this subject, etc.).
We asked students to formulate (learning effect)
sentences that began with "I have learnt that" or
"I have noticed/discovered that ..." Open ques-
tions permit students to develop their own
meanings pertaining to the subject matter con-
cerned. In addition to revealing the learning
experiences intended, this method highlighted
unexpected learning experiences.
The learner reports were analyzed as fol-
lows. First, we counted every learning sentence
formulated by a student as one learning experi-
ence. Students were allowed to answer the open
question "What have you learnt or discovered
..." as they wished. Understandably, this ques-
tion immediately brought the course content to
the minds of many students. Nevertheless, they
also addressed the teaching method used. Table
Table 2. Number of Learning Experiences for Teaching
Method and Subject Matter According to Sex and
Women's Versus Traditional History
Women's History Traditional History
Girls Boys Girls Boys
Teaching method 45 27 107 57
Content 191 133 231 107
Other 14 7 11 17
Toml 250 167 349 181
2 shows how many reported learning experi-
ences concerned the teaching method and how
many reflected course content. The learning ex-
periences reported by students in women's his-
tory courses were especially likely to address
the course material. This unorthodox subject for
secondary education curricula took center stage.
Students in traditional history courses were
more inclined to reflect on the teaching method.
Quantifying the different types of learning
experiences leaves a great deal of unused infor-
mation. Especially the students' choices of
words elucidate their interpretations of the les-
sons. How did girls and boys give meaning to
the teaching method used? Did the subject mat-
ter (women's history or traditional history) in-
fluence their experiences of the teaching
method? To answer these questions, our ap-
proach to the material had to leave the expres-
sions of the students intact. We found a solution
in the form of
collective essays.
Sixteen essays
were compiled from the learning experiences
written in the girls' and boys' own words. Dif-
ferentiations involved the teaching method used
(a female-friendly teaching method or a regular
one), the subject matter (women's history or
traditional history) and the type of school, s For
each of the resulting eight groups, we compiled
one collective essay for girls and one for boys.
The methodology of combining the answers to
an open question to form a collective essay was
derived from Janssen, den Hart, and den Draak
(1989). We compiled the essays in the following
way:
-- In principle, every learning effect sentence
reported was included in an essay, unless
various students had written virtually the
same sentence, in which case it was in-
cluded only once. Sentences with the same
meanings but different words were included
in the essay.
-- The essays are divided into paragraphs. The
learning effect sentences about the subject
(women's) history on the one hand and the
teaching method on the other, were col-
lected in separate paragraphs.
-- Each paragraph begins with "I have learnt
(discovered/noticed) that." This opening is
omitted from subsequent sentences.
--Each
paragraph begins with the learning
effect sentences used most by students.
-- To enhance readability, grammar and punc-
Gender Inclusiveness of a Women's History Curriculum 69
tuation were corrected, and some sentences
were combined without altering their mean-
ings.
The methodology of combining the learning
reports of individual students into collective
essay naturally leads to inconsistencies in the
content of each essay. Conflicting learning ex-
periences are included in the same essay. We
consider such instances assets rather than draw-
backs to this approach, as inconsistencies and
contradictions highlight individual differences
among girls. To provide insight into the data we
collected, an extensive excerpt appears below
from the essay by girls who studied traditional
history according to the female-friendly teach-
ing method we developed. We have chosen sec-
tions of the essay about pillarization and about
the teaching method used.
I have noticed that pillarization was very
important throughout history. Standing was
also very important. Pillarization still exists.
I thought it had disappeared. The church and
pillarization used to be tremendously impor-
tant in daily life. They were very influential.
I do not think I would have enjoyed living
under pillarization. Too many things were
forbidden. (...)
We have learnt about more than just politics.
History is often about politics. I am more
interested in how people used to live. The
past and the present are not so different. I felt
it was important to learn about past attitudes
to certain issues instead of memorizing dry
facts. It was fun to talk about the upper class
at home because we knew prominent figures
of the past, it's even more enjoyable when
you know the people.
I have discovered that the book contains a lot
of trivial information, about radios and cloth-
ing, which may be nice to know, but why
spend half a book on it? (...)
I have learnt there are different approaches to
history and specific topics. We had covered
all the material before, [since] I finished the
college-preparatory version of tenth grade
last year. Even though I already knew the
material, the presentation was new. You can
have different opinions about history. A lot of
questions asked for a personal opinion. Per-
sonal opinions are very important. I like an-
swering questions about my opinion. It
makes you think. I felt more involved. If you
keep up with the class, you learn a lot, and
you don't need to study too hard for a test.
There are many ways to explain the material.
We worked in teams a lot. I like working in
teams. I enjoyed hearing everyone's opinion.
History is interesting when you talk about it
a lot with your fellow students. There were a
lot of class discussions on this topic. I also
liked being more involved in the history
classes. I felt there were too many open
questions about my opinion. This method of
teaching history (with lots of discussions) is
wonderful.
I have learnt that it was easier than last year.
History can be simple. It doesn't have to be
difficult. Easy, even childish: but the discus-
sions were great. It was fun. The easiness of
the material made the discussions possible.
The workbooks were too simple, even
though the rest was interesting. I didn't learn
much from these classes. (...) (Girls: female-
friendly teaching method/traditional subject
matter).
Students' experiences with a female-friendly
teaching method
The learner reports clearly show that stu-
dents experienced history classes taught accord-
ing to the female-friendly method we devel-
oped, differently from the ones where a regular
teaching method was used. The reports stress
several aspects, such as the different perspec-
tives presented on the subject matter, more ac-
tive class involvement, a more congenial envi-
ronment, requests for personal opinions, equal
appreciation of different opinions, reflection on
and discussion about the subject matter, expla-
nations of concepts, team assignments and a
lower threshold of difficulty. The learner re-
ports, however, do not provide us with an un-
equivocal picture of girls' and boys' experi-
ences with these aspects.
Traditional history classes taught in a
female-friendly way: More fun for girls and
boys
The evaluations of a female-friendly teach-
ing method were especially favorable for tradi-
70 GEERT TEN DAM AND HANNEKE FARKAS TEEKENS
tional subject matter. The essays by girls who
attended these classes provide a detailed and
favorable evaluation of the different elements of
a female-friendly teaching method. The follow-
ing paragraph contains the learning sentences
about the teaching method written by the girls
who were taught traditional history in a female-
friendly way.
I have noticed that this method makes history
much more fun. The class was more enjoy-
able. This method seems much more inter-
esting, although the topic is also a factor. You
can approach history from several angles. A
question can lead to various ideas and an-
swers. Everyone has her own opinion about
certain questions. I've noticed that fun
classes really improve class participation.
The topics were also much more enjoyable.
Having your own opinion helps you remem-
ber the material. Working this way (in teams)
is much more fun and makes learning easier.
Teamwork helps you solve problems much
faster than working alone. In a team, you
don't work as hard as when you're alone or
with a partner. You learn much more by
talking about the subject a lot. This method is
much easier and much more fun. I've noticed
there are several ways of working in class.
Finally, I really enjoyed this metfiod! (Girls:
female-friendly teaching method/traditional
subject matter).
Girls' learning effect sentences were especially
positive about the acceptance of different opin-
ions. They were equally enthusiastic about
working in teams. Teamwork made history
classes much more enjoyable. Scholars such as
Yolanda te Poel (1982) have mentioned that
girls are more receptive to and capable of ac-
quiring knowledge in a congenial environment.
Teamwork also enables students to talk about
the subject matter. These conversations signifi-
cantly stimulate student involvement.
History is interesting when you talk about it
a lot with fellow students. (Girls: female-
friendly teaching method/traditional subject
matter).
Girls were not alone in their positive assess-
ments of a female-friendly teaching method.
Boys also tended to appreciate a female-friendly
teaching method in traditional history courses.
The paragraphs in their essays about the teach-
ing method begin with the learning effect sen-
tences that contain favorable assessments of a
female-friendly teaching method. This means
that these learning sentences were used most
frequently by them. Although boys wrote more
concise essays than girls, they mentioned virtu-
ally the same elements of the method used.
Nevertheless, the boys' essays omitted refer-
ences to the congenial class environment. It is
also striking that boys used "discuss" where
girls wrote "talk about." "Discuss" has a more
competitive connotation than "talk about" (also
see Kramarae & Treichler, 1990).
I find this method much more enjoyable than
other ones. I have discovered that I have an
outspoken opinion about many topics. There
are many ways to explain history (many
ways of teaching). Everyone has or can have
a different opinion about an issue. You learn
a lot from extensive class discussions. (Boys:
female-friendly teaching method/traditional
subject matter).
While the female-friendly teaching method spe-
cifically addresses presumed learning styles
among girls, boys appear to have appreciated
this teaching method as well. This phenomenon
is fairly common in educational research. For
example, studies in the field of teaching math-
ematics show that the learning materials de-
signed over the past few years to accommodate
assumptions about girls' interests and their
working methods were also appreciated by boys
(e.g., Busato, ten Dam, van den Eeden, & Ter-
wel, 1995). The following statement may de-
scribe this phenomenon: educational improve-
ments that serve girls' needs will benefit boys as
well.
Our female-friendly teaching kits empha-
sized working in small groups. While girls'
learner reports contained mostly favorable reac-
tions to teamwork, the research results show
that this element of a female-friendly teaching
method elicited conflicting reactions among
boys.
Teams don't work very well. You don't un-
derstand the material. (Teacher's name) got
angry at me more often than usual. (Boys:
female-friendly teaching method/traditional
subject matter).
Gender Inclusiveness of a Women's History Curriculum 71
Teams are much more fun, and I also enjoyed
talking about the material. (Boys: female-
friendly teaching method/traditional subject
matter).
The learner reports also show that both boys and
girls consider a female-friendly teaching
method easier than the methods to which they
are accustomed. Both groups view this differ-
ence as an asset.
In addition to providing insight into girls'
and boys' experiences with a female-friendly
teaching method in traditional history courses,
the learner reports reveal that especially girls
became more interested and involved in tradi-
tional history taught according to a female-
friendly method. This teaching method im-
proved girls' identifications with the past.
The First World War began with the murders
in Serajewo. The first war preconditioned the
outbreak of the second one. Some people
were happy about the outbreak of the war.
They see war sometimes as a solution for
problems: I was thinking of useless violence.
The things we learned were not about poli-
tics. Often history is only about politics. I
find it interesting to know how people lived
in the past, then you do not need to simply
learn facts by heart. It is nice to be asked for
your own opinion, then you start to think for
yourself. I felt more involved. (Girls: female-
friendly teaching method/traditional subject
matter).
The learner reports written by boys in tradi-
tional history courses did not reflect the same
empathy as that expressed by girls. The tone of
the sentences was significantly more detached.
Improving personal involvement in a subject
like history seems particularly important for
retaining interest among girls. Boys, however,
appear receptive to classical topics in history,
such as wars, even without explicitly promoting
involvement and identification.
I have discovered the subject is fun. I en-
joyed [learning about] World War I most. If
you like it, you can learn a lot. There was a
lot I didn't know about that period. (Boys:
regular teaching method/traditional subject
matter).
The authority of a feminist subject and the
issue of gender identity
Changing the subject matter from traditional
history to women's history caused a remarkable
change in students' evaluations of a female-
friendly teaching method. In the collective es-
say of the girls who were taught women's his-
tory in a female-friendly way the following
paragraph appeared.
I have noticed that the subject was tedious,
some topics were interesting, but a few put
me to sleep. Toward the end, the topic
seemed drawn-out and boring. It was basi-
cally an interesting field, although it got bor-
ing after we had been working on it for a
while. While I found the subject interesting,
it became dull, and all kinds of irrelevant
information was added. (Girls: female-
friendly teaching method/women's history).
Boys' opinions were virtually all negative. Al-
most the whole paragraph in their collective
essay consists of negative remarks. Very few
positive evaluation sentences were mentioned.
I have noticed that too many questions reflect
women's views, boys are people, too. This
teaching method is dull. History teaching can
be terribly boring. The speaker was really
corny. This teaching method should never be
implemented because I thought it was
WORTHLESS. I thought there were too
many of those stupid essay questions and not
enough multiple choice ones. My [female]
teacher is stubborn. No teaching method can
interest all students. The teaching method
was very playful, as if we were in junior
high, with hardly any deep questions. The
questions in the booklet were terribly simple,
and the test was much too difficult compared
to the questions. I have discovered that this
teaching method can be fun. (Boys: female-
friendly teaching method/women's history).
Examining the aspects which students disliked
about a female-friendly teaching method for
women's history shows that both girls and boys
objected to the dull and drawn-out nature of the
classes. This evaluation is not necessarily attrib-
utable to the subject matter. Rarely did students
learning women's history in the traditional way
consider these classes dull and drawn out.
72 GEERT TEN DAM AND HANNEKE FARKAS TEEKENS
I have learned that women in this century
have undergone a tremendous change in re-
spect to work and mentality. Women had to
fight for their position. I have seen that wom-
en's history is really interesting (perhaps be-
cause I am a woman myself). I like it when
history is not about wars and things like that.
It was a nice topic and I am more interested
in the lessons now. History can be very in-
structive. (Girls: regular teaching method/
women's history).
The difference in evaluating a female-friendly
teaching method between women's history on
the one hand and traditional history on the other
was very surprising. We had really expected
girls to report positive learning experiences
with women's history taught in a female-
friendly way. The learner reports show the con-
trary. We shall make a cautious attempt to ex-
plain this discrepancy. We consider the various
subjects in secondary education as cultural
products focussing on the development of
knowledge, skills, and values. All three aspects
of education are present in each subject and, of
course, cannot be separated. In the eyes of stu-
dents and even teachers, however, "values" and
"knowledge" are constructed as if they were
oppositions. Within this conceptualization
women's history is exclusively associated with
values, in terms of opinions, whereas the regular
issues that are treated in the "traditional" history
curriculum are seen as knowledge, in terms of
facts. The essays show that girls and boys are
quick to express their view on the position of
women and how it has changed. We fear that the
explicitly value-linked character of women's
history as a subject has prevented students from
considering it as a body of knowledge. The
allegedly neutral character of history knowl-
edge generally transmitted in schools, which of
course implicitly is also linked with values but
often not acknowledged as such, makes the
knowledge base of women's history less visible.
Moreover, women's history was introduced as
"a subject" separated from traditional "normal"
history, instead of a revision of historical
knowledge based on a specific perception of the
past. Although in history lessons the role of both
women and men in history is increasingly paid
attention too, history in Dutch secondary
schools still is primarily his story. Consequently
women's history as a rather isolated subject
could easily be associated with values.
The "female-friendly" teaching method
probably reinforced this process. The "female-
friendly" teaching method we implemented en-
courages students to reflect on the content of the
lessons given. This emphasis on reflection en-
ables students specifically to produce their own
meaning of the subject. In designing the course
material and training the instructors, we empha-
sized using students' experiences, especially
those of girls, as a basis for learning. This focus
may have neglected the relationship between
theory and experience in learning. Perhaps the
equilibrium between theory and experiences has
shifted too much towards experiences because
theory is no longer presented to students as
such. If, as the learner reports suggest, this
imbalance has occurred, then women's history
classes appear to have born the brunt of it.
Although a female-friendly teaching method
was effective in bridging the gap between stu-
dents and traditional history (especially girls
became more interested and involved in tradi-
tional history), this method made students of
women's history feel they were learning very
little. Many students seem to have missed an
intellectual challenge.
Finally, the unexpectedly negative opinions
expressed by girls about women's history
classes taught in a female-friendly way may be
related to the issue of gender identity. Talking
about course content is an important component
of a female-friendly teaching method that em-
phasizes reflection and the production of indi-
vidual meanings pertaining to women's history.
It is questionable, however, whether public
speaking (in class), is a "natural" identity trait in
girls of about 15. The problems this method
may have caused were probably exacerbated
because the subject women's history required
taking the floor about women's inequality in the
past. Analyzing the girls' experiences with this
subject matter shows that girls fear becoming
part of a group that they (and boys) associate
with a "deficiency." Belonging to such a group
undermines a carefully constructed image of
equality. In this context, girls reacted to wom-
en's history by acknowledging inequality be-
tween the sexes and at the same time referring
the phenomenon of gender inequality to the
archives (see ten Dam & Rijkschroef, 1996)
They did not want to identify themselves with
women as a group struggling for equality, even
though the aspects of involvement and identifi-
Gender Inclusiveness of a Women's History Curriculum 73
cation are one of the cornerstones of a female-
friendly teaching method.
CONCLUSION
This article addresses girls' and boys' expe-
riences with a female-friendly teaching method
in secondary school curricula for traditional and
women's history. Until now, little research has
been conducted on the idea of a feminine learn-
ing style. The results of the studies undertaken
vary according to the type of research. On the
one hand, psychological research on the learn-
ing styles of women and men with help of
standardized instruments (e.g., Kolb's Learning
Style Inventory or Entwistle's Approaches to
Studying Inventory) shows rather small gender
differences (Severiens & ten Dam, 1994). On
the other hand, qualitative feminist research like
Belenky et al. (1986) or Collins (1989), high-
lights "women's ways of knowing." Since this
kind of research, however, is primarily con-
ducted among female respondents, it is ques-
tionable whether the ways of knowing noted can
indeed be characterized as feminine as opposed
to masculine. One exception is the project con-
ducted by Baxter Magolda (1992). She investi-
gated ways of knowing among male and female
students in higher education. Although Baxter
Magolda reports no gender-related differences
in the intellectual development of students, she
has noted various gender-related patterns within
the different positions of cognitive complexity.
Girls' self-images as learners, their views of
instructors' roles, the role of peers, evaluation in
the learning process, and the nature of knowl-
edge often reflect a relational approach. The
pattern of men tends to be more abstract and
individualistic. The guidelines we developed for
a female-friendly teaching method, and in par-
ticular the third guideline, contains elements of
this relational pattern.
Our research yielded two striking results.
Firstly, the students' evaluations of a female-
friendly teaching method were not clearly
gender-related. Both boys and girls evaluated a
female-friendly teaching method favorably in
the traditional history classes. According to the
girls, traditional history taught in a female-
friendly way reflected a variety of perspectives,
allowed more active class participation, pro-
vided a more congenial class setting, elicited
personal opinions, included extensive discus-
sion of the subject matter, clarified the meaning
of concepts, assigned teamwork and was easier.
In their learner reports, boys listed positive
comments about a number of the same ele-
ments. They especially stressed the different
perspectives on the subject, the requests for
personal opinions, and the equal appreciation
for different opinions. While girls valued the
opportunities for talking about the subject mat-
ter, boys loved animated discussions. This dif-
ference is not merely semantic. A preference for
discussions seems to be related to an individual,
competitive learning approach (e.g., Baxter Ma-
golda, 1992). Furthermore, boys were less pos-
itive about teamwork than girls. Finally, boys
did not deem the congenial class setting a note-
worthy educational feature. The importance that
girls attach to congeniality at school, both in
and out of class, may be related to Chodorow's
socialization theory: more than boys, girls de-
velop their identity through affective relation-
ships. A congenial environment enables them to
establish trusting relationships with their in-
structors and fellow students.
We already mentioned that the phenomenon
that educational measures advocated for girls
also benefit boys is well known in educational
research. The reports from both girls and boys
about the traditional history lessons in which a
female-friendly teaching method was used were
more favorable than those from students who
were taught traditional history in a regular way.
In this sense, the female-friendly teaching
method we developed can generally be regarded
as good teaching. Before accepting--and inter-
preting--such an explanation, it is necessary to
study the classroom processes in more detail.
For example, which small-group interactions
had taken place between the students them-
selves? What was the nature of the attention and
behavior of teachers with regard to girls and
boys? Although data on implementation was
collected from teachers' log books and one ses-
sion of every class was observed, our knowl-
edge of the gender context in which the lessons
had taken place is insufficient. To put it differ-
ently, not only the formal curriculum, but espe-
cially processes concerning the hidden curricu-
lum require additional research to explain this
result.
The second striking result of this study con-
cerns the unexpected link between women's
history as a feminist subject and a female-
friendly teaching method. The investigation to
74 GEERT TEN DAM AND HANNEKE FARKAS TEEKENS
determine whether girls' experienced a "female-
friendly" teaching method more positively than
boys took place in the context of a research
project evaluating the introduction of women's
history as a compulsory subject in secondary
education. We viewed both the content of the
lessons and the teaching method as important
aspects of what is often called the gender inclu-
siveness of education. Surprisingly, our research
shows that, while subject matter and teaching
method did indeed influence each other, the
effect was negative. Girls probably experienced
problems with the emphasis on "identification"
when they were taught women's history. Con-
sistent with the aim of a female-friendly teach-
ing method they were encouraged to get in-
volved in the subject of the position of women
in the past and present, and in the issue of the
shifting meanings of femininity and masculin-
ity. Identification with the phenomenon of gen-
der inequality and gender differences, however,
caused a problem. It treats girls' carefully con-
structed "gender-neutral" identity: virtually
none of the girls were able to identify positively
with gender inequality and gender differences,
which was the topic studied in women's history.
The concepts "dull" and "tedious" permeated
the learning experiences of the boys and many
of the girls who were taught women's histor3~ in
a female-friendly way. 9 We have attempted to
explain this evaluation of the lessons by noting
that the classes may have overemphasized ex-
periences and the development of "personal"
meanings. Secondary school students, both girls
and boys, did not recognize women's history
taught in a female-friendly way as a body of
knowledge. This research finding creates a di-
lemma for gender-inclusive education in sec-
ondary schools, which tailors both the subject
matter and the teaching method to girls. To be
recognized by students as a body of knowledge,
a feminist subject such as women's history must
command greater authority. Presenting "facts"
as truths, however, conflicts with the principles
of a female-friendly teaching method, which
involve stimulating critical reflection and guid-
ing students to produce their own meanings of
the course material.
ENDNOTES
1. In the Netherlands, two topics are chosen every year for
the final written examination in history and political
science, to be taken by all students who take history in
secondary schools. For each topic, the subject matter is
outlined. The assignment of the subject matter, including
the preparation of content, is executed by a small group
of professional historians, advised and controlled by the
Ministry of Education. "The subject-matter is published
two years before the examinations take place leaving
enough time for preparation of teachers, publishers of
examination course books and the committee which for-
mulates the examination questions." (Grever, 1991, p.
66).
2. We conceptualized traditional history as a historiography
that does not usually include gender as an identifying
feature of society and individuals.
3. See ten Dam and Rijkschroeff (1996) for the meaning of
women's history as a subject for girls.
4. See J. Scott 1988, for a discussion of the relationship
between difference strategies and equality strategies in
feminism.
5. Pursuant to the Secondary Education Act, there are two
main streams of secondary education in the Netherlands.
The first comprises general education. The second
stream comprises prevocational education. General sec-
ondary education is provided in the following forms:
college preparatory education (vwo); length of course 6
years, ages 12 to 18; upper general secondary education
(havo); length of course 5 years, ages 12 to 17; lower
general secondary education (mavo); length of course 4
years, ages 12 to 16. Only students attending mavo and
havo participated in the research. They received propor-
tional representation in the two research groups.
6. Pillarization (verzuiling) is a differentiation within soci-
ety whereby the population is divided into ideological
and religious social segments that each have their own
schools, societies, political parties, broadcasting net-
works, newspapers, hospitals, and so on. It is a vertical
differentiation running through all the social classes (hor-
izontal stratification). During the first half of the 20th
century, Dutch society was divided into a Roman Cath-
olic cluster, a Protestant cluster (with internal subdivi-
sions), and an unaffiliated cluster.
7. See ten Dam and Rijkschroeff (1996) for an elaboration
of the learner report methodology in the context of this
research project.
8. See Note 5. This article does not discuss differences
between and within the streams.
9. The paragraphs in the collective essays concerned begin
with sentences in which words like these were present.
This means that these sentences were used most fre-
quently by the students
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