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Πατσιομίτου, Σ. (2015) Ισότητα των φύλων στην εκπαίδευση: Οι γυναίκες διδάσκουν- οι άνδρες διοικούν; Πρακτικά συνεδρίου «Νέος Παιδαγωγός», 23-24 Μαΐου , Ευγενίδειο Ίδρυμα, σσ 1267-1290
Abstract
• Patsiomitou, S. (2015) Gender equality in [STEM] education: Why Do Women Teach and Men Manage? Proceedings of the Panhellenic conference “The New Educator (Neos Paidagogos)”, 23-24 May, Eugenides Foundation, pp. 1267-1290.
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The traditional literature in school administration largely ignores women. It tells us little about their past or present lives, nor do we hear of their struggles. Only in the past decade has there begun to be a literature about women in school administration, and only in the past couple of years have scholars begun talking about examining current theory and practice for the impact of gender. This book was written as a response to that vast quantity of literature published on administration and administrators which purports to be comprehensive.
Some would argue that sex discrimination in educational settings is on the wane. This paper, drawing especially from research undertaken in North American settings will contend however that the announcement of its demise is premature. Research shows that gender inequality in the classroom continues and is manifest in and maintained by a variety of overlearned, non‐conscious, verbal and non‐verbal messages initiated in interactions between teachers and students. This paper reviews four such ‘messages’. They include: (1) how teachers respond to verbal participation by female students; (2) how teachers’ discourse reveals subtle sex bias; (3) how teachers assist female and male students in unequal ways and; (4) how teacher non‐verbal messages feed sex‐based differences in present interests and future goals. The paper concludes with some suggestions for changing these messages and thereby reducing gender inequality in educational settings..
Class‐room discipline, an issue of ‘power’ and ‘control’ for many teachers and students, is investigated in relation to teachers' attitudes towards stereotyped models of masculinity and femininity. Two important issues are considered; firstly, that what is generally regarded as appropriate gender behaviour by teachers plays a major role in determining their approaches and responses to the behaviour of boys and girls in the classroom. This paper focuses on the experiences of girls and teachers' traditional perceptions of femininity and it is believed that the stereotyped, often middle‐class assumptions made by many teachers, which make up an overall view of how girls ‘should’ behave, have serious effects on girls' motivation, self‐esteem, reputations, their ability to fulfil their educational potentials and their futures. It will also seriously affect their class‐room behaviour. Secondly, stereotyped beliefs around women, men and power in our society, can influence the discipline measures of teachers, particularly male teachers, so that ‘controlling’ students in the class‐room becomes paramount, at any cost. The predominantly authoritarian regimes that were incorporated in the structure of the schools that were part of this research, were perpetuated through the ideology of ‘hegemonic masculinity’ that dominates within most levels of the schooling system.
This paper considers the three main Western feminist theoretical frameworks — liberal, socialist and radical — and their educational applications. Examples of studies using each approach are discussed. Liberal feminists writing about education use concepts of equal opportunities, socialization, sex roles and discrimination. Their strategies involve altering socialization practices, changing attitudes and making use of relevant legislation. Critics of the liberal school point to conceptual limitations and the liberal reluctance to confront power and patriarchy. Socialist feminists analyze the role of the school in the perpetuation of gender divisions under capitalism. Major concepts are socio-cultural reproduction and to a lesser extent acceptance of and resistance to gender-based patterns of behaviour. So far socialist-feminist educational writing is mainly theoretical rather than practical and has therefore been criticized for its over-determinism and insufficient empiric foundation. Radical feminists in education have concentrated mainly on the male monopolization of knowledge and culture and on sexual politics in schools. Strategies involve putting women's and girls' concerns first, through separate-sex groups when necessary. Critics argue that radical feminism tends towards biological reductionism, description rather than explanation and also contains methodological weaknesses. Mutual criticism of perspectives seems less destructive in educational writing than in some other categories of feminist scholarship. All the theoretical frameworks are subject to the same pressures including the oppressive power of structures, the resilience of individuals, and the tension between universality (how women are the same) and diversity (how women differ on attributes like class and race).
