Promoting gender equality in primary schools through teachers’ reflections upon their own constructions of gender and the implicit messages that they may convey to pupils

The aim of this study is to develop teachers’ understanding of their pedagogy with the purpose of promoting gender equality in primary schools.
In early childhood, children can receive extensive and formative messages about the significance and implications of gender with possible consequences for their future interests and career choices. Taking a social constructionist approach, this study takes the position that gender is performative, with understanding of appropriate behaviour governed by social norms. Teachers are identified as one of the significant influences in children’s lives. Focussing specifically on teachers’ reflections on their own attitudes to gender and how these can impact on their practice, this study furthers understanding of how teachers’ promotion of gender equality in the classroom can be enhanced through seeking to explore and evaluate the attitudes of a sample of teachers. Participants were interviewed about their gender construction, life experiences, influences, childhood and attitudes towards gender equality. They reflected on the implicit messages they may convey to their pupils concerning gender and how they could improve their practice in this area, considering language, learning environment, resources and curriculum content. What emerged from the interviews was the power of the reflective process itself and the findings suggest that inviting teachers to reflect on their practice in this way has potential to be a powerful tool in promoting gender equality when teaching children.