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Recognizing the Hidden Curriculum of Gender Roles The Relationship Between Reading and Gender

Recognizing the Hidden Curriculum of Gender Roles The Relationship Between Reading and Gender. A Master’s Research Project by Catherine Holland St. Mary’s College of Maryland. Introduction. Schools: tools for socialization Stated curriculum vs. “hidden curriculum” (Giroux, 1988)

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Recognizing the Hidden Curriculum of Gender Roles The Relationship Between Reading and Gender

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  1. Recognizing the Hidden Curriculum of Gender RolesThe Relationship Between Reading and Gender A Master’s Research Project by Catherine HollandSt. Mary’s College of Maryland

  2. Introduction • Schools: tools for socialization • Stated curriculum vs. “hidden curriculum” (Giroux, 1988) • Reinforcing traditional gender roles

  3. The Problem • Researchers report gender inequalities • On standardized tests (Lietz, 2006; Marks, 2008) • Increasing over time (Klecker, 2006) • Influencing educational policies (Martino & Kehler 2007)

  4. The Problem • Gender Similarities Hypothesis (Hyde, 2005) • Gender isn’t a predictor of causal thinking abilities (Berkant, 2009) • Gender isn’t related to preferred learning style (Younger & Warrington, 2005 as cited in Watson, Kehler, & Martino, 2010)

  5. The Problem Differences between genders are socially created, not biologically innate.

  6. Research Questions • Do boys consider reading to be a gendered activity? Do girls? • Is it primarily teachers or their students who replicate and encourage these gender-specific behaviors and opinions?

  7. Population • AP English Literature students; grade 12 • English teachers • Public high school in Southern Maryland

  8. Methods • Affective survey • Questionnaire • Open-ended question • Book descriptions • Student interviews • Teacher interviews

  9. Findings *p < .05

  10. Findings

  11. Findings “Depends on the text. A lot of the stories that we’re doing are not geared toward young men…They’re definitely reluctant.” “No. They’re a harder sell.” “No.” “Um, if it’s about things that they like to read about. We did The Contender and it was about boy-things, they don’t like to read about love stories. It has a little bit of boy violence or things that they could relate to.”

  12. Findings • Teacher responses to: “Do you find that the girls in your class like reading?” • All four responded yes: • Compared to boys in the class • More obedient

  13. Findings “Not a particular genre, but I like really descriptive books. I’m trying to think of particular books…realistic that I could see happening somewhere to someone real.” “Love stories.” “Fiction novels in general. No specific genre.” “Favorite genre – anything that twists reality. Anything that messes with your perception and then gives you a shock. Thriller is too broad. You could go with a thriller but that’s too broad.” “Anything funny”

  14. Implications • Teachers are noticing reluctant male readers • They are more resistant • Underlying assumption that males don’t like reading • Adjust text choice to appeal to males Girls may not like the texts they read in class, but they are more willing to try new ones

  15. Conclusions • Teachers choose “boy-friendly” texts, focus attention on males, but they still don’t like reading • These texts describe “masculine” males • Make males even more resistant to reading Based on the interviews, students’ text preferences are idiosyncratic. Yet students tend to choose texts with same-sex protagonists

  16. Recommendations • Provide text choices whenever possible • Encourage students to cross gender-boundaries in reading; reading is a human activity

  17. References Berkant, H. G. (2009). An investigation of students' meaningful causal thinking abilities in terms of academic achievement, reading comprehension and gender. Educational Sciences:Theoryand Practice, 9(3), 1149-1165. Giroux, H. A. (1988). Teachers as Intellectuals: Toward a Critical Pedagogy of Learning. Bergin & Garvey Paperback. Hyde, J. S. (2005). The gender similarities hypothesis. American Psychologist, 60(6), 581-592. Klecker, B. M. (2006). The gender gap in NAEP fourth-, eighth-, and twelfth-grade reading scores across years. Reading Improvement, 43(1), 50-56. Lietz, P. (2006). Issues in the change in gender differences in reading achievement in crossnational research studies since 1992: a meta-analytic view. International Education Journal, 7(2), 127-149. Marks, G. N. (2008). Accounting for the gender gaps in student performance in reading and mathematics: evidence from 31 countries. Oxford Review of Education, 34(1), 89-109. Martino, W., & Kehler, M. (2007). Gender-based literacy reform: a question of challenging or recuperating gender binaries. Canadian Journal of Education, 30(2), 406-431. Watson, A., Kehler, M., & Martino, W. (2010). The problem of boys' literacy underachievement: raising some questions. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 53(5), 356-361.

  18. Questions?

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