Influence of teacher–student interactions on kindergarten children's developing gender identity within the Pakistani urban classroom culture
- 1 August 2011
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Taylor & Francis Ltd in Early Child Development and Care
- Vol. 181 (7), 929-948
- https://doi.org/10.1080/03004430.2010.504371
Abstract
In the current global push to explore the diverse and complex ways in which the school culture contributes to the shaping of young children's gender identity, early childhood teachers’ role in this process is an area of concern which has received limited attention. Furthermore, the schooling experiences of early years children in developing world contexts such as Pakistan remain largely absent. As such, this article discusses findings from a study investigating the role of women teachers’ practice in the construction of children's gender identities in the kindergarten classroom culture of one urban co‐education school in the highly gender‐segregated Pakistani context. Seven teachers and approximately 120 children were involved. Data collection included teacher interviews and observations of teaching practice. Data were qualitatively and quantitatively analysed. The complex and dynamic nature of the gendered classroom culture reflected the teachers’ active perpetuation of the dominant patriarchal ideologies in their practice. However, their practice also presented possibilities for change in unconscious and, occasionally, conscious attempts to push gender boundaries towards more equitable gender relationships. The teachers’ gendered practice has significant implications for children's evolving gender identity construction.Keywords
This publication has 13 references indexed in Scilit:
- Constructions of culture and identity in contemporary social theorising1International Journal of Culture and Mental Health, 2008
- A new model of school culture: a response to a call for conceptual clarity1School Effectiveness and School Improvement, 2008
- Cultural Complexity in Early Childhood: Images of Contemporary Young Children from a Critical PerspectiveChildhood Education, 2007
- School Culture and GenderPublished by SAGE Publications ,2006
- Understanding Men: Gender Sociology and the New International Research on MasculinitiesPublished by SAGE Publications ,2006
- Attention in the preschool classroom: the relationships among child gender, child misbehavior, and types of teacher attentionEarly Child Development and Care, 2004
- Teacher-Child Interactions and Preschool Children's Perceptions of Self and PeersEarly Child Development and Care, 2003
- Gender Effects in Classroom Interaction: Data Collection, Self-Analysis and ReflectionEvaluation & Research in Education, 2002
- The interplay of a biology teacher's beliefs, teaching practices and gender-based student-teacher classroom interactionEducational Research, 2000
- EXAMINATION OF EARLY CHILDHOOD PRACTITIONERS’ GENERAL PERCEPTION OF GENDER DIFFERENCES IN YOUNG CHILDRENJournal of Early Childhood Teacher Education, 2000