How Does Gender Affect the Teaching Profession

How Does Gender Affect Teaching?


Teaching is a very obvious majority women profession. For example,  Early in American history, most school teachers were white men, but as Dana Goldstein (2014) details in chapter one of The Teacher Wars, the profession was feminized both because of the (sexist) arguments of reformers Catharine Beecher and Horace Mann and the reality that women could be paid less (tax money) than men. Is the fact that teaching — still a primarily female profession — often accorded less respect and pay than other professions a legacy of sexism? Personally, I think since teachers are majority female it is easy for society to look at us as "caregivers" or "babysitters" instead of professionals. Since this is not the typically male job it is viewed as not important. Which is so crazy to think about considering how much teachers endure and have to help with, but only teachers know the true depths of how challenging yet regarding this profession is. 





Another way gender affects teaching is with the students. As future teachers we will see transgender students, non-binary students, and students that are still figuring their genders out. Teachers will need to be educated on proper pronouns and how to use them. They also need to educate their students over the same. Create an inclusive classroom where everyone is able to understand and accept everyone. Doing this helps create confidence in students allow them to feel seen, heard, and understood. However, we will also face parents that disagree with this acceptance of everyone. It is so sad that in our day and age we still face discrimination against people that don't fit the societal "norm." I was always taught when dealing with this to practice love and explain that you are just accepting everyone and helping them achieve self- confidence and happiness. 



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

How to Talk About Issues That Matter While in the Classroom

Image
  As a future teacher one of the most important things, I can learn is how to have those important uncomfortable conversations. Certain conversations for kids can be confusing and complicated if an adult is not there to guild them through it. For example, as a kid they are exposed to so much so quick with how much media influences our lives. A student could be watching the news one night and see something they have never seen or heard before. For a child that can be very overwhelming and scary if they aren't able to conversate what they saw on the tv. As teachers, that is where we come into the picture. We are able to talk through problems in the classroom and help answer our students' questions.  My golden line this week helps further my point on why talking about important issues is crucial for the classroom. I said, "how we talk about things matters" and the reason it matters is because our words have power. In a classroom we are the most influential person to thos
Read more

Is Schooling Equitable?

Image
  Educational equity is the measure of achievement, fairness, and opportunity in education. This is a concept that should be a no brainer for all educators. Personally, I read this definition and thought yes that sounds right all schools should have equal opportunity and equal treatment no matter who is in the classroom. However, that is not the reality of this situation. The reality is simple; kids of color are treated differently. Whether they are always the ones taking the heat for problems in the class or they are criticized at for being "too crazy", kids of color are constantly under scrutiny. According to scholar Subini Ancy Annamma, who researches how schools contribute to the criminalization of Black youths, "schools create a culture of punishment that penalizes Black children more harshly than their white peers for the same behavior. Her work also shows that youth of color are more likely to be closely watched, over-represented in special education, and reported
Read more