No more girls and boys; can our children go gender free? BBC 2 tonight

[Ekphrasis]

www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09202lp

I heard PM in radio 4 discussing this research, it seems to hugely benefit girls in terms of their views on their own achievements and the achievements of women in general.

Will listen with interest.

What surprised me (as we have had this language banned in my place of work, with children) is that the teacher, pre experiment, called girls sweetie and petal, and boys buddy etc.

That teacher is really annoying. Teachers should know this stuff and should be aware of their role and influence.

Good grief, the teacher is very sexist.

Crumbs No, gender has only recently become synonymous with sex. Gender is masculine/feminine, sex is male/female. Gender is a social construct and means different things to different societies at different points in time. Sex is innate, objective, binary - male and female.

Gender stereotyping has absolutely nothing to do with sexual identity. 'Masculine' women are not automatically lesbians, ditto 'feminine' men. I think you are getting muddled with your language and concerns about gender identity, but that's not the same as sexuality and not what this programme is really about, as far as I can tell.

Is it really irritating? I couldn't bring myself to watch it, just listening to PM made my blood boil.

I think he has some subconscious habits and I think we all do.
I call all children (boy or girl, but I am a Guide leader so there will be more girls) sweetheart.

He has 2 cupboards - a boy one and a girl one...

Why?

Yeah that is, er, unusual. It is still very very common to have lines/groups of boys/girls, and to call over to a group "oh boys, over here please" etc

I tracked down 4 or 5 female tradespersons for our Guide DIY badge. One replied to my messages and promised to come to our big joint session but never showed up, the others didn't even reply. Nice to be a TV producer!

It is still very very common to have lines/groups of boys/girls, and to call over to a group "oh boys, over here please" etc

I really try not to do that in my class. So much of this stuff should be good practice.

It should but I think people forget or think it doesn't matter.
So many teachers and preschool workers mention my DS sex when referring to his behaviour and motor skills. Both are a bit of a problem but he is adopted and these are also indicators of a poor early start plus there are likely birth family links (including his birth mum who is, you know, female).

I am finding this interesting to watch. It is all to easy for us to fall into gender stereotypes as it has been ingrained into us for all of our lives.

This will be interesting.

Adults playing with girls and boys..

Well not quite finished it, but it certainly answers many of the discussions in this area of mn, quelle surprise.

Esp the part about male violence.

I find this fascinating- examining that already, at just 7, the girls have lower self confidence, lower self esteem, more words for emotion (apart from anger). Really looking at how gender, as a social construct, is holding girls and ultimately women back in life.

Also worth noting that the 'gender neutral' in this programme was about saying that in a physical sense, there is no difference in terms of physical or mental ability/ capability in children.

Can someone who has watched the programme enlighten me about the types of things that were changed?

I'm a teacher; nothing has changed, it's society. Look at Lego. My spatial awareness is bloody brilliant as I grew up doing loads of Lego. There wasn't gender stereotypical Lego then. The majority on the shelf of my small local supermarket is 'boyish'. To be fair, Lego seems to be swinging back around (I've noticed revised Lego sets, esp creators, including more female characters).

Even the Lottie doll disappointed me; I got a Finn for my son and there's no extra clothes to put the doll into, whereas there is for the girl dolls (I think I have to buy a Lottie girl doll to get the judo outfit).

To add; I was reading Bill's New Frock to my Y3 class 15 years ago. School isn't really the issue. He can't get the same results by wading into individual parents' homes.

So much begins in the classroom and at home. All the messages. It's really disappointing that this stuff isn't better known in education.

School heavily influences children though - and at this age they listen to teachers too.

What it does reinforce to me as a parent how much of a lone voice I am with my child in addressing the issues raised in this programme.

I do challenge gender stereotypes but for the most part I feel that I'm hitting my head against a brick wall as they are constantly reinforced elsewhere. And even then I'm very aware of my own bias and it's influence.

However, I'll keep at it as something is working as even my dh is beginning to pick up in this now!

He can't get the same results by wading into individual parents' homes

It would be interesting to see what the home lives were like of children who 'broke the stereotype' - and who had very different results to the typical boy or girl.

There will be confident girls full of self esteem and boys who are quiet, lack confidence and under estimate themselves.

Examples of the changes he made- 1) putting 'slogans' around the classroom which gave positive affirmations around behaviours that applied to both boy and girl 2) exploring with the children what they thought of different careers, and introducing them to s male dancer/ female mechanic 3) having a 'test your strength' machine - results showed that boys abs girls are of equal strength at age 7, but what was v interesting us how the girls had already internalised that they were 'weak', and boys thought they would be 'the strongest'.
4) getting the teacher to stop calling the girls 'sweet pea/ love/ darling and to stop calling the boys 'fella/ mate/ guy

School heavily influences children though - and at this age they listen to teachers too. - It does, but each school is different. So possibly reflects the gender stereotyping understanding of individual teachers and staff cohorts. I've rarely worked with male teachers actually so I wonder if that has made a difference to what I've seen. I'm in a different setting to the usual too; we are actually more in tune to this. But, I do remember working on emotional intelligence and looking at stereotypes when I work in a mainstream setting 15 years ago. We knew it was an issue then.

I was stunned that the teacher hadn't realised the books in his classroom weren't gender neutral. He should know this stuff! He has been doing the girls in his classroom a massive diservice.

I was yelling at the tv. Blood pressure up.

I hope to God he is a shit teacher and that other teachers are as shocked.

The saving grace I guess is that most primary school teachers are women (ironic) so surely they don't run their classrooms in the atrocious way this teacher did.

I'm shaking my head in despair... he was genuinely shocked.