The work of women teachers in primary literacy education: knowing and doing

This paper provides a retrospective account of three decades of my work as a literacy educator and researcher. Taking key insights from feminist sociologist, Dorothy Smith, including women's standpoint, the everyday world as problematic, institutional capture, a sociology for the people, I revisit my research on literacy, poverty and schooling. I argue that understanding better the effects of what we do in educational institutions, through collaborative research with teachers, can lead us to generate positive alternative equity‐driven practices.     

Narratives of learning communities in environmental education

Abstract

This article introduces the core concepts that emerged from five environmental education action research studies conducted by a group called Learning Communities in Environmental Education, Science and Mathematics (CEAMECIM) from the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande (FURG) in the south of Brazil. The studies focus on teacher education processes in learning communities involving teachers, researchers and environmental educators, and the critical writing and reading texts of classroom recordings to problematise participants’ teaching practices. CEAMECIM used action research cycles to examine narratives of educational action, narratives from teachers concerning their development as environmental educators, and narratives of their development of a sense of belonging, with a particular focus on critiquing social models that are based on hierarchies and individuality. From this analysis, we propose a new perspective on being and learning how to become a learning community, crystallised by the belief that ‘we are more when we are together’.     

Sexism in the Seminar: Strategies for gender sensitivity in management education

In our roles as tutors we recognise a reluctance for students, particularly men, to become involved in discussion around 'gender' with any serious level of engagement. In order to address this, we have begun developing ideas that prompt discussion in seminars on gender issues with a view to raising awareness and creating a greater sensitivity. In this paper we share with readers ideas and materials that may be used to prompt such discussion. We are particularly interested in encouraging students to address perceived sexism for themselves, rather than relying on us as tutors to deal with such gender insensitivity, thus complementing an experiential learning philosophy that underpins our management education units. Locating our understanding of 'gender' in post-structuralism, we look critically at the binary divide between the socially-constructed nature of femininity and masculinity, and question how further polarisation might be reduced. Further, we wish to encourage discussion as to how we might design and develop courses that appeal to women and men, believing that gender management is of equal importance for men and women.     

Narratives on challenges of female black postgraduate students

This paper emerged from a narrative inquiry of three female postgraduate students from three universities in South Africa. The purpose of the study was to inquire into the challenges that black female students face during their period of study. One participant was a teacher at high school, one a university lecturer and the other a curriculum specialist at a district office. Two participants managed to complete their studies and one is still busy with her doctorate. From their narratives, patterns of meaning that emerged indicated that although participants valued the knowledge that they acquired, their experience of studying at postgraduate level was nevertheless arduous. This paper exposes the joy and hardship of learning as a black female South African.     

The value of management education: Views of graduates on the benefits of doing a MBA

MBA alumni are exceptionally well placed to evaluate management education in terms of its real impacts on students against current, and expected, needs. This paper reports the results of a survey of graduates of one MBA course to identify which aspects of the course its graduates valued highly and the extent of the contribution of their MBA to career changes that have followed their completion of the course. The benefits of the program to graduates, in terms of relevance, knowledge gained, behaviour changed and outcomes achieved were judged to be substantial. The MBA is seen as a significant factor in career change and development.     

女性教育对艾滋病在全球蔓延的有力回应——基于女性主义性别观的视角

实现两性平等是女性主义理论的核心思想,也是女性教育的总体目标。随着艾滋病在全球蔓延及女性感染艾滋病数量的增多,女性教育面临着巨大的挑战,防艾教育已成为一个不可回避的话题。基于女性主义性别观的视角,探讨艾滋病对女性教育的影响,并提出改进女性教育的策略和方法,具有重要的理论与现实意义。     

Sustaining advocacy and action on women��s participation and gender equality in adult education

This article gives an overview of the development of gender equality and women??s participation in adult learning and education in the history of the International Conferences on Adult Education (CONFINTEA). Though the equality of rights was highlighted throughout the various conferences, the first Global Report on Adult Learning and Education (GRALE) observed that a gender gap in the participation in adult learning and education still persisted in 2009. This is especially remarkable with regard to the impact of CONFINTEA V in 1997, because it focused on the issue of women??s participation and gender equality. A review of the CONFINTEA VI programme elements and the national reports prepared by UNESCO Member States in 2008 reveals that gender issues have to some extent moved from the centre of attention to the periphery. This article therefore tries to explore how gender principles are acknowledged in CONFINTEA VI and its follow-up.     

Barriers to career progress for women in education: the perceptions of female headteachers

The number of women who achieve senior posts in educational management is disproportionate to the number of women employed. This is particularly true for women in secondary education, where only about 20 per cent of headships are held by women. All the female headteachers of one English shire county were interviewed about their own experiences and views on barriers to women's progress. The interview schedule was based on the author's classification of the theories of Shakeshaft and Schmuck. The data are analysed under the headings of: overt and covert discrimination; constraints experienced within the work situation; and constraints experienced through roles outside the work situation and early career influences. The headteachers had experienced both overt discrimination and more subtle sexism and tended to meet both with pragmatism, rather than confrontation. They had avoided gender‐stereotyped roles within the work situation, and were generally free of the major responsibility for domestic affairs. As children, they had been aware of high educational expectations held of them by their parents. Supportive partnerships and minimal career breaks had been important in their progress.     

Numbers and Narratives: Further reflections in the sociology of education

A realist framework, integrating qualitative and quantitative methods, is advocated for the sociology of education. The case for a 'numbers and narratives' approach is supported by an analysis of several fundamental problems. Realist forms of sociological explanation require specification of properties at the three distinct levels of social structure, individual disposition, and action within social practice. It is argued that the quantification of these properties is most satisfactorily achieved within a materialist theory of measurement. Many of the problems that arise with quantitative work are shown to have their origin in an inadequate theory of measurement and to be sustained by an unsound concept of 'statistical explanation'. It is concluded that the most satisfactory response to these problems, however, lies not in the celebration of qualitative work, situated in a relationship of opposition, but in the development of an integrated structure-disposition-practice explanatory scheme for the sociology of education.     

从性别隔离角度看理工科女大学生的职业发展教育

职业中的性别隔离是造成当代女大学生特别是理工科女大学生就业难的重要原因,而高等教育时期是大学生职业意识发展最重要的阶段,高校作为教育实施的主体在这方面承担着相当重大的责任.如何有针对性地做好理工科女大学生的职业发展教育,使她们顺利就业是一个值得深入探讨的话题.     

论性别差异及其教育策略

性别差异指男女两性在心理学方面的不同特点。男女两性不仅存在着生理方面的差异,在心理发展的许多方面也同样客观地存在着一些差异,尤其在性格和行为方式及情感表达等方面差异较为明显。性别差异的形成在更大程度上取决于社会文化因素而非生理因素,必须采取有效的教育措施,使个体的发展既具有男女之共性,也具有男女之个性;既要摆脱性别角色标志的束缚,又不失性别本色。     

Barbie princesses and dinosaur dragons: narration as a way of doing gender

In this article, young children’s narration in words and pictures is discussed from a gender perspective. The article is based on a project in which eight pre‐school children made their own books. In their stories, the children reused narratives picked up from different media, both traditional fairytales and popular cultural products. The reuse of those narratives gives children opportunities to explore gender positions in a playful way. The narratives produced by the children had, in certain respects, a gender‐stereotyped content. The girls and the boys selected gender‐specific themes for their stories. But in their stories, the children also made reinterpretations of traditional stories and gender patterns. The girls let the female characters play the active roles and the boys let their heroes become friends with the enemies. In this way, the children used the stories creatively, reshaping them to fit their own purposes.     

基础教育语文教材中的性别问题探讨

当前,我国基础教育,尤其是语丈教育对学生性别意识到塑造和性别平等意识到影响都具有重要作用,但却一直被忽视.本丈通过对我国基础教育语文教材的分析,试图揭示蕴含在其中的性别问题,并探究其影响.     

论高等教育中学科专业的性别隔离

学术界关于高等教育中学科专业的性别隔离主要有两种解释:一是生物本质主义的解释,它主要以两性的生理差异和心理差异为认识基础来阐释学科专业中的性别差异;二是女性主义的解释,它认为,学科的性别隔离是社会意识形态、权力系统和利益基础在学科领域的表现,是社会文化建构的结果。女性主义的阐释为解决这一问题提供了新的思路和策略。