Class‐Room Discipline: power,resistance and gender. A look at teacher perspectives

Class‐room discipline, an issue of ‘power’ and ‘control’ for many teachers and students, is investigated in relation to teachers' attitudes towards stereotyped models of masculinity and femininity. Two important issues are considered; firstly, that what is generally regarded as appropriate gender behaviour by teachers plays a major role in determining their approaches and responses to the behaviour of boys and girls in the classroom. This paper focuses on the experiences of girls and teachers' traditional perceptions of femininity and it is believed that the stereotyped, often middle‐class assumptions made by many teachers, which make up an overall view of how girls ‘should’ behave, have serious effects on girls' motivation, self‐esteem, reputations, their ability to fulfil their educational potentials and their futures. It will also seriously affect their class‐room behaviour. Secondly, stereotyped beliefs around women, men and power in our society, can influence the discipline measures of teachers, particularly male teachers, so that ‘controlling’ students in the class‐room becomes paramount, at any cost. The predominantly authoritarian regimes that were incorporated in the structure of the schools that were part of this research, were perpetuated through the ideology of ‘hegemonic masculinity’ that dominates within most levels of the schooling system.     

So what exactly do you want? What principals mean when they say ‘male role model’

The need for more male role models in young boys’ lives is one of the main reasons underpinning the call for more male teachers in primary schools. However, the exact responsibilities and attributes associated with the term ‘male role model’ have yet to be clearly established. The purpose of this survey of 250 New Zealand primary school principals was to investigate the views of one major group of stakeholders to determine how principals defined male role models and what they considered the specific attributes of that role. The study found that the principals favoured men who exhibit a hegemonic masculinity couched in heterosexual, rugby‐playing, ‘real men’ attributes.     

Masculinity and violence: Gender,poverty and culture in a rural primary school in South Africa

This qualitative study draws from focus group discussions with primary school boys,girls and their teachers to examine how violence is experienced at a rural school in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The study draws attention to ‘amaphara' masculinity’ as conceptualized by Hunter (2021) and stick fighting as key to understanding the local expressions of violence and its problematic relationship with girls and 'other' boys.Examining these practices, and the wider sociocultural contexts in which they are embedded, we argue is vital for gender violence prevention in rural schools.     

Slappers who gouge your eyes: vocal performance as exemplification of disturbing inertia in gender equality

This article is based upon a full‐time study of masculinity and singing funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC). Empirical work was conducted with boy performers and ‘peer audiences’ for those performers in schools. The article focuses on girls’ attitudes to boy singers and reveals a significant difference between primary and secondary schooling. In primary schools, girls are the more responsible for discouraging boys but in secondary schools the male peer group becomes more critical whilst girls increasingly perceive boy singers as ‘cute’. It is possible to construct a strong case for single‐sex groupings but the empirical work suggests this may turn out to be misguided. The article concludes that there is an urgent need for girls and boys to learn mutual respect in the context of the music class. The evidence suggests that teachers require a significantly enhanced level of gender‐related subject knowledge, gender awareness and interpersonal skill.     

‘They never go off the rails like other ethnic groups’: teachers’ constructions of British Chinese pupils’ gender identities and approaches to learning

This paper examines the ways in which British Chinese pupils are positioned and represented within the popular/dominant discourse of teachers working in London schools. Drawing on individual interviews from a study conducted with 30 teachers, 80 British Chinese pupils and 30Chinese parents, we explore some of the racialised, gendered and classed assumptions upon which dominant discourses around British Chinese boys and girls are based. Consideration is given, for example, to teachers’ dichotomous constructions of British Chinese masculinity, in which British Chinese boys were regarded as ‘naturally’ ‘good’ and ‘not laddish’, compared with a minority of ‘bad’ British Chinese boys, whose laddishness was attributed to membership of a multiethnic peer group. We also explore teachers’ constructions of British Chinese femininity, which centred around remarkably homogenised representations of British Chinese girls as ‘passive’ and quiet, ‘repressed’, hard‐working pupils. The paper discusses a range of alternative readings that challenge popular monolithic and homogenising accounts of British Chinese masculinity and femininity in order to open up more critical ways of representing and engaging with British Chinese educational ‘achievement’.     

Male Teachers in Feminised Teaching Areas: Marching to the beat of the men's movement drums?

Calls for more male teachers are prevalent in current gender debates in education. A dominant argument in this debate is that boys are often alienated from school because of a lack of male role models in feminised areas of the school curriculum and in primary schools. Little research has investigated male teachers' accounts of their work within feminised environments. Drawing on data collected in two research studies in music education, this paper focuses on accounts given by male teachers about (a) practices adopted specifically to work with boys and (b) the role of the male music teacher. Analysis of these data suggests that some male teachers working in feminised areas of the school curriculum adopt practices which, rather than challenging dominant constructions of masculinity, sometimes reinforce gender stereotypical behaviours in boys. We argue that calls for increasing the number of male teachers in feminised areas of schooling need also to be informed by open discussion of the underlying assumptions about masculinity which teachers themselves bring to their work.     

‘They won't take you as a man,as a real man’ why men can't teach young children in foundation phase

This article focuses on how male and female primary school teachers’ account of the suitability of male teachers in early years or Foundation Phase (FP) of schooling. We draw from an in-depth qualitative interview-based study to examine how ideals around hegemonic masculinity have effects for the characterization of FP within traditional feminine qualities such as nurturing and caring for children. These qualities contrasted with hegemonic masculinity and fuelled the disassociation between men and teaching young children. We found that whilst men had the responsibility to provide financially for children, their involvement in childcare duties was linked to low-status work gendering the construction of carework as women’s work. The shame and embarrassment associated with teaching young children were an important mechanism to police and regulate hegemonic masculinity. Analysing how male and female primary school teachers construct hegemonic forms of masculinity provides insights into the reproduction of FP as a feminised profession as well as the construction and maintenance of counter feminist masculine ideals. Addressing forms of masculinity that are premised on male domination is vital in South Africa, especially as the need to alter masculinities and deepen gender equality has barely touched this phase of schooling.     

Sex,Male Teachers and Young Children

The recent case of a male student nursery nurse found guilty of sexually abusing children brought into focus the absence of policies on men working with young children in schools regarding such issues as how to handle physical contact, intimacy and masculinity, their female colleagues and the children in their care. This means individual male teachers have to construct their own frameworks in which to work ‘safely’ with children. If male teachers and children are to work together within a protective and supportive environment, issues involving sex and masculinity need to be given a forum for discussion.     

Reinforcing hegemonic masculinities through sexual harassment: issues of identity,power and popularity in secondary schools

This paper, based on the perspectives of young men, explores the relationship between dominant constructions of masculinities and the sexual harassment of young women in Australian secondary schools, within a feminist poststructuralist theoretical framework. Of particular importance in this process are the ways in which sexual harassment is integral to the construction of hegemonic heterosexual masculine identities; the importance of popularity, acceptance and young men's fears within male peer group cultures; and the utilization of sexual harassment as a means through which to maintain and regulate hierarchical power relationships, not just in relation to gender, but how it intersects with other sites of power such as ‘race’ and class. It is highlighted that sexual harassment is considered a legitimate and expected means through which to express and reconfirm the public and private positions of ‘hegemonic masculinity’ within a heterosexualized, racialized and classed gender order.     

‘It’s just because we’re girls’: How female students experience and negotiate masculinist school sport

This article focuses on the inequalities experienced particularly by girls who attend co-educational secondary schools where specific male sports dominate school life. The research was undertaken in the Republic of Ireland in three schools known for the participation and success of boys’ teams in Gaelic football, hurling and rugby. Through a Bourdieusian account of ‘masculine domination’, this article examines how girls (and some boys) attending these schools have experienced inequalities in obtaining recognition in sport, and discrimination in accessing male-orientated sports, as well as unequal opportunities, resources and support. School management, teachers and students (both male and female) will be shown to often protect this male preserve by strategies that maintain the exclusion of girls through the normalisation of gender binaries. The article will also show how girls reflect upon their experiences and attempt to mobilise change.     

‘Ye've got to ‘ave balls to play this game sir!’ Boys,peers and fears: the negative influence of school‐based ‘cultural accomplices’ in constructing hegemonic masculinities

The ongoing moral panic surrounding adolescent boys continues to cause concern, proving pivotal in popular discourses centring on the ‘problem of youth’. Drawing on ethnographic data from a large co‐educational secondary school, this paper illustrates how school outcomes are adversely affected by working class boys' investments in peer regulated ‘hegemonic’ masculinity. Echoing traditional working class masculine identities formed in relation to the physical requirements of industrial labour, these performances reject associations with activities constructed as ‘feminine’, leading to disaffection with schoolwork. The paper argues that, in a school culture of pervasive homophobia, some teachers paradoxically acted as ‘cultural accomplices’, naturalizing compulsory heterosexuality in engaging alienated and disruptive young men. Moreover, evidence suggests that this is an emerging response to managerialist pressures to ‘continuously improve’ grades by adopting ‘boy friendly’ approaches. This renders questionable strategies predicated on naturalizing assumptions about boys and makes problematic calls for more ‘role models’ without investigating how gendered pedagogies affect schooling for girls and boys.     

‘We Decided to Give it a Twirl’: single-sex teaching in English comprehensive schools

This article reports the recent experiences of single-sex teaching in 31 co-educational English comprehensive schools, often implemented because of the perceived need to raise boys' achievement. Since it was often undertaken on a short-term basis, its effectiveness is difficult to evaluate, although some positive aspects were noted in some schools in terms of raised achievement levels and increased confidence and participation in class. In other schools, however, single-sex teaching appeared to have little impact on achievement levels and led to increased problems of behaviour management in boys' classes, with male bonding between male teachers and male students reinforcing the qualities associated with hegemonic forms of masculinity. The authors conclude, therefore, by suggesting that single-sex classes can provide a positive and successful experience for girls and boys where there is strong commitment from staff, a willingness to evaluate and to diffuse good practice, but crucially where gender reform strategies are in place to challenge any practices and behaviours that reinforce stereotypical gendered roles.     

Getting boys’ education ‘right’: the Australian Government’s Parliamentary Inquiry Report as an exemplary instance of recuperative masculinity politics

This paper focuses on the Australian federal Parliamentary Inquiry into Boys’ Education, Boys: Getting it Right, which is shown to be an exemplary instance of recuperative masculinity politics. The paper demonstrates how, through a variety of rhetorical strategies, its anti‐feminist politics are masked and how the report works with essentialised differences between boys and girls. The argument is demonstrated through a focus on a number of the report’s recommendations, including the call for a recasting of current gender policy, the need for creating so‐called ‘boy‐friendly’ curricula, assessment and pedagogical practices, and for employment of more male teachers. The report draws on populist literature and submissions from the boys’ lobby, as well as practice‐oriented submissions to the neglect of theoretically oriented and (pro‐)feminist work. As such, the significance of the construction of masculinities to boys’ attachment to and performances in school is totally neglected, limiting the value of the report’s recommendations for improving schooling for both boys and girls.     

‘Absent fathers’, and children’s social and emotional learning: an exploration of the perceptions of ‘positive male role models’ in the primary school sector

This paper focuses on the testimonies of three male primary school staff members who utilised social and emotional learning (SEL) in their everyday practice within their respective schools. The data, collected through individual interviews, illustrate how these three men interpreted SEL, and their role in the development of children’s social, emotional and behavioural (SEB) skills, in response to their perceptions of pupils’ home-life. In particular, the sample identified the children’s fathers’ perceived ability/inability as a main cause of pupils’ SEB deficiencies. Consequently, the three male staff members maintained that in order to advocate and encourage alternative, appropriate behaviours, they should act as ‘replacement fathers’ and become ‘role models’. The findings contribute to existing debates relating to the notion of ‘positive male role models’ in primary schools and the propensity for staff to engage in parental blame. The implications of these findings are discussed, and suggestions that call for a more democratic and cooperative exchange of knowledge between parents and teachers are made.     

Motives for ‘Laddishness’ at School: Fear of failure and fear of the ‘feminine’

‘Laddish’ behaviours in school have been identified as impediments to the academic progress of some boys and girls. This article provides and discusses empirical evidence to support Jackson's proposal in an earlier article that ‘laddish’ behaviours may act to protect the self‐worth and/or social worth of many boys, and that ‘laddishness’ may be prompted by both a fear of academic failure and a fear of the ‘feminine’. Drawing upon data from interviews with 50 boys across two secondary schools, the article focuses upon a key characteristic of ‘laddishness’, namely, the overt rejection of academic work. It is suggested that overtly rejecting academic work serves a dual function for some boys. First, it enables them to act in ways currently consistent with hegemonic forms of masculinity in their schools. Secondly, it provides an excuse for failure and augments success.     

Tilting the playing field: ‘Redshirting’ kindergarten boys in the US and the competition for hegemonic masculinity

This study examines patterns in the kinds of discourses parents use to think about when to start their children in kindergarten in the US. Parents of three- to six-year olds were interviewed to gain an understanding of how parents make the ‘redshirting’ decision and the extent to which parental concern for sons’ achievement of successful masculinity plays into that choice. Focusing on the parents of male children, this analysis reveals parents employ two gender-related discourses: (1) the ‘failing boys’ backlash debate, surrounding the notion that schools are assumed to favour girls and how girls learn, and (2) a discourse involving the importance of hegemonic masculinity in competition with other boys.     

“It’s like starting all over again”. The struggles of second-career teachers to construct professional identities in Hong Kong schools

Educational-policy makers worldwide are concerned with finding effective strategies to recruit and retain high-quality teachers. The recruitment of second-career teachers has been seen as one means of fulfilling this aim. Against a background of calls to better understand SCTs, this article reports the results of a qualitative study investigating the experiences of six second-career teachers in Hong Kong. Based on a theoretical framework of teacher-identity construction, discourse analysis was used to explore the participants’ perceptions of their professional development. In-depth interviews were conducted to gain detailed insights into how the teachers construct their identities-in-practice and identities-in-discourse within Hong Kong schools. The findings expose tensions between attempts the positioning of SCTs within dominant discourses as ‘traditional’ and ‘conventional’ teachers, for example, and the participants’ self-positioning in practice as ‘innovative’ and ‘risk-taking’ teachers. Ways in SCT agency, and hence identity construction, can be facilitated through the introduction of the innovative pedagogical practices which many SCTs seek to pursue in Hong Kong schools are considered.     

Men Teachers and the Construction of Heterosexual Masculinity in the Classroom

Many studies have identified the classroom as an arena for the construction of gender and sexuality. Yet there has been relatively little attention to the role of teachers here, or to the deeper dynamics of teachers' constructions of gender and sexuality in the classroom. This article attempts to address these issues, examining the perpetuation of (sexist) heterosexual norms in the classroom by male teachers. Drawing on data from fieldwork in primary and secondary schools, the article examines the various ways in which men teachers use discourses of gender and sexuality to construct their masculinity. It is argued that the construction of masculinity involves drawing on misogynist and homophobic discourses, which can manifest in sexual harassment. The article reflects on the problematic aspects of heterosexual desire, and concludes with some suggestions for policy and practice.     

‘Sticks and stones': masculinities and conflict spaces

Drawing upon a post-structural ethnography of boys’ constructions of gendered and sexual identities in one South African high school, this paper empirically seeks to theorise how 20 Grade 8 boys, identified as The Jokers, The Achievers, The Outcasts and The Average Ou's, simultaneously seek out spaces in male peer culture to cultivate, police and challenge hegemonic notions of masculinity. The paper illustrates the construction and positioning of masculinities across spaces of conflict, more particularly, the personal and social resources reproduced by boys in the pursuit of ‘desirable’ masculinities across experiences of interpersonal conflict, punishment, friendship and play. Given the nature of these identity struggles in school boy peer culture, this paper highlights the need for fostering and maintaining peer conversational spaces where boys and girls are challenged to actively deconstruct prevailing gendered identities and work towards more expansive definitions of self.     

Refusing the Performance: Disrupting Popular Discourses Surrounding Latino Male Teachers and the Possibility of Disidentification

Popular discourses surrounding male teachers of color can serve to reify confining and problematic notions of masculinity in schools. Taking a critical approach to the study of gender and race, this article highlights the ways schools reproduce specifically Latino male identity through the cultural expectations of Latino male educators, as well as the gender performance of Latino male teachers themselves. Through an ethnographic case study of a middle school Latino boys’ program in the San Francisco Bay Area, I explore the ways one Latino male teacher navigates cultural pressures surrounding the enactment of Latino masculinity. This study uncovers the ways the scarcity of Latino male educators creates a pressure to perform specified notions of masculinity; particularly that of the domineering, hypermasculine disciplinarian. Furthermore, this study looks at embodied resistance to dominant discourses of Latino masculinity through deviant gendered performances, locating the body as a key site of struggle.