Exploring the possibilities of gender equality pedagogy in an era of marketization

In this article, we research and revisit our own experiences of gender equality work to determine the societal and discursive power relations that have shaped gender equality. We conducted our study in Finland, a ‘Nordic model of gender equality’, but we argue that these results have worldwide relevance, especially since Nordic models of gender equality and education have been exported globally. By combining earlier research, our own extensive experience of conducting gender equality work, and previous literature on feminist pedagogy, we examine the possibilities of what we call ‘gender equality pedagogy’ in an era of marketization. To develop the concept of gender equality pedagogy, we ask how combining an analysis of gender equality work with feminist pedagogy can help to acknowledge and utilize power relations. We suggest that understanding gender equality work as a form of pedagogic practice might help overcome some of the barriers that gender equality work has encountered for decades.     

Sex and gender in transition in US schools: ways forward

Abstract

This paper examines the current state of law and policy in relation to US transgender youth and their lived experiences. We approach this from different disciplinary backgrounds, identities, and ways of writing terms related to gender identity. We begin with an examination of the current legal climate in the USA and explore how students have pushed back against gender and sexuality norms even in a restrictive climate. Some transformations are already happening in public schools and some backlash, too, is being felt. Laws and policies in some locations are encouraging students, teachers, school leaders and community members to collaborate in making schools more educationally concerned about trans student success and teaching the school community about gender diversity. In shifting among scales and experiences of youth thinking and working on gender, we aim to emphasise youth agency and outline young people’s frustrations at the obstacles related to trans, gender dissidence and sexuality. In conclusion, we point to changes that can be made in schools to help professionals understand how policy and curricular innovation can bolster the openings that trans, gender creative and gender non-binary youth are already creating, whether or not those opportunities are officially recognised.     

Changing perceptions about feminists and (still not) claiming a feminist identity

We examine student perceptions about feminists and feminism, and the willingness to claim a feminist identity and engage in collective activism, as stated at the beginning and end of a Women’s Studies course. Course participation simultaneously fostered more positive views towards feminists and feminism and entrenched the unwillingness to claim a feminist identity and engage in activism. These contradictory outcomes stemmed from the critical capacity to recognise that structural inequality is reproduced through disciplinary relationships. Thus, unwillingness was entangled with feelings of fear and vulnerability in relation to the national context whereby neoliberalism guides the governance of the self, and where gender equality has presumed to be achieved. The article highlights that developing the willingness to identify and act is intimately shaped and constrained by the socio-political context and personal relationships. We consider the implications of this insight in relation to pedagogical assumptions about developing feminist knowledge in the classroom.     

关于幼儿性别认同的个案研究

性别认同是个体对自己性别状态的认识、理解或自我意识.通过对A幼儿园幼儿性别认同的研究,发现部分幼儿出现了两个方面的问题:一是幼儿不能分清自己的性别;二是幼儿出现明显异于自己性别的行为、态度和情感.而教师和家长对幼儿性别认同也存在不同的态度和做法.这些研究发现启示教师和家长都应重视幼儿性别认同教育,并在教育过程中通力合作,以利于幼儿形成正确的性别认同.     

British citizenship,gender and migration: the containment of cultural differences and the stratification of belonging

Debates about integration, British values and identity, who can belong and who can become a citizen, have been fuelled by concerns about growing cultural diversity in the United Kingdom. To promote a shared sense of national identity and claim a universal and normative citizen subject, the UK government, along with many other western nations, has introduced compulsory citizenship and language testing. This article traces and critiques the evolution of the British citizenship test since its introduction in 2005 and argues that the regime fails to recognise the gendered and segmented nature of migration, and functions as a silent and largely invisible mechanism of civic stratification and control. Drawing on Home Office data, it is argued that citizenship testing enables the government to cherry pick migrants who conform to an idealised citizen subject, while containing cultural difference by excluding others, particularly women, who are tolerated but remain symbolic non-citizens.     

The “Reasonably Bright Girls”: Accessing Agency in the Technical Communication Workplace through Interactional Power

Women continue to face difficulties in the technical and professional communication (TPC) workplace for a myriad of reasons. However, they are not powerless, and interviews with 39 female practitioners of TPC reveal that they use interactional power to maneuver within and around the system of the traditional workplace to solve problems of devaluation, exclusion, harassment, and siloing. A key aspect of being able to navigate power through interaction is becoming aware of the context in which power struggles take place and then using that knowledge to design new participation. Women who claim agency in the workplace understand that power is not possessed, but that they can access resources to participate in power shifts and dynamics.     

Comprehensive sexuality education,culture and gender: the effect of the cultural setting on a sexuality education programme in Ethiopia

Comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) is recognised as an effective method of sexual health education, with the school identified as a fitting site of implementation. Its holistic and participatory nature endeavours to develop the knowledge, attitudes and life-skills of students to help them secure their sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR). This qualitative study aimed to better understand aspects of CSE implementation in one context. Specifically, it focuses on the effects of the cultural setting, considering how gender and sexuality norms influence teacher and student implementation strategies. The research was carried out in one secondary school in Ethiopia, which delivered a Dutch-developed programme throughout 2013. Over 50 in-depth interviews were conducted with teachers and students, influential community members and experts in SRHR. Data were also gathered through focus group discussions and classroom observations. Results show that CSE teachers and students, both male and female, were able to discuss issues of sexuality. However, the cultural context was seen to affect interpretation of programme information, influencing the nature of this discussion. For an impactful implementation, it is recommended that sexuality education aims to engage with and involve the wider community, to reduce contradictory messages and increase programme support. Furthermore, teachers should undergo extensive and comprehensive pre-programme training that addresses their attitudes and values, not just their knowledge.     

Confronting gender inequality in a business school

This study, set in a New Zealand Business School, takes an integrative view of the university as an ‘inequality regime’ Acker, J. (2006b Acker, J. (2006a). The gender regime of Swedish banks. Scandinavian Journal of Management, 22 (2), 195–209. doi: 10.1016/j.scaman.2006.10.004[Crossref] , [Google Scholar]). Inequality regimes: Gender, class and race in organizations. Gender and Society, 20(4), 441–464 including all types of women staff: academic women in permanent positions, academics on casual contracts and administrative staff. This approach contrasts with most studies of gender in higher education, which focus on academics, and often on the most senior academic roles. The business school, too, is under-researched in the literature of gender and higher education and we argue that these institutions constitute a particularly ‘chilly climate’ for women. The project discussed here was designed as participatory action research, but we found both participation and action difficult to accomplish. We reflect on how these difficulties resonate with the wider problem of confronting gender inequality in a ‘chilly climate’, and ask why further change is hard. We collected primary data from focus group interviews and a survey, and critically reflected on the process of data collection. Secondary data, including university reports and policies and national legislation, were also collected as part of the context of the School inequality regime. We analysed our data using Acker's categories: the ‘visibility of inequality’, the ‘legitimacy of inequality’ and ‘mechanisms of control and compliance’. We found barriers to change both within and beyond the Business School itself. These included the low organisational priority given to gender equality, which in turn reflected a weak external regulatory environment. At the same time we found a lack of solidarity between women within the School, which we attributed partly to class-based differences. Organisational activism is difficult in this context, where gender inequality is both invisible and legitimated, reflecting a post-feminist mood of ‘gender fatigue’.     

哈代的女性观透析

剖析男作家笔下的女性形象所反映的男性化心态是女性主义学批评的一个重要范畴。章运用女性主义学批评的理论和方法，系统分析哈代的最有名的五部小说中的女性人物形象，即《远离尘嚣》中的芭思希芭、《还乡》中的游苔莎、(卡斯特桥市长》中的露赛妲、(德伯家的苔丝》中的苔丝和《无名的发德》中的淑，从她们的生存环境、性格特征、悲惨命运等方面揭示出哈代的女性观。尽管哈代是一位女性的同情和道德的宽容，但由于他自身性别立场的限制，其作品中依然存在着传统的男权化观念和价值取向。     

Exploring gender gap and school differential effects in mathematics in Chilean primary schools

ABSTRACT

Despite the systematic recognition of large gender gaps in favour of boys in mathematics performance in Chile, the role of schools in explaining this gap has been comparatively underresearched. This paper analyses a longitudinal dataset to explore within- and between-school variation of Chilean primary schools in promoting attainment and progress of girls and boys. In order to reflect the hierarchical nature of the educational data, multilevel modelling is used, with 163,044 students, nested within 3,355 schools, within 310 municipalities to fit raw, contextualised attainment, and value-added models. The weak evidence indicative of gender differential school effect in progress in Chilean primary schools was interpreted as non-substantive. However, differences in effectiveness played a significant role, as girls progressed more than boys in less effective schools, but the opposite was true in more effective schools. Finally, the study concludes that the Chilean gender gap needs to be addressed mainly beyond schools.     

New counter‐school cultures: female students' drug use at a high‐achieving secondary school

We draw on case‐study research at a high‐achieving secondary school in London to illustrate how school experiences may influence drug use and reproduce inequalities in reconstructed ways in late modernity. Qualitative data were collected through semi‐structured interviews with students and teachers, and observations. We focus in particular on the accounts of three female students expressing a shared counter‐school identity and style to explore how drug use has become an important source of bonding, identity construction, coping and excitement for young women from disadvantaged families at high‐achieving schools, including as part of strategies to resist the narrow focus schools can place on academic attainment, monitoring and discipline. We propose that, in late modern times, class‐based counter‐school cultures are being replaced with new consumer‐based ones, but that secondary schools continue to act as sites for the reproduction of social stratification, as well as risk and harm relating to drug use.     

流行音乐歌词中的性属解读

性属即社会性别,是借助生理性别差异而建立起来的一种社会权力关系。对流行音乐进行性属解读会发现：歌词在不同受众群不同背景下可以有不同的含义,带有某些社会权力发展变化的印记。     

金陵女子大学的性别文化与女学生身份认同研究

金陵女子大学独特的教师群体及其矛盾的性别观念形成了一种独特的女性文化教育环境和精英教育的培养目标,在这种教育环境的影响下,金陵女子大学的女学生亦产生了迥异于其他高校学生的性别身份认同和思维方式,从而在民族主义运动和婚恋等个人生活方式的选择上出现了不同的行为取向.     

关于幼儿性别认同教育的研究

性别认同教育是幼儿心理健康教育的重要方面,关系着幼儿未来的发展。本文从性别认同的界定开始阐述了其内容,通过对影响因素的分析,最终提出了性别认同教育的策略,其中不断渗透着双性化教育的思想。     

Exploring the values of chaplains in government primary schools

Minimal prior research has examined the school chaplaincy programme in Australia. This exploratory study sought to identify the values primary school chaplains feel are the most important to them personally, and in their role as chaplain. Eight chaplains working in government primary schools were interviewed. Inductive thematic analysis was used to determine key themes evident within the data. Results suggested that chaplains identified understanding, tolerance, inclusion, care, compassion, honesty, trustworthiness and integrity as most important to them personally and professionally. Chaplains noted clear boundaries in their work and emphasised that to proselytise or evangelise would be to contravene their role. Of some concern were the information gathering techniques some chaplains employed before referring on to appropriately trained school staff. As the federally funded chaplaincy programme has been controversial in Australia, this study provides valuable insight into chaplains’ values and their role which can help governments and communities make informed choices regarding school chaplaincy programmes.     

中西方禁忌语在跨文化交际中的差异研究

随着经济全球化的发展,中西方的交流日益频繁。在跨文化交流中,禁忌语作为语言文化密不可分的一部分扮演着重要角色。本文以跨文化交际为视角,对中西方禁忌语进行比较研究分析,总结它们之间的不同,探讨成功交际的策略与方法。     

The development of a perceived masculinity scale

This essay posits that masculinity can be usefully understood from a communication perspective, and it specifically defines masculinity as a social and symbolic construct. In this view, the meanings and associations attributed to masculinity are a product of the enduring images and characteristics people have ascribed and assigned to men in groups over time. Based upon a survey of contemporary published research regarding masculinity, it is concluded that masculinity is now a multidimensional construct which attributes ten traits to people viewed as masculine which are examined in terms of: (1) physiological energy; (2) physical characteristics; (3) gender‐related sociocultural roles; (4) idealized gender; (5) gender preferences; (6) subjective gender‐identity; (7) gender‐related age identity; (8) gender‐related racial and national identities; (9) lust; and, (10) male eroticism. Specific questionnaires used to measure these dimensions are reviewed, and based on the responses of 562 subjects, the reliability and validity of one of these questionnaires is examined in detail. The essay concludes by recommending the use of the Perceived Masculinity Questionnaire 47, and it outlines some of the uses that can be made of a Perceived Masculinity Scale, especially some potential classroom uses.     

Exploring discursive barriers to sexual health and social justice in the New Zealand sexuality education curriculum

Sexuality education is a compulsory part of The New Zealand Curriculum for state-funded schools. In 2015, the Ministry of Education has published an updated revision of their official guidelines for schools on the teaching of sexuality education. This paper employs Foucauldian discourse analysis to argue that this policy document, Sexuality Education: A Guide for Principals, Boards of Trustees, and Teachers, reflects and reproduces particular ways of knowing which constrain possibilities for socially just sexuality education. These discourses include the adoption of an intellectual approach to teaching sexuality, the mandate to measure learning objectives, and a narrow emphasis on positive sexuality. Intentions for the curriculum to deliver a holistic, socio-ecological vision of sexual health as well as one which embeds Māori values are undermined by dominant understandings of individual action which shape approaches to both sexuality and pedagogy. Furthermore, the liberal recognition of cultural, ethnic, sexual and gender diversity in the curriculum unintentionally reinscribes an unmarked white, secular, heterosexuality as the norm. This paper reflexively critiques the discursive tensions that inhibit the realisation of sexuality education in schools which meets the needs of diverse students and offers it as a possible site for social justice.     

无法"笑傲"的江湖——金庸武侠文本中女性奇侠的宿命

女性哥特式批评以哥特式文本中的性政治为批评对象，批判了男权话语与权利体系下对女性形象的扭曲、对女性地位的边缘化及对女性的压迫与埋没，从而瓦解了哥特式中的符号意义。从女性哥特式批评的视角解读金庸武侠文本中女性奇侠的宿命，可以发现“江湖”是男性侠客的江湖，女性侠客们始终无法走出菲勒斯中心的巨大阴影，女侠们被边缘化、被贬至为一个“他者”的地位，甚至难逃被封禁的命运。女性奇侠的宿命背后昭示的是性政治及话语与权利关系。