Gender,Identity, Status and the Body: Life in a marginal subject

This paper considers the situation of secondary teachers working in two marginal school subjects, design and technology and physical education. Focusing on the interaction between gender, identity, status and the body, we explore the similarities between these subjects, and suggest that marginality is itself gendered. Through a consideration of the gendered legacies of these subjects, their contradictory status positions, the importance of the body to their work and the specific problems of women teachers, we draw out features that seem to be specific to such gendered marginality. We argue that there is an increasing tendency for lower status school subjects to become more 'masculine' in orientation and that in these areas co-education has done a disservice to both girls and women teachers, who are now isolated in areas governed by paradigms developed in a purely male context.     

What Should We Create Today? Improvisational teaching in play-based classrooms

This study presents the findings from a qualitative case study of free playtime in a toddler and a preschool classroom. This study explores whether recent understandings of play as a collectively produced improvised activity can shed light on the role of the early childhood teacher. The study found that the teachers and children collectively created a playful classroom environment by engaging in on-going improvised activity. The teachers often served as skilled improvisers, by creating, together with the children in their class, new performances out of whatever was available at the moment. The study concludes with a recommendation that improvisational theatre training be considered as a potentially supportive form of teacher education.