Object #6: “Philosophy and the Role of Teacher Reflections on Constructing Gender”

Collette Gosselin’s excellent article raises questions about the roles teachers have in helping children understand gender roles and identities. She examines two second-grade teachers and the ways their approaches impacted male and female students. She claimed that they were unaware of this in their teaching. One of the most striking features of her article is that when she presented the teachers with her findings, they were both furious and believed she had mischaracterized what she observed.

            This article is fascinating on several levels. Obviously the questions about perception versus reality are rich as Gosselin and the teacher-subjects she observed try to decide who was right about what really went on in their classrooms. Of more interest to this project, however, is Gosselin’s assertion that teachers need to reflect on how they construct gender and how they manage their classes in order to create an equitable space for all of the students.

 The citation for the article is:

Gosselin, C. (2007). “Philosophy and the Role of Teacher Reflections on Constructing Gender.” Educational Foundations. 21:3-4 (39-57).