In today’s world the debate over genders and how we should respectfully interact with those around us is a heated one to say the least. There are strong views on both sides from those that strongly feel that there are two clear genders and should be treated us such to those who view the issue of gender as fluid and fight for a fairness and levelling between the normally categorization of genders. This debate steps into the workplace and politics but also the classroom and it can put teachers in a difficult stance as they must work to respect the wishes of the parents, the authority within the school, and the children themselves.

A number of psychological studies show issues within this issue, as there is subconscious bias in each of us against or towards a certain genders. It is ingrained in each of us that boys and girls should be treated differently, whether we agree with that or not. And after studying teachers and how they control their classrooms it is evident that teachers inadvertantly, generally, treat little girls and boys differently. On the online database known as Educational Psychology there is a concise article that gathered data and information from a number of studies to clarify the ways that boys and girls are treated differently, it is entitled “Gender Differences in the Classroom.” The article clearly addresses that teachers need to monitor their bias and be aware of teaching children equally, but it also acknowledges that physically, relationally, and psychologically, boys and girls are different. This is not an all encompassing truth, but generally boys are more active and restless than girls so school environments are often more challenging to them. This then aligns with teachers needing to address boys more directly or more sternly. This response by the teachers can either be seen as an unnecessary and unequal form of treatment towards boys or a necessary response to their differing behavioral tendencies. Although, as mentioned, there are always outliers and the article states that these children that perhaps do not align with the normal gender roles, that are still largley in place across our society, would then benefit from more affirmation and emotional support from the teachers. This should not be seen as favoritism or bias but rather a teacher responding to individual children’s needs.

Interestingly enough the studies show that teachers tend to interact with boys 10-30% more than they do with girls. David Sadker reaffirms this sad fact in his book, “Failing at Fairness: How America’s Schools Cheat Girls.” This correlates to the fact that boys tend to be more assertive and vocal in social situations but still the truth behind this is limiting to girls in educational settings. Again I used the word ‘tend’ because there are always those that do not fit this average. But a sad fact reflecting right back on the teachers is that, “the tendency is to praise boys more than girls for displaying knowledge correctly, but to criticize girls more than boys for displaying knowledge incorrectly.” (Educational Psychology Database) Just imagine how this truth manifests itself in girls’ confidence levels and perpetuates the less assertive nature of females within society.

In Susan Goldberg’s article, “Gender in the Classroom,” she analyzes these patterns of behavior and societal response as well and talks about the negative affects that inserted stereotypes can have on individuals and society as a whole. She shares that we, the general public, don’t seem to be argueing for no genders whatsoever but rather for a breaking down of stereotypes that limit individuals and a destruction of societal aspects that stop us from living equally, as men and women.

Goldberg states, “What we are aiming for, though, are classrooms and schoolyards where all students can learn to their full potential. Too often, however, gender stereotypes—and their real-life applications—get in the way of that. Whether boys are seen as, and therefore conditioned to be, less empathetic, or girls grow up falsely believing they aren’t innately good at math and sciences, we all lose out.” Just to restate it, “we all lose out(!)” In her article, she uses the word “disrupt,” we must disrupt the stereotypes that hold us back but it does not mean that filling other stereotypes is bad per say, the argument is that stereotypes and social norms should not have the control over each of us that they do, we should each be allowed to be our own self and schools should be a place that foster this perception. Goldberg continues to discuss small biases that we are unaware of and unintentionally negative comments in regard to genders and assumptions.

The way to start combatting these stereotypes and the negative effects they produce, isn’t to necessarily just say that boys and girls should become naturally more alike and genders should be done away with necessarily, but rather each of us must combat our own biases and force ourself to check what we are saying and how we are acting. This is especially true of teachers as they have such an influential role in shaping young children.