School Condition

Blog 6 – School condition

On 1st October 2013, World News Australia Radio is discussing the topic about ‘Appalling’ conditions in Indigenous schools. You can access the radio transcript through the link: http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2013/10/01/appalling-conditions-indigenous-schools.

The central idea of this radio is to demonstrate that there are two main reasons for poor attendance and results at schools of Indigenous students, which are poor school building conditions and badly organized curriculums.

At the beginning of the radio, the New South Wales Education Minister, Adrian Piccoli, states that Labor and Coalition governments have neglected Indigenous education in some remote areas. Ford (2013) also provides the evidence that in the first half of the twentieth century the Indigenous students in remote areas such as the Northern Territory did not have access to primary and secondary education compared to non-Indigenous students. Hence, the Indigenous students are still being as the minority group in Australian schools after so many years. Moreover, although the 2013 NAPLAN National Report is not yet available, from the previous reports; we can find that there is a huge gap about educational outcome between Indigenous background students and non-Indigenous background students. In Mr.Piccoli’s own electorate in western NSW, after visiting Walgett High, he describes the school’s toilets as disgusting while there is a hole in the school’s roof that has been left unrepaired for about a year as well. He strongly believes that the physical condition of the buildings directly influences students’ attendance rate, and the unpleasant attendance record is not to his surprise.

Besides school conditions, a limited curriculum also affects Indigenous students educational achievements. Karina Lester, who is an Aboriginal language worker, explains the key to improving Indigenous education is to make the school courses more relevant to the local communities. In other words, she believes that it is vital for students to understand their family’s role within the communities and the traditional knowledge and culture could help Indigenous students build a sense of belonging. Furthermore, Dr. Sam Osborne, the Principle of Ernabella Anangu School in the APY Lands, is a Senior Research Fellow in Indigenous Education at the University of South Australia. He recognises that encouraging more Aboriginal students to choose careers in teaching is one effective way of improving the standard of Indigenous education. It is because cultural understanding can help Indigenous students achieve their best. He also states that universities and education departments are obliged to encourage more Indigenous and non-Indigenous teachers to work in the remote area of the country.

In conclusion, I agree with Mr. Piccoli’s opinion that schools environments and courses will exert a direct influence on students’ behaviours. Indigenous Australians as a part of Australian society have to experience equal rights in every part of their life, especially start with education. It is because that education provides people more opportunities and changes people’s life. Moreover, children are the core part of a family, by experience the equality of the education, the Indigenous people could feel that they are a part of the society and the society value them. Furthermore, I think by teaching in the remote area of the country is an awarding experience and we could gain a lot of useful teaching skills that we can’t get them though the books. The achievement gap between Indigenous students and non-Indigenous students are still there, it is everybody’s responsibility to continue work on this problem.

Reference:

Margot Ford (2013). Achievement gaps in Australia: what NAPLAN reveals about education inequality in Australia, Race Ethnicity and Education, 16:1, 80-102, DOI: 10.1080/13613324.2011.645570

School Choice

There was a conversation entitled Co-ed versus single sex schooling and was published by Sunrise on 29th May 2013. The education expert Sharon Witt was interviewed and explained her point of view on this debate. You can access the video through the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mB_IY6gBCQM.

She stated it was great to be at schools and get to know each other of the opposite sex because we actually lived in a co-ed world where men and women both played important roles.

Obviously, the single sex schools and co-ed schools both have their advantages and disadvantages. Personally, I agree with Sharon Witt’s argument. Firstly, I think co-ed schools are likely to provide more in the way of student diversity. In the classroom, students can learn how to work with and communicate to people of the opposite sex. Moreover, boys and girls may offer diverse point of views on a particular question because of the gender difference. The various perspectives can help students understand the issue in a more comprehensive way. Secondly, I recognize it is important to learn how to respect other people especially that of the opposite sex and school is a place where people are educated. For instance, in my country, women didn’t get as good education as men many years ago. People believed women couldn’t do anything better than men. However, nowadays women break the stereotype and become more vital to the society. Hence, I think school can help the adolescents to build new perceptions of genders. Furthermore, I think co-ed schools can encourage students’ self-esteem; social skills and better prepare students for a diverse world. Trickett.J, Trickett.K, Castro and Schaffner (1982) states that co-ed schools offer much more extensive contact during school. The co-ed teamwork in the classroom can offer students a real-world experience.

In conclusion, the single sex schools are also beneficial for some students who prefer to study with the same gender. Even though I prefer co-ed schools better, I believe it is more important for students to choose the best suitable learning environment for themselves.

Reference:

Trickett Edison J., Trickett Penelope K., Castro Julie J., & Schaffner Paul. (1982). The Independent School Experience: Aspects of the Normative Environments of Single-Sex and Coed Secondary Schools. Journal of Educational Psychology. Vol.74, No.4, 374-381.

The Gender Gap in Education

Throughout education, it is recognised as important for all students to have equal opportunity in all possible ways.  We attempt to achieve this by making sure that all students are treated equally and not discriminated against, particularly in issues of race.  However, though the concept of sexism and discrimination against women seems almost outdated after the feminist achievements of the century and the long way that we’ve come, the gender gap in terms of both education and the workforce is still an issue today.

Just recently (October 25^th 2013), Australia was ranked 24^th on the latest gender gap index by the World Economic Forum.  In a recent article onnews.com.au, Sarah Millar notes that ‘Women in countries including South Africa, Cuba, Burundi, the Philippines, Latvia and Lesotho all enjoy greater equality with men than Australia.’ 

Gender inequality has been a sad fact over social history and affects women at all walks of life – and in terms of Australian education, things are no different.  Though women may be seen as experiencing the same education as men, there are noted gender differences in educational outcomes. Dee (2006) focuses on the differences between student/teacher interactions as a possible part of root reasons why this gender gap exists in education.

Dee notes ‘Recent discussions of gender interactions within classrooms have centred on controversial claims that teachers consistently privilege boys over girls (for example, with more positive feedback and helpful questions’.  It may be hard to recall far back enough into one’s primary education to remember having witnessed this type of behaviour and favouritism, and harder still from an individual’s perspective to be able to judge whether this type of behaviour was singular to the specific, sexist teacher or whether it is based on a larger trend – large enough to have such a profound effect on the gender gap in achievement in education.

Dee’s second point, however, is perhaps more easy to relate to one’s own schooling and identify as a trend from personal experience. Do student outcomes differ when students and teachers share the same gender?

From my own experience, I know that I have found it much easier to relate to certain teachers, often if they share my gender and might offer more relatable points of view.  However (at least in secondary school) it seems hard to place such a large emphasis on different outcomes due to this relationship (though possible in subjects such as English or History, it would be harder to be marked in favour in more straight fact-based subjects like Maths or Science), and unless this difference in achievement was based on a more personal tutoring relationship with the teacher in which the student felt more comfortable asking their own-gendered teacher for help, bias to such a large extent does seem difficult to carry over all areas of achievement.

Also to be considered is the amount of female teachers within schools. Teaching in the current time is seen as a female-appropriate career, and there are often more female teachers in a school than males.  If same-gendered favouritism has a large impact on students outcomes, female students (particularly in primary schools) should be getting ahead, rather than behind, forming this gender gap.

It is difficult to tell the exact root causes of the gender gap in achievement, particularly in terms of education and what might have led to the gender gap as seen in the workforce and Australian society – however, what is clear is that further education on the topic is necessary and Australia should be looking at countries further up the scale on the gender gap index to try and emulate them and create genuine equal opportunity in terms of gender for all.

Public Versus Private Education

Parents are required to make many important decisions for the welfare of their children throughout their lives.  One decision that can have a large effect on the child as an individual is the choice between private and public education. Though both options are equally viable in terms of meeting government education standards and allowing students to achieve qualifications such as the HSC to allow them to go onto further study, there is a lot of speculation as to the differences between these forms of education – if the additional funds provided by parents to private schools and higher expectations of teachers provide a distinct advantage to their students, or whether there is not so much of a difference between the two.

A recent article in the Sydney Morning Herald entitled ‘PrivateSchools and the Art of Ripping Off Parents’ takes a look at the current trend of the move away from public schools to private, quoting the ABS statistic ‘In 1982, 76 per cent of Australian students attended government schools. In 2012, only 65 per cent did.’

The article notes that although Australians do not like to see themselves as elitist or pretentious as far as class goes, that we as a society are becoming more and more segregated in terms of education. This is a move away from the general world trends that see private schools as far more elite and rare. It is speculated that this change is to do with parents becoming anxious to provide their children with the best education, and the pressure on parents not to fail their children in this way. It is also suggested that the marketing of private schools focuses on the message that parents are ‘purchasing “qualities” private schools will foster better - such as discipline, self-confidence, communication, and ''pushing'' mediocre students on to better standards - and that their children will have ''nice'' peer groups where the ''riff-raff'' has been weeded out (ranging from anti-social behaviour to what others might call ''diversity'').’

From personal experiences in a private school, this does seem consistent with the type of advertising that private schools produce.  Religious schools are not alone in pushing the ‘values’ they promise to their students, although it is clear from being part of a private school, that there are many graduates who possess no more discipline or grace than when they started. It is common to see posters and advertisements featuring clean, smiling mixed groups of students – a sight that would never have been seen in the school itself.

Manafo (2006), notes that the strategies used by private schools viewing public as competition are often under the basis of ‘distancing’ – putting as much distance as possible between the types of schooling featured, including aspects such as curriculum, academic excellence, athletics, prestige, etc.  This strategy is part of the reason public schools are so often identified with poor values, poor standards and ‘society’s ills’. Manafo pushes the view that public schools are used as a scapegoat which has a huge impact on their public view and can lead to the pressure for parents to choose private schools or put their children's future and wellbeing at risk.

From attending a private high school myself, I am more comfortable with the private school setting if I were to have children in future, however I’m aware that public schooling can be the right place for many people and wouldn't like to make a judgement based on biased media and misconceptions. For parents, this is a topic in which we could all use more education.

Discrimination Against LGBTQIA Teachers

For my final article, after discussing how many facets of social justice directly apply to the lives of students, I would like to switch my focus how social prejudices and discrimination negatively impacts the lives of teachers; as evidenced by this article that describes the prejudicial firing of teachers within Catholic schools due to their sexual orientation. In this post I shall first attempt to describe what discriminatory behaviour is occurring within these schools, and then I shall reflect on some ideas which may help to combat this prejudice.

This article discusses the firing of three well established, “veteran”[1], teachers within eight months by their respective Catholic schools due to their sexual orientation. Now I know what many of you may be thinking after hearing this, “Surely their sexuality cannot be the only reason they were fired? Maybe they were just not good teachers”, however not only does the article go into discuss the good scholastic reputation of all three victims but it also is able to directly link the firing of Tippi McCullough with her same sex marriage; stating that, “Forty minutes after Tippi McCullough wed her partner… she received a phone call…informing her of her breach of contract by violating the "morality clause". McCullough was then presented with two options: resign and receive a "glowing recommendation" or be fired.”[2]. This blatant discrimination, enacted under the guise of “freedom of religion”[3], is far more common than we might assume, with Blackburn and Donelson suggesting that the educational system in itself serves to propagate such acts. They state that “While the presence of openly LGBT teachers and school administrators could serve as positive role models for children and adolescents, the fact is that the culture operating within schools works very efficiently to keep most such teachers in the closet”[4], and through such clear examples as this article we can perceive how this statement is relevant to contemporary schools. And it is further evident that some action must be taken to prevent this discriminatory system.

Fortunately, both teachers and the wider community have the potential to  effect this issue, as suggested in the article itself that “Petitions…seeking the reinstatements of Hale and Bencomo received over 130,000 and 92,000 signatures, respectively”[5] and that “Their cases gained national and international attention”[6]. Through this we can perceive how the wider community can rally in order to ease the effects of LBGTQIA discrimination, even attempting to prevent such acts from occurring in the first place, and it is incredible important that we, as both teachers and members of this wider community, attempt to raise awareness about these issues to initiate such responses. Teachers can also assist in the development of anti-discriminatory policies, both within and without schools, through their involvement with the educational community and the multitude of resources available to it. Blackburn and Donelson also suggest that the enactment of such strategies would have a positive effect on both teachers and students, stating that the “… encouragement of openly gay teachers, particularly in the primary grades, could foster an environment in which those teachers can better care for the children in their classrooms”[7]

It is thus evident how sexuality based discrimination not only exists within the educational system in regard to teachers, but that it must be stopped. Thankfully there are many initiatives both teachers and the educational community can take, and I dearly hope that such acts of prejudice will not go unnoticed or unpunished.

---

[1] “Catholic schools ‘morality clause’ is no excuse for firing LGBT teachers”, The Guardian, October 25, 2013, accessed October 27, 2013, http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/oct/25/catholic-schools-fires-gay-teachers

[2] “Catholic schools ‘morality clause’ is no excuse for firing LGBT teachers”, The Guardian, October 25, 2013, accessed October 27, 2013, http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/oct/25/catholic-schools-fires-gay-teachers

[3] “Catholic schools ‘morality clause’ is no excuse for firing LGBT teachers”, The Guardian, October 25, 2013, accessed October 27, 2013, http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/oct/25/catholic-schools-fires-gay-teachers

[4] Blackburn, M, Donelson, R. “Theory Into Practice”, pg. 100

[5] “Catholic schools ‘morality clause’ is no excuse for firing LGBT teachers”, The Guardian, October 25, 2013, accessed October 27, 2013, http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/oct/25/catholic-schools-fires-gay-teachers

[6] “Catholic schools ‘morality clause’ is no excuse for firing LGBT teachers”, The Guardian, October 25, 2013, accessed October 27, 2013, http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/oct/25/catholic-schools-fires-gay-teachers

[7] Blackburn, M, Donelson, R. “Theory Into Practice”, pg. 101

My Experience of Height Based Gender Stereotyping

I spent a long while deliberating over what I could  write about for my personal reflection, and I finally decided to write about an issue, which has effected both myself and my family, that I feel is often overlooked. I wish to discuss the issue of body positivity within society, specifically, as I have experienced it, a stigma that exists against tall girls. Now I understand that this issue is not as predominantly harmful as body issues such as fat shaming, and that in fact many of you would assume that being tall is widely regarded as a positive trait. However, all the women of my family and I have, in our experiences growing up, felt a subtle prejudice against tall female bodies which affected us deeply. I shall attempt to describe how this issue has affected me throughout the years and how I believe education could combat it, however please keep in mind that my experience is limited to the way in which this stigma is felt by cisgendered, heterosexual, women; and I assume that this stigma effects people of different gender identities and sexualities very differently.

Firstly, it is important to note the massive underrepresentation of realistic height differences in the media, which has led to the development of gender binary height stereotypes. To put it simply, within media, and particularly in regard to on screen couples and casting, women are rarely seen to be as tall as their male counterparts; let alone taller than them. This lack of accurate height difference caused both me and my sister to believe in detrimental concepts about our height throughout puberty, namely that we would have a hard time finding a romantic partner due to our height; because relationships wherein the girl is taller than the guy are not “normal” and are perceived as “weird” (And when I see such couples I often hear murmurs around me asking “how does that even work?”). This has also led to the development of gender based height stereotyping, wherein girls are “supposed” to be short, and boys tall; as commented on by Biernat, Melvin and Nelson in their study of stereotypes, who state that “…subjects strongly and consistently rely on group stereotypes when judging the heights of individual targets. As a result, other things being equal, male targets are judged to be taller than female targets”[1]. This distinction can be seen to impact negatively on both tall women and short men, as bodies which do not conform to this stereotype are perceived as “abnormal”. This concept severely impacted me in year 10 of highschool as, after being typecast to perform the male roles in any dance and drama activities due to my height, I became paranoid that everyone around be perceived me as being masculine. This also served to compound the notion in my mind that I would naturally have a difficult time finding a romantic partner as boys liked girls who were “cute”, and it was heavily implied that only short girls fit that stereotypically feminine category.

There are many more ways in which I can discuss how this “essentialized”[2] and gender based view of height has effected my family, however as I am running out of space I wish to explore how teachers can prevent such stereotyping from negatively impacting their own students. It is incredibly important that these stereotypes are dismantled through a focus on teaching “body positivity” within the classroom, that extends beyond the diversity of “body weight” that is currently taught. For example, a PDHPE class should, when informing students about different body types, have a focus on “gendered” body elements; how many bodies are composed of a mixture of stereotypically male and female parts and how body types do not signify particular genders (e.g. a tall body with small breasts should not be perceived as explicitly masculine). It is also important for teachers to take the possible insecurities students might have because of these stereotypes into consideration, such as giving tall girls the option whether or not to fill in for masculine roles in class; instead of letting their height dictate which role they play and how they are perceived and helping to develop their gender identity and body confidence.

It is thus evident how the implementation of such strategies will help to create a body positive environment for students who do not comply with stereotypical views of gender based body traits and I hope that such stereotypes can be eradicated before they can negatively impact future generations of tall women, as they have with myself and my family.

(And if any of you are interested in any more opinions on this issue you can find that I have spoken about it before here)

---

[1] Biernat, M, Melvin, M, Nelson, T.E., Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, pg 485.

[2] Phillips, A. Distinktion: Scandinavian journal of social theory, pg. 1

Sexism and Education

Finally, in this blog post I will be able to talk about a facet of social justice that I know well and is very close to my heart, feminism. And what better way to do that then to discuss the news surrounding a series of newly released ads from UN Women that reveal how sexism still exists in our everyday society. In this post I will first attempt to use these ads to point out the ways in which sexist and misogynistic attitudes still exist and then I will discuss how education may be used to combat these attitudes.

Firstly, let’s take a look at the ads themselves

 

[1]

To anyone savvy enough with Google, we can see that these ads consist of the most popular Google autocomplete results for certain phrases involving women, all of which contain sexist and derogatory statements. Now, when I first saw these images I thought the results had been fabricated in order to emphasize the ads’ point. However, I was horrified to discover that all of these results were, in fact, the most popular autocomplete searches for the 9^th of September, this year[2]; meaning that an extremely large quantity of people actually typed these phrases into Google. And I realize that many of you are thinking “That was a month ago! Surely more recent results are less sexist!”, so to combat this notion I took it upon myself to type in similar phrases and see what the results were with my own eyes.

Unsurprisingly the results are no better than what appeared in the advertisements, and I believe this serves as a rather poignant example of how sexism, a concept seen horrific by most reasonable people, still exists; in spite of many people arguing that true “gender equality” has been achieved and that sexism is no longer a problem. In fact, many people I have recently met seem to hold on to this view, ignoring examples of large scale contemporary sexism, such as the gender based wage gap[3] and “rape culture”, in favour of focusing on “how far” women have come, and congratulating the women’s rights movement for “doing its job”. Id assume that such people would be very surprised to see such clear evidence of misogyny, especially on the internet which is often regarded as a “Safe Haven” for social justice movements. I believe that this signifies just how necessary it is to educate as many people as possible about feminist issues for, as expressed in the outlines of “post-structuralist”[4] third and fourth wave feminism, the structure and beliefs surrounding a patriarchal society are damaging to members of any gender.

As expressed by Arnot and Dillabough, the educational system plays a tremendous role in shaping the views of women and gender in both the lives of students and the wider societal context, “…schools, as local sites, play a significant role in the nature of gender politics in society…”[5]; and I believe that is it essential for us, as teachers, to keep this in mind. Apart from a variety of outside influences, such as home environment and cultural context, teachers can be seen to hold a profound influence on the developing morals and beliefs of their students. This has been proven explicitly in terms of gender, as a single sex schooling experiment conducted at Flintridge Elementary School saw how young boys, under the influence of overtly masculinized modes of teaching and curriculum, began to develop “misogynistic attitudes”[6], and thus a wider understanding of gender within the classroom can be seen as necessary to combat such ideas. It is thus evident how a focus on educating students about feminist issues, and the dismantling of sexist stereotypes within the classroom, has the potential to promote greater gender equality both within students and within wider society.

And if a feminist approach to schooling is pursued, perhaps such ads, revealing the persistence and existence of sexism, will no longer be needed.

---

[1] Ogilvy, M, Dubai, M, 2013, photograph, http://www.unwomen.org/en/news/stories/2013/10/women-should-ads

[2] “Powerful UN Women ads reveal horrifying sexism in Google autocomplete”, Daily Life, October 19, 2013, accessed October 26, 2013, http://www.dailylife.com.au/dl-people/celebrity-news/powerful-un-women-ads-reveal-horrifying-sexism-in-google-autocomplete-20131019-2vt1h.html

[3] Australian Bureau of Statistics, Gender Pay Gap Statistics, pg. 3

[4] Arnot, M, Dillabough, J.A. Curriculum Inquiry, pg. 166

[5] Arnot, M, Dillabough, J.A. Curriculum Inquiry, pg. 176

[6] Broadley, K. Success and Failure of Gender Reforms in Primary School, pg. 1

Transgendered Students and the Classroom

Here is an American article from September that shows how an understanding of issues surrounding gender identity can be incorporated within the educational community; as a Trans girl, Cassidy Lynn Campbell, was crowned “Homecoming Queen” of Marina Highschool, California. 

This is a very competitive and well regarded title for many highschool girls in America and, as it is a stereotypically feminine position, both the school and Campbell’s peers have recognized her true gender identity; despite any negative criticism received by people whom Campbell deemed as “ignorant”[1]. As such, this momentous event for Orange County serves as a good example of how the notions surrounding gender identity and Trans students can be incorporated into the wider educational community. However, I believe that there are many things teachers can do on the classroom level in order to make education more “accessible”[2] to Trans students and to combat “judgemental”[3] attitudes. This is an opinion shared by David Spade, and in the remainder of this post I will attempt to discuss how such strategies can be implemented and how they combat negative attitudes towards Trans students.

The majority of the criticisms directed towards Campbell focused on the fact that she was not, in the opinion of some, a “real girl”, Campbell herself stating that “…I don't know why they have to be this way….It just hurts so bad because I feel just as much of a girl as all of them do... Everyone is just so ignorant”[4]; and it is obvious that such complaints have stemmed from students stereotypical views of gender itself, as being binary. It is extremely important that we, as teachers, be aware of these limited views of gender and try to correct them not only within our students but within ourselves, as Spade suggests that many of our unconscious actions could propagate an ideal of gender that does not encompass Trans students “Think about how gender norms, or ideas about what men and women should be like, might be being enforced in your classroom…How might we be enforcing gender norms on ourselves or our loved ones with well-meaning advice or guidance?”[5]. If we think of this question in a practical sense, it suggests that we must be aware of how gendered language is used in our teaching methods, and be prepared to re-word common phrases and information to accommodate different notions of gender. For example, if I were to be teaching a sexual education class about menstruation, instead of saying “On average women will experience a period once a month” I would instead say “On average people with vaginas will experience a period once a month ”; achieving a more inclusive and gender neutral tone.

It is also important to note that teachers can recognize the gender identity of Trans students within the classroom on the most basic level possible, by being aware of students preferred pronouns and by calling them their preferred name in class. Not only does this directly “validate” the gender identity of Trans students in the eyes of the educational community but, by encouraging the rest of the class to also use appropriate pronouns and names in addressing transgendered students, it helps build a “respectful environment”[6] which may spread into the outward community and lead in a decrease of discrimination and “hate speech”.

It is thus apparent how many simple strategies can be used within the classroom to create a sense of belonging amongst students, regardless of sex and gender identity; and I hope that in the future more schools will follow the example of Marina Highschool, developing an accepting and Trans friendly environment.

---

[1] Cassidy Lynn Campbell, quoted in “Cassidy Lynn Campell, Transgender Teen, Named Homecoming Queen”, The Huffington Post, September 21, 2013, accessed October 25, 2013, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/21/transgender-homecoming-queen_n_3968729.html

[2] Spade, D. Radical Teacher, pg. 57

[3] Cassidy Lynn Campbell, quoted in “Cassidy Lynn Campell, Transgender Teen, Named Homecoming Queen”, The Huffington Post, September 21, 2013, accessed October 25, 2013, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/21/transgender-homecoming-queen_n_3968729.html

[4] Cassidy Lynn Campbell, quoted in “Cassidy Lynn Campell, Transgender Teen, Named Homecoming Queen”, The Huffington Post, September 21, 2013, accessed October 25, 2013, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/21/transgender-homecoming-queen_n_3968729.html

[5] Spade, D. Radical Teacher, pg. 59

[6] Spade, D. Radical Teacher, pg. 58