Christine Skelton
Biographic Data
| ID | 3701417 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Christine Skelton |
| GIVEN NAMES | Christine |
| FAMILY NAME | Skelton |
| SIGNATURE | SKELTON C |
| AFFILIATIONS | Newcastle University |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 30 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 268 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 30 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1991 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2011 |
| H-INDEX | 10 |
Performing the Holy Spirit: Ritualised Manifestation of Faith in an African Independent Church
This research examines the aesthetic manifestations of religious belief, particularly in the Holy Spirit, through consideration of the performative dimensions and ritualised behaviours in the church services of an African Independent Church, namely, the New Gospel Church in Zion of Africa (NGCZA). The significance of specific objects and activities within the sacred context and how these contribute to the performance of belief among the congregan…
The ‘Renaissance Child’: High achievement and gender in late modernity
This paper draws on the concept of the 'Renaissance Child' to illustrate the ways in which gender influences the opportunities and possibilities of high-achieving pupils. Using data from a study of 12–13-year high-achieving boys and girls based in schools in England, the paper considers the ways in which a group of popular boys was able to show an interest and success in literacy and English without posing threats to their masculine subjectivitie…
Successful Boys and Literacy: Are “Literate Boys” Challenging or Repackaging Hegemonic Masculinity
The National Assessment of Educational Progress statistics show that boys are underachieving in literacy compared to girls. Attempts to redress the problem in various Global North countries and particularly Australia and the United Kingdom have failed to make any impact. However, there are boys who are doing well in literacy. The aim of this article is to explore how high‐status constructions of masculinity are maintained alongside “successfully …
Gender, popularity and notions of in/authenticity amongst 12‐year‐old to 13‐year‐old school girls
This paper draws on data from a research project investigating gendered identities and interactions of high‐achieving students in Year Eight in England (12–13 years old), particularly in relation to students’ ‘popularity’ amongst their peers. As part of this study 71 students were interviewed from nine different schools in urban, rural and small town locations. From an analysis of participants’ conceptions of the characteristics of ‘popular’ and …
The simultaneous production of educational achievement and popularity: How do some pupils accomplish it
In spite of research showing that pupils—particularly boys—tend to experience tension between high academic achievement and popularity with peers at school, some pupils continue to maintain simultaneous production of both. This article focuses on a sample of 12–13 year‐old pupils, identified as high achieving and popular, to examine classroom subjectivities, with attention to their practices around gender and educational achievement. Data are dra…
Failing to get men into primary teaching: A feminist critique
For several years now a number of countries have been attempting to increase their numbers of male primary teachers, yet have met with little success. Feminists/pro‐feminists have challenged the intentions of these male teacher recruitment drives but failed to offer any interventions that might contribute to a broadening of the primary teacher population. This article seeks to redress this by identifying specific reasons why policy initiatives ha…
Gender ‘matters’ in the primary classroom: Pupils' and teachers' perspectives
A recent project involving Year 3 (seven–eight year‐old) pupils and their teachers revealed that ‘gender matters’ differently to boys and girls, and teachers. The study sought to elicit whether pupils and their teachers felt the gender of a teacher mattered to their experiences of schooling. Pupils were concerned about how effective teachers were in carrying out their professional functions and a teacher's gender was subsumed within this. For the…
Berj: A journal for our community of inquiry
A perfect match? Pupils’ and teachers’ views of the impact of matching educators and learners by gender
British government policy on teacher recruitment gives a high priority to increasing the number of male teachers, particularly in primary schools. This focus stems from concern to challenge ‘boys’ underachievement’: policy‐makers believe that ‘matching’ teachers and pupils by gender will improve boys’ engagement with school. Yet there is little evidence to support such assumptions which, as this article notes, are predicated on out‐dated theories…
The self-made self: Analysing the Potential Contribution to the Field of Gender and Education of Theories That Disembed Selfhood
The extent to which the ideas of certain influential, contemporary social theorists who arguably analyse selves as disembedded from social structures can contribute to the theorising of gender and education is explored in this article. We begin by considering hegemonic explanations of neo-liberal society and particularly the emphasis on conceptions of ‘individualisation’ and ‘individualism’, relating these ideas to feminist theorising of the ‘sel…
Gender, policy and initial teacher education
An examination of gender discourses within New Labour education policy on the preparation of students for a career in teaching in the UK reveals a contradictory yet, at the same time, complementary position. In the guidelines outlining the Standards that a prospective teacher has to achieve, the ways in which gender informs pupils’ educational opportunities is ‘played down’ in that it is not addressed directly. Rather ‘gender’, along with ethnici…
The Sage Handbook of Gender and Education
Male and female teachers’ evaluative responses to gender and the implications of these for the learning environments of primary age pupils
This paper adopts a social constructionist position on assessment, specifically that it can never be free of the social conditions in which it is practiced. As such, we explore two aspects of classroom interactions which contribute to and shape the learning environments in which assessment takes place. By drawing on interviews carried out with 51 teachers and 307 Year 3 (7–8‐year‐old) pupils the paper demonstrates where and how beliefs and attitu…
Reassessing Gender and Achievement
Challenging current theories about gender and achievement, this book assesses the issues at stake and analyses the policy drives and changing perceptions of gender on which the 'gender and achievement' debates are based. This new topical book guides the reader through the different theories and approaches, drawing together and reviewing work on gender and educational performance. The authors also highlight the continuing problems experienced by g…
The ‘individualized’ (woman) in the academy: Ulrich Beck, gender and power
This article considers the tensions and struggles that exist between men and women and between women and women in the academic workplace. The research reported here is a small‐scale case study of 22 academic women from two generations who were interviewed about their career experiences. The theoretical framework is materialist feminism and draws on Ulrich Beck’s model of the ‘individualized individual’ to evaluate its usefulness to researchers fo…
The ‘self‐interested’ woman academic: A consideration of Beck's model of the ‘individualised individual’
The work of Ulrich Beck, particularly his concept of the 'individualised individual', is increasingly cited by educational social scientists. As yet, there have been few empirical investigations that consider how applicable and relevant is the notion of the 'individualised individual' in understanding how people make sense of their lives (for an exception, see Reay, Citation2003). This paper considers Beck's assertion that social class is of incr…
Male Primary Teachers and Perceptions of Masculinity
The drive to recruit more male primary teachers is an aim of several western countries, including England. One of the explanations for increasing the number of men teachers is to counteract the 'feminisation' of primary schooling. The assumption underpinning such a strategy is based on sex role socialisation theories which have been superseded by more sophisticated and complex understandings of gender identities. In an attempt to explore differen…
Re-thinking 'role models: Equal opportunities in teacher recruitment in England and Wales
Since 1997, the Blair administration has taken various steps to make school teaching a more inclusive occupation. For example, in England and Wales it has introduced measures to increase levels of male recruitment to primary teaching and attract more ethnic minority entrants to the profession. This paper shows how these policies have been legitimated by an appeal to commonsense notions about the salience of 'role models' in socialization. Underly…
Constructing dominant masculinity and negotiating the 'male gaze
One of the suggested strategies for tackling boys' underachievement is for primary schools to recruit more men teachers to provide boys with positive male role models. However, little is known of how those men teachers already working in primary schools contribute towards the construction of dominant modes of masculinity in schools or how girls engage with those dominant forms. This paper sets out to explore the ways in which two male teachers of…
The 'feminisation of schooling' or 're-masculinising' primary education?[1]
The move in the United Kingdom to recruit more men into primary teaching is to tackle boys under-achievement. One explanation that has been offered as to why boys' are under-achieving is the 'feminisation of primary schooling'. This article begins by exploring the findings of a national survey of student primary teachers towards gender roles and schooling. The views of the students indicated accordance with the idea that primary schools are femin…
Men Teachers and the Construction of Heterosexual Masculinity in the Classroom
Many studies have identified the classroom as an arena for the construction of gender and sexuality. Yet there has been relatively little attention to the role of teachers here, or to the deeper dynamics of teachers' constructions of gender and sexuality in the classroom. This article attempts to address these issues, examining the perpetuation of (sexist) heterosexual norms in the classroom by male teachers. Drawing on data from fieldwork in pri…
A Passion for Football: Dominant Masculinities and Primary Schooling
Football occupies a central place in many of the strategies aimed at counteracting boys' underachievement in Western schools. At the same time, the significance of football in the construction and negotiation of dominant masculinities has been shown in several studies of British primary schooling. This paper provides an overview of the literature which identifies how football in schools is more than 'just a game' but is often inscribed with broad…
The Recruitment of New Teachers from Minority Ethnic Groups
This article reports on part of a larger, ongoing two-year investigation supported by the Teacher Training Agency into the recruitment of new teachers from minority ethnic backgrounds via Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) courses in England. The authors focus here on interviews with admissions tutors, course directors and other senior staff at teacher training institutions. The interviews revealed differences between institutions in th…
Recruitment of New Teachers from Minority Ethnic Groups
This article reports on part of a larger, ongoing two-year investigation supported by the Teacher Training Agency into the recruitment of new teachers from minority ethnic backgrounds via Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) courses in England.The authors focus here on interviews with admissions tutors, course directors and other senior staff at teacher training institutions.The interviews revealed differences between institutions in the …
The Realities of Teachers' Work, Sandra Acker, London: Cassell, 1999, xiii+242 pp
An abstract is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. Please use the Get access link above for information on how to access this content
The 'feminisation of schooling' or 're-masculinising' primary education?[1]
The move in the United Kingdom to recruit more men into primary teaching is to tackle boys under-achievement. One explanation that has been offered as to why boys' are under-achieving is the 'feminisation of primary schooling'. This article begins by exploring the findings of a national survey of student primary teachers towards gender roles and schooling. The views of the students indicated accordance with the idea that primary schools are femin…
A Passion for Football: Dominant Masculinities and Primary Schooling
Football occupies a central place in many of the strategies aimed at counteracting boys' underachievement in Western schools. At the same time, the significance of football in the construction and negotiation of dominant masculinities has been shown in several studies of British primary schooling. This paper provides an overview of the literature which identifies how football in schools is more than 'just a game' but is often inscribed with broad…
Re-thinking 'role models: Equal opportunities in teacher recruitment in England and Wales
Since 1997, the Blair administration has taken various steps to make school teaching a more inclusive occupation. For example, in England and Wales it has introduced measures to increase levels of male recruitment to primary teaching and attract more ethnic minority entrants to the profession. This paper shows how these policies have been legitimated by an appeal to commonsense notions about the salience of 'role models' in socialization. Underly…
Primary Boys and Hegemonic Masculinities
This paper explores the relationships between primary‐aged boys, hegemonic masculinities and sexualised/violent behaviours in the school setting. The data for this paper arise out of a year‐long ethnographic study of two primary schools in the North‐East of England. The aims are twofold: to explore the way in which heterosexual harassment features in the particular hegemonic masculinity of each school; and secondly, to consider the extent to whic…
Feminism and Research into Masculinities and Schooling
Research into masculinities and schooling has recently attracted an increased amount of attention, particularly in relation to working-class boys and academic underachievement. Exploring masculinities is not a 'new' area, however, as such issues have always featured in feminist research into schooling. There is a concern that not all of this work undertaken by male researchers engages with the knowledge and understanding provided by feminist rese…
Learning to be 'Tough: The fostering of maleness in one primary school
In recent years there has been an increase in studies on masculinity and schooling. The focus has largely been upon boys' experiences of secondary schooling and how schools actively produce a range of masculinities. This paper explores the interrelationship between masculinity, primary schools and the local community and culture. The data is drawn from a year-long ethnographic study of an inner-city primary school in the north-east of England
Successful Boys and Literacy: Are “Literate Boys” Challenging or Repackaging Hegemonic Masculinity
The National Assessment of Educational Progress statistics show that boys are underachieving in literacy compared to girls. Attempts to redress the problem in various Global North countries and particularly Australia and the United Kingdom have failed to make any impact. However, there are boys who are doing well in literacy. The aim of this article is to explore how high‐status constructions of masculinity are maintained alongside “successfully …
The simultaneous production of educational achievement and popularity: How do some pupils accomplish it
In spite of research showing that pupils—particularly boys—tend to experience tension between high academic achievement and popularity with peers at school, some pupils continue to maintain simultaneous production of both. This article focuses on a sample of 12–13 year‐old pupils, identified as high achieving and popular, to examine classroom subjectivities, with attention to their practices around gender and educational achievement. Data are dra…
A Study of the Career Perspectives of Male Teachers of Young Children
One of the aims of ‘equal opportunities’ policies is to encourage teachers into non‐traditional areas. Consequently, the early years of schooling has witnessed an increase in the number of men teachers opting for this age‐group. This article focuses on the experiences of 11 early years male teachers. The findings suggest that men teachers undertaking a non‐traditional career option will do little to effect a positive change in female educational …
The ‘individualized’ (woman) in the academy: Ulrich Beck, gender and power
This article considers the tensions and struggles that exist between men and women and between women and women in the academic workplace. The research reported here is a small‐scale case study of 22 academic women from two generations who were interviewed about their career experiences. The theoretical framework is materialist feminism and draws on Ulrich Beck’s model of the ‘individualized individual’ to evaluate its usefulness to researchers fo…
A perfect match? Pupils’ and teachers’ views of the impact of matching educators and learners by gender
British government policy on teacher recruitment gives a high priority to increasing the number of male teachers, particularly in primary schools. This focus stems from concern to challenge ‘boys’ underachievement’: policy‐makers believe that ‘matching’ teachers and pupils by gender will improve boys’ engagement with school. Yet there is little evidence to support such assumptions which, as this article notes, are predicated on out‐dated theories…
Gender, policy and initial teacher education
An examination of gender discourses within New Labour education policy on the preparation of students for a career in teaching in the UK reveals a contradictory yet, at the same time, complementary position. In the guidelines outlining the Standards that a prospective teacher has to achieve, the ways in which gender informs pupils’ educational opportunities is ‘played down’ in that it is not addressed directly. Rather ‘gender’, along with ethnici…
Gender, popularity and notions of in/authenticity amongst 12‐year‐old to 13‐year‐old school girls
This paper draws on data from a research project investigating gendered identities and interactions of high‐achieving students in Year Eight in England (12–13 years old), particularly in relation to students’ ‘popularity’ amongst their peers. As part of this study 71 students were interviewed from nine different schools in urban, rural and small town locations. From an analysis of participants’ conceptions of the characteristics of ‘popular’ and …
Failing to get men into primary teaching: A feminist critique
For several years now a number of countries have been attempting to increase their numbers of male primary teachers, yet have met with little success. Feminists/pro‐feminists have challenged the intentions of these male teacher recruitment drives but failed to offer any interventions that might contribute to a broadening of the primary teacher population. This article seeks to redress this by identifying specific reasons why policy initiatives ha…
Gender ‘matters’ in the primary classroom: Pupils' and teachers' perspectives
A recent project involving Year 3 (seven–eight year‐old) pupils and their teachers revealed that ‘gender matters’ differently to boys and girls, and teachers. The study sought to elicit whether pupils and their teachers felt the gender of a teacher mattered to their experiences of schooling. Pupils were concerned about how effective teachers were in carrying out their professional functions and a teacher's gender was subsumed within this. For the…
The ‘self‐interested’ woman academic: A consideration of Beck's model of the ‘individualised individual’
The work of Ulrich Beck, particularly his concept of the 'individualised individual', is increasingly cited by educational social scientists. As yet, there have been few empirical investigations that consider how applicable and relevant is the notion of the 'individualised individual' in understanding how people make sense of their lives (for an exception, see Reay, Citation2003). This paper considers Beck's assertion that social class is of incr…
The self-made self: Analysing the Potential Contribution to the Field of Gender and Education of Theories That Disembed Selfhood
The extent to which the ideas of certain influential, contemporary social theorists who arguably analyse selves as disembedded from social structures can contribute to the theorising of gender and education is explored in this article. We begin by considering hegemonic explanations of neo-liberal society and particularly the emphasis on conceptions of ‘individualisation’ and ‘individualism’, relating these ideas to feminist theorising of the ‘sel…
Constructing dominant masculinity and negotiating the 'male gaze
One of the suggested strategies for tackling boys' underachievement is for primary schools to recruit more men teachers to provide boys with positive male role models. However, little is known of how those men teachers already working in primary schools contribute towards the construction of dominant modes of masculinity in schools or how girls engage with those dominant forms. This paper sets out to explore the ways in which two male teachers of…
Sex, Male Teachers and Young Children
The recent case of a male student nursery nurse found guilty of sexually abusing children brought into focus the absence of policies on men working with young children in schools regarding such issues as how to handle physical contact, intimacy and masculinity, their female colleagues and the children in their care. This means individual male teachers have to construct their own frameworks in which to work ‘safely’ with children. If male teachers…
Male and female teachers’ evaluative responses to gender and the implications of these for the learning environments of primary age pupils
This paper adopts a social constructionist position on assessment, specifically that it can never be free of the social conditions in which it is practiced. As such, we explore two aspects of classroom interactions which contribute to and shape the learning environments in which assessment takes place. By drawing on interviews carried out with 51 teachers and 307 Year 3 (7–8‐year‐old) pupils the paper demonstrates where and how beliefs and attitu…
The Recruitment of New Teachers from Minority Ethnic Groups
This article reports on part of a larger, ongoing two-year investigation supported by the Teacher Training Agency into the recruitment of new teachers from minority ethnic backgrounds via Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) courses in England. The authors focus here on interviews with admissions tutors, course directors and other senior staff at teacher training institutions. The interviews revealed differences between institutions in th…
The ‘Renaissance Child’: High achievement and gender in late modernity
This paper draws on the concept of the 'Renaissance Child' to illustrate the ways in which gender influences the opportunities and possibilities of high-achieving pupils. Using data from a study of 12–13-year high-achieving boys and girls based in schools in England, the paper considers the ways in which a group of popular boys was able to show an interest and success in literacy and English without posing threats to their masculine subjectivitie…
A Study of the Career Perspectives of Male Teachers of Young Children
One of the aims of ‘equal opportunities’ policies is to encourage teachers into non‐traditional areas. Consequently, the early years of schooling has witnessed an increase in the number of men teachers opting for this age‐group. This article focuses on the experiences of 11 early years male teachers. The findings suggest that men teachers undertaking a non‐traditional career option will do little to effect a positive change in female educational …
Sex, Male Teachers and Young Children
The recent case of a male student nursery nurse found guilty of sexually abusing children brought into focus the absence of policies on men working with young children in schools regarding such issues as how to handle physical contact, intimacy and masculinity, their female colleagues and the children in their care. This means individual male teachers have to construct their own frameworks in which to work ‘safely’ with children. If male teachers…
Learning to be 'Tough: The fostering of maleness in one primary school
In recent years there has been an increase in studies on masculinity and schooling. The focus has largely been upon boys' experiences of secondary schooling and how schools actively produce a range of masculinities. This paper explores the interrelationship between masculinity, primary schools and the local community and culture. The data is drawn from a year-long ethnographic study of an inner-city primary school in the north-east of England
Primary Boys and Hegemonic Masculinities
This paper explores the relationships between primary‐aged boys, hegemonic masculinities and sexualised/violent behaviours in the school setting. The data for this paper arise out of a year‐long ethnographic study of two primary schools in the North‐East of England. The aims are twofold: to explore the way in which heterosexual harassment features in the particular hegemonic masculinity of each school; and secondly, to consider the extent to whic…
Feminism and Research into Masculinities and Schooling
Research into masculinities and schooling has recently attracted an increased amount of attention, particularly in relation to working-class boys and academic underachievement. Exploring masculinities is not a 'new' area, however, as such issues have always featured in feminist research into schooling. There is a concern that not all of this work undertaken by male researchers engages with the knowledge and understanding provided by feminist rese…
A Passion for Football: Dominant Masculinities and Primary Schooling
Football occupies a central place in many of the strategies aimed at counteracting boys' underachievement in Western schools. At the same time, the significance of football in the construction and negotiation of dominant masculinities has been shown in several studies of British primary schooling. This paper provides an overview of the literature which identifies how football in schools is more than 'just a game' but is often inscribed with broad…
The Recruitment of New Teachers from Minority Ethnic Groups
This article reports on part of a larger, ongoing two-year investigation supported by the Teacher Training Agency into the recruitment of new teachers from minority ethnic backgrounds via Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) courses in England. The authors focus here on interviews with admissions tutors, course directors and other senior staff at teacher training institutions. The interviews revealed differences between institutions in th…
Recruitment of New Teachers from Minority Ethnic Groups
This article reports on part of a larger, ongoing two-year investigation supported by the Teacher Training Agency into the recruitment of new teachers from minority ethnic backgrounds via Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) courses in England.The authors focus here on interviews with admissions tutors, course directors and other senior staff at teacher training institutions.The interviews revealed differences between institutions in the …
The Realities of Teachers' Work, Sandra Acker, London: Cassell, 1999, xiii+242 pp
An abstract is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. Please use the Get access link above for information on how to access this content
Men Teachers and the Construction of Heterosexual Masculinity in the Classroom
Many studies have identified the classroom as an arena for the construction of gender and sexuality. Yet there has been relatively little attention to the role of teachers here, or to the deeper dynamics of teachers' constructions of gender and sexuality in the classroom. This article attempts to address these issues, examining the perpetuation of (sexist) heterosexual norms in the classroom by male teachers. Drawing on data from fieldwork in pri…
Constructing dominant masculinity and negotiating the 'male gaze
One of the suggested strategies for tackling boys' underachievement is for primary schools to recruit more men teachers to provide boys with positive male role models. However, little is known of how those men teachers already working in primary schools contribute towards the construction of dominant modes of masculinity in schools or how girls engage with those dominant forms. This paper sets out to explore the ways in which two male teachers of…
The 'feminisation of schooling' or 're-masculinising' primary education?[1]
The move in the United Kingdom to recruit more men into primary teaching is to tackle boys under-achievement. One explanation that has been offered as to why boys' are under-achieving is the 'feminisation of primary schooling'. This article begins by exploring the findings of a national survey of student primary teachers towards gender roles and schooling. The views of the students indicated accordance with the idea that primary schools are femin…
Male Primary Teachers and Perceptions of Masculinity
The drive to recruit more male primary teachers is an aim of several western countries, including England. One of the explanations for increasing the number of men teachers is to counteract the 'feminisation' of primary schooling. The assumption underpinning such a strategy is based on sex role socialisation theories which have been superseded by more sophisticated and complex understandings of gender identities. In an attempt to explore differen…
Re-thinking 'role models: Equal opportunities in teacher recruitment in England and Wales
Since 1997, the Blair administration has taken various steps to make school teaching a more inclusive occupation. For example, in England and Wales it has introduced measures to increase levels of male recruitment to primary teaching and attract more ethnic minority entrants to the profession. This paper shows how these policies have been legitimated by an appeal to commonsense notions about the salience of 'role models' in socialization. Underly…
Reassessing Gender and Achievement
Challenging current theories about gender and achievement, this book assesses the issues at stake and analyses the policy drives and changing perceptions of gender on which the 'gender and achievement' debates are based. This new topical book guides the reader through the different theories and approaches, drawing together and reviewing work on gender and educational performance. The authors also highlight the continuing problems experienced by g…
The ‘individualized’ (woman) in the academy: Ulrich Beck, gender and power
This article considers the tensions and struggles that exist between men and women and between women and women in the academic workplace. The research reported here is a small‐scale case study of 22 academic women from two generations who were interviewed about their career experiences. The theoretical framework is materialist feminism and draws on Ulrich Beck’s model of the ‘individualized individual’ to evaluate its usefulness to researchers fo…
The ‘self‐interested’ woman academic: A consideration of Beck's model of the ‘individualised individual’
The work of Ulrich Beck, particularly his concept of the 'individualised individual', is increasingly cited by educational social scientists. As yet, there have been few empirical investigations that consider how applicable and relevant is the notion of the 'individualised individual' in understanding how people make sense of their lives (for an exception, see Reay, Citation2003). This paper considers Beck's assertion that social class is of incr…
The Sage Handbook of Gender and Education
Male and female teachers’ evaluative responses to gender and the implications of these for the learning environments of primary age pupils
This paper adopts a social constructionist position on assessment, specifically that it can never be free of the social conditions in which it is practiced. As such, we explore two aspects of classroom interactions which contribute to and shape the learning environments in which assessment takes place. By drawing on interviews carried out with 51 teachers and 307 Year 3 (7–8‐year‐old) pupils the paper demonstrates where and how beliefs and attitu…
Gender, policy and initial teacher education
An examination of gender discourses within New Labour education policy on the preparation of students for a career in teaching in the UK reveals a contradictory yet, at the same time, complementary position. In the guidelines outlining the Standards that a prospective teacher has to achieve, the ways in which gender informs pupils’ educational opportunities is ‘played down’ in that it is not addressed directly. Rather ‘gender’, along with ethnici…
A perfect match? Pupils’ and teachers’ views of the impact of matching educators and learners by gender
British government policy on teacher recruitment gives a high priority to increasing the number of male teachers, particularly in primary schools. This focus stems from concern to challenge ‘boys’ underachievement’: policy‐makers believe that ‘matching’ teachers and pupils by gender will improve boys’ engagement with school. Yet there is little evidence to support such assumptions which, as this article notes, are predicated on out‐dated theories…
The self-made self: Analysing the Potential Contribution to the Field of Gender and Education of Theories That Disembed Selfhood
The extent to which the ideas of certain influential, contemporary social theorists who arguably analyse selves as disembedded from social structures can contribute to the theorising of gender and education is explored in this article. We begin by considering hegemonic explanations of neo-liberal society and particularly the emphasis on conceptions of ‘individualisation’ and ‘individualism’, relating these ideas to feminist theorising of the ‘sel…
Failing to get men into primary teaching: A feminist critique
For several years now a number of countries have been attempting to increase their numbers of male primary teachers, yet have met with little success. Feminists/pro‐feminists have challenged the intentions of these male teacher recruitment drives but failed to offer any interventions that might contribute to a broadening of the primary teacher population. This article seeks to redress this by identifying specific reasons why policy initiatives ha…
Gender ‘matters’ in the primary classroom: Pupils' and teachers' perspectives
A recent project involving Year 3 (seven–eight year‐old) pupils and their teachers revealed that ‘gender matters’ differently to boys and girls, and teachers. The study sought to elicit whether pupils and their teachers felt the gender of a teacher mattered to their experiences of schooling. Pupils were concerned about how effective teachers were in carrying out their professional functions and a teacher's gender was subsumed within this. For the…
Berj: A journal for our community of inquiry
Sociology (26 works) · Gender Roles and Identity Studies (21 works) · Gender Studies (20 works) · Psychology (20 works) · Gender Studies (16 works) · Pedagogy (15 works) · Masculinity (12 works) · Political science (12 works) · Social science (10 works) · Teacher Education and Leadership Studies (10 works)