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Projecting Futures is a mixed method research project exploring the gender norms held by teachers and students in the highland province of Anta, Cusco, Perú - as well as the impact of the Visionaria for Schools (VfS) program on these norms.
Projecting Futures is a mixed method research project exploring the gender norms held by teachers and students in the highland province of Anta, Cusco, Perú - as well as the impact of the Visionaria for Schools (VfS) program on these norms.
OUTLINE:
OUTLINE:
- Why study gender norms within the school context?
- Thematic areas in focus:
- Future aspirations (RQ1)
- Behavior in class (RQ2)
- Important life decisions (RQ3)
1. Why study gender norms within the school context?
1. Why study gender norms within the school context?
A robust body of research has identified that schools can be damaging contexts where existing gender norms influence students’ perceptions of themselves, their behavior, and their actions. Norms based on discrimination and inequality can be limiting for students’ personal growth. For example, normalized beliefs tend to influence girls to fear for their safety, be accommodating towards others and sexualized (2). At the same time, these norms tend to demand that boys restrain their emotions and base their self-esteem on power, physical strength and dominance over others (3).
Thus, the presence of these norms among members of the school micro-community, especially among teachers, often results in their promulgation among students (4). Reinforcing and continuing the normalization of social inequality and discrimination based on gender. But, when norms based on equality and the valuation of young are present, schools also have the potential to empower students and promote new norms among the future generation (5).
(1) Harber, 2004, Reay, 2009, Francis and Mills, 2016, Marcus and Page, 2016.(2) Harber, C., 2004. Schooling as Violence. London: Routledge.(3) Sadker, M. & Sadker, D., 1986. Sexism in the Classroom: From Grade School to Graduate School. The Phi Delta Kappan, 67(7), pp. 512-515.(4) Robinson-Keilig, R., Hamill, C. & Gwin-Vinsant, A., 2014. Feminist Pedagogy in Action. Psychology of Women Quarterly , 38(2), pp. 292-297.(5) Unterhalter, E., North, A., Arnot, M., Lloyd, C., Moletsane, L., Murphy-Graham, E., Parkes, J., Saito, M., (2014) Interventions to enhance girls’ education and gender equality. Education Rigorous Literature Review. Department for International Development.
2. Our focus
2. Our focus
Projecting Futures focused on three thematic areas relevant to gender norms in a school context, and also the content included in the Visionaria for Schools program.
The three themes and corresponding research questions (RQ) are listed below:
Future Aspirations (RQ1)
Future Aspirations (RQ1)
For teachers:
What post secondary-school futures are expected for boys and girls based on their gender?
For students:
What post secondary-school futures do boys and girls feel that their teachers expect of them and what do they expect for themselves and the opposite sex?
Behavior in Class (RQ2)
Behavior in Class (RQ2)
For teachers:
What behaviors are expected of boys and girls in class based on their gender and how are these reinforced?
For students:
What behaviors do they feel are expected of them and the opposite sex in class, and how do they feel these are reinforced by their teachers?
Important Life Decisions (RQ3)
Important Life Decisions (RQ3)
For teachers:
What life decisions are expected for boys and girls to make based on their gender?
For students:
What life decisions do they think they make, and that the opposite sex is able to make?
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