Making the difference: how schools influence gender identity

Research in Botswana and Ghana indicates that daily life in schools is affected strongly by gender. A joint project by researchers at the University of Sussex in the UK, the University of Botswana and the University of Cape Coast in Ghana found that institutional practices and traditions can lead to a highly gendered school environment rarely challenged by students or teachers.

Despite differences in gender gaps nationally, life in schools is a similar experience for boys and girls in both Botswana and Ghana. Within mixed gender schools and classrooms there is a marked tendency for the gender groups to segregate. The student segregation and the tensions between boys and girls as a result of it are met by low gender policy implementation and nor do teachers or school managers intervene. Clearly, the current international focus on school quality should also concentrate on gender issues in the classroom. Research findings include:

• Student interactions involve bullying, sexual harassment and aggressive behaviour inside and outside the classroom, largely by boys directed at girls. Such behaviour is rarely punished as teachers regard such acts as normal and a ‘natural’ part of growing up.
• The highly gendered school environment prevents girls in particular from learning and participating actively in classroom activities
• Girls, with the exception of a few subjects (for example Home Economics, Setswana and English) in Botswana persistently achieve lower grades than boys.
• Corporal punishment and verbal abuse are widely used to discipline students.
• More girls than boys drop out of school in Botswana and Ghana mainly due to pregnancy and early marriage. Boys on the other hand drop out because they fear excessive corporal punishment from staff and are keen to start making money outside school. Overall, truancy and poor punctuality is higher among boys than girls.
• Cultural resistance to female authority is evident for example, in poor cross-gender relations between teachers and school management, and in some boys’ refusal to be punished by female teachers.
• High-achieving schools have strong management. Effective leadership influences the quality of school life, in terms of policy implementation and the discipline of teachers and students.

The research reveals that good organisation and management within schools have a positive affect on the treatment of pupils and on the learning environment. Moves to enhance the quality of learning and to achieve gender equality need to address management and organisational issues and offer alternative forms of gender relations and identity. This would make schooling a safer, more pleasant learning experience for students and teachers. The recommendations call for:

• greater awareness of the effects of schooling and training on gender identity in order to assist in the implementation of national policy and the development of gender-sensitive school policy and practice
• teacher education that highlights the active part they play in the academic and personal development of their students, especially in gender terms
• more research on gender relations in schools and communities to explore and address gender violence in its more mundane and sensational manifestations.

Source(s):
'Gendered School Experiences: the Impact on Retention and Achievement in Botswana and Ghana', Department for International Development, Researching the Issues Series by Máiréad Dunne et al, forthcoming 2005

Funded by: Department for International Development DFID, U.K

id21 Research Highlight: 25 January 2005

Further Information:
Máiréad Dunne,
Sussex School of Education
University of Sussex
Brighton
BN1 9QQ
UK

Tel: +44 (0)1273 877266
Fax: +44 (0)1273 877544
Contact the contributor: mairead.dunne@sussex.ac.uk

University of Sussex, UK

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