Suggestions for teachers to promote gender equality

張玉婷

【Abstract】 Teachers shoulder considerable responsibility to reduce gender inequality with language awareness other than linguistic avoidance. This article focuses on three suggestions for teachers to minify ideological bias in the semiotic representation of gender other than language.

【Key words】suggestions； gender equality； language awareness

It is widely acknowledged that the long-existing deficiency of school instructions on gender equality awareness would result in a negative carryover effect on students cross-gender relationships in and out of school. Thus， teachers， the most direct instructors in school， shoulder considerable responsibility to reduce gender bias with language awareness and wisdom other than linguistic avoidance of gender inequality. This article will mainly focus on three suggestions for teachers to minify ideological bias in the semiotic representation of gender other than language.

Maintain the same expectations and standards towards both genders. Oftentimes， boys and girls are treated with different expectations of their performance in academics， athletics and other fields. For example， girls performance has commonly been perceived as inferior in science subjects such as math， physics and chemistry compared to their male counterparts. It is also widely esteemed that girls are weaker in physical conditions and lacking in a certain “male-related” personality traits such as leadership and courage. In a long-run， these gender stereotypes and biased expectations will intangibly erode students self-efficacy and hinder their self-fulfillment， just as Weinberg （1979） proved.

Therefore， it is of critical importance for teachers to adopt equal expectations for students of both genders notwithstanding the undeniable differences between genders. This requires teachers to assign tasks with conscious avoidance of these stereotypical notions of what male/ female can or cannot do. At the same time， all students should be provided with equal opportunities to exert their potentials and be encouraged to reach the same high standard in various fields.

Produce gender-neutral classroom activities and interactions. It is well documented that male students tend to dominate the classroom interactions. “As students， women find themselves out-talked， out-participated， out-discussed， out-called-upon， and out-responded-to by male counterparts” （Patricia， 2010， p.6）， which is largely due to insufficient chances given and deprivation of confidence in girls in certain disciplines. In order to decrease this semiotic representation of gender bias， teachers are supposed to select and apply gender-neutral classroom activities. For example， it is inappropriate for them to exploit activities which are typically in favor of one single gender. Besides， teachers should also try to establish a safe and encouraging learning environment. This requires them to provide equal chances of opinion-sharing and hands-on experiments and offer positive feedbacks especially to girls in certain subjects.

Equal instructions for both genders in terms of sexual violence are advocated. In most communities， females are often perceived as the victims and man often as the perpetrators of gender-based violence. This concept is still predominant in considerable amount of communities. For years， sexual education in school is to serve the needs of female students and address the sexual harassments on girls. Yet， recent studies have demonstrated that the proportion of victims of sexual violence of both gender is nearly the same， which reveals the severe bias against males from this aspect in the past. Therefore， teachers should equip students of both genders with sufficient knowledge and awareness of self-defense and respect for other genders. More specifically， boys should be more encouraged to express themselves and resort to help when offended as girls do.

The three suggestions for teachers can be significant to maintain proper gender perception and treatment. While these suggestions stated above are far from being sufficient to address the ideological bias in gender in that more joint efforts should be made by the whole society.

References：

[1]Weinberg，R.S.，Gould，D.，& Jackson，A.（1979）.Expectations and performance：An empirical test of Banduras self-efficacy theory.Journal of sport psychology，1（4），320-331.

[2]Patricia A.Dobson （2010）.Investigating Gender Bias in School Settings.Digital dissertation consortium.