As a child going through public education, from kindergarten to my senior year of high school, I noticed an undeniable trend with my instructors. In elementary school (six years) I had all female teachers, 11 in total. Once I got to middle school (three years), I had a few male but most female instructors: 3 male, 19 female. And then in high school (I only attended two years of before enrolling in college), I had more male teachers than I did female: 10 male, 7 female. This trend continued into college where I have an equal distribution of male and female instructors. I believe that this trend is not accidental but a manifestation of our society’s gender roles. As anthropology major, gender roles and how they interact with activities such as education are important. This essay will evaluate the history of education in the United States and Sambia with an emphasis on the anthropological theme of gender and then compare and contrast their intersection.
The first public school built in the United States, back in the colonial days, was Boston Latin School in 1635 [Boston]. The school most likely only admitted students who could already read and write, suggesting that home schooling was essential. However, from the mid-1600s to the mid-1800s, public schools were virtually non-existent, and the educational needs of America were satisfied at home through the purchasing of books [Peterson]. Parents felt that it was their responsibility to teach their children how to make a living, and how to live. And so the Bible was the most important influence on the lives of Anglo-American children. Early American education was based on the principle of voluntarism. Since women were not expected to be working outside of the home or bringing in incom...
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Robert, Peterson. "Education in Colonial America." This Week in History. TJ ED, n.d. Web. 17 Nov 2011. .
Stockard. Ed. Globalization and Change in Fifteen Cultures. Sambia, Gender, Sexuality, and Social Change. Herdt, Stople. Belmont, CA: Eve Howard, 2007. Print.
Waldrip, Bruce G., Joe T. Timothy, and Wilson Wilikai. "Pedagogic Principles in Negotiating Cultural Conflict: A Melanesian example." International Journal of Science Education 29.1 (2007): 101-122. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 18 Oct. 2011.
Weiler, Kathleen. "The Historiography of Gender and Progressive Education in the United States." Paedagogica Historica 42.1/2 (2006): 161-176. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 18 Oct. 2011.
Because young boys are more active they often are disciplined, while girls are often quieter and naturally become a teacher’s favorite. This causes problems because classrooms naturally become more attuned to a girl’s style of learning, leaving young boys behind in the classroom from an early age. “Boy Problems” by Ann Hulbert goes into detail over the increasing “gender educational disparity.” Hulbert gives the reader useful information about how and why men are falling behind and the increasing gender differences in education. When fixing a problem one must first realize the problem exists. Now that the problem has come to light, action must be
Gerry Garibaldi, a high school teacher and Michael Kimmel, a professor of sociology both explain how the consequences of the feminism movement are harming boys in school and later in life. Kimmel and Garibaldi present their views on the gender education problems in their articles “How The Schools Shortchange Boys” and “A War Against Boys”. Both make passionate arguments and prove that boys are at a disadvantage in modern feminized classrooms. Kimmel’s arguments about the problems boys face in the American educational system are more convincing than Garibaldi’s, because his style of argumentation is more objective, supported by more statistics, and provides unbiased restatement of opposing views.
In the text, Becoming a Teacher, the author reflects on why gender is included as a dimension of multicultural education, which is defined by Parkay (2016), “multicultural education is committed to the goal of providing all students – regardless of socioeconomic status; gender; sexual orientation; or ethnic, racial, or cultural backgrounds – with equal opportunities to learn in school” (p. 291). These cultural dissimilarities between the genders are created by the expectations society stereotypes them to follow. As Parkay explained in the text, “through sex role stereotyping, families, the media, the school, and other powerful social forces condition boys and girls to act in certain ways regardless of ability or interests” (2016, p. 296). According to this, students are categorized by society standards, which
The androcentric view of history often fails to acknowledge the achievements of notable women who have made profound impacts that have revolutionized the way in which we see the world, as well as the universe. Although the modernized 21st century society is more apt to recognize the achievements of women with an equivocal perspective with men, it was not always so. During the early 20th century, women were consistently denied equality with men due to a perverse androcentric, male-dominated perspective that deemed women as subordinate and insignificant. This androcentric perspective limited the opportunities available to women at the time, leaving them only with domestic occupations that were deemed acceptable for women such as nurses, teachers or clerics. Very few women aspired for higher education, and even fewer achieved it. There were very few colleges that accepted women at the time, save for those erected for women alone. It is because of this, women rarely e...
The task of correcting the many problems that faced education in the early 1800’s required the genius of many men to correct. Perhaps the largest problem facing early American schools was the lack of training undergone by the teachers of the time. Teachers were often untrained and unprepared, acting more as babysitters and less as instructors. Schoolhouses also posed a problem; many were small and overcrowded, with no desks and little to no teaching materials (www.nd.edu). One very large problem noticed particularly by Noah Webster was the fact that all the textbooks originated from England. America was still feeling a need for separation from England at this time, and teaching the American youth with English materials was not helping in the strive for true independence (www.ctstateu.com). These problems with the educational system proved to be difficult to correct, and some of them are still faced by boards of education even today.
The intellectual culture expressed in literature and education was for the Americans to receive the basic reading level skills. In 1647 Massachusetts established a law, which required each town to support a public school. Others who did not support public schools, had church schools and “dame”, or private classes in the instructor’s house. Even though this does not sound familiar, people of the white race were the only ones to receive education, especially white males. Men had a higher degree of literacy than females, but Americans had a higher rate of literacy than most European
Education in America has existed as long as the nation itself. In fact, education began before Americans even landed in America—before the name “America” was commonplace, before the thirteen colonies emerged, before anyone had any thought to inscribe the words “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” English Puritans taught their children long division and cursive script while sailing across the rough waters on the Mayflower (“Colonial Education”). To distract young minds from the treacherous hurl and break of the Atlantic waves, parents encouraged the group to recite their Bible verses and name the twelve apostles (“Colonial Education”). There were only a few children aboard, about “20 adolescents, mostly boys,” but their importance superseded their numbers (“Children on the Mayflower”). The survival of the children “was of great importance to the survival of the Plymouth Colony,” so their parents invested great effort in their education. Once on land, schooling flourished from the confines of the ship to the vastness of unexplored territories and unlimited time. Eighteenth century colonial Separatists built small one-room schoolhouses devoted to religious studies, the wealthy Federalists of the nineteenth century formed English Grammar Schools to discipline future politicians, and twentieth century middle-class urban dwellers pushed for public education buildings amidst the bustle of city factories (“Early National Education”). As the people recognized a growth in population, they also recognized a growing value to schooling and learning. The nation flourished and expanded, and so did its educational system.
Before public schools emerged, children were educated in the home by their parents. They were taught arithmetic, practical skills, and to read and write. Some wealthy families preferred hiring a tutor for their children (Koetzsch, 1997). In the 1840s, prominent leaders such as Horace Mann lead a movement to institute public schools in the United States (Thattai, 2001). These reformers argued that public schools would create good citizens, unite society, and prevent crime and poverty. As a result of their efforts, public elementary schools evolved in American society by the end of the 19th century. Massachusetts was the first state to pass a compulsory attendance law, ruling that all children had to attend at least elementary school (Thattai, 2001). By 1918, all states had the compulsory attendance law. Catholics weren’t happy with the public education system, so they instituted private schools (Thattai, 2001). When public institutions emerged, home schooling nearly vanished in the United States (Koetzsch, 1997).
In early colonial days, most education took place in the home through dame schools In 1647, Massachusetts passed the "Old Deluder Satan Law," requiring that every town of 50 households appoint and pay a teacher of reading and writing, and every town of 100 households provide a Latin grammar school. This law o...
Gender, social status, and the region in which a child lived determined how much schooling a child would receive and where and how they would get it. Children of the upper class were either taught in private schools or by a tutor. They were taught reading, writing, prayers, and simple math ("Education") . They were taught using repetition from the Bible, a religion-based reading supplement called a primer, and/or a paddle-shaped (also religious) horn book ("Schooling"). The upper-class boys were taught more advanced academic subjects, and may have been sent to boarding school in England or another state. The girls were taught to assume the duties of a wife and mother and obtained basic knowledge so they could read the Bible and record expenses ("Education"). While the south had very few laws for education because of its population, the middle and northern colonies (and then states) had established guidelines for their citizens. Pennsylvania's Law of 1683 set a monetary penalty for any parent whose children could not read and write by age twelve, and who were not taught a useful trade. By 1642 the northern colonies had already mandated a public education or apprenticeship for children, one grammar school for towns with more that one-hundred families, and an elementary school for towns with more than fifty.
In his article, “The Gender Gap at School,” David Brooks scrutinizes common gender roles and introduces the idea that biological factors may play a role in human development. He begins his essay by analyzing the three gender segregated sections in any airport, which include the restrooms, security pat-down areas, and the bookstore. He goes on to explain that the same separation occurs in the home. Brooks includes a study given to nine hundred men and women who were asked to name their favorite novel. The study determined that men preferred novels written by fellow men, whereas women favored books written woman.
There were no public schools that we see today yet they centuries produced some of the best people we have known in the science world. The system was organized into home schools, churches, libraries, apprenticeship and private studies. It was a free system with support coming only from the people who demanded the services. However, government involvement was witnessed in some colonies like Massachusetts. The most influential book during this Anglo-American time was the Bible. The bible teachings made them believe that children were blessings from God, and therefore, it was their responsibility to show them how to make a living and how to live (Louis 108).
The first all female schools began in the early 1800’s. These academies favored more traditional gender roles, women being the home makers and the men being the bread winners. The first generation of educated women was the result of single-sex colleges in 1873. Wendy Kaminer, an investigative journalist, states that “single-sex education was not exactly a choice; it was a cultural mandate at a time when sexual segregation was considered only natural” (1). Women of this time were technically not allowed to attend school with males. Feminists of this time worked hard to integrate the school system and by the early 1900’s, single sex classrooms were a thing of the past. In 1910, twenty-seven percent of colleges were for men only, fifteen percent were for women only and the remainders were coed. Today, women outnumber men among college graduates (Kaminer 1). After all the hard work of early feminists, there are thousands of people today who advocate bringing back the single sex classroom.
In the past decade, research showed that in the process of education in some countries, girls do better than boys, this problem was called ‘a boy’s problem’. The Dutch Ministry of Education published the study which examines the boys’ and girls’ position in primary school based on previous studies (Driessen, Langen, 2013). As a matter of fact, this problem is not a new question, and there are many discussions about gender differences. An important part of the problem is that boys’ scores are far below those of girls. In all education, based on some researchers' opinions, involving spatial and mathematical reasoning, skills, boys always doing better than girls, but in the aspects of language application and writing, girls often do better than boys (Bonomo, 2010).
Women, Girls, Boys and Men today face a variety of different issues in contemporary american society. Many of the problems that they face are regarding gender and cultural issues. Today we say that both genders are equal but in reality they are really not. We have both girls and both falling behind in school because of these cultural issues. According to David Brooks article titled “Honor Code,” the reason why boys especially, are falling behind in education is because of the way the education system is set-up. He states that schools today proclaim that they are diverse, but in fact they have become “homogeneous,” they only cater to students who are “nurturing, collaborative, disciplined, neat, studious, industrious and ambitious.” He says that those who do not fit in with those categories are left behind, they become disconnected and eventually withdraw completely from their education. It has become a huge problem in the U.S, where colleges are lowering their admission standards just so they can admit more men. Mr. Brooks says the problems with boys is that they are naturally aggres...