Gender In Teaching Case Study

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This paper will discuss Case Study 2, in which Mr. Duncan is confronted by Miss Hanson, parent of twin 6th graders. Miss Hanson advises Mr. Duncan to use a stricter approach with her children, and leaves Mr. Duncan doubting his ability to use relationship- driven teaching over punishment, and he is left to contemplate his teaching and management style. In this essay I will examine the assumptions around gender in teaching, different teaching styles, and relationship-driven teaching.
Assumption Around Gender in Teaching
This section will examine how male elementary teachers deal with assumptions around gender and how that constructs and shapes their performed identities In Malaby’s study, these males employ the role-model theory as they embrace “the nurturing, …show more content…

They also argue that a male teacher could help young boys develop a more well-adjusted form of masculinity and promote more positive behavioral attitudes toward school (Split). This can help explain the assumption that male teachers can better handle boys, however this has been criticized as an oversimplification of the gender theory (Cushman, 2010:Skelton, 2003). It is a common assumption that boys do worse in primary school because the workforce is predominantly female. Studies have found that same-gender teachers influence on both children’s cognitive and behavioral development is not significant, however Split argues that it is possible that there is a positive correlation between same-gender teachers and children’s interpersonal skills. For example, Split articulates “relatively high conflict levels with male teachers may be less harmful for boys ' school adjustment than high conflict levels with female teachers, because male-to-male conflict could result from male-typical (i.e., gender normative) behaviors and attitudes.”

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