How Does Gender Affect the Teaching Profession?
How does gender affect the teaching profession? Gender has defined the ebbs and flows in many careers for a long time. Teachers have it no easier than other professions. Women encounter significant hurdles in the classroom. Many of these issues are related to power, connectivity, and unsolved prejudices. The bias of women not being able to hold power inside of a classroom only points towards this same idea outside of the classroom. Teachers struggle to be viewed as powerful and in control without a mug of sternness as their forefront in the classroom. When showing a sweet and warm personality, often times this can be seen as someone who can be pushed aside and taken advantage of. This only hurts the push to make women in the teaching profession feel that they can be themselves, as womanly as they desire to be, while maintaining high authority. This is a battle that needs to be put to rest and teachers have the profession to be viewed as strong and able but lack the unbiased eyes and environment surrounding them to achieve this. We must keep advocating for our professions and for positions in the seat of power. More significantly, we must urge our peers to join forces. We need the teachers that work alongside us to look like the children we serve, who represent the vibrant range of colors, ethnicities, and variety that exists in our schools. Most importantly, we need women to keep fighting for women inside of the teaching profession and as onlookers of the teaching profession.
Hi Avery! Your response really stuck with me. As a young woman myself, I see the difficulties we have gone through. I think that any woman in the classroom is strong, confident, and not weak. Women should be able to be themselves in the classroom without getting the typical stereotype. Women have mother nature when it comes to kids, so I honestly think that women are some of the best educators. I like how you said that women still need to fight for women educators in this profession, because many kids, other teachers, and parents won't respect you because of your gender. This is horrible because your gender shouldn't determine respect, pay, or time. A lot of kids usually follow their parents beliefs and values, but as educators we need to teach them that all genders are equal. No gender is above another gender, and as a whole, we need to show students that gender doesn't determine the amount of respect they earn.
ReplyDeleteHey Raegan, I so agree. The stereotype that women are weak and incapable of standing their ground and maintaining authority affects their career as a teacher. Thank you for your response!
DeleteHi Avery! I love the direction you took this in, instead of talking about gender identity you decided to talk about gender norms and that is something so cool! I love how you defined that when we as women put on a gentle demeanor and a sweet smile we are perceived as push overs, but that is not the case we can be strong independent and aggressive in our field when we need to be! It is important to recognize these gender norms and to break them down, it is 2022 a woman or a a man should be seen with just as much power and resilience as anyone else. One thing I have noticed about our field of work is that it is woman rich (in schools), as I sit in my classes I often see maybe 1 or 2 men, so my question is if teaching is a female dominant field why are we viewed as so little in the eyes of others? I also really really loved your point on having educators that look like our students and that is a big thing for me and a big step that education needs to take. Hire more educators of color, show our students that they matter to and they can be anything they want to be. We can do this by highlighting not only the men in history and the important women but the important people of color that have done great things, maybe a Chinese astronaut or the women who worked for NASA, we should showcase people that our students can connect to.
ReplyDeleteHi Kristin, I couldn't agree more that it is important to recognize these gender norms and to break them down. Also, I agree with you that a great way to go about this is by highlighting not only the men in history and the important women but the important people of color that have done great things. This way we as teachers are showcasing great examples for our students to relate and look up to.
DeleteI love the idea of students having someone to look up to! I think that By showing students that people lie them have done great and big things it shows them that they can too. It gives them motivation and reassurance that school is worth it and even if they don’t go to college or have a different background they can still accomplish lots of things.
DeleteHi Avery! You commented on how the sweet and smiling teacher can be misinterpreted as a push over. I'd like to point out that on the flip side, when women open their mouths and speak up they are labeled as bossy, and a trouble maker. This is the experience I have had in my education as well as my career. It's like no matter what we do we just can't win. There are all sorts of expectations set for how women, namely teachers, should behave but the standards are so muddled. This is where it becomes important to teach all teachers cultural communication competence. Depending on the circumstance, and depending on our own philosophy we will have to fight back against gender norms in different ways. For those of us that fit the kind teacher stereotype, it is important that we establish what our boundaries are at the beginning of the year and remain consistent with them, never letting students, parents, or other colleagues violate them. For those of us that fit the loud teacher stereotype, it is important for us to keep opening our mouths, and stand true to our values, but also learn to pick our battles and use our communication effectively. Most importantly, as you mentioned, we have to support each other in these goals. There are many right ways to do it, but no matter what route we take, we are all fighting for the same cause.
ReplyDeleteHi Tori, I really appreciate this response because it is so true that on the flip side women will be viewed as bossy or too much when they show authority. I love what you said for the "loud teacher" stereotype that it is important for them to keep opening their mouths and stand true to their values. I couldn't agree more, thank you for this perspective!
DeleteAvery, I truly appreciate your thoughts on this. I admire that you looked at this from a different perspective. Teachers do hold a lot of power when it comes to helping shape the very future of our society, but the power teachers carry in the current, economic society is indeed lacking. The kind, gentle demeanor they must present in the classroom, creates a misunderstanding of being powerless and misshapes society’s view of teachers. However, seeing the dramatic change that has happened over the past 50-100 years in women’s rights and the teaching profession gives me hope, and I can only anticipate that this positive change continues to gain momentum. It is in these times, I realize we are extremely lucky to have many more means of communication, platforms for communicating our thoughts or ideas, and sharing those monumental things teachers do in everyday life, that prove to society they are full of power.
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