Do teachers treat boys and girls differently?
Graduation Thesis
Presented to
the Faculty of the Department of
English Language and Literature
Notre Dame Seishin University
In Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirement for the Degree
Bachelor of Arts
by
Yoshie Akai
2012
Contents
Abstract 1
Chapter One: The differences between males and females
1. Introduction 2
1.2 How are males and females different? 3
1.2.1 Physical differences 3
1.2.2 Emotional differences 4
1.3 Differences between males and females in education 4
1.3.1 Hidden curriculum 5
1.3.2 Thinking and behavior differences 6
1.3.3 Score differences 7
1.3.4 Ability differences 8
1.4 Are the differences important? 9
1.4.1 Background 10
1.4.2 Thoughts about gender in Japan 10
1.5 Research Question 11
1.6 Conclusion 12
Chapter Two: The questionnaire
2.1 Introduction 13
2.2 The questionnaire 13
2.2.1 Introduction to the questionnaire 13
2.2.2 Method 14
1) Subjects 14
2) Test design 14
a) The students’ questionnaire 14
b) The teachers’ questionnaire 15
3) Procedure 16
2.2.3 Results 16
1) The rate of age 16
2) The rate of the distinction of the sexes 16
3) School 17
4) The rate of the answers 17
2.3 Summary 22
Chapter Three: Discussion of the Experiment
3.1 Introduction 23
3.2 Summary of the results 23
3.3 Discussion of the results 24
3.3.1 Are teachers conscious of students’ gender differences? 24
a) Whole school life 24
b) In English classes 25
3.3.2 Do teachers treat boys and girls differently in terms of their gender? 25
a) Whole school life 26
b) In English classes 27
3.3.3 What do students think about teachers’ behavior towards each of the
sexes? 28
a) Whole school life 28
a.1) Do students think teachers are conscious of the students’ sex? 28
a.2) What do students think about teachers’ behavior 29
b) In English classes 30
b.1) Do students think teachers are conscious of students’ sex
during teaching English? 30
b.2) What do students’ think about their attitudes in English
classes? 31
3.3.4 Are there any differences between teachers’ and students’ thoughts
about gender? 32
3.4 Answering the research questions 33
3.5 Implications 34
3.6 Limitation of the Experiments 35
3.7 Further research 36
3.7 Conclusion 37
References 38
Appendices 40
40
Abstract
All people have their own personalities. One of the most obvious is that all people are divided into males or females. These differences are our nature, so sex distinctions should be respected. However, in Japan, gender equality is emphasized in school education. In the Basic Education Act, gender distinctions are prohibited. It is mean that teacher should treat boys and girls equally, especially in school education.
In Chapter One, we could find that males and females are quite different; physical differences, emotional differences, differences in abilities and more. Also, we found that the school curriculum called the “hidden curriculum” might produce or reproduce gender distinctions at school. There were some backgrounds of the gender roles, so we also looked at them.
In Chapter Two, we looked at the results of the questionnaires. The questionnaires were taken by English teachers and students from junior high school or senior high school. From the questionnaire, we could find that teachers tended to treat boys and girls equally, but students tended not to think so. There were different opinions between teachers and students.
In Chapter Three, we analyzed the results of the questionnaire. We could find that teachers tried to treat boys and girls equally, but students thought that teachers treated boys more strictly, and girls more kindly. From this experiment, we could find that teachers should treat boys and girls equally most of the time, but teachers sometimes had to think about the students’ sexes, and treated them differently. It is natural that boys and girls have many different things, so we have to emphasize each of the characters. Therefore, when people think about the gender, they should not forget about sex distinctions. In school education, teachers should know the differences between boys and girls, and then, they should treat them equally in an appropriate way.
Chapter One: The differences between males and females
1. Introduction
People all have their personal characteristics, but there are a lot of things which are different from other people. Not only the same points, but also the differences should be respected. One of the most obvious differences is sex distinction. All humans are male or female, and they may have some tendencies due to their sex distinction. Also, they might have different abilities, so males and females might have different strong points.
However, in Japanese society, gender-free tends to be regarded as very important these days. There are some laws which determine sex distinction. The Equal Employment Opportunity Law for Men and Women is one of the examples of this. It is the same in the school education in Japan; the equality is emphasizes in Japanese education. The gender equality is taken serious view in Basic Education Act, Chapter 1, Article 4 (Equal Opportunity in Education).
Citizens shall all be given equal opportunities to receive education according to their abilities, and shall not be subject to discrimination in education on account of race, creed, sex, social status, economic position, or family origin.
In the Basic Education Act, sex distinction is not allowed. Therefore, teachers should act equally to all of the students at school.
However, as mentioned above, males and females have differences. Perhaps, teachers should consider students’ sex when they teach. In this chapter, we will look at the differences between males and females, and the state of Japanese education regarding sexual equality.
1.2 How are males and females different?
As everyone knows, men and women are different in some ways. It is natural that men and women have some of the same points because we are all humans. However, men and women have many different points: physical, emotion, thinking, special abilities, and a lot of other things. In this section, we will look at how males and females are different.
1.2.1 Physical differences
People are made up of the same basic material, but men and women have many differences, and one of the most obvious is our physical differences. Weight, shape, size, and anatomy are some examples of the physical differences. Physical differences are obvious and we can easily see and measure most of these differences. Men and women have several features, and the physical differences give many valuable things. Men usually have bigger bodies, upper body strength, have more muscle and thicker skin compared to women. On the other hand, women have a higher percentage of body fat than men due to the female hormone. There are no sexual differences in action speed or skill, but men have more muscle power than women because they have more muscle mass.
One of the most important points of women is that they can be pregnant, give birth, and breastfeed their baby. Men can never do this, even if they really want to. Not all women have a baby, but they have special ability to do child rearing. All mammalian females have more immune strength, and a higher survival rate than men. It is the same as humans because if women have weak body, it directly affects their baby. If women become pregnant, they could not work in their usual way because they have to be careful about their child in the womb. Also, after bearing a child, they have to take care of them all day long. Therefore, women may have difficulty sometimes to work that men do.
1.2.2 Emotional differences
There are a lot of physical differences between males and females, but they also have emotional differences. Of course, both men and women feel happy, sad, cry, and other feeling the same way, but some emotion are different between them.
Women typically have a larger deep limbic system than men, which allows them to be more in touch with their feelings and better able to express them, which promote bonding with others. (Hensley, 2009)
Martin also said that there were some emotional differences between males and females. Below are some of the differences what he said (2008).
Men / WomenTend to talk less than a woman / Tend to talk much more than most men
Feel emotion and see it as a weakness / Feel emotion and show it
More rugged and stronger / More delicate/less strong
Enjoy sports (playing and watching) / Prefer interacting in conversation
Prefer reading and listening to news / Like to discuss news
Do not cry or show emotion / Talk about feelings and cry easily
Want to fix the problem not talk about it / Want to discuss a problem and resolve it
Show love with non-verbal signals / Want to hear the words I love you
Have sensual thoughts every few seconds / Have sensual thoughts sometimes
1.3 Differences between males and females in education
Education has a great power to cultivate people’s individual abilities. School education can offer standard education to all children, and educate them to achieve their social goals. In that sense, school education has to be equal to all children, develop each person’s abilities without gender distinction, and make them enhance their motivation to become independent.
Japanese school education has emphasized gender equality since the period after the Second World War. Before the end of the Second World War, Japan did not have much equality of the sexes. It was common to think that education was for males and was not for females. Many people thought that school education was not so important for females because they had to do housework. However, recently, especially after the Second World War, “equality” has been emphasized in Japan heavily. The importance of equality is also mentioned in the Basic Act on Education. In this way, teachers are required to be equal to both males and females students at school.
However, we might have some differences between males and females. In this section, we will look at the differences in education.
1.3.1 Hidden curriculum
School should be regarded as equal in regards to gender. However, it is pointed out that school itself may make or remake gender. Throughout the course of study and school life, school itself, teachers, and even among students may teach some knowledge and values unconsciously. It is called a hidden curriculum.
The mechanisms at work here are usually not thought to be explicit and intentional (although they may be) and are more often thought to operate through subtle processes of which we may be somewhat unaware. (Burr, 1998; 54)
Teachers do not always want to teach gender, but students sometimes learn gender roles from a hidden curriculum.
Matsumura (2004) said that there were three aspects of the hidden curriculum which affects gender. Firstly, teachers reproduce gender unconsciously. At school, teachers sometimes think unconsciously that it is natural to distinguish between males and females. Listing males and females separately on the attendance register is one of the examples. This behavior can show that sex distinction is a basic way to divide humans.
Recently, some schools have tried to change this phenomenon. They do not separate males and females in a class list. They mix males and females together. However, teachers often use the distinction of sex when they do academic guidance. Teachers have to be careful not to divide students by their sex, in a classroom situation, class life, school events and a lot more things.
Secondly, teachers sometimes use gender consciously. For example, some teachers ask female students, who look like elder sister, to support male students who do not have a calm attitude. This example shows that teachers sometimes use gender, and it can lead to enhance the perception of gender differences at school.
Thirdly, there is a gender distinction which schools use and reproduce actively. Hashimoto (2003) said that in many schools, male protectors served as a president of the PTA (a Parent-Teacher Association), but in the point of fact, female protectors did the job. It means that males work hard at the workplace, but females support males. Not only in business, but also in school, the structure of gender is like this.
1.3.2 Thinking and Behavior differences
Males and females make their decision or conclusions similarly, but the way of their thinking is different between males and females. They say that females and males consider and process information differently, and it is because of the sex hormones.
Some claim that the sex hormones (androgen, progesterone and oestrogen) have direct effects upon our thinking and behavior. For example, the mood changes that are said to affect women during their menstrual cycle are assumed to result from changes in hormone levels in the blood. (Vivien, 1999: 33)
Women tend to be global thinkers. They consider multiple sources of information within a process that can be described as simultaneous, global in perspective and will view elements in the task in terms of their interconnectedness. Women come to understand and consider problems all at once. [….]