Gender & Schooling

Over the summer we took the course Schools & Society focusing on the interplay between schools and the various communities that impact the classroom on various levels. One theme we discussed in the course was how gender plays out in schools and the impact it holds. The simplest example is how students line up according to gender.

At my placement, the kids line up according to gender and lunch is also split by gender. When the girls are eating, the boys are outside playing. After 20 minutes they switch places and the boys are allowed in the cafeteria to eat and the girls go outside to play. The school splits up the students because it has reduced a lot of problems that were occurring at lunch.

It difficult to find a position on the topic. As a sociologist, I would want to see less gender division and promote collaborative learning among students. I also understand the concern of the school and their pragmatic decision of organizing lunch. I do believe it is important for boys and girls to learn how to socialize with each other with respect. I fear such gender division has bigger implications in the manner society organizes itself. For the moment being, the school is keeping lunch time in order but I believe there are unseen consequences as a result. I would like to see the school allow lunch not to be gender divided and work on changing the culture of the students at lunch.

And for the next trick -

Taking from Eddie Lopez's Vlog (Blog + Video), I will be posting a video interview with a peer of mine. I thought It would be a good idea to have another perspective on teaching and the program. I just have to figure out how to post the video on the blog.

TEP Open House Reflection

This past weekend I had the opportunity and pleasure to answer questions regarding Penn's Teacher Education Program at the Graduate School of Education's open house. Since then, I reflected on a question and thought I share my thought.

Why enroll in a Teacher Education Program?
As I was planning and in the process of applying to graduate school many people asked me why I needed a Masters degree to teach and why attend a private school across the nation (I'm originally from CA). For me, teaching has been a brewing passion. I have had experience in volunteer work and community development abroad. I felt confident in my intellectual skills and the reasons for becoming a teacher. Yet, I was not confident of being able to walk into an urban classroom and be influential. Students in urban classroom struggle with very different and, I argue, much more complex issues to overcome particularly in low-income neighborhoods. I also did not just want to be a good teacher but a great teacher. I think of teaching of much more than transmitting knowledge but an opportunity to empower, challenge, and have students think critically for themselves. I believe it takes much more training to be an effective teacher and for me, that was one the biggest reason to applying to teacher education programs.