TIPS FOR TEACHERS:
SENSITIVITY TO WOMEN IN THE CONTEMPORARY CLASSROOM
While research continues to show that women
participate less than men in class discussions, the
reasons are complex and the academic climate is changing.
The new generation of Harvard women has grown up in a time
when gender equality is both taken for granted and not yet a
reality. These women enter buildings that only recently
housed a system of separate education, in which they still
find traces of the old prejudices, but also substantial
efforts to correct them. In their classes they still
encounter aggressive men, but now also find assertive women
and sensitive teachers who challenge the old patterns of
interaction.
Our women students offer different reactions as these
changes progress. When asked what characterizes her
experience in the classroom, for example, one says, "I do
not feel any more or less favored by any of my teachers
because of my gender." ('96) Another insists, "I really
can't think of a single class or section that I've taken in
which my being a woman was an issue." ('95) Yet a third
observes with many others, "Women [still] tend to be
more afraid of speaking up... In the large lecture the men
spoke up much more than the women." ('93)
These women may see themselves as conservatives or
feminists, but they commonly resist such categorization.
They may wish for special recognition or deny the need for
it, but in either case risk new kinds of alienation in this
complex period of transition.
As teachers, it is important for us to understand the
shifting pressures affecting this generation of students
if our efforts are to be relevant to them. Our attempts to
promote standards of equality may seem awkward to students
for whom the gender roles of the past have new meaning, and
are adopted or rejected for different reasons than our own.
Even the remedies at our disposal may seem as patronizing to
these students as the paternalism that we intended them to
replace.
Now, for example, when we attempt to draw out quiet women
and restrain domineering men, we will find that we are
confronted with a new set of questions: Should women who
dominate the discussion be treated just like their male
counterparts? Should they be rewarded as a corrective to the
old prejudices? Should we aim for an egalitarian classroom
in which the least aggressive students of either gender are
encouraged, or should the classroom be a proving ground for
those who have historically been silenced? Are quiet women
to be drawn out for their own good, or should their silence
be respected in accord with current sensibilities about
gender differences and women's ways of learning?
It seems that we are caught in a dilemma -how not to be
sexist, and how not to be overbearing in our anti-sexism.
There is certainly no one right way to resolve the matter,
but there are strategies suggested by students and teachers
that may improve our chances of inspiring the full and
equitable participation that we desire in our classes.
Strategies of inclusion for the contemporary
classroom:
"Don't treat us differently - don't call on
us more or less often - don't assume we're all experts on
feminism if we're the only woman in the section."
('94)
* Assume nothing about your students with regard to
gender, treat them equally, but make an effort to
respect their differences.
* Observe the gender dynamics in your classroom,
especially at the beginning of the class. Know your students
individually, their attitudes and the reasons for their
silences and respond accordingly:
- If they are quiet but engaged, an encouraging
gesture may be all that is needed to include them.
- If they are being intimidated or interrupted by
others in the class, your protective intervention may be
called for in a way that gives them strength.
- If they are alienated or hesitant by nature, find
ways to show that you are especially interested in what
they have to say.
* Create an invitation to speak by offering a
range of encouraging responses. If there are reticent women
in the class, the sense that there is an invitation to speak
without being put on the spot can be a strong inducement to
participate.
* To create openings for reticent women, you might
try to:
- Ask students all to take turns at presenting
material.
- Assign them to small groups or supportive pairs to
solve a problem.
- Give students time to answer and be sure to indicate
that you are paying as much attention to the hesitant
ones as to others.
- Credit a quiet student by making her the expert of
the moment.
- Refer back to the comment of a quiet woman to make
it a pillar of discussion.
- Refer to a silent student's written work in an
affirming way.
- Avoid interruptions. Your own impulse to complete
your students' thoughts for them, or that of other
students may discourage quiet students.
- Resist filling every uncomfortable pause with your
own voice.
"I get the feeling that the guys think I talk too
much, which is not true since I talk as much as they do."
('96)
* Avoid the temptation to call only on the most
talkative students. Appreciate aggressive women as you
would aggressive men, but be aware of the effects that each
has on others and the group.
* Do not allow the same students to dominate every
discussion. Break up gendered monopolies by eliciting
responses from others.
* Encourage women who seem to be at a disadvantage
by virtue of culture or training: who expect to be
interrupted, doubt their own authority or frame their
comments as questions. But be ready to credit intelligent
observation and engaged listening among them as a
distinctive kind of participation.
* Resist the temptation to respond to inquiring tones
of voice as if they were questions. Instead of
answering, try to identify and credit the comment within a
question.
* Don't call on women to the exclusion of men.
Students tend to resent a new favoritism as much as the
old.
Roles and forms of address:
"I think my classes should include the
accomplishment of women in science, history etc."
('96)
* Avoid the gendered forms of address when
discussing the professions or titles of distinction. If it
is now common to refer to police officers and physicians by
the inclusive "he or she," it is not so common when
referring to Nobel Laureates, great writers or scientists.
By doing so, you are crafting an image of achievement for
the future and shaping the self-image of aspiring
students.
* Consider how your choice of examples affects your
students' sense of inclusion in the discussion or
engagement with the subject matter. The anecdotes or
hypothetical situations that you offer might be gender
inclusive. When you tell stories about conferences or
important events in your discipline, consider whether it
sounds like an exclusive club.
* When offering historical examples, weigh how you
express differences across time so that you are neither
white-washing the past nor offending the egalitarian hopes
of the present. You might comment on the significance of a
historian's references to19th century physicians or
legislators as "these men..." without distorting text or
context. Consider whether the stories of women's lives have
been neglected in the historical picture that is being
painted.
* Be consistent when addressing women and men in
the use of first and last names, in making eye contact and
in the tone of voice with which you are addressing them.
Make equal demands of them in mastering the tools of your
discipline.
* Make sure that you give women as well as men
opportunities to take leadership roles or to assist you
in class. Insist that women have equal access to classroom
spaces or lab experiments. Be sure that women's access to
your mentorship is equal, provide the same opportunities to
talk with you outside of class or to assist in your research
beyond course time.
* Consider the possibility that your students exposed
to feminism may regard empathetic group work and interactive
learning as a preferred pedagogy - they may be used to
it. Weigh the possibility of including such components in
your teaching, or the reasons and consequences of avoiding
them.
* Be aware that minority women may suffer the complex
effects of gender, ethnicity and race in different
combinations. If one feels silenced for reasons of
gender, another might for reasons of race or ethnicity
-"As an Asian-American I'm expected to be seen, but not
heard." ('96) Do not assume that Caucasian women's
experiences account for all women's experience, or that
concerns about gender will be more pressing for your women
students than those of race, class, religion or national
origin.
This document draws upon efforts by
Corrie E. Norman (1990) and responds in part to "Women and
Men in the Classroom: Inequality and its Remedies,"
Catherine G. Krupnick, in On Teaching and Learning,
1985. Terry Aladjem, Helen Ansell, Prassede Calabi,
Catherine Krupnick, Sue Lonoff, Peggy McIntosh, Ellen
Sarkisian, Lee Warren, Andrea Walsh and James Wilkinson have
participated in the compilation of these suggestions. It is
a work in progress and all comments are welcome.
The Bok Center has a number of readings
on women and learning that are available to faculty, and it
has produced a videotape on gender in the classroom. Private
consultations on these or other matters can be scheduled
with a phone call.
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