Gender Inclusion in Teacher Education: Perceptions of Future Teachers

Author(s):

Karmen Trasberg(presenting / submitting)Kersti Kruus

Conference:

ECER 2015

Network:

07. Social Justice and Intercultural Education

Format:

Poster

Session Information

07 SES 05.5 PS, General Poster Session

General Poster Session

Time:

2015-09-09

12:30-14:00

Room:

Poster Area

Chair:

Contribution

Teachers are playing an important role in addressing societal gender-related issues influencing social justice and inclusiveness. It means that “teacher education institutions have to ensure that their graduating teachers are well equipped with the necessary understandings and skills to enact this role” (Cushman 2011, 775). As stressed by Kreitz-Sandberg (2013), teacher education is an outstanding example for describing and analyzing horizontal segregation and other aspects of the gender order in higher education. There is need to “reconsider strategies for gender mainstreaming in higher education” and to understand how “gender structures and gender culture are reproduced in universities and in teacher education” (Kreitz-Sandberg 2013, 2).

Current study aims to identify the students' perceptions of gender equality in society and in teacher education. The main focus will be placed on Estonian teacher education with contextualization to the European equality politics. The topic is important because the gender equality discourse and policies for gender sensitive pedagogy have not been addressed in the frame of initial teacher education in previous literature.

Estonia offers an interesting case study because of high PISA results but low Gender Equality Index. According to PISA Estonian students are among the best performers in Europe but boys perform considerably lower than girls in reading. The difference is 44 points, which is more than one year of schooling. At the same time there is no gender difference in performance in science and in maths, the boys performing slightly better than girls (Summary of PISA 2012 results for Estonia).

In EU Gender Equality Index, Estonia places only 14^th, scoring above the EU average in the area of women education and training but is very poor in the area of power. Women's representation in decision-making in political and economic spheres is very low (EU Gender Equality Index).

Due to the complexity of gender equality issues and also the actuality for Estonian society raises an important research problem - How do future teachers percieve the gender equality in Estonian society and in teacher education in particular?

Consequently, the study focuses on three main research questions: (1) What are the future teachers’ perceptions of gender equality in Estonian society? (2) How is the gender perspective integrated into teacher education programs? (3) What should be the role of gender equality in teacher education?

Method

A qualitative study was carried out. Empirical data was collected with semi-structured focus group interviews. Questions were adapted from the study by Praxis "Gender equity in general and higher education" (Praxis, 2014). The research instrument consisted of 19 questions, divided into three parts: introduction, beliefs and traditional gender roles, and gender perspective in curricula. A total of 15 teacher trainees participated in the study, of whom 10 (66.7%) were women, and five (33.3%) men. The interviewees varied from 2nd year to 3rd year bachelor students from the field of teacher education. Due to the qualitative nature of the study an inductive content analysis was chosen as the data analysis method. This process included open coding (concepts were derived from the data), creating categories and abstractions (Elo & Kyngäs, 2008). Ethical aspects of the research method were considered during the entire period of research. According to Kvale, in the interview the subject talks about private events for later public use. This requires a delicate balance between the interviewer’s concern of pursuing interesting knowledge and ethical respect for the integrity of the interview subject (Kvale, 2007).

Expected Outcomes

The study showed light on different issues that future teachers associate with gender equality: performance gap, traditional gender roles in society, gender pay gap, career choices. Teacher trainees were aware of many limits of gender inclusion: gender topic is not represented or highlighted in teacher education curricula; university professors are not enthusiastic in teaching the gender issues, etc. Students expect that the “ideal” teacher education curricula would focus more on gender issues in broad context (including examples), it is also important to direct teacher trainers to reflect on situations where they reproduce gender stereotypes. Students were asked also about gender related issues that had challenged or confused them while on teaching placement. The respondents acknowledged that some schools treat men and women students differently, they highlighted also a problems in teacher recruitment policies. It became clear from the study that the content and organization of teacher education in Estonia had neglected to prepare student teachers to face gender related issues inherent in the school environment. Authors will discuss about initiatives and new perspectives in teacher education to provide comprehensive understanding and acceptance of gender equality issues.

References

Aina, O. E., & Cameron, P. A. (2011). Why does gender matter? Counteracting stereotypes with young children. Dimensions of Early Childhood, 39(3), 11-19. Cushman, P. (2012) You're not a teacher, you're a man’: the need for a greater focus on gender. studies in teacher education. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 16 (8). 8, 775-790. Elo, S., & Kyngäs, H. (2008). The qualitative content analysis process. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 62(1), 107-115. EU Gender Equality Index http://eige.europa.eu/content/gender-equality-index, 23.01.2015. Kreitz-Sandberg. S. (2013) Gender inclusion and horizontal gender segregation: stakeholders’ strategies and dilemmas in Swedish teachers’education. Gender and Education, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09540253.2013.772566, 23.01.2015. Kvale, S. Doing Interviews. (2007). London: SAGE Publications Inc. Lahelma, E. (2014) Troubling discourses on gender and education, Educational Research, 56 (2), 171–183. Praxis (2014) Gender equity in general and higher education http://www.praxis.ee/tood/sool6ime-hariduses/tutvustus/, 22.01.2015 Sargent, P. (2005). The gendering of men in early childhood education. Sex Roles, 52(3/4), 251-259. Skelton, C. 2007. Gender, policy and initial teacher education. Gender and Education 19, no. 6: 677–90. Summary of PISA 2012 results for Estonia. Ministry of Education and Research, 2012 http://innove.ee/UserFiles/%C3%9Cldharidus/PISA%202012/PISA_2012_results_Estonia.pdf

Author Information

Karmen Trasberg (presenting / submitting)

University of Tartu

Institute of Education

Tartu

Kersti Kruus

University of Tartu, Estonia

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