This paper presents an overview of how contemporary research on subject-didactics tackles the issue of Gender in the teaching and learning of specific contents and discusses some perspectives for classroom research. Until the 2000s, European didactics did not pay much attention to gender (Danielson, 2010; Schneuwly, 2015) even though some innovative works on the theme appeared in some countries. Indeed, a brief look at the research literature in Didactics shows that to a certain extent didactic research can be seen as gender-blind research whereas gender studies increased in the other fields of educational research (Skelton, Francis & Smulyan, 2012). It is worth to note also, that some works on gender in educational research tend to ignore the potentially transformative role of disciplinary knowledge, being thus somewhat content-blind research. However, from 2014 to 2018 the ongoing-related work in the EERA Network 27 through symposia and workshops (Amade-Escot, Verscheure & Öhman, 2018, Taylor, 2014, 2017; Verscheure & Amade-Escot 2016) and the 2017 special call on ‘Investigating gender in educational practice and theory: didactics, learning and teaching’ (Taylor, Amade-Escot & Ligozat, 2016) opened a new line of research interests from which a recent book was published (Taylor, Abbas & Amade-Escot, 2019).

The purpose of this presentation is to discuss the distinctive contribution of didactical research when studying gender issues in the teaching and the learning of subject-specific knowledge. It first gives an overview of the main topics tackled by German, Nordic, and French didactical traditions of research with regard to the research conducted in the Anglophone area (Taylor, Abbas & Amade-Escot, 2019). Early works on gender and didactics highlighted the gendered connotations of school subjects and textbooks, the effect of students’ relationships to knowledge on gendered learning, the underestimation of gender preferences in relation to the subject. More recently, studies in subject-didactics attempt to characterize precisely, in the everyday life of the class, how students differently construct their knowledge through actions, discourses and power relationships in which they are involved (as examples see: Amade-Escot, 2017; Berge, Danielsson & Lidar, 2016; Danielsson, 2014; Verscheure, forthcoming; Verscheure & Amade-Escot, 2007). The differences and even the inequalities of treatment between students according to gender, but also according to their social origin as well as their standing of excellence in the class (Verscheure and Debars, 2019) go through fined-grained processes that are now investigated again the backgrounds of different theoretical frameworks (Amade-Escot, Verscheure & Öhman, 2018, Verscheure & Collet, 2019). In other words, contemporary research shows that gendered student learning occurs during teacher’s supervision of knowledge construction: a process involving an unavoidable tension between active individuals and the cultural, institutional and material dimensions of classroom contexts.

With the purpose of rethinking emancipatory projects, the presentation concludes on the need for didactic research to delve into: (1) the study of knowledge content and its gendered function in the making of the teaching and the learning in the class; (2) the extent to which participants’ epistemic gender positioning impact learning and students’ developmental process, (3) how emancipatory knowledge can be embedded in learning environments and (4) how teacher-students interactions can participate in developing gender justice in the class.

Review of literature and theoretical discussion

Didactic research on Gender is certainly a key place for the promotion of gender justice at school. This needs research that focus on classroom practices in relation to the knowledge taught and also research that provides emancipatory projects and more gender-sensitive pedagogies for the teaching and the learning of contents. In this perspective, comparative didactics can provide reflections across subject-didactics that may give leverage for challenging gendered inequalities in the class.

Amade-Escot, C. (2017). How gender order is enacted in Physical Education: the didactique approach. In G. Doll-Tepper et al. R. (Ed.). Sport, Education and Social Policy. (pp. 62-79). London: Routledge, Taylor & Francis. Amade-Escot, C. (2019). Epistemic Gender Positioning: an Analytical Concept to (Re)Consider Classroom Practices within the French Didactique Research Tradition. In C. A. Taylor, C., A. Abbas & C. Amade-Escot (Eds.). Gender in Learning and Teaching. London: Routledge, Francis and Taylor Amade-Escot, C., Verscheure, I. & Öhman, M. (2018, September). Gender and Subject Didactics: What do we gain in addressing gender issues at the micro level of didactical interactions? Symposium ECER, Bolzano. Danielsson, A.T. (2010). Gender in physics education research: A review and a look forward. In M. Blomqvist, E. Ehnsmyr (Eds.), Never mind the gap! Gendering Science in Transgressive Encounters (pp. 65-84). Uppsala Universitet. Danielsson, A. T. (2014). In the physics class: university physics students’ enactment of class and gender in the context of laboratory work. Cultural Studies of Science Education, 9(2), 477-494. Taylor, C.A. (2017). Gender and Educational Practices across International Traditions of Didactics, Learning and Teaching. Symposium, ECER, Copenhagen. Taylor, C.A., Amade-Escot, C. & Ligozat, F (2016). Investigating gender in educational practice and theory: didactics, learning and teaching. ECER Special Call, Network 27. Taylor, C.A., Abbas, A. & Amade-Escot, C. (Eds.) (2019). Gender in Learning and Teaching: Feminist Dialogues across International Boundaries. London: Routledge, Francis and Taylor. Schneuwly, B. (2015). La didactique des disciplines peut-elle intégrer les questions de genre ? In actes du colloque « Genre, didactique, formation » (pp. 2-6). Paris: Centre Hubertine Auclert. Skelton, C., Francis, B. & Smulyan, L (Eds.) (2012). The SAGE Handbook of Gender and Education. London: SAGE, 2nd Ed. Verscheure, I. (forthcoming). Genre, Didactique et conduite du changement. Contribution d’un programme de recherche en didactique comparée. Note de synthèse pour l’obtention d’une HDR. Verscheure, I. & Amade-Escot, C. (2007). The gendered construction of physical education content as the result of the differentiated didactic contract. Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy, 12(3), 245-272. Verscheure, I. & Collet, I. (2019, accepted). Genre: Didactique(s) et Pratiques d'enseignement. Perspectives francophones. Symposium International Congress, Toulouse, 8-11 juillet, France. Verscheure, I. & Debars, C. (2019). Student’s Gendered Learning in Physical Education: A didactic study of a French Multi-Ethnic Middle School in an Underpriviledged Area. In C. A. Taylor, A. Abbas & C. Amade-Escot (Eds.). Gender in Learning and Teaching. London: Routledge, Francis and Taylor.