How has my recent reading, events and conversations influenced my thinking?
After a period of relative darkness in terms of inspiration, I have had several lightbulb moments this week! There are a few avenues I could explore in relation to gender and I think I will need to focus on just one if I want to conduct a meaningful enquiry.
The first is gender in relation to football – this is a HUGE issue in our playground at the moment, and I’ve thought of some ways to explore this which I will detail later in the post. The second is the gender of teachers and how this (potentially) impacts the experiences of learners.
As part of the school’s ongoing work toward achieving the LGBT School’s Charter award I reached out the STRIDE network. This is run by the City of Edinburgh Council and aims to ensure an open, honest and inclusive working environment. They provided me with data showing analysis of protected characteristic groups and what really caught my eye was that of the 6,483 teaching contracts in the council, 75% of these are held by women. I am really intrigued by this……however I think it’s a HUGE thread to pull at, and perhaps not pertinent to the aim of my enquiry.
What’s happening in my enquiry?
I have realised that I should explore gender as a construct and perhaps how this affects the ways pupils behave and interact. Football in relation to gender is a huge issue for us right now, due to the fact that girls are reluctant to join in with football at playtimes because it is so boy-dominated. We have set up opportunities for a girls only pitch but this has not been utilised and some pupils and parents have expressed annoyance at the ‘segregation’ of the girls.
What’s working?
I’m finding data from sources such as Active Schools and City of Edinburgh HR.
Some of the girls are really keen to promote football in the playground and get involved.
What am I not sure about?
As I write this, it seems like a frivolous issue. Football? Who cares? That’s not pertinent to attainment. Tell them to get on with it.
For me, though, it highlights the bigger issue in our school community that girls and perhaps some boys don’t feel they can be who they want to be. They are bound by gender ‘norms’ and expectations. I really feel that if I am going to explore gender expectations in school I can’t ignore this huge part of the school day.
What next?
I am going to speak to several boys and girls about their interests, and hope to use their responses as qualitative data. I would appreciate any feedback on the questions below:
I will also be collecting data from a focus group of parents. I will need to think about the questions I ask and what I want to know. I will also need to interview school staff for data.
At a conference I attended yesterday, the PEF funding at Burntisland has been used on Outdoor Learning and to link in with their policy (?) Our Mind Matters. You could have a wee look into this as he found a significant increase in attendance with some children when they were involved in sports teams etc. I know this relates mostly to PEF but would be interesting to come at it from a gender point of view?
I don’t think your enquiry is frivolous. It is responsive. It engages with a wider society issue at a local level.
I also think that if you went looking for it you would find research that shows a positive correlation between sport and attainment. If your enquiry helps to get more girls active then improvements in attainment could naturally follow.
Keep going, keep enquiring.
An interesting approach to your enquiry Louise. I am REALLY keen to see what becomes of it. As will, I’m sure, many of my colleagues. I had a boy-heavy P4 class last year and football had a massive impact on our day to day classroom life, as well as their progress and focus on learning. Looking back, wouldn’t it have been interesting to pick apart this aspect and look at it from the girls point of view too? I think a key voice in this will be be your PSAs and playground staff – I feel as teachers we don’t take the time (or have the time!) to make links with what’s going on once they run out those doors every morning and afternoon break time. Good Luck with your next steps!
Great post and comments all. I’m thrilled to see a focus on gender outside of the classroom. The playground is a massive part of school life (going by my son’s experience at school sometimes it feels like the ONLY part.) and of course what happens in the playground impacts on what happens in class, in all sorts of ways.
Maybe that last questions isn’t ‘How?’ but ‘What?’ Ask what does the school do to help everyone to enjoy football, both boys and girls? (and possibly be prepared for a zero answer?)
Really looking forward to your next post Louise.
Lesley