Monthly Archives: September 2015

Gender Bias in Schools

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Throughout my years in school, I was never really affected by the gender bias that goes on in a classroom. In Primary school, we were separated into gender groups when we were getting changed for P.E or sports but apart from that we mixed in the classroom.
I only started to notice when I went to secondary school and saw how the teachers treated girls and boys. There is the common stereotype that boys are disruptive and girls are hard working. And I could see this in play in a classroom. But I also knew lots of girls who were the disruptive ones and boys who kept their heads down. As a result of the stereotype and depending on the teacher, boys would usually get into more trouble for causing problems in the classroom.
And when it came to sports, girls and boys were separated into different teams. Even the sports that we were allowed to take part in were limited to your gender. Rugby, football, basketball, all these sports were only allowed for boys and sports like netball or lacrosse were again reserved for only girls. It caused me to grow up thinking that certain sports were only allowed to be played by one gender.
Personally, I was not negatively affected by gender bias. But in more recent years I have seen a definite change in the way girls and boys are treated and how is has caused problems in a classroom.

 

Why I Want To Teach!

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Since the birth of my baby brother, I have loved watching him develop and grow. I was fascinated by how he picked up everyday skills like walking and speaking and I loved teaching him new words and skills every day. Since then, I threw myself into work with school aged children. I worked in Primary schools, nurseries and clubs and from this I got an amazing feeling of satisfaction from helping the children.

My inspiration to become a teacher was first sparked by my work with Brownies. Although all we were doing were fun crafts, I still loved engaging with the girls.

Working in a Primary School spurred my passion to become a teacher even further as this time I was helping children with proper subjects. It was so rewarding to watch a class develop and improve their skills over the year. And the connection built with the children over just a few months was very special.

Another huge influential factor was my work in Borneo, teaching young children Maths and English. Although the work was very basic as the children knew hardly any English, it was amazing to watch them work so hard at learning a new language. Schools were not very good in this tiny village and so the children were so appreciative of the help we were providing them. It was amazing to see how much help you could give with such basic resources and how much the children loved it!

I aspire to be like my Primary Three teacher, the most influential teacher of my primary years. I later went to work with her, years later and learned to really appreciate the way she taught and how effective it was. She was so engaged with every single one of her students and provided fair help for all of them. She treated them equally and none of the children were scared to come to her for help, unlike other teachers that I have experienced in my past!