From my previous experiences in schools (both placement and my own school experience) I have noticed a difference between girls’ and boys’ attitude towards learning. In my primary school class, the girls were always more keen for extra work and liked to be ahead of other people. Meanwhile, the boys almost had a lazy attitude towards working and learning. There is no way that they ever would have asked for extra work to do. All that the boys in my class looked forward to was playtime and lunchtime and getting outside to play. Interestingly, whilst I was on placement earlier this year I noticed that boys and girls were both pretty equal; academically and socially. They all played together in the playground and all were eager to learn in the classroom. This suggests to me that teachers may be becoming more aware of gender in schools and are not suggesting to the pupils there is a difference between male and female.

A divide was definitely apparent in the playground in my primary school, due to gender. According to the male pupils, football was classed as a ‘boy’s game’ and they would not allow any girls to play as they didn’t think they could play as well as them. How are we supposed to learn to play if the boys won’t let us join in? On the other hand, was netball in my primary school. There were boys who played netball alongside the girls, but the sport itself was always viewed as a feminine sport.

I personally do not think any sport should be regarded as feminine or masculine. Look at how well the girls’ football teams do and there are some very good, male netball players out there. My personal primary school experience wasn’t majorly affected by gender division. I enjoyed being around both girls and boys.

However, I think teachers saying things like “Good morning, boys and girls!” should not be much of an issue as that is what we are. We are divided into male and female and there isn’t much we can do about it.