Feminist views

Question 1

Michelle Stanworth (1983)

Answer 1

interviewed teachers and students across seven different classes in a college humanities department.
> she found attitudes of teachers could be impeding girls’ progress.
> teachers had stereotypical expectations about what the girls would do after school - one teacher imagined that one of the girls would ‘become a personal assistant for somebody important’
> girls had low expectations and so did teachers - this explains underachievement.
EVAL - restricted study as it only looks at humanities and it is rather dated.

Question 2

Glenys Lobban (1974)

Answer 2

examined 179 children stories across six reading schemes.
> found that girls and women were represented in traditional gender roles - men were presented in more dominant ways.
> by dampening girls aspirations from early, underachievement is inevitable.

Question 3

Heaton and Lawson (1996)

Answer 3

Heaton and Lawson believe the ‘hidden curriculum’ transmits patriarchy in five ways:
1. educational resources focus on males and not females - for example science text books present males more, creating impression that science is not a female subject.
2. boys dominate class rooms, they frequently interrupt girls.
3. Teachers use sex-stereotyping - they will ask a boy to help with moving furniture and girls tidy equipment after PE.
4. curriculum is patriarchal - students steered into certain subjects.
5. lack of female role models in positions of authority especially in primary schools,
EVAL - are things really sexist in our education system today?
EVAL - ignore positive changes like more female headteachers.
EVAL - girls are still doing well in school.