This thesis is an ethnographic study of how gender inequalities are reproduced in the spaces of a progressive Secondary School in the UK. It explores how knowledge is constructed in a school committed to diversity and equality, and considers how and when gender becomes an obscured but pivotal point in the negotiation of power. Through observations of student and staff in lessons, focus groups and interviews, this research contributes to the understanding of how girls are expected to perform femininities in pedagogic spaces. Focusing on how girls read and make meaning of local knowledge I explore how their choices of accommodation or resistance to traditional femininities are shaped. Through a detailed ethnographic narrative of the girls’ lived experiences, this thesis maps the ways and the extent to which girls are willing to step outside traditional gender expectations. Mapping this movement highlights the girls’ enactment of agency and resistance to gender limitations in pedagogy that historically conflate masculinities with spaces such as science and athletics, naturalizing gender inequalities in the classroom. In doing so, this study contributes to the growing body of literature regarding the relevance of gender in pedagogic spaces and how it informs social status and power. Central to this argument is how girls work within and across different sets of competing discursive narratives as their intersectionalities create multiple and often conflicting expectations. As these multiplicities are revealed, the girls develop an awareness of the contradictions of traditional binary beliefs allowing them to deconstruct dominant gender narratives. Highlighting the girls’ alternative positional choices troubles normalizing gender notions exposing the schools’ taken-for-granted knowledge. In viewing the schools’ normalizing discourses as remarkable this thesis furthers the understanding of how schools become sites for the production of gender. By exploring how girls make meaning of their daily gendered experiences and how they conceptualize and navigate the successes or sacrifices of their actions, this research suggests further focus on girls’ empowerment with the goal of decreasing pedagogic inequalities.

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 requires public schools to be highly accountable for dollars spent on education and for the achievement of students. To support this mandate, the law expanded local control and allowed schools to explore innovative ways to enhance student learning (U.S.D.E., 2004). Given the opportunity, some public schools have experimented with single-gender classes as an avenue for improving the way students are taught. Studies have indicated that separating students according to gender has a positive impact on learning (e.g., Haag, 2000; Maslen, 2001; and Sommers, 2001). Single-gender settings have also been reported to have a positive affect on the attitudes of students (NASSPE, 2004b; Colley et al., 1994, James & Richards, 2003; and Rowe, 2000). Because single-gender classes were not an option in the public school sector in recent years, most current studies of single-gender education involve private and parochial schools. The purpose of this mixed methods study was to examine the initial impact of implementing gender-based instruction in a suburban public elementary school in central Mississippi. The impact was analyzed in terms of the overall perceptions of the administrator, teachers, students, and parents who participated in the pilot program. The impact was also measured by the students' performance in the areas of academic achievement, school attendance, and classroom behavior during the pilot year of fifth-grade, single-gender classes. The results of the study indicated the overall perceptions of the participants were favorable toward single-gender classes. The students maintained approximately the same level of academic achievement in fifth-grade, single-gender classes as in fourth-grade coeducational classes. They produced an average of 2.6 years (grade equivalent) growth in Accelerated Math during the year of single-gender classes. The average daily attendance was consistent with previous attendance patterns and exceeded the district average. An analysis of discipline records revealed a positive difference in the reported conduct of students in the single-gender classes as compared to the students in coed classes throughout the district. The conclusions drawn from this study suggest continuing the single-gender classes. It is recommended that the administration and staff continue to explore gender-based teaching and classroom management.

The purposes of this study were to develop a gender equality program for junior high school, to inquire the individual class students' gender consciousness-raising and to find out the relation between teaching behavior and students' gender consciousness by undergoing a semester teaching experiment. The subjects were one class (19 females, 16 males) of 10th grade students in Junior High School in Kaohsiung City as the case group. The worksheet, depth interview and class observation were used to understand the real condition of the Implementation of Gender Equality Education. ¡uGender Bias Inventory¡vwas administered to the subjects before and after the program. The collective data were analyzed by qualitative and quantitative methods. The major findings were as following: (1) lacking of specific gender equality program, students had indistinct gender consciousness; (2) the response of students presented the dominant of fatherhood; (3) the program had improved the gender consciousness-raising but was rejected by some boys; (4) students who active participated in the program yearned for those knowledge; (5) Awakening of gender consciousness was obvious in the group of girls; (6) There were significant differences between boys and girls in gender bias. Teacher teaching behavior: (1) the response of students had positive feedback on teachers and induced their introspection; (2) the positive discrimination is empowerment for the weak group in the class.

Syftet med föreliggande studie är att undersöka relationen mellan styrdokumen­tens föreskrifter gällande jämställdhet och lärares hantering av detta i ensemble­undervisning inom jazz och populärmusik på gymnasiet. Jag har valt att analysera ensemblepedagogernas förhållningssätt och handlingar vid ensembleundervisning utifrån ett genusperspektiv. Denna studie tar avstamp i synen på genus som en social konstruktion, där genusmönster genereras i möten mellan människor, genom ständig upprepning av handlingar och beteenden. För att få svar på mina frågor har jag genomfört halvstrukturerade kvalitativa in­tervjuer med fyra verksamma ensemblelärare vid fyra olika gymnasieskolor. Efter att ha analyserat intervjumaterialet visar resultatet att alla informanter anser att synen på jämställdhet och människors lika värde är grundläggande för hela under­visningen. Tillvägagångssätten för hur pedagogerna hanterar jämställdhet i en­sembleundervisningen skiljer sig något. De lyfter fram olika aspekter rörande äm­net och knyter an till styrdokumentens föreskrifter på varierande vis, men samlas kring åsikten att synen på jämställdhet påverkar det pedagogiska arbetet såväl i mötet med eleverna som på ett kollegialt plan. / The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between the national policy documents regarding gender perception and how teachers are dealing with this in ensemble education in jazz and popular music in the Swedish upper secondary school. I have chosen to analyze the attitudes and actions of ensemble teachers from a gender perspective. This study is based on the perception of gender as a social construction,, where gender patterns are generated in the interaction between people, through constant repetition of action and behavior. In an attempt to answer these questions, I conducted semi-structured qualitative interviews with four current teachers at four upper secondary schools. After analyzing the interview material, the result shows that all the participants believe that the perception of gender and human equality is fundamental in the field of education. The procedures for how educators handle equality in ensemble teaching differ slightly. They highlight various aspects of the subject linked to policy documents governing the various ways. The teachers agree that perception of gender affects the educational work, both through interaction with the students, as well as on a collegiate level.

Denna studie syftar till att studera hur genuspedagogik framställs i den svenska dags- och kvällspressen under åren 2012-2013.  Jag har använt mig av kvalitativ textanalytisk metod och har utifrån en diskursanalytisk ansats analyserat tio artiklar som på olika sätt förhåller sig till genuspedagogik i förskolan. Artiklarna är publicerade av de fyra upplagemässigt största dags-och kväll tidningarna i Sverige dvs. Aftonbladet, Expressen, Svenska Dagbladet och Dagens Nyheter. I resultatet framträder två distinkta diskurser om genuspedagogik i förskolorna: I artiklarna skrivs det om genuspedagogik som att pedagogiken ”går emot” biologi/natur men även att genuspedagogiken är en demokratisk rättighet. De hinder som lyfts fram om genuspedagogik är att pedagogiken är en könsneutralisering av barnet, att genuspedagogiken endast är uppbyggd av en ”ideologi” och att det är ett experimenterande med barnet i förskolan som vissa genuspedagoger ägnar sig åt. De kritiska rösterna menar att genuspedagogik sägs syfta till att ge barn fler möjligheter men den handlar enligt kritikerna om det motsatta - att ta ifrån barnet möjligheter i verksamheten och behandla alla barnen i förskolan lika. I motsatts till denna beskrivning av genuspedagogiken som hindrande för barn så har positiva beskrivningar i termer av möjligheter också framkommit i denna studie. Dessa skriver om att genuspedagogiken syftar till att behandla alla barn utifrån den unika individ som hen är. Genuspedagogiken lyfts fram som en demokratisk rättighet och som en del av förskolans men också samhällets jämställdhetsarbete. / This study aims to examine how gender education is written about and presented in Swedish newspapers and tabloids during the period 2012-2013. In my study I use a qualitative text analysis method and take on a discourse analysis approach to analyse ten articles that in different ways relate to gender education in Swedish preschools. The articles were published in the top four, by circulation largest Swedish daily and evening newspapers: Aftonbladet, Expressen, Svenska Dagbladet and Dagens Nyheter. The result of my study show two distinct discourses about gender education as the articles presents gender education both as it goes against biology /nature but also that gender education is a democratic right. The discourse were gender education is talked about in terms of being an obstacle describes it i.e. as a process of “gender neutralizing” of the child, as being made up of an "ideology" and that it is based on gender educations experimenting with the child. The critical voices suggest that even though gender education purports to give children more opportunities it acts according to the critics to the contrary, by taking away the child’s opportunities all in the of treating all children in preschool equal. In contrast to this description of gender education as an obstacle  for children the other identified discourse include positive descriptions in terms of possibilities and write about how gender education aims to treat all children on the basis of the unique individual that every child is. Gender education is described as a democratic right and as a part of the preschools’ as well as the entire society's gender equality work.

The impetus of this study was a concern for the education and general welfare of boys. The interest in boys’ education has grown notably over the past ten years. This interest is evident in media reports, popular psychology texts, education reports and scholarly writing. Academic research on boys’ experience of education is less prolific although it does include studies conducted by Australian and international researchers. Central to this commentary on boys’ education is the concept of masculinity. Here there is a strong claim that boys’ academic performance and behaviour is influenced by the way they construct and live out masculine expressions. This research study is situated in a Catholic secondary school for boys (referred to as the College) and seeks to illumine the school experiences of students at the school. As school Counsellor I noted that some boys were displaying a lack of motivation for learning, resisted independent thinking and seemed to be opposed to authority. These characteristics, in turn, contributed to diminished academic performance and troublesome classroom behaviour. This observation raised issues in respect to the boys’ perceptions of masculinity and the various expressions of masculinity within the school. An analysis of historical and contemporary documents identified a mismatch between the stated vision and mission of the school and the structural organization it creates. This mismatch pointed to a critical gap between the stated purpose of its education and the social reality of boys’ educational experience. This critical gap was particularly evident in the school’s commitment to educating boys within a social justice framework. It seemed that investigation into the gender regime of the school and the implications this has for students was warranted. A review of literature in respect to the concept of masculinity and boys’ education served to further clarify the research problem and the purpose of this study. This review identified the various contemporary understandings of masculinity. It also explored the current debate about what is happening to boys in education and provided an outline of particular elements of the social constructionist’s understanding of collective masculinity expressions within a school setting. Commentary on how a school can configure its particular gender regime was of particular interest to this study. This review identified three research questions to guide this study. These questions are: Research Question 1: How do the students of the College understand masculinity? Research Question 2: What is the College’s gender regime? Research Question 3: What are the implications for students of the College’s gender regime? This research study was informed by a pragmatic understanding of the epistemology of constructivism and the principles associated with the theoretical framework of symbolic interactionism. A two-stage research design of exploration and inspection was employed to aid data collection, analysis and interpretation. In the exploratory stage data was collected through a questionnaire to 255 of the 301 Year 12 cohort. These data were analysed using both quantitative and qualitative methods and the results gave direction to the type of data needed in the second stage of the study, the stage of inspection. In the stage of inspection, data were obtained through two processes, one-to-one interviews and focus group discussions. An analysis of data collected in the second stage of the study led to the identification of a number of key findings in the way boys understand masculinity and the school has organized its gender regime. These findings highlight the domination of playing sport and the subordination and marginalization of other masculine expressions. They also give evidence of the existence of a critical gap between the school’s stated purpose based on Christian values, justice, holistic development, respect for the dignity of the individual, human striving and so on, and the reality it produces. The study concludes by outlining a number of recommendations that suggest themselves for the future development of the College. It recommends that the school introduce a gender education programme for students, review the gender regime that supports playing sport as the dominant masculine expression, and provide structures and opportunity for other masculine expressions to find approval and acceptance. Finally it is recommended that the vision that the school holds for the education of boys and its structural organization be open to scrutiny and exploration in order that what the school holds to be most important in the education of boys will be intentionally pursued.

<p>The aim of my study is to look at how the interaction might look like in a preschool; how interaction is between children and adults, children and children. The starting point is what is written about the interaction before and tie it together with the observation. The focus will be on how the interaction and gender roles appear in the preschool.</p><p>The theory is mainly about pre-school, different educational starting point on how a pre-school to work for gender equality. Which is also a requirement from the National Curriculum documents for the preschools and that they should strive for.</p><p>In this study, I found that you can work for several different methods and theories of interaction in the preschool and that they can complement each other. But mainly it is important that all employees have to work with the same reason.</p>

Den här uppsatsen handlar om musiklärares syn på pojkar och flickor i den enskilda musikundervisningen, och hur musiklärare upplever det egna förhållningssättet till pojkar och flickor vid den kommunala musik och kulturskolan. Syftet med undersökningen är att ta reda på om musiklärarna upplever några skillnader i pojkar och flickors beteende, och hur musiklärarna upplever att de bemöter eleverna utifrån ett genusperspektiv i den enskilda undervisningen. Undersökningen bygger på intervjuer med fem yrkesverksamma musiklärare i västra Värmland och hur de utifrån sina upplevelser och uppfattningar har svarat på underökningens frågeställningar. Undersökningen visar att musiklärarna upplever vissa skillnader mellan pojkar och flickor. Vidare visar studien att musiklärarna även bemöter eleverna olika utifrån om eleven är en pojke eller flicka. / This essay is about the perspectives of music teachers regarding their views of boys and girls in individual music education, and how teachers perceive their own attitudes to boys and girls in the municipal music and culture school. The purpose of this study is to determine if music teachers experience any overall differences in boys 'and girls' behaviour, and how music teachers perceive that they treat pupils from a gender perspective in the individual music education. The study is based on interviews with five teachers working in the western part of Värmland, and how their answers to the questions in the study are affected by their experiences and perceptions. The study demonstrates that music teachers experience certain differences between boys and girls. The study also indicates that music teachers treat students differently based on whether the student is a boy or girl.

Various assumptions exist regarding the relationship between socio-economic factors as income and education, and personal factors as age and gender, and political participation. In an attempt to test the veracity of these widely held assumptions, this study initially examines the relationship between socio-economic factors (education and income) and personal factors (age and gender) and political participation. Secondly, interest and perception of people about politics and municipal administration were investigated to be able to set some policy proposal for encouraging participation of people in politics. In order to reveal the effects of these factors on participation of people, a survey study was applied to residents in Bodrum. The study encompasses a questionnaire and in-depth interviews. According to results of the research / effects of some of these socio-economic and personal factors on political participation were observed but it was also seen that especially some other factors as income, generated no differentiation between participants. There have been gained some implications not in accordance with mainstream literature. However, political perception and interest of people show us that act of voting and political parties are seen as the main, even only, actors of political participation. In other words, people seem having a narrow political interest and perception. In addition, findings of the survey suggest that some initiatives should be composed on the initiative of municipal administration to encourage participation of people in politics.

The aim of my study is to look at how the interaction might look like in a preschool; how interaction is between children and adults, children and children. The starting point is what is written about the interaction before and tie it together with the observation. The focus will be on how the interaction and gender roles appear in the preschool. The theory is mainly about pre-school, different educational starting point on how a pre-school to work for gender equality. Which is also a requirement from the National Curriculum documents for the preschools and that they should strive for. In this study, I found that you can work for several different methods and theories of interaction in the preschool and that they can complement each other. But mainly it is important that all employees have to work with the same reason.