March 18 Education: Education is a Gendered Institution, Classroom Interactions, Title IX

   When a child first enters their first stage of education, they do not realize that they are entering a growing stage and up to 12 years of education. According to the textbook, Education is one of the most important influences on one's life, and a good education can contribute to raised income, career options, health, and quality of life. In other words, the authors are saying that education is not only about the information that we receive but it is more about the skills that are develop and how we take those skills and make them major aspects in our life. Moreover, education tends to have an effect on identity, one’s self esteem and overall one’s life. Education has always been that place where you learn values and biases of the culture that become sort of presumed. Education is an institution with the potential to be a great equalizer--a promoter of individual growth--but much of its history has been about being the great divider (Ruane and Cerulo, 2008). In making this statement, Ruane and Cerulo are saying that education itself is something that can be considered being a healthy issue that has gained to be positive and civilized and an issue that has history that tears us apart from the issues within. Although, education history is significant for its inception, it has become important just with the issues that divide the classrooms and the educational institutions. From learning about the history of education, public education was originally intended for White upper-class boys who had what it takes to get a decent education. It was then deemed that during the time of African American slavery in the United States, they were all prohibited from being able to learn how to read or write. This was a way that was known as controlling them. Although they were in a controlled environment, they eventually were able to still learn how to read using a Bible. Before public education was established poor people and certain ethical minority persons were not able to obtain en education. In the textbook, it tells us that public education is an education for all and did not become the norm until the mid-1900s.

                During this time as well, society did not look at just everyone being able to obtain an education. As stated before, education was only intended for White upper-class boys. Defrancisco and Palczewski states, “Only white women from wealthy families could obtain higher education before the 1900s, and even then they were discouraged from taking courses in what were considered the masculine domains of business, science, and mathematics.” In making this statement, they are explaining on the type of people that were looked at to even be considered to receive an education and how much they were stereotyped in being a part of a wealthy family. During those times, women were not always looked at to me smart but to be raised and taught how to become a good wife for a successful husband.  However, this comes to the question, “How is public education considered for all people if only a certain group is excluded because of what the norm is?” Many educators had slight concerns that bringing forth girls and boys together in an educational institution would slow the pace of teaching due to the adjustment for women. It was thought that working side by side with girls would feminize boys and would bring out the masculine aspect in education. Critics not only worried boys would become effeminate; they worried boys would become gay (Kimmel, 2012a; Minnich, 1998). The essence of Kimmel and Minnich argument is that taking a masculine setting out of education would make the learning a little softer spoken and less masculine. Eventually, as the time passed, women became more successful in education and many of the majors and careers still remained unusually gendered. Most educators believed that the career options that were made for women were, secretary, teacher and nurse, all in which were not required to have a degree. Going back to what the textbook states what a nuclear family is and what a nuclear family consist of which is  the male is the primary wage earner and the female is the primary homemaker. In other words, this is saying that regardless of what society lives by now according to the history of women being brought up they have always been known as to do only certain things that women do.

Along with the coeducation issue within the history of education, race and ethnicity also played a major role. There was eventually an assimilation that the government was creating so that immigrants were put into learning English and more about the United States. Defrancisco and Palczewski writes themselves that, "Despite the push for assimilation of immigrants, schools in the South remained racially segregated until forced to integrate after, in 1954, the Supreme Court ruled in Brown v. Board of Education that separate schools are never equal in quality." This statement explains that Brown v. Board of Education was an argument dealing with coeducation with establishing black and white students unconstitutional. Advocates believe single-sex schools help counter underachievement, low self-esteem, drugs, teen pregnancy, and gang violence (NASSPE, 2006a, 2006b). This makes a point on how sex-segregated education divides students by gender which many think that it takes in account gender or sexual orientation. But in reality all of this affect a child comfort in a same sex educational program.

Hidden curriculum is norms, values, and beliefs as a byproduct of education that people often fail to question.  This became an issue because it is almost like being taught something in school but not knowing the entire information about. In other words, hidden curriculum is something that is condensed for the sake of controversy etc. In the textbook it states that curriculum is gendered in terms of what is taught and to whom. In other words, certain subjects or topics are meant for a certain gender. For example, Woodworking is a class that would be geared towards more of males instead of females. But as far as hidden curriculum goes, it makes clear that a critical gender analysis must go further than simply comparing women and men for possible differences in educational experiences. (p.169)

To speak about Classroom Interactions, Sociologist Margaret Andersen (2011) describes schools as "the stage where society's roles-roles defined by gender, class, race, sexuality, and age-are played out" (p.304). Classroom interactions are simply ways that students act depending on how the teacher treat them. It is stated that although most teacher education programs now include some form of diversity awareness, Sadker and Silber's (2007) review of curriculum revealed that gender is largely missing. This statement deems to be true because of the different ways teachers treat their students and most teachers do not know that the way they teach in a coeducational class can affect each gender. Unfortunately, it is not uncommon for all boys or all the girls to be punished because of the behaviors of a few (Kramer, 2005; Kimmel, 2012a). Both Kramer and Kimmel points out how it is not of the norm for all boys and girls to not get punished for someone else within that classroom doing something wrong.

Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972 was formed in 1972. The textbook states that, it declares that no person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance" (20 U.S.C. 1681). Many believe that Title IX is just for the sake of participation in sports but it was created for all educational practices. Yes, sports is seen to be something that would need more attention as far as bringing some equivalency but other educational practices were things that needed to bring some rights to students and their issues within an educational institution. The textbook also states that Title IX promises all students the right to education without bullying, sexual harassment, and other threats of violence. Even though Title IX did not too much support educational practices when it became effective, it gained a long term effect and gave support to many over the nation in education and in sports.

Based on the readings, here are some questions for you all:

 1. According to the textbook, hidden curriculum seems to be something that people fail to question. Why do you think hidden curriculum or any curriculum is not always questioned?

 2. Classroom Interactions sections speaks about how it is not acceptable to intentionally segregate children by race, but acceptable to segregate by sex, Which do you think is acceptable and not acceptable and why?

3. Speaking and reading about Title IX, what are your thoughts about what the purpose of this act is? Do you think this plays a major role in education today?