Page 14 - Priorities 2

Academics
quiet and neat, she should also be praised for other,moreassertive qualitiessuchasinsightful thinking or creativity. Generally, studies show boys are more often praised for abilities and accomplishments, girls for passive qualities or for unspecific “good work.”
• How do we regard verbal conduct? When a woman is interrupted, she probably will stop talking; a man will probably talk over the inter- ruption. This could mean female students do not get their fair share of “air time” in classroom discussions.
• What do we ask? Girls tend to be asked factual questions, boys higher-level thinking questions. Girls are more often “helped” by someone tell- ing or showing them the answer, while boys are more often encouraged and coached until they get it themselves.
In small groups, the faculty devised strategies to avoid such unconscious behaviors. One strategy will be to visit each other’s classrooms and monitor these specific points — not as part of a formal review but as colleague support. Nearly every administrator at the Priory also teaches, so presumably we will all be involved in ongoing discussion.
Marianne Stoner, director of the middle school, made two pertinent observations about the state of our school culture. First, we have the ability in small classes to know and respect each student as an indi- vidual. Second, we have a tradition of respect in the treatment of both ideas and people. Faculty members model respectful behavior and take a pro-active approach in teaching it to students.
Our ongoing attention to gender equity is only one element of staff development — actually not even a major element, because we are working at many levels to adjust and improve our educational program — but it is an important one that benefits us all.
—D. Whalen
Unfortunately, the popular Nintendo product, “Gameboy” is appropriately named — by fifth grade, girls are already losing interest in technology and by high school and college are under- represented in computer science classes, according to “The Harvard Education Letter (July-August 1995).
Girls’ lack of confidence in math and science, unfortunately, is also documented. In fact, emerging womanhood is too often marked by what writer Petty Orenstein calls “a blossoming sense of personal inadequacy.” Her book, “School Girls,” written in association with the American Association of University Women, is a commentary on the AAUW’s well-researched report on the lack of gender equity in education.
Although most girls blame themselves rather than the world around them, a culture that devalues a girl’s physical self as well as her personal abilities is the root of the problem, says psychologist and author Dr. MaryPipherinherbook,“RevivingOphelia.”
The level of public concern with these serious find- ings is illustrated by the number who turned out to hear Pipher speak in Palo Alto recently. The hall holds 950 and another several hundred people were report- edly waiting outside.
Educators are acutely concerned with this infor- mation.Wedonotcontrolmassculturebutwe influ- ence school culture and particularly the culture of our classrooms. Happily, at Woodside Priory School we haveconcrete evidenceofgenderequityinleader- ship and scholarship. Certainly, we have taken care to see that we have strong faculty leadership from both gendersinalldivisions. Nevertheless,wetakethe issueseriously. Dr.SherryMatteoofStanford University’s Institute of Women and Gender Research was our consultant through the Priory’s early years of co-education. Recently, we asked her to meet with us again.
At a professional development workshop for all faculty, Dr. Matteo discussed some simple classroom behaviors that can have a big effect.
• What do we reward? If a girl is praised for being
Recognizing issues of
gender equity
Deborah Whalen
"Educators are acutely concerned with this information. We do not control mass culture but we influence school cul- ture and particularly the culture of our
classrooms. Happily, at Woodside Priory School we have concrete evidence of gender equity in leadership and scholarship."
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