How Does Gender Affect the Teaching Profession
How Does Gender Affect the Teaching Profession?
The
big question everyone is wondering is why and how does gender even relate to
teaching? Gender actually plays a huge role in teaching. We as teachers are
directly affected while also protecting our students who are affected by
society.
Teaching is a majority female job. With this comes women rights and the
way women get paid less than men. I believe the government gets away with
paying teachers less because it's a majority women run job. Do you ever think
if it was a mostly men teachers, they would get paid more than we would? Just
like Jennie Weiner an expert who
studies how to create a more inclusive and equitable education field said
“women make up a majority of the education
workforce but occupy barely a quarter of top leadership positions. This is not
by accident, she says, but by systemic design." Women are in the education
workforce but often not as leaders because if they were they would change the
system to get better pay and better treatment.
Teaching also includes protecting our students
and creating a safe environment for our students. This includes allowing
students to be themselves. They have the right to choose their gender and how
they wish to be identified. This can be often hard for teachers with
different beliefs. At the end of the day, it's not our beliefs
that matter those kids are in our classroom to learn not to have beliefs pushed
on them. As teachers who go through the struggle of gender bias
stereotypes being mostly women should feel for the students even more. In the
article protecting Trans youth by Micah Bazant, they tell you all the
dos and don'ts to better help your Trans students in the future. One
thing that stood out to me in this article is when they
stated, "Recent headlines offer a sickening taste of what reactionary
governors and state legislators have been cooking up in their laboratories of
transphobic bigotry." This was crazy to me that these
government officials have so much say in what we do in the
classroom.
You brought up such a good point that i hadnt even thought about before! I definitely believe that if teaching was primarily lead by men that teachers would have a higher salary. This also makes me think about whether people see being a teacher as a job that doesnt require much skill because mainly women are teachers. What do you think? It makes me so sad to know that even though everybody is aware that there is a wage gap between men and women, nothing has been done about it. I love how you worded that students are in the classroom to learn and not have beliefs pushed onto them. As future teachers it's so important that we watch what we say and how we act around our students because they are very aware, and we dont want to project any favoritism for specific genders in the classroom. Teachers should be treating all of their students with the same amount of respect and attention no matter their gender identity, race, religion, sexuality etc.
ReplyDeleteHello Hanna, I enjoyed reading your post! You highlighted some really important facts! Before going through this module, I thought little about how gender affects the teaching profession, but I now understand the many ways that it does. It is well known that teachers are underpaid, but I have never made the connection that this is due to the fact this profession is mainly led by women. I like how you included the quote that mentioned how if more women were in leadership roles, they'd have better pay and opportunities. This is important because currently, the majority of educational leadership roles are dominated by men.
ReplyDeleteYou made some great points about gender in the education profession, but I mostly loved your take on the gender identity of our students. As educators it is so important that we support and encourage our students to be themselves. All students are important and must be supported in our classrooms. It is up to educators to create a safe space for cis-gendered, trans-gendered and non binary students, so this means all students! We can lead by example and close any gender gaps that were once present in the classroom.
Hey there Hanna! I really enjoyed reading your blog. You are 100% right in the fact that if teaching was primarily men rather than women that it would have a higher paying salary, which is a fact that both annoys and deeply saddens me. There is nothing about our gender that makes the work we do any less than a mans work. I think that, with teaching being a majority female led job, we have an extra duty to ensure we are representing all of our students in the classroom. This is especially true for Black boys as we have talked about previously, but what about our trans and Queer youth? How do we make sure that all these different populations in our classroom are being seen and feel valued by us? There is so much more that goes into teaching than just the academics and I think you summed that up perfectly here in your blog post.
ReplyDeleteHey Hanna, I completely agree with you on your way of thinking the effect that gender has on the teaching profession. I certainly believe that we as teachers are put in positions to already be judged. Growing up wanting to be a teacher, I have always got “be something better than a teacher” or “they don’t get paid enough.” This stereotype already puts us in a underground position as a woman. When it comes to being and allowing your students to be themselves in a classroom only the strong can survive. According to the 1915 Rules for Teachers, lots of rules was initiated for woman being a teacher. This list not only limits us as a person but as a professional staff member. This is something good to include because I know some schools that still have these rules apply but not very many. All in all, We are here to change the world with the help of Micah Bazant.
ReplyDeleteHi Hanna! I want to first compliment how gorgeous you blog is! You have a real knack for graphic design! The content within your blog is just as wonderful. I really liked the way you started your post off by explaining how gender roles play a part in teachers' lives, and then finished with how gender roles affect the students' lives. This format really highlights a connection that both students and educators share when it comes to societal restrictions. I think that many people who are in the education field understand that the lack of pay is because of it being a mainly female occupation, but I was surprised to find out that many people who are not in the education field do not know that that is the reason why teachers are paid less than they should be paid. I also found Jennie Weiner's words to be extremely impactful.
ReplyDeleteHi Hanna! I would completely agree with you that teaching is most definitely a female dominated job and that is why often people in society think that it is okay for females to be under paid. It is very important that we as teachers and for me as a female I am aware of this. I like how you also discussed how important it is for teachers to make sure all students feel as though their gender expression is supported. As teachers our identities should be valued. I think teachers play a big part in ensuring students feel like they are respected in their identity. Teachers know what it is like to be stereotyped. So they should ensure that students do not feel like they will be stereotyped also. Like you said we as teachers need to actively ensure we make our students feel welcome. Whether this be non gender conforming students, non binary students, and transgender students.
ReplyDelete