Introduction
In this chapter students learned about the basic functions of education as well as the ways in which schools socialize children. Classroom teachers, who are usually a child's first authority figure outside the family, have a unique and important role in socializing children. Sometimes, teachers affect children unintentionally, and even well-meaning teachers unconsciously transmit sexist expectations of how male and female students should behave. In this activity students will take a closer look at sexism in schools.

Lesson Description
Students will visit the Web site of the Tutor: The Graduate Teacher Program Newsletter to read an article about sexism in the classroom. They will learn about studies that have been conducted to analyze the treatment of male and female students in the classroom. They will then conduct a study of their own to find out how classrooms of the past compare to classrooms of the present.

Instructional Objectives

1. Students will be able to determine the validity of the sampling method used in a study.
2. Students will be able to summarize examples of and reasons behind gender bias in the classroom.
3. Students will be able to compare and contrast classrooms of the past and present in terms of student-teacher interaction and gender bias.

Student Web Activity Answers

1. The sample was comprised of more than 100 fourth-, sixth-, and eighth-grade classrooms in four states and the District of Columbia; it included urban, suburban, and rural classes and classes that were predominantly white, predominantly black, and predominantly integrated. The teachers were both male and female; represented both white and minority groups; and taught in the areas of language arts, social studies, and mathematics. The sample seems an accurate portrayal of the diversity of American schools.
2. Teachers devoted more of their time and attention to male students. When boys called out in class, teachers tended to accept their answers, but when girls called out, they were reminded to raise their hands before speaking.
3. In the early grades, girls' scores are generally equal to or better than boys'. By the end of high school, however, boys typically score higher.
4. While in fourth-, sixth-, and eighth-grade classes 25 percent of the students did not interact with the teacher at all, in college classes this number rose in half. The "okay" classroom was prevalent at the university level. There was more acceptance than praise, criticism, and remediation combined. Research also shows that college women experience a decline in self-esteem as they progress through college, and it is likely that a key factor in this decline is the inequitable communication women experience inside and outside the college classroom.
5. Students' interviews will vary.

Go To Student Web Activity