Gender Stereotypes In Popular Culture

Maintaining gender stereotype messages as well as the lack of knowledge concerning the effects of popular culture is a difficult approach of trying to understand gender identities especially to children. Therefore, it is important for children educators to understand the challenges and effects of popular cultures to help them improve their conception about gender identities. This understanding will also ensure appropriate and efficient learning resource usage in incorporating the popular culture phenomenon. The resources to be used should encourage exploration and acknowledgement of various gender identities. Example, in the environment, can be recommended that other colours be used instead only the blue for boys and pink for a girl. Robson

However, not all of them have the culture figures, for example, Teletubbies. Teletubbies have many colours, which do not represent any particular gender or fortify any stereotypic gender message. Therefore, other experiments need to be carried out similar to the one done by Marsh (2010) to find out the importance of popular culture figures to children gender identity understanding. Children would change the Telebbie land environment using various textures such as making clouds from cotton wool balls or even dress according to specific Teletubbies they chose to be. In this Telletubbie experiment, children at the end were able to have learning opportunities, for example, colour recognition, role-playing, and fine motor as well as sensory skills. There is much potential in this experiment to make children meet the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) suggested outcomes, for example, outcome one, which is concerned with children knowledge and self-identity confidence development. This discussion demonstrates that if prior planning is adequately met, popular culture can turn to be a useful education tool, which can ensure the realisation of all learning

This organisation provides educators with expected learning results and standards for all children. The EYLF and the Australian Curriculum (AC) have backed up the findings of this paper. On their part, EYLF recognises that resources may pose stereotypic identities and recommend that all educators should try analysing, discussing and giving recommendations on how this aspect can be reinforced (EYLF, 2009a, p. 28). The study by Marsh (2010) is connected to the EYLF perspective where the activities such as role-play allow children to explore and develop their identities and personalities (EYLF, 2009b, p. 21). As this paper had earlier drawn the significance of play in children development, it further affirms that children possess more creativity and originality when the outdoor environment is used to help in their learning. This comes to epitomise EYLF Outcome two, which states that children are supposed to be provided with a chance to get natural material usage within the environment (EYLF 2009b, p. 29). Additionally, it is proposed that popular culture resources be viewed with much concern, and therefore, it is the role of the educator to stretch out on children’s interests to ensure the scaffold children are learning (EYLF, 2009, p. 15).

The Australian Curriculum (AC) lines up solid frameworks to achieve the recommendations