The Impact Of Education And Gender On Children's Education

In relation to education and gender, the world is becoming actively aware of the issues that the education system presents to children, and recognises what influence gender has on the children’s learning. However, the gender of the child is not always the key contributor to the inequalities that exist in the education system, rather it is a combination of a child’s class, their social lives and the expectations of an acceptable image in society. “Boys Education in Australia” (McLean, 1996), as well as three journals, examine these issues including gender, and further discuss how these issues need to be addressed for a better education for both genders.

The status/class of the family heavily contributed to the inequalities that children received in the education system as children from the working class were treated in a different manner to those in the upper class. McLean suggests that the child’s success at school was no longer dependent on the child’s intelligence, but rather on the child’s status in society. McLean also observed that society did not debate about how the children in the upper class received automatic advantages and were granted competitive benefits at school, whereas, academic achievement for working class children was rarely attained. This outcome was a result of the teachers viewing the working class children as average students, while the upper class children were motivated and individually attended to. Furthermore, McLean argues that teachers did not realise that their negative behaviour contributed to the children’s failures, instead they blamed the families of the working class. Through these factors, working class children often felt demotivated and ashamed to belong to a working class family – emotions ...

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...ccur due to a combination of issues, such as gender, a child’s class in society and the society’s expectations of boys to be insensitive towards feminine issues. McLean communicates the issues mentioned above, and also suggests what steps need to be taken to improve education for boys as he believes that excess attention is being paid to girls due to the feminist waves. J.Orr agrees with McLean, and suggests that boys may discontinue their education if more school activities are aimed at girls, thus, more attention needs to be paid towards boys. However, Lynda A., Typer-Viola and Cesario argue that gender is the main reason for the inequalities in the education system as there are more boys enrolling in school than girls. Thus, it is essential is understand that gender, along with many other factors, contribute to the inequalities that exist in the education system.