Review of Strategies to Address Gender Inequalities in Scottish ...

commented upon the sharing of responsibility for the initiative with all members of staff,including non-teaching staff and classroom assistants. This engagement was seen ascrucial by both schools. However, while the secondary school management saw genderas an important issue, they addressed it in a more ‘informal’ manner, with theexpectations that gender equality issues would be ‘embedded’ in professional practice.There was no effective coordinating agency for strategies to address gender inequality inplace in the secondary school, in direct contrast to the situation in the two associatedprimaries, although the four Faculty Heads were expected to be involved. There was astrong culture of liaison and collaboration between the primary and secondary schools,and this was facilitated by the Depute Head of the secondary school working closely withher primary colleagues.In both primary schools, the staff had attended staff development sessions, oftenorganised by consultancies such as Tapestry (a consortium of Strathclyde and GlasgowUniversities which offers expertise on learning), and often at their own expense. Therewas evident commitment to the initiative and a sense that it was worthwhile. Staff inboth primary and secondary schools had awareness of relevant research, but this wasfocused on learning, and learning theories, as much as it was on issues of genderinequalities.iv. The impactThe strengths of the policy were seen in the 2 primary schools as team-working; theimportance of clear learning strategies, including active learning; innovative pedagogy;and the involvement of parents. In the secondary, the strengths were seen as ownershipby the staff and a sense that the policy had ‘percolated into learning and teaching’.The scheme was favourably commented upon by the parents interviewed. The initiativeswere conceptualised by the community as giving hope to children and families andproviding a sense that learning is a useful activity.In one primary school, there was unequivocal support from parents for what was beingdone and a high regard for the school in the community. Parents in the other school weremore ambivalent: some saw the treatment of boys as uneven and they wanted a return tothe ‘tougher’ methods that had been in place when they were pupils themselves. Thiswas a perception clearly related to gender and to the behaviour of boys. In the secondaryschool, there was no dissent from the high regard in which the school was held.Awareness of gender issues in education was uneven amongst parents. Some were awareof recent changes but others articulated their views along traditional, gendered lines. Inone primary school there was considerable awareness of the strategies that were in useand of their effectiveness, but in the other there was little of this. Indeed, a view wasarticulated that the school should return to more traditional teaching methods rather thanthe strategies aimed at active learning. Parents in the secondary school felt that it wasworking well and that it was doing a good job for their children in difficult socialcircumstances. There was concern about the lack of good male role models in theschools and this was seen as a potential cause of tension; parents in one primary schoolalso commented upon this.Parents generally were very happy with what the schools were doing for their children.They felt that the initiative was helping to raise children’s cultural and social horizonsand were glad of opportunities to be engaged in their children’s learning. There was nosupport for single gender classes in any of the groups of parents interviewed. Indeed,open hostility towards the idea was clearly articulated in 2 of the schools.In both primary schools, the pupils interviewed felt strongly that both boys and girls hada fair deal. They articulated clear perceptions of gender differences. Pupils in bothschools felt strongly that girls were smarter than boys, a view shared by both genders,and thought that girls ‘got away’ with more misbehaviour than boys did. Although there______________________________________________________________________________________Review of Strategies to 32 University of StrathclydeAddress Gender Inequalitiesand University of Glasgow