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

• a focus on improving practice and achievement;• the development of a system-wide framework and infrastructure to supportinnovation and change;• distributed leadership (so that sustainability is not dependent on a ‘champion’);• the availability of relevant, useful professional development; and• the recognition that change takes time.Together, these characteristics can be summed up as accountability and capacity building.Accountability refers to the need for systematic data gathering, monitoring andevaluation, while capacity building supports those involved in acquiring and developingthe requisite skills, understanding and dispositions to bring about change. While Fullan’sanalysis was based on studies of large-scale, often national, developments, thesecharacteristics also have relevance for an analysis of the strategies investigated here.In this study, most of the strategies investigated had some of these characteristics, butfew, if any, had all. The first, an acknowledgement that things were not as they shouldbe, or could be, was evident in all instances – as was the second. All case study schoolsand authorities were concerned at performance levels (e.g. examination results),behaviour statistics (e.g. exclusion rates) and/or subject choices. A decision had beentaken, at some level, to introduce changes in structures and/or practices at specific stages,or institution-wide.The third characteristic, the development of a system-wide framework and infrastructure,was rarely witnessed. In some instances, such as in some schools using the ‘bags ofbooks or ‘story sacks’ approach, there were insufficient resources for it to make a realimpact on children’s reading habits or there was limited monitoring of any impact. Inother areas, a lack of consistency and/or coherence led to a degree of disillusionment. Inone of the case studies, for example, a few pupils were concerned by the inconsistentways in which a reward system was implemented by teachers, but this was a minorconcern and the programme was making a significant impact on pupil motivation andaspirations throughout the school.Where initiatives are introduced without clear parameters and a supportive framework,the impact on the pupil’s experience is fragmented and the potential unrealised. Inaddition, initiatives need to be sustained over a significant period of time, with consistentmessages being conveyed.The case study, ‘Reach for the Stars’, demonstrated the impact that distributed leadershipcan make. The other, larger initiatives also showed this characteristic and, in theauthority-driven initiative to raise self esteem and confidence in pre-5 and early primarypupils, ownership of some elements was handed over to participants once they had beenshown to work and were considered relatively stable.For change to be effective, teachers need to operate from a position of informedprofessional judgement (Barber, 2002). While many of those interviewed made referenceto educational consultants, researchers and theorists, this was rarely as the result oftargeted staff development events on gender-related differences and their implications forlearning and teaching. Examples of good practice observed by the researchers were oftendown to individual teachers’ own interests or experiences, but were not alwaysunderpinned by a deeper understanding of the issues. The literature indicates that gender,and its impact on performance, behaviour and life chances, is complex and multidimensional.In addition, it intersects with other factors to the extent that simple onedimensionalstrategies are rarely effective.Change takes time, especially where the aim is to change deeply entrenched attitudes andculturally determined patterns of behaviour. The evidence that there are gender-related______________________________________________________________________________________Review of Strategies to 48 University of StrathclydeAddress Gender Inequalitiesand University of Glasgow