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

2. Equal Opportunities PolicyWhile most, if not all, authorities had an equal opportunities employment policy, thisrarely seemed to extend to cover learning and teaching, although some of thosereceived from authorities covered expectations of behaviour in relation tocharacteristics such as ethnicity, race, social class and gender. (It is difficult to bedefinitive about this due to the uneven responses from authorities.) Many of theresponding local authorities expected that schools would have policies in place thatmade reference to gender, possibly as part of a wider inclusion policy. This was not,however, reflected in the responses from schools, where there were few instances ofwritten, school-focused policies. Even in those schools identified by authorities asexamples of good practice and who had adopted specific strategies to address genderinequalities, it was unusual to find a written policy in existence. Some schoolsreported the existence of ‘informal’ or implicit policies and an awareness of genderissues in relation to schooling. In the case study schools, where either implicit orexplicit policies existed, there tended to be a whole staff commitment to it, and asense that it was being worked out in professional practice.An important element of change management is the provision of relevant, practicaladvice and support through programmes of staff development (Fullan, 2005). Whilemost of the authorities contacted reported that staff development in respect of equalopportunities had taken place, few had undertaken staff development specifically tosupport the gender-related initiatives identified. However, there were some instancesof good practice where school staff, on their own initiative, had accessed researchand/or attended sessions by consultants and other experts which informeddevelopments.In several instances, the implementation of gender-related strategies was at theinstigation of individual ‘champions’ or leaders within the school or authority.Where this is the sole driver of the strategies, it is unlikely that they can be embeddedin the practice of the institution/authority or sustained long term.3. Stage-specific issuesThere was a clear recognition that gender-related differences were apparent in thepre-5 or early primary years, and the team encountered some good practice inaddressing these. The literature highlights these differences as particularly marked inthe areas of literacy and personal and social development and it was in these areasthat the team saw the best practice. Here, there were several coherent and successfulstrategies to counteract gender inequalities, in particular the underachievement ofboys. Schools that used these strategies, such as ‘story sacks’ or ‘bags of books’,and/or involved fathers in activities designed to tackle stereotyping or culturallyimposed constraints on gender specific role models, seemed to be very successful in anumber of ways. Successes included the raising of literacy levels, improvedrelationships and increased bonding within families, improvements in social skillsand, finally, enhanced motivation to learn. Some of the tactics used were alsofruitfully employed in nursery schools and classes.The team was less aware of similar initiatives in secondary schools. In these schoolsthere was little evidence of deliberate attempts to address gender stereotyping inoption or career choices. The use of single gender classes was in evidence in severalauthorities, however. In the main, these had been introduced to address boys’underachievement, although issues of behaviour and choice were also identified byschools. Views on the success of this as a strategy were varied. In some instancesboys-only classes exacerbated behaviour problems, heightening ‘laddish’ behaviour.__________________________________________________________________________________Review of Strategies to iii University of StrathclydeAddress Gender Inequalitiesand University of Glasgow