Girl Power

It has been more than a decade since I have been inside a high school classroom, I remember trying very hard to form an identity that was acceptable with my friends as well my teachers… I guess I am still a dork like that.

I feel that the changing classroom atmosphere offers the opportunity for gender annulment; similar to Will Richards’ point in the video cast, the teacher attention is now focused more on content and merit than the alignment of X and Y-chromosomes. The quality of the work is what matters and not the role the student occupies, be it gender or social. Though with blogs I can see how commenting holds a possibility for bias.

The section titled “The paradox of doing well” offered a startling fact; how the air of competitiveness in classrooms played off the strength of boys. I wonder if that holds true regardless of the teacher’s gender.

Going back to my high school experience, I distinctly remember if one of my teachers was the coach of a team, their attention was more focused towards the members of their team. The team’s understanding of the material being covered was paramount, more so than my other classmates. This bias did not seem contained to any specific gender, but to their role as a coach. As future educators, I think that bias is something that we cannot afford to make, for the sake of out students.