Analysing Early Childhood Education and Society Essay
Order ID:89JHGSJE83839 Style:APA/MLA/Harvard/Chicago Pages:5-10 Instructions:
Analysing Early Childhood Education and Society Essay
Task 1b.
Write a Literature review of contemporary issue:
Contemporary issue: What are the roles of an early childhood educator in supporting non-gendered play and how their perception of gender influence children’s play?
Word count,1800. Due date 16th May 2020 8pm (Sydney time). Value 35 %
Learning Outcomes:
- Engage with diverse learners in a range of educational contexts to develop skills and knowledge for flexible and adaptable participation in professional communities of practice.
- Demonstrate creativity, critical thinking and innovation when identifying and solving problems in diverse educational settings.
Task 1b. part 2: Value 35 marks
Using the research question to write a literature review relating to your chosen topic. The literature review MUST include discussion on how other contemporary scholarly authors (NO WEBSITES) have discussed this issue and linked to your research question.
Your literature review, must be relevant to your topic and include literature no OLDER than 10-15 years. [Seminal writers in their field are an exception, but MUST not be all you include]. The paper must be written using APA 7th referencing with correct spelling, & grammar
You are to include a minimum of 8 scholarly works for this section that add to your research. Student must include a reference list (APA 7th Style) (not included in word count) at the end of their paper.
- Introduction is included of the chosen topic and how the issue relates to children, families and early childhood communities in an Australian context (5 marks);
- Key areas of agreement, disagreement and tensions regarding the issue which critically analyses and engages with the literature under each heading (10 marks);
- How the major themes of the literature contribute to a body of knowledge of the topic in relation to current practice in early childhood communities (10 marks);
- A concluding summary which explains – based on your understanding of the literature – the significance of the chosen topic to children, families and early childhood communities in current times (5 marks)
- References to a wide range of literature using APA (7th) style, appropriate in-text referencing and a list of sources. The written work should be coherently expressed and show a wide range of sources researched for this task, which includes scholarly literature (5 marks).
RMIT Electronic Submission of work for assessment
I declare that in submitting all work for this assessment I have read, understood and agree to the content and expectations of the Assessment declaration Links to an external site.
This criterion is linked to a learning outcome. An introduction of the chosen topic and how the issue relates to children, families and early childhood communities in an Australian context (10%); 5.0 pts This criterion is linked to a learning outcome. Key areas of agreement, disagreement and tensions regarding the issue which critically analyses and engages with the literature under each heading (10%); 10.0 pts This criterion is linked to a learning outcome. How the major themes of the literature contribute to a body of knowledge of the topic in relation to current practice in early childhood communities (10%); 10.0 pts This criterion is linked to a learning outcome. A concluding summary which explains – based on your understanding of the literature – the significance of the chosen topic to children, families and early childhood communities in current times (5%) 5.0 pts This criterion is linked to a learning outcome. Sub-headings which detail key trends, concepts and themes identified in the literature related to the topic and references to a wide range of literature using APA (7th edition) style, appropriate in-text referencing and a list of sources. The written work should be coherently expressed and show a wide range of sources researched for this task, which includes scholarly literature (5%). ABSTRACT This research aimed to explore children’s play in relation to gender stereotypes and beliefs and practices of educators in preschool settings. A feminist poststructuralist approach framed the design of the research and data were collected in two settings through predetermined categories of play during periods of spontaneous free play.
The question asked in this research was, do early childhood educators’ perceptions of gender influence children’s play? Findings suggest that there were differences between these two settings and these differences are explained through individual beliefs and practices of the educators.
ARTICLE HISTORY Received 7 May 2015 Accepted 29 August 2015
KEYWORDS Gender; early childhood education; educators’ perceptions; stereotypes
Introduction
This research aimed to explore early childhood settings in relation to how gender roles might be dis- played or supported without the educator being aware. It examines how educators’ potentially influence where children play, what children play with and how they engage in the play.
A feminist poststructuralist approach was taken for this research. Research has revealed that gender is a complex and sensitive area, with a wide range of opinions on how it is formed in individuals and the role it plays in society. It is argued that a consistent and child-oriented early childhood education is important to children’s growth and development, and that educators play a pivotal role in supporting this when they establish physical and social environments that do not implicitly or explicitly encourage gender stereotypes.
Gender is defined as the social division of femininity and masculinity (Scott & Marshall, 2009). Differences in gender roles become evident in children at a young age. Maccoby (1988) and Whiting and Edwards (1988) suggest that by the time boys and girls are three years old they show different communicative styles, participate in different activities, play more with same-sex peers and avoid peers of the opposite sex.
While it is widely recognised that gender exists, there is a broad difference of opinion on the importance of addressing the gendering of children’s identities. Common views may range:
from the view that gender doesn’t matter to young children, through a sense that good early childhood practice produces equity for all, to beliefs that pursuing gender equity compromises partnerships with parents and clashes with multicultural perspectives in early childhood. (MacNaughton, 2000, p. 1)
These views do not consider the impact and limitations that gender can place on a child’s sense of identity. Society has linked the division of people into males and females so closely with our under- standing of identity that it is generally understood as a fact rather than something we have learned to see as natural (Davies, 2003). This research utilised a feminist poststructuralist approach to gender formation to deconstruct a discourse of gender that questions the necessity of gender roles in contemporary society.
The use of such an approach allows the researcher to critically analyse societal practices and question the relevance of these practices in our societal context. The segregation of males and females through constrictive gender roles, dictated by earlier work demands, like hunting and gathering, has become redundant. We must recognise gender formation in a context that is relevant.
This research was conducted in two preschool settings located in Melbourne, Australia. In each setting two educators and one class of four-year-olds were participants. Educators were interviewed about their views on play and gender, and the children were observed playing.
The observations were carried out to gain an understanding of the types of play that the children in each setting engaged in, as well as noting the number of males and females engaging in stereotypically gendered play. Analysis was conducted using the stereotypical categories outlined in research conducted by Harten, Olds, and Dollman (2008), Twarek and George (1994), Tonyan and Howes (2003), Oncu and Unluer (2010), Kristensen (2006), and Rekers (1975).
The study examined the influence that educators’ values, perceptions and actions can have on children’s play, particularly how ideas of gender roles are manifested. The research gives an account of practices within the educational setting and presents a review of relevant research literature, describes the research and reports on findings that suggest that these educators did, unknowingly, support the children’s social interactions and stereotypical gendered play in the early childhood setting. The question addressed in this paper is, do early childhood educators’ perceptions of gender influence children’s play?
Literature review
A common belief through the lens of feminist poststructuralism is that gender inequalities exist because we live in a society that has dominant ideas about the correct way to be male and female (Blaise, 2005; MacNaughton, 1996, 1998). Normalising gender discourses can problematise children’s choices in taking up different gendered performances and activities (Robinson & Davies, 2007).
Society has linked the division of people into males and females so closely with our under- standing of identity that it is generally understood as a fact rather than something we have learned to see as natural (Davies, 2003). The societal binary of masculine and feminine can be extremely limiting and it is important that individuals, particularly those in a position of authority with children, recognise this gender binary.
The desired result is that rather than society being coerced and guided by predefined notions of gender, all social ways of being and relating and gender activities would be available to all people (Alloway, 1995). The research literature that is relevant to this paper has examined the question of gender formation and the impact of stereotypes on gender formation, young children and play and the experience of gender in educational settings.
Gender formation
Oakley (1993) explains that sex is the ‘biological differences between male and female’, whereas gender is ‘a matter of culture: it refers to the social classification into “masculine” and “feminine”’ (p. 16). Gender is a societal process that begins at birth (MacNaughton, 2000) and then expands and develops with the child (Snowman et al., 2009).
Yelland and Grieshaber (1998) suggest that in some societies it is ‘the major status indicator’ (p. 1). Weigman (2006) posits that gender is ‘made and remade according to the political desire that seeks it in the first place’ (p. 99). Blaise (2005) suggests that societies’ desire for acceptable gender roles extends to the preschool classroom. She proposes that changes should be made to the structured view of gender, stating that ‘non-oppressive gender order can only come about through a radical change in our conventional notions of under- standing gender’ (p. 86).
In the 1990s, the approach to gender changed from a focus on the sex-role socialisation theory to an emergence of feminist postmodern and poststructuralist pedagogies (Hogan, 2012; Skelton & Francis, 2005) which asserts that people can and should ultimately form their own gender identity (MacNaughton, 2000).
MacNaughton (2001) explains that with this change of approach, researchers began to focus on developing ‘an understanding of how gender is understood and practised in specific domains of learning’ (p. 22). She suggests that these studies helped to provide ‘strong evidence that children’s living and learning is deeply affected by the gendered limits children place on themselves and others’ (p. 23).
Creaser and Dau (1996, p. 2) suggest that children are quite aware of gender, cultural, racial and physical differences. In relation to gender, they explain that ‘children aged between two and five years have been documented commenting on and asking questions about gender differences’ (p. 3).
In fact, children as young as one-and-a-half have been documented selecting roles that are viewed as appropriate for their gender (Rainey & Rust, 1999). MacNaughton (2000) explains that ‘young children have a deep knowledge of the perceived rules about gender in society’ (p. 32). Blaise (2007) believes that ‘how children are showing and telling us what they know about gender is in the strategies that they use to regulate gender amongst themselves’ (p. 31).
One common belief is that gender inequalities exist because we live in a society that has dominant ideas about the correct way to be male and female (MacNaughton, 1996, 1998). This belief produces a ‘gender order’ where some ideas are seen to be better and more right than others (MacNaughton, 1998), creating inequalities and segregation.
Without a gender order, or correct way to be male and female, these inequalities would not exist (MacNaughton, 1998). Normalising gender discourses can problematise children’s choices in taking up different gendered performances and behaviours as children may not fit completely into the dominant ideas of masculinity and femininity (MacNaughton, 1998; Robinson & Davies, 2007).
Some feminist poststructuralists believe that children learn their gender by positioning them- selves inside the masculine and feminine discourses that are available to them in our society (Blaise & Taylor, 2012; Davies, 2003; MacNaughton, 1996). Despite this, in the event that an adult tries to convince the child masculinity and femininity have differing meanings, the child tends to ignore what does not fit with the current understanding of gender discourses they have developed (MacNaughton, 1998).
This supports the need for carefully crafted gender equity plans for early child- hood educators that address not only the resources provided to the children but also language, agency, subjectivity, discourse and power (Halim & Linder, 2013; Hughes & MacNaughton, 2001; Ebbeck, 1998).
It is believed that learning gender is an ongoing struggle by children to interpret and make sense of the messages around them (Davies, 1989; MacNaughton, 1998; Walkerdine, 1990), and that early childhood educators need to engage actively in this struggle with them (MacNaughton, 1998). It is important for educators to help children to deconstruct their gender binaries.
Stereotypes on gender formation and children’s play
Turner-Bowker (1996) defines stereotypes as ‘learned, widely shared, and socially validated, general beliefs about categories of individuals’; she suggests that they are often inaccurate but ‘are widely shared as truth and very powerful’ (p. 461).
These ‘powerful truths’ can be present from early child- hood as the early childhood years can be seen as a highly sensitive and influential time where children begin to understand themselves and the world around them (Davies, 1989). It is also a time when children begin to recognise and adhere to gender roles.
Aina and Cameron (2011) stress that the early childhood years are a ‘critical period’ for combating gender stereotypes (p. 11). This is particularly important as gender stereotypes can be limiting to a child’s emotional growth and development (Narahara, 2000) as children may internalise messages about negative or rigid stereo- types that place boundaries on the child and how they should act.
Gender stereotypes are present and prevalent in children’s play (Boldt, 1996; Wohlwend, 2011). Research into children’s play outlines what is considered to be stereotyped play differences of boys and girls, or gendered play. Harten, Olds, and Dollman (2008) suggest that boys are more active than girls and that they rely on ‘space-using standardised games, such as football, and [that] they occupy more space than girls during free play’ (p. 386).
They also believe that boys are more competitive, exclusive, play in large groups and that ‘good players tend to dominate’ (p. 387), whereas Twarek and George (1994) suggest that girls tend to ‘be more inclusive and co-operative’ than boys, and engage in ‘passive, small-group games which use less space’ (pp. 1–2).
Tonyan and Howes (2003) completed a study on children from 192 randomly selected childcare centres across Florida, USA. From their research they concluded amongst children aged 37 months and older, boys were more likely to engage in gross-motor-skill activities than ‘creative activities, language art activities, high-level adult involvement, and activities involving manipulatives’ (p. 138).
They also discovered that girls in this age group were more likely to become engaged in ‘creative clusters’ in comparison to ‘gross-motor clusters or activities. Oncu and Unluer (2010) con- ducted a study on 40 children selected from four preschools in Kocaeli, Turkey. They observed children engaging in creative play, noting which materials were selected by the children and how they were used. They found that girls ‘tend to play with real objects’ or ‘household devices’ (p. 4459) more often than boys.
Kristensen (2006) completed a study into dramatic play of six-year-olds and the effects of gender difference on how it is carried out. He studied 16 girls and 16 boys recording their dramatic play and analysing it based on various dramatic elements.
He found that the boys often extended their play space beyond the set area, using the props to create diverse situations, and that they would predetermine their roles while the girls tended to keep their dramatic play closer to the set area, developing their storyline around the props and surroundings that were already present. Relationship building and family themes were common in the girls’ play.
Rekers (1975) studied cross-gender play among a group of five- to eight-year-old boys. The results of the study found that whilst observed directly, the boys engaged in masculine or ‘appropriate’ play (p. 140) but when left alone in the play room, all children engaged in predominantly feminine play. Herbert and Stipek (2005) states that children intuitively understand their parents’ and teachers’ gender-related beliefs and expectations and this can impact on the way they view their own gender identities.
Research is frequently conducted into reducing stereotyped gender roles to develop gender equity (Coffey & Acker, 1991; Freeman, 2007; Karniol & Gal-Disegni, 2009), examining the importance of ‘building pedagogies that challenge sexism [that] can increase children’s chances of learning and living more fully’ (MacNaughton, 2000, p. 23).
Karniol and Gal-Disegni completed a study in two first grade classrooms about gender stereotypes in readers. They provided one setting with ‘gender- stereotyped’ readers and the other setting with ‘gender-fair’ readers. They then showed the children a mix of activities and asked if they were appropriate for males or females.
They discovered that the children who had the ‘gender-fair’ readers suggested more activities were appropriate for males and females, whereas the children given the ‘gender-stereotyped’ readers assigned most activities to either male or female. This enforces the idea that it is important to actively counter gender-stereo- typed materials in the early childhood setting.
Analysing Early Childhood Education and Society Essay
RUBRIC
Excellent Quality
95-100%
Introduction 45-41 points
The background and significance of the problem and a clear statement of the research purpose is provided. The search history is mentioned.
Literature Support
91-84 points
The background and significance of the problem and a clear statement of the research purpose is provided. The search history is mentioned.
Methodology
58-53 points
Content is well-organized with headings for each slide and bulleted lists to group related material as needed. Use of font, color, graphics, effects, etc. to enhance readability and presentation content is excellent. Length requirements of 10 slides/pages or less is met.
Average Score
50-85%
40-38 points
More depth/detail for the background and significance is needed, or the research detail is not clear. No search history information is provided.
83-76 points
Review of relevant theoretical literature is evident, but there is little integration of studies into concepts related to problem. Review is partially focused and organized. Supporting and opposing research are included. Summary of information presented is included. Conclusion may not contain a biblical integration.
52-49 points
Content is somewhat organized, but no structure is apparent. The use of font, color, graphics, effects, etc. is occasionally detracting to the presentation content. Length requirements may not be met.
Poor Quality
0-45%
37-1 points
The background and/or significance are missing. No search history information is provided.
75-1 points
Review of relevant theoretical literature is evident, but there is no integration of studies into concepts related to problem. Review is partially focused and organized. Supporting and opposing research are not included in the summary of information presented. Conclusion does not contain a biblical integration.
48-1 points
There is no clear or logical organizational structure. No logical sequence is apparent. The use of font, color, graphics, effects etc. is often detracting to the presentation content. Length requirements may not be met
You Can Also Place the Order at www.collegepaper.us/orders/ordernow or www.crucialessay.com/orders/ordernow