Gender norms and traditional cultural understandings: Gender in the early childhood classroom · ICGS Research Library

Title

Gender norms and traditional cultural understandings: Gender in the early childhood classroom

Author

Gelir (2022)

Year Published

2022

Description

The question of gender within the early childhood education space is one of topical importance for girls’ schools in Australia (Chapman, 2022). Australia also has an increasingly and rapidly growing body of ethnically diverse families and students, including ethnic minorities, voluntary migrants and refugees (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2021; Australian Human Right Commission; 2014). As the author of the article notes, this research raises a number of considerations surrounding traditional gender norms, ethnic minorities and language. While the case study may have been based in a minority community in Turkey that has been subject to conflict, it does reveal the need for ongoing sensitivity to students’ ethnic backgrounds and cultural beliefs. This is particularly so in situations where ethnicity, language or other cultural beliefs do not receive formal recognition, and further highlights the ongoing impact this can have on children and families even after many years of resettlement in Australia (Stroja, 2022).

The article by Iksender Gelir from the Preschool Education Department at Siirt University, Turkey, considers how Kurdish preschool children construct gender roles by drawing on household and community knowledge. Gelir’s main finding is that “children position their gender roles according to the values and expectations of their minority community” (2022, p. 302). The author identifies the development of gender roles as social constructs, noting that these gender constructs are performative, not biological. Ultimately, Gelir (2022, p. 303) highlighted the recognition that “preschool teachers need to be aware of young children[‘s] gender constructions and to challenge children[‘s] traditional gender roles by expanding definition[s] of gender roles”.

The article was based on “participant observations [of two children], audio and video recordings of interactions between the teacher and children in the nursery” (Gelir, 2022, p. 302). Both children were five years of age, and experienced different languages and cultures at home compared to the preschool environment Gelir (2022). The author has based this analysis on Vygotsky’s earlier research that suggested language and the mastering of language affects children’s development of thought and intellectual growth within the context of social context and its impacts on cognition development (Vygotsky, 1978, 1986). This included the assumption that learning is both intrapersonal (i.e. cognitive) and interpersonal (i.e. social).

The research for this article was conducted in Turkey, where community environments include ethnic and religious minorities. Participants in the study live in a Kurdish community located in east Turkey, and speak the Kurmanji dialect of Kurdish. The preschool was also located in the Kurdish community. This community was typically characterised by mothers undertaking housework, with fathers fulfilling “head of family” roles, and undertaking seasonal worker tasks in various Turkish cities. The region that was the focus of the study also has a higher illiteracy rate than other parts of the city. Preschool is the “first formal level of education” in Turkey, but at the time of writing is not compulsory. Children can be aged between three and five to attend preschool, which has its own dedicated curriculum. The language within preschools is Turkish, as Kurmanji is not an officially recognised language. The teacher of the preschool in the case study identified as Kurdish, and could speak (but not write) Kurmanji.

There exists a perception that children of identified minority groups have a “lack of knowledge”, however, children within this demographic can indeed possess important knowledge that can facilitate learning (Gelir, 2022, p. 303). In fact, their home environments can be rich in terms of knowledge. This is important because children can transfer aspects of the home to the classroom, and the classroom to the home. This means educators need to consider the experiences of children outside of the school environment as an inherent part of the learning process. In particular, this includes a consideration of what this can contribute to the child’s experience in the classroom environment, and how their “household” knowledge is reflected within the classroom (Gelir, 2022, p. 303). The author particularly noted in the article that children can draw on their home environment to construct gender roles, but can also draw on language as part of this process. This reflects the understanding that cultural resources and household environments can “contribute to traditional gender constructions” (Gelir, 2022, p. 303).

It is an “inclusive pedagogical approach” to allow students to draw on their pre-existing knowledge in learning environments, however, this simultaneously highlights the need for teachers to be aware that children’s prior experience can influence their understanding of gender constructs. In particular, Gelir (2022) observed that t