English teaching and learning in a co-educational setting : a gender equity exploratory study

Abstract

This is a gender equity exploratory study which explores the current English Language and Literature Teaching and Learning (ELLTL) from a gender perspective. The translation of curriculum content into the lesson together with the teaching strategies, used in English Language and Literature lessons and students’ responses to them were explored. These were analysed along with students’ preferences for types of pedagogy and curricular content to see whether boys and girls perceive and respond to them differently or not. The study asked how students’ diverse needs and interests are being catered for, given their right for a fair and equitable education. This ethnographic study was conducted by means of five classroom observations of two mixed gendered classes in a co-educational state school. These were taught by two teachers who were also interviewed. Four student focus groups of the students observed, segregated by sex, were conducted. Thematic analysis was applied across the different data sources. It was found that in the co-education setting teachers are less concerned with gender difference; for them co-education drives them to look for material that they believe interests both genders. This notwithstanding, teachers do sometimes choose what they consider gender salient content. It was also found that boys’ and girls’ overall interests, perceptions and responses for English, were more similar than different. This may be due to the similarities in preferences found between boys and girls, where a post-modern development in learners’ masculinities and femininities contributes to the shift to less gender differentiated teacher and learner approaches to ELLTL than was evident in the past.