Becoming boys : gender identities in the primary school

Abstract

An ethnographic study of two primary school classrooms where we focus on gender identities and the construction of masculinities. The research includes observation and interviews with the protagonists in the field. We also acknowledge various studies in this area and discuss our viewpoints of whether these studies manage or not to prove convincingly the way gender identities develop. Both class situations differ, primarily because of the teacher and the age of the pupils concerned. Through these findings we establish that the more the teacher has a stereotypical and discriminating approach, the more boys and girls tend to form single-sex groupings and differentiate in their characteristics and attitudes. When the teacher tries to create a gender balanced environment, the pupils are more at ease in interacting with each other and do not strive to conform to any particular identity. External influences, however, do play an important part in influencing all pupils and thus socialisation does not solely depend on the teacher. We conclude that the teacher is a central figure and can induce particular behaviour from the pupils, but the setting at large also has an influential role. Masculinities are found to be given primary importance in the classroom and this approach affects the way both boys and girls develop.