I recently read this blog, Teaching Girls to Speak Up. It got me to thinking about school and politics (its getting harder and harder to think about school without thinking about politics these days). I'm reminded of the message girls must be receiving in the media during this political frenzy leading up to the election. How many times have we heard, during this campaign season, male politicians talking about women's rights and equality as if it were up to them to make up their mind for us? Where are the female voices? I'm sure they're there but they seem awfully quiet in comparison to the booming male voices. Are females not speaking loud enough or are people just choosing not to listen?
The blog post also made me think about what I've been experiencing in the classrooms where I intern. I'm currently at a middle school where I see about 100 students go through our classroom everyday. I'm sorry to say that I don't know all their names. While recently teaching a lesson, I was forced to call on students without using a seating chart as a cheat sheet for names. I found myself recalling boys' names more than girls' names. Why is that? Perhaps its because the boys do tend to speak up more than girls. I don't have a video tape of these last few lessons to refer back to, but I bet that if I did I would find that boys raised their hands more and spoke up in class more.
I don't recall being timid about speaking up in class until I became socially conscious as an adolescent. Some studies indicate that adolescence is when boys start to exceed girls in areas such as math and science. I constantly wonder if girls really just aren't as interested in math and engineering as boys or if they choose more gender "appropriate" areas of study in order to fit in with society's molds?
How do we teach equality and justice when society does such a poor job of exemplifying it sometimes? My only answer right now is to keep talking about it. If somethings important, don't keep quiet. Its like a quote I recently just read and wholeheartedly agree with:
"I swore never to be silent whenever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented." — Elie Weisel
I thought A TON about women's rights during election times. You are right, more men talked about our rights as if it was up to them to decide for us. Why aren't there more LOUD women's voices out there? I could go into a whole political discussion right now, but I will refrain for the sake of not wanting to prompt a political argument in this comment feed. BUT I do think it is important for girls, since the media is so crazy these days, to focus on self esteem, and being encouraged to do their best. I have thought about (after I have a job) starting some sort of after school program focusing on young girls body image and self esteem.
ReplyDeleteThats not a bad idea. I plan on incorporating lots of women voices in my multicultural curriculum.
ReplyDelete