Education remains a critical domain in which sex and gender inequities can be dismantled or modified. From the early years in k-12, teachers, curriculum, textbook, and administrators can adopt more inclusive pedagogical approaches. This would allow students to feel acknowledged, important, and capable. It may also leave students without the internalization of varying jobs or talents being reserved for specific sex categories. When respect in the classroom is mutual between teacher and student (despite sex, gender, sexuality, race, or learning level), a productive classroom can be formed.
More and more schools and districts are recognizing the need for equity as a foundation, mindset, and approach. Culturally responsive teaching practices and curricula in the classrooms is a large piece to modernizing of mass education in the United States. While the type of institutionalized change that is needed to make lessons culturally responsive (and sustaining) cannot occur through a single initiative or concrete practice, the emphasis in these efforts are making huge strides in administrative and professional development opportunities, as well as formal changes in legislative codes to support these efforts and serve historically underrepresented groups.259
One example of promoting equity in the classroom is evaluating how current curriculum might be unintentionally promoting gender disparities. Instructional materials, including textbooks, handouts or workbooks, can be studied to determine whether they are gender-biased, gender- neutral or gender-responsive. In k-12 and in colleges, curricula should include elements that recognize gender equality-related issues in learning materials, and how those issues can be faced by teachers once they take up the profession and start to use these materials in their classes.260
As discussed earlier, school dress codes that unfairly target young girls and trans* students are common. But some high schools are beginning to rethink antiquated dress codes and rewrite them with student inclusivity and equity in mind. For example, the Oregon chapter of the National Organization for Women (NOW) created a mock model for school dress codes wherein self-expression is embraced and working to get rid of gender bias and sexism is emphasized. Evanston Township High School in Evanston, Illinois, adopted the Oregon NOW model its revised 2017/18 dress code policy. According to the school, the new dress code was created to support "our goal of inspiring our students to learn while leaving primary decisions around student clothing and style to students and their parent(s)/Guardian(s)."261
The current socialization of gender trends within our schools assures students are made aware that girls are unequal to boys. Every time students are seated or lined up by sex category, teachers are affirming that girls and boys should be treated differently. When an administrator ignores an act of sexual harassment, they are allowing the degradation of that pupil. When different behaviors are tolerated for boys than for girls because “boys will be boys,” schools are perpetuating the oppression of females and reinforcing unwanted behavior in male students. We can ensure girls and boys are not socialized in ways that work against gender equity by emphasize attitudes and values that promote gender equality and removing gender-based stereotypes that contribute towards perpetuating gender inequalities. In the United States, the Second Step program emphasizes the importance of social emotional learning in schools and teaches skills such as communication, coping and decision-making with the objective to help young people navigate peer pressure, substance abuse and in person and online bullying and has been suggested as a possible teaching and learning strategy for addressing or preventing school-related gender-based violence.262
What happens when we grade all students "the same"? As discussed earlier, gender stereotypes affect grades in school, i.e.: gender stereotypes are negatively affecting girls’ math grades and positively affecting boys’.263 "The long-term effects are amplified by socioeconomic factors and family structure—girls from families where fathers were better educated than mothers and who are from lower socioeconomic communities were the most negatively affected."264 Studies have suggested similar implicit biases in delivery of instruction have unconsciously undermined boys’ interest in the arts and language, enabling gender gaps interest and formal study in these areas. What can we do? We have to grade, right? Enter "ungrading"! Ungrading is a newer, modern take on assessment in the classroom. Ungrading does not mean "not grading"; rather, this term described a pedagogical approach which emphasizes thoughtful feedback and resubmission over than traditional (and unfair) "marks" meant to symbolize students' understanding of material. Ungrading can also relive some of the vulnerability for implicit biases to seep into the grading process and to engage student work rather than evaluate it. While ungrading is gaining some momentum on college campuses, many of its credited pioneers are in k-12 education, and much of its movement was rooted in a deep dissatisfaction of the status quo and gaps in achievement.
“Until educational sexism is eradicated, more than half our children will be shortchanged and their gifts lost to society.”265
259 U.S. Department of Education. 2022 Agency Equity Plan related to Executive Order 13985. https://www2.ed.gov/documents/equity...quity-plan.pdf
260 McCombs, E. (2017). Sexist School Dress Codes Are A Problem, And Oregon May Have The Answer. Huffington post. Sep 6, 2017
261 McCombs, E. (2017). Sexist School Dress Codes Are A Problem, And Oregon May Have The Answer. Huffington post. Sep 6, 2017
262 UNESCO and UN Women (2016). Global guidance on addressing school-related gender-based violence (PDF). https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/4822...0000246651_eng
263 Victor Lavy & Edith Sand, 2018. "On the origins of gender gaps in human capital: Short- and long-term consequences of teachers' biases," Journal of Public Economics, vol 167, pages 263-279.
264 Chemaly, S. (2015). All Teachers Should Be Trained To Overcome Their Hidden Biases. Time Magazine.
265 Sadker, D., Sadker, M. (1994) Failing at Fairness: How Our Schools Cheat Girls. Toronto, ON: Simon & Schuster Inc.
