Diversifying the Classroom: Masculinity and Intersectionality in (Teacher) Education: A Review of Literature

Abstract

While much has been written about the gender and demographic divide in the U.S. between the population of students and their teachers, complex gendered, cultural, and socioeconomic forces appear to be widening it. In an effort to reveal the many ways that teacher education programs can attract and retain a more diverse body of candidates, this literature review lays out a general overview of masculinity’s work as it pertains to the socialization of boys and young men in K-12 schools; it examines the influence of gendered, racial, and socio-economic assumptions on both teachers and learners; it looks at the experience of men from a variety of backgrounds in teacher education programs and the obstacles to their attraction and retention; and it looks at what the research says about how teacher education programs can be adapted to better account for the intersection of racial, gendered, and socioeconomic identities. Ultimately, the literature suggests work to be done to disrupt gendered, racial, and cultural assumptions about teacher identity that lead to blind spots in teacher education in hopes of better understanding the sources of and finally bridging the gender and demographic divide.