Gender-Differentiated Behaviour Traits of Elementary School Pupils in Identical Visual Arts Learning Situations

Alain Savoie,Sylvie St-Pierre

doi:10.4236/ce.2012.37179

Abstract

This exploratory qualitative research project comparatively observes the conduct of girls and boys—in their third year of elementary school—divided in same-gender dyads, participating successively in an identical visual arts project in Canada. Our goal is to improve knowledge of the differences and similarities between boys and girls in a learning situation and help to devise gender-differentiated teaching strategies in the visual arts, a curricular subject for which boys typically show limited interest. We categorize the behaviour patterns of our research subjects according to a behavioural indicators table we designed after reviewing literature on female/male brain, personality types, gender and gender role. We observe notable gender differences in behaviour among the pupils, with “male indicators” overwhelming identified in the boys and, surprisingly, in one girl, while the “female indicators” are clearly dominant in the other girls.

Highlights

Our exploratory research study aims to identify and describe some cognitive, psychological and socio-cultural characteristics of boys and girls in a visual arts learning situation
For our qualitative study, we reviewed the scientific literature on gender, gender role, male/female brain and personality types— including cognitive, psychological and socio-cultural characteristics most frequently overlapping in research studies—in order to draw up our own behaviour indicators analysis table
Items are rated on a masculine, feminine, and non-gender-related scale, implying that individuals perceive themselves along a continuum of sexual roles

Summary

Introduction

Our exploratory research study aims to identify and describe some cognitive, psychological and socio-cultural characteristics of boys and girls in a visual arts learning situation. For our qualitative study, we reviewed the scientific literature on gender, gender role, male/female brain and personality types— including cognitive, psychological and socio-cultural characteristics most frequently overlapping in research studies—in order to draw up our own behaviour indicators analysis table. Note that all these studies place gender traits in a blended continuum rather than at completely opposite ends of a spectrum (Figure 1). According to Bem, a person identifying highly as well as with masculine and feminine characteristics is linked to the psychological androgyny classification Another self-reported perceptions test is the Personal Attributes Questionnaire (PAQ) by Spence, Helmreich and Stapp. As Bem does, the authors identify characteristics associated with an high level of both (psychological androgyny) or neither of them (unclassifiable) (Helmreich, Spence, & Holahan, 1979)

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