Perspectives From Social and Feminist Psychology

Abstract

dents. Rather, they learned to become sensitive to the problem solving of the individual child and to respect the individual strategies used. One explanation of the findings is, in the absence of fixed teaching methods and with a focus on the individual, teachers' gender stereotypes were activated. Social psychologists' research shows that perceivers often swiftly and unconsciously categorize an individual, frequently on the basis of gender (Fiske & Neuberg, 1990). Once the individual is categorized, the beliefs and expectations about the category are activated (Hamilton & Sherman, 1994; Hamilton & Trolier, 1986). The teacher's interactions with the individual student may therefore be influenced by stereotypes, and teachers-perhaps quite unconsciously-may encourage boys to be inventive and girls to use standard algorithms. This might follow from stereotypes that girls are compliant and therefore can be counted on to follow standard algorithms to get to the answer. Our argument, then, is that two processes are involved: (a) teachers hold gender stereotypes (e.g., girls are compliant, boys are resistant to rules), and (b) these stereotypes are activated (albeit not consciously) when teachers interact with students. Regarding the first process, a study of Israeli elementary school teachers found that boys were more likely to be regarded as the best students in mathematics and as possessing high academic potential (BenTsvi-Mayer, Hertz-Lazarowitz, & Safir, 1989). At the same time, boys were also regarded as causing an overwhelming number of discipline problems. In a U.S. study, Grieb and Easley (1984) found that teachers allowed boys (especially White middleclass boys) to exert independence by not using algorithms. Their rebellious, invented strategies were seen as a sign of a promising future in mathematics. Teachers controlled girls more than boys and for girls, imposed mathematics as a set of rules or computational methods. In brief, then, our argument is that this program, precisely because of its less rigid nature, may have allowed teachers' gender stereotypes to be activated more than traditional instructional methods do. Unintentionally, the instructional method, then, essentially created the gender differences. Before we conclude that girls think differently about math, it is crucial that such classrooms be observed with attention to gender dynamics.