‘You're not a teacher, you're a man’: the need for a greater focus on gender studies in teacher education

Abstract

If teachers are to play a positive educative role in addressing societal gender-related issues that impact on social justice and inclusiveness, teacher education institutions have to ensure that their graduating teachers are well equipped with the necessary understandings and skills to enact this role. This research draws on interviews with men primary school teachers in New Zealand, Sweden and the UK. It investigates their remembered experiences during teacher education relating to gender discourse and whether the education they received, if any, has influenced their classroom practices. Across the three countries, the men had varying levels of recall, ranging from comprehensive gender-related education to none whatsoever. In Sweden, a governmental emphasis on gender equality in society appeared to have influenced the teachers' attitudes and practices regardless of the amount of teacher education relating to gender that they remembered. The teachers' comments suggest that those of us engaged in teacher education need to address any apparent gaps in gender studies at pre-service level. Both men and women teacher education students require comprehensive gender studies if they are to recognise and realise their potential to deconstruct traditional stereotypes and contribute to social justice and inclusiveness.