Inscne sna Luath Bhlianta

1. InscnesnaLuathBhlianta Gender in the Early Years Dr. Maura Cunneen, 5/10/12

2. “ … sex refers to physical differences of the body,  gender concerns the psychological, social and cultural differences between males and females”.  Giddens (1994, p.162)

3. Inscne sna Luath Bhlianta “Children create gendermaps based on the many and varied contexts that they experience in their lives” (Lowe, 1998, p.208)

4. Inscne sna Luath Bhlianta Frisch (1977), Ricks (1985), Karrakeret al (1995): Baby girls are described as “quiet” and “cuddly”, while baby boys are described as “big” and “strong”. Martin et al (2002): At Six months: Babies can differentiate between the voices of men and women, while six month old boys can discriminate between the faces of males and females by hairstyle. At Nine months: Babies have been shown to have the ability to correlate objects in their homes with male and female faces. At Eighteen months: Toddlers have begun to associate the colour blue with boys and begin distinguishing between images of themselves and other children of the same sex and age.

5. Inscne sna Luath Bhlianta O’Brien (1992): Between the ages of eighteen to twenty-four months, children begin to exhibit preferences for sex appropriate toys, such as dolls for girls and trucks for boys, which is some months earlier than their ability to label their own gender consistently. Fagot (1978a): Boys were criticised more often for wanting to play with traditional “girls” toys than were girls in the opposite situation. Males were criticised for playing with dolls, even as toddlers.

6. Inscne sna Luath Bhlianta By the age of 2 to 2½ years: It is possible for children to label themselves as female or male. This categorisation of people and objects into groups, results in their making clear distinctions between boys and girls. Ruble and Martin (1998): Boysdraw such distinctions more strongly than girls. Gelmanet al (2004): Young children make very clear distinctions between girls and boys, treating them as opposites, thus single sex groups become features of many pre-school and Infant class settings

7. Inscne sna Luath Bhlianta (Warin, 1995; Boldt, 1996): Boys, rather than girls, are more stereotyped in their views on gender-appropriate behaviour and dress and are more likely to form and maintain single-sex peer groupings. Woodward (2003): Children, new to nursery school, frantically searched for clues as to how they should behave. Davies (1989): Such newcomers look to their peers to ascertain what “proper” girls and boys do in particular situations.

8. Inscne sna Luath Bhlianta Kindergarten is a triumph of self-stereotyping. No amount of adult subterfuge or propaganda deflects the five-year-old’s passion for segregation by sex. They think they have invented the differences between boys and girls, and, as with any new invention, must prove that it works.   (Paley, 1984, pix)

9. Inscne sna Luath Bhlianta Girls’ Play (Power, 2000) Boys’ Play (Power, 2000) • Girls play more often with domestic toys (tea sets, dollhouses). • In the creative sphere, girls play more with arts and crafts materials. • In pretend play, girls engage in domestic play. • Girls are more involved in dance and social activities such as skipping. • Boys play more with mechanical toys (trucks, cars, Lego). • In the creative sphere, boys play more with construction materials. • In pretend play, boys play more with war and fantasy toys. • Boys engage more in rough-and-tumble play, play ball and team sports.

10. Inscne sna Luath Bhlianta Carlsson-Paige & Levin (1990): Toys for boys seem to direct them toward dominant roles, while toys for girls encourage passivity and dependence. (Liss, 1983; Miller, 1987): Children’s play activities and choice of toy may have important consequences. Boys’ toys and play may stimulate the development of problem-solving skills, creativity and visual-spatial abilities more so than those of girls.

11. Inscne sna Luath Bhlianta Fagot et al (1985); In a creche setting, differential treatment of children as young as 13 and 14 months of age was displayed when their behaviour consisted of pushing or grabbing toys. The adults responded verbally to girls while removing boys to another activity. A year later, these children, now among different adults, displayed marked differences in their behaviours: boys were more physical with other children while girls were interacting verbally with adults.

12. Inscne sna Luath Bhlianta Maccoby and Jacklin (1974); Fennemaet al (1980); Becker (1981); Stake and Katz (1982)); Gore and Roumagoux (1983); Putnam & Self (1988); Serbinet al (1984); Robinson (1992): From the beginning in pre-school, educators give boys more attention, and a different form of attention, from that which girls receive. Such differential attention includes: asking boys more questions, giving them more individual attention, praise, encouragement, opportunities to answer questions correctly and social interaction.   Educator modellingand presence are extremely powerful indicators in determining children’s choice of activity.

13. Inscne sna Luath Bhlianta Browne (2004): Early years educators tend to describe boys and girls in binary terms, boys are perceived as being “boisterous” and “physical” while girls are “attentive” and “eager to please”. (Eiszler, 1982; Whyte, 1983). Girls are more responsive to feedback from adults and peers of either sex, while boys are much less responsive or adult-orientated. Boys appear to lack interest in girls’ activities and ignore feedback from them. Further, girls tend to seek the approval and assistance of adults more so than boys.

14. Inscne sna Luath Bhlianta Howe (1997): Boys talk more than girls to their peers and, by age four, they already display “leadership” qualities in speech and play. When boys interact with boys, they argue, control and use physical force more frequently than they do when interacting with girls. Girls aged two to five years seek adults’ help with jigsaw puzzles, despite having no greater difficulties completing this task than do boys. When girls interact with girls, they are more polite, passive and collaborative than when interacting with boys. Single-sex groups are a feature of many Pre-schools.

15. Inscne sna Luath Bhlianta Girls’ Attributes Boys’ Attributes Quieter Eager to please Easy to manage More independent than boys More industrious (in school setting) Need to get things right Do not need to impress other girls Neat (in their school work) More competent than boys Better concentration than boys Linguistically more developed than boys. Loud Aggressive Physical, e.g. fight, prefer sports Demand more attention Longer to settle in school situation More fun Need to impress other boys Easily distracted Vulnerable (at pre-school level) Lack concentration Need assistance with language and communication skills.

16. Inscne sna Luath Bhlianta

18. Inscne sna Luath Bhlianta Some of these differences reflect a bias toward expecting expecting males to be agentic - to be active decision makers and achievers - and expecting girls to be nurturant, submissive and interpersonally sensitive to others. What is needed is a rethinking of the best wishes for human actualization of both sexes. Adults need to do more to help both sexes toward achievement and toward tenderness. Honig (1983, p.68)