In 2006, educators at St. Francis School in Austin, Tex., teamed up with researchers from the Gender and Racial Attitudes Lab at the University of Texas at Austin to examine ways to counteract gender bullying among young children.
The project team tested a traditional multicultural technique — using literature to challenge gender stereotypes — against a more experimental one — teaching students catchphrases to interrupt gender bullying. The latter approach produced far greater effects on students' attitudes and significantly increased their willingness to take a stand against gender bullying.
This curriculum presents six lesson plans from the St. Francis study. Each addresses a particular form of gender bullying:
1. Exclusion from peer interaction (e.g., "Girls can't play.")
2. Exclusion from particular roles (e.g., "Girls have to be the nurses.")
3. Teasing about cross sex-typed activities, traits, or possessions (e.g., "You have a girls' lunch box," directed at a boy.)
4. Biased judgments (e.g. "Boys are better at math than girls.")
5. Sex-typed beliefs (e.g. "Only boys can fix cars.")
6. Highlighting of gender (e.g., "Boys sit over here and girls sit over there.")
The lessons are sequenced to introduce the problem, teach students a catchphrase response and then practice using the response.
This curriculum is published in partnership with the Gender and Racial Attitudes Lab and was written by Lindsay Lamb (University of Texas at Austin), Rebecca Bigler (University of Texas at Austin), Lynn Liben (The Pennsylvania State University) and Vanessa Green (The University of Tasmania). Illustration by Eili-Kaija Kuusniemi |
