Gender Consciousness And Privilege

*How educators can organize work to create environments that are fair to both genders
*Explores assumptions about gender and male privilege that are often embedded in culture, curriculum, behavior and environment
Develops a new framework for working in schools that helps educators make informed decisions about change at individual, classroom, curricular and school levels on behalf of gender equity. Addresses the issue of understanding the impact of education on the two sexes, and looks at responsibility for creating gender-fair environments, organizing work and creating environment for learning. The book draws on a two-year study into the role that gender played as three Catholic high schools prepared to move from single sex to coeducation. It does not weigh the advantages of single sex against coeducative approaches, but studies gender in a setting where the participants' consciousness of gender issues was heightened: faculty and administration were formally and informally discussing gender concepts and students were talking about male and female issues. The book shows that the combination of leadership, staff and curricular awareness, and an understanding of gender fair and gender affirmative practices can serve to improve institutional effectiveness and lead to higher levels of student achievement.