[[alternative]]A qualitative exploration on the development、contents and states of gender consciousness of different generations: Interviewing with four elementary school teachers

[[abstract]]The purpose of this study was to explore the development、contents and states of gender consciousness of elementary school teachers belonged to different generations. This study employed the concept of historical generation to divide teachers into two different generations. The lifting of martial law in 1987 was set to be the dividing point because Taiwan’s society was believed to change enormously after the year. Teachers who grew up in martial law years and have been teaching in elementary schools over 15 years are considered senior generation. Those who grew up after martial law years and teach at the elementary level within 5 years are assumed young generation. Data was collected through qualitative in-depth interviews with four teachers: two belonged to the senior generation, and the others young generation. Each generation includes one male and one female teacher. Major findings of this study are as follows: 1. The gender experiences of patriarchy and heterosexuality affected teachers’ gender consciousness development. 2. Female teachers’ family cultivation was influenced virtually by the change of society in gender equity atmosphere. 3. Generation differences are found in female teachers in terms of their responses to affection from the same-sex people. 4. Different generation teachers received gender messages through different kinds of mass media. 5. The different courses of generations led to different opportunities for teachers to experience specific gender events. 6. The contents and states of gender consciousness appear consistency in gender dimension, despite the different generations. 7. Buddhism affects different generation female teachers’ gender consciousness development、contents and states. 8. Different generation teachers all show resistance to feminist discourses. This study then concluded that using the end year of martial law as the dividing point of gender consciousness of different generations is somehow meaningful. However, due to the different gender structural positions in the patriarchy system, the meaningfulness of employing the dividing point of generation regarding gender consciousness was reduced. Besides, the generation differences did appear in female teachers’ family cultivation and the impressions and practice of gender stereotype. Finally, the development of teachers’ gender equity consciousness is related to personal traits and the effect of generation was not very clear.