How is education on gender equality implemented in schools?: a study of the attitudes, knowledge and interests of school leaders in pre-, primary and upper secondary schools.

Hér er greint frá niðurstöðum spurningakönnunar á viðhorfum, þekkingu og áhuga skólastjóra í leik-, grunn-, og framhaldsskólum á kynjajafnrétti og fræðslu á því sviði. Sambærileg rannsókn meðal skólastjóra hefur ekki verið gerð. Spurningalisti var sendur rafrænt til allra skólastjóra leikskóla (n=78) og grunnskóla (n=43) í Reykjavík og til allra skólameistara (n=14) á höfuðborgarsvæðinu í janúar 2016. Svarhlutfall var 68%, eða 92 af þeim 135 sem svöruðu, en allmargir slepptu mörgum spurningum, m.a. bakgrunnsspurningum. Fimmtíu og níu þátttakendur svöruðu til um kyn. Af þeim voru 14 karlar og 45 konur. Fram kom mikill áhugi eða ákall mikils meirihluta skólastjóranna sem svara (86%) um aukna kynjajafnréttisfræðslu inn í skólana, fyrir nemendur, kennara og stjórnendur. Rúmlega helmingur skólastjóranna aðhyllist almennt það sjónarmið að það sé munur á kynjunum sem námsmönnum. Flestir telja muninn menningarbundinn en minni hópur (12%) telur að um eðlismun sé að ræða. Niðurstöðurnar sýna að tekið er á jafnréttismálum á ýmsan hátt í skólunum, að mati skólastjóra, bæði meðal nemenda og kennara. Flestir skólastjóranna nefna að algengast sé að fjalla um jafnréttismál í lífsleiknikennslu og samfélagsgreinum en einnig í samverustundum og daglegu samtali við nemendur. Af svörum skólastjóranna verður þó lítið ráðið um það hvert umfang þessara aðgerða er eða hversu markvissar þær eru enda telja þeir sjálfir að margt megi bæta á þessu sviði. Höfundar telja að þótt þekking skólastjóra á kynjafræðilegum grunnhugtökum sé að sumu leyti góð, þá sé ástæða til að óttast að hún sé ekki nægjanleg til að hreyfa við staðalmyndum kynjanna. Hverjar sem ástæðurnar eru er ljóst að skólastjórar á öllum skólastigum eru mjög áhugasamir um að fá fræðslu um kynjajafnrétti inn í skólana, með áherslu á að breyta hefðbundnum staðalmyndum og vinna gegn kynferðislegri áreitni, m.a. á samfélagsmiðlum. Mikilvægt er að fylgja þeim áhuga eftir.This article reports on a research project by The Centre for Research on Equality, Gender and Education, at the University of Iceland, examining the attitudes, knowledge and interests of principals at three school levels concerning gender equality. Since 2008 equality issues have, by law, been a new subject of study in primary schools, and an optional subject in upper secondary schools. Moreover, since 2011 equality has been one of six pillars of education in the national curriculum guide for all school levels. This study is the third part of the Centre´s research investigating practices and resistances towards gender equality in teacher education and in schools. This study is among the first focusing on school leaders and gender equality issues in Iceland and possibly worldwide. The aim of this research was to investigate how gender issues are being dealt with in schools, as described by school leaders and to learn about their attitudes, knowledge and interest, regarding gender equality issues. An online questionnaire was sent to all leaders of pre-schools (N=78) and primary schools (N=43) in Reykjavik, Iceland and to all school leaders of upper secondary schools in the Reykjavik metropolitan area (N=14). The formal response rate was 68%, or 92 of 135 responded, but many questions were not answered including background questions which made detailed analysis difficult. The findings suggest that gender equality is being dealt with in various ways in schools according to the school leaders, both among teachers and pupils. Equality weeks, equality days or formal equality plans are mentioned as well as lectures and developmental projects. Equality issues are not a special subject yet in primary schools, but are integrated into other subjects. It is, however, not clear how effective these measures are. Research suggests that while little is done in this field, other issues related to neo-liberalism are prioritized. Findings on attitudes to gender differences in students’ interests and choices indicate that slightly more than half of the school leaders believe such gender differences exist, but only a small group of school leaders (12%) endorse essentialism. The remainder endorse social constructivism, which is in agreement with their hope and belief that change is possible. Fortunately the essentialists are a much smaller group than we found in earlier research among teacher education students (50%). Nevertheless, the gender issues these two groups see as most important are the same; that is, changing gender stereotypes, fighting gender violence, and gender related bullying or harassment on social media. Even if the principals believe they have sound knowledge of some gender related concepts like equality (100%) and masculinity (93%), there is reason to fear that their knowledge of other equality-related concepts is not good enough to change gender stereotypes. The concept gender is considered well known by 50% of those that answered, essentialism by 47%, and gender system by only 28%. The definitions given by the principals suggest that the proportion of those who know the concepts well is even lower. Moreover, among principals, findings show considerable interest in, or even insistence upon, increased education relating to gender issues in schools. In particular they are interested in changing gender stereotypes and responding to young people’s complaints about sexual harassment, especially in social media. Thee school leaders are interested in the use of a Nordic website on gender issues in education; 68% say they will use it monthly or more often and only 5% state that they are not interested. Despite avowed interest in increasing gender education in schools and changing traditional gender stereotypes, as well as demonstrating a formally acceptable response rate, school leaders received the questionnaire with reluctance, and did not show interest in focus group interviews. This gives rise to various questions: Are the school leaders possibly preoccupied with bureaucratic chores because of the impact of NPM (New Public Management) at the expense of the core activities of teaching and learning? Or is it conceivable that tasks, such as equality issues, are met with more resistance than others? We found no evidence that school leaders are ambivalent towards changing traditional gender roles, despite the inherent risks that students who oppose them might face harassment or mobbing by their peers. This is not surprising, giving the fact that the Icelandic society has been evaluated as number one on gender equality, for many recent years by the WEF. Whatever the reasons are for the reluctance to participate fully, it is obvious that school leaders at all school levels are very interested in receiving gender education with an emphasis on changing gender stereotypes and avoiding sexual harassment in their schools. It is important to follow up on the strong demand for more education on gender issues among school leaders at pre-, compulsory and upper secondary level. It is also important to explore the practices, resistance and attitudes of teachers concerning education on gender issues, in view of the findings of this study as well as the recent strong #metoo movement in Iceland as elsewhere.Peer Reviewe