“Women have a wider embrace“: principals’ gendered perspective on teachers in elementary schools

Töluvert hefur verið fjallað um kvenvæðingu kennarastarfsins og hvort hún skipti máli fyrir starfsemi skóla. Þetta vakti áhuga okkar á sýn skólastjórnenda á kyngervi og því hvernig þeir telja að það móti hlutverk, starfsumhverfi og væntingar til kennara. Fræðilegt sjónarhorn þessarar rannsóknar er feminískur póststrúktúralismi en gögnin sem voru þemagreind samanstanda af átta hálfopnum viðtölum við grunnskólastjóra á höfuðborgarsvæðinu. Niðurstöður benda til þess að þó að skólastjórar líti svo á að kyngervi sé félagslega mótað lýsi þeir kvenkennurum út frá hefðbundnum kvenleikahugmyndum sem samviskusömum, skipulögðum og umhyggjusömum starfsmönnum og að það leiði til aukins álags á þær. Karlkennarar þykja kærulausari en betri í að halda uppi aga. Viðmælendur telja að kennarastarfið sem kvennastarf sé lítils metið, og það birtist í lágum launum en einnig því að starfið, sem öðrum þræði er skilgreint sem kvenlegt uppeldisstarf, sé ekki „í tísku“. Niðurstöður vekja áleitnar spurningar um það hvernig kynjaðar hugmyndir viðhalda valdaskipan þar sem kennarastarfið og konur sem sinna því eru undirskipaðar körlum. Við teljum að til að efla kennarastarfið og auka nýliðun þurfi að takast á við það kynjaða hugmyndakerfi sem starfið er skilgreint út frá.The feminisation of the teaching profession has been widely discussed both in Iceland and internationally. In 2017 women comprised 82% of teachers in compulsory schools in Iceland (Hagstofa Íslands, 2018); in the time period between 1909–1945, however, women accounted for only 35–46% of graduates from the Teachers’ Training College in Iceland (Loftur Guttormsson, 2008). The lack of male teachers in elementary schools has raised considerable concern and questions about its effect on the schools in general. The fact that the lion’s share of teachers is female gives the impression that teaching is a job for women. Principals have a number of responsibilities. They govern the school, which involves providing professional leadership in terms of management of the school and its curriculum. They have the responsibility to ensure the education and well-being of students. Furthermore, this work has to be conducted within the remit of the law and regulations that apply to elementary schools. Results from a research conducted by Guðný S. Guðbjörnsdóttir and Steinunn Helga Lárusdóttir (2017), indicate that principals want to work with issues relating to gender and diversity. However, the authors express their concern about the lack of knowledge principals portray in relation to gender issues. The aim of this research was to explore principals’ ideas about the qualities and work environment of elementary school teachers and how these ideas are informed by gender. The theoretical perspective is feminist poststructuralism and we work from the presumption that gender is rooted in sociological and cultural ideas. This can be manifested in gendered constructions of the teaching profession and qualities of teachers but also in how teachers’ performances of masculinity and femininity are enabled and valued. The data consisted of eight semi-structured interviews with principals (four men and four women). All of them had worked as administrators within the compulsory school system for at least five years. The interviews focused on what qualities the principals considered to characterise male and female teachers work and whether they felt gender was of importance for teachers’ relation to students and contribution to the workplace. The data was analysed using thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2013). The three main themes we developed were: (1) the feminisation of the teaching profession prevents students from having appropriate role models; (2) teachers’ qualities and tasks assigned to teachers are informed by traditional binary gender ideas; and (3) the perception of teaching as a low paying job for women prevents men from entering the profession. The participants outlined how their understanding of gender had changed during their time as principals and how they saw gender as socially and culturally constructed. However, as the interviews progressed it became clear that the principals had well-defined opinions as to which attributes they felt female teachers possessed and how they differed from those of male teachers. Women teachers were described as more caring and dutiful and this linked with constructions of motherhood. Thus, there was a tendency to load women with more responsibilities than men. The principals agreed that more male teachers were needed within the compulsory school but provided different reasons. Some reasoned that boys need appropriate role models; that is, exposure to masculinity, but others pointed out that the school staff should reflect the diverseness of society. The principals argued that attitudes towards the teaching profession needed to be changed. In this regard, they pointed out how the job is perceived to be low paid women’s work and considered to require performance of care seen to have a natural fit with feminine qualities. We argue that this research sheds light on how gender shapes ideas about the teaching profession and maintains gendered relations of power that can have a negative impact, especially on women’s work environment.Peer Reviewe