Literature That Breaks Gender Stereotypes in a Primary Classroom

How can literature that breaks gender stereotypes impact attitudes, interests, and interaction in a primary classroom? This action research was conducted in the researcher’s classroom with 16 first grade participants. The researcher observed participants’ disengagement towards literature that is traditionally stereotyped towards the opposite gender. This research was done to further understand how literature that breaks gender stereotypes can impact participants’ attitudes and interests towards traditional gender stereotypes with occupations, toys, colors, interaction, sports, and literature. A focus group of participants were exposed to several storybooks that broke gender stereotypes over the course of four weeks. Data collected suggests that the literature intervention impacted participants’ attitudes and beliefs of traditional gender stereotypes. The results suggested that the intervention did not impact participants’ interaction with literature, however, the results did suggest the intervention impacted participants’ attitudes and beliefs about literature