Teaching English and (Un)Learning Gender: How Sixth-Graders and Their Teacher Perform and Perceive Gender Dynamics in Classroom Interaction

Författare

Astrid Carlekranz Hofvendahl

Summary, in English

This paper investigates gender dynamics within a sixth-grade English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classroom (approximately 12-year-old students) in Sweden, focusing on how gender is performed and perceived by students and their teacher during classroom interactions. Grounded in the compulsory school curriculum’s mandate to actively promote and embody gender equality, and addressing the scarcity of contemporary research on sixth-grade EFL contexts, the study employs structured classroom observations in one class (N = 28; 64.3% boys, 35.7% girls), supplemented by follow-up interviews with the teacher and one student. Observations focused on gender distribution in teacher-initiated interactions (public questioning and private assistance)and student-initiated interactions (public participation and private help-seeking). Interviews explored participants’ perceptions of these interaction patterns, and the practice-perception alignment was then assessed.

Observational data revealed that overall teacher attention and student participation closely matched class enrollment ratios, however, context-specific skews appeared. Girls exceeded their numerical share in public contributions, whereas boys slightly dominated private help-seeking and received most unsolicited support. Interviews generally corroborated these findings, although slight perceptual discrepancies emerged, with both interviewees underestimating girls’ public assertiveness. While these findings indicate progress away from historically documented patterns of male classroom dominance, particularly within whole-class interactions, and consequently strides toward gender equality within Swedish EFL education, gendered differences in interaction types and perceptual biases underscore the necessity for continuous normative reflection and conscious gender-inclusive pedagogical practice.

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