Gender Equality in Teacher Training

 Suggested Citation: Sunil, A. (2021, May 31). Gender Equality in Teacher Training. Queer Academia. URL

Gender Equality in Teacher Training | Aishwarya Sunil

UNICEF defines gender equality as “equal rights and opportunities for girls and boys to help all children fulfill their potential.” This definition concerns itself with bridging the gap between only two genders. It fails to include individuals whose identity lies outside of the gender dichotomy. Such exclusionary mode of thinking is also reflected in policies formulated by the government such as the National Education Policy released in 2020. The NEP mentioned that it will consider "full equity and inclusion" as the bedrock of education-related decisions but it aims to do so by providing "equitable quality education for girls as well as transgender students”. The document makes no mention of lesbian, gay, bisexual, or any of the other members of the queer community. It continues to look at gender in terms of binaries rather than seeing it as a spectrum. The implementation of comprehensive sex education has also been entirely ignored by the NEP (Sharma & Babbar, 2020). Such policies reflect the larger thought process of society which continues to see the world from a hetero/cisnormative lens and fails to acknowledge the diversity that exists in the society. This mode of thinking alienates the LGBTQ+ community and further adds to their marginalization. 

The official definition of the term ‘gender identity’ has progressed beyond the binaries of male and female. However, the same has not been afforded to the term ‘gender equality. Though it has been largely understood that there is a need for gender equality in the educational curriculum, the term “gender equality” continues to stand for the equality of only two genders and excludes all other diverse gender identities that do not fit this polarised worldview. This lack of acknowledgment of broad gender identities has not only prevented the implementation of an inclusive education curriculum but has also hindered true gender-sensitive teaching in educational environments. In 2017, a paper titled Transphobia and Cisgender Privilege: Pre-Service Teachers Recognizing and Challenging Gender Rigidity in Schools was published addressing the gender binary and gender surveillance in the school curriculum as heteronormativity. The paper traced the experiences of teachers who faced instances of gender suppression, homophobia and transphobia within a school setting. It concluded that until gender and sexuality-inclusive policies are thoroughly studied and implemented within school environments, it will be impossible for LGBTQ+ youth to participate in education. Though the paper is geographically limited since it only discusses the experiences of a North American schooling system, the demands of a gender-inclusive classroom remain the same across the world. (pg.22, Kearns, Mitton-Kükner and Joanne Tompkins, 2017). 

Schools are one of the most important institutions through which a child learns about gender and sexuality. But they often become the places where seeds of homophobia and transphobia are sown into young impressionable minds. In an interview conducted for the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) report 2019, a transgender man reported that “It [studying] became hard for me because everyone made fun of me, they didn’t sit with me, and they didn’t even touch me as if I had some disease. The teachers also sometimes made me sit separately. I felt troubled both at home and in school, so I decided to stop school.” Another transgender man said, “I was humiliated, scolded, and punished by the teachers – I was made to stand on the bench, thrown out of class and interrogated about my gender expression. They would ask me to wear the girls’ uniform and also slap me and cane me for not following the dress code. After puberty things became very difficult. My dysphoria became very strong and I couldn’t focus on my studies. I started failing subjects and had depression.” These are only a few of the incidents of exclusion and abuse faced by transgender individuals in India. The alarming The thing about these instances is that often the perpetrators of abuse are the teachers. The sole reason for this is the deep-rooted homophobia and transphobia that exists in the teacher’s minds which they further instil into their students. The only way to combat such behaviour is by educating teachers about the different gender identities and sexual orientations, and training them to treat all children respectfully. 

Education is a means to empower the citizens of the world with knowledge. It is the way to develop young minds intellectually and socially. The main aim of education is to create an equitable society that is free of any kind of discrimination. Therefore, it is essential that education is inclusive of different genders and sexualities, and the teachers are well trained to teach diverse students in a safe and inclusive learning environment. Along with reforms in teacher training it is also required to reform the larger understanding of gender disparity and inequality within society. Such change can only be brought about with the reformation of the traditional understanding of gender, gender roles and sexuality. Educators need to be taught the notions of gender in a modern and realistic sense of the term. The challenges that multiple gender identities face in a school environment must be studied to develop effective solutions to combat the same. This implies that sensitivity towards gender identities, the freedom to explore one’s own gender identity and a fulfilled education for all gender expressions lie in the hands of an inclusive syllabus, accepting teachers and a gender-sensitive and gender accommodating school environment.

References

Gender equality. UNICEF. (n.d.). https://www.unicef.org/gender-equality. 

International Commission of Jurists. (2019, June). Living with Dignity- Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity-based Human Rights Violations in Housing, Work, and Public Spaces in India.https://www.icj.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/India-Living-with-dignity-Publications-Reports-thematic-report-2019-ENG.pdf. 

Kearns, L., Mitton-Kükner, J., & Tompkins, J. (2017). Transphobia and Cisgender Privilege: Pre-Service Teachers Recognizing and Challenging Gender Rigidity in Schools. Canadian Journal of Education / Revue Canadienne De L'éducation, 40(1), 1-27. Retrieved May 20, 2021, from https://www.jstor.org/stable/90002337

Sharma, S., & Babbar, K. (2020, August 16). If NEP 2020 Wants Gender Inclusion, Why Is It Ghosting LGBTQIA+? TheQuint. https://www.thequint.com/news/education/if-nep-2020-wants-gender-inclusion-why-is-it-ghosting-lgbtqia#read-more.  

Written by: Aishwarya Sunil

Edited by: Aashi Singh

Reviewed by: Mohit Dudeja, Kanav Sahgal

About the Author: Aishwarya is a student at St. Josephs College currently pursuing English, Journalism, and Psychology. She spends a lot of time reading and discussing queer literature mostly fiction. Her caffeine addiction is bordering on debilitating. She loses most of her time to sitcoms.