Promoting Gender Diversity
By Emma Jayne Morgan
This is an important factor to consider in our settings. Research has suggested that gender roles are not
inherent but instead imposed at home and in settings. Unfortunately, some children, and later adults, can
find these gender expectations restrictive and even damaging to their development and well-being.
Therefore, as early years practitioners we need to ensure we are actively working on providing gender
neutral language and opportunities to children. This is often done by avoiding stereotyping gender in the
language we use, planning activities in mixed groups and not grouped by gender and not using gender
when describing jobs or activities. An important aspect of this is to reflect on our own attitudes so that we
are aware where our weaknesses are to combat them in the classroom. This is nothing to be ashamed of as
everyone will have their own gender stereotypes that have been imposed on them from birth. As long as
we are actively combatting these with the children under our care we are taking our responsibilities
seriously.
Another way to promote gender diversity is to consider our environment. We need to consider the
resources we are using and the way we set up the environment. We need to ensure that we don’t group
together activities which may have similar gender associations, for example a small world area which has
only trains and cars etc. or a role play area which has only dolls and kitchens. Classroom management can
also pose an issue in this type of situation as, if children are not allowed to mix items from different areas,
this divide can be strengthened. To combat this, we can think more actively when arranging the
environment to disrupt the feminine and masculine associations, moving activity stations around and
mixing different resources together to encourage children to play with a variety of resources, regardless of
gender associations. Think about your setting, have you noticed that certain genders prefer certain areas of
the classroom? If so, why do you think this is and how could you reorganise the environment to
encourage both genders to participate in these areas? Are gender stereotyped toys grouped together and
if so can these be moved around? If possible, we can also introduce new resources which encourage
children to explore different areas of play such as gender-neutral costumes in the role play area.
This is just one part of continuous reflection of our practice to ensure we are providing children with the
best opportunities in their early years.