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”Teaching Them to be
Upstanding Members
of Society is My Damn
Job!”:
Course:English for Subject Teachers 91-120, 15 credits
Writer: Marcus Lund
Supervisor: Jenny Malmqvist Examiner: Anette Svensson
Term:Spring 2020
An Interview Study about Working with Gender and
Novels in the English Classroom
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Abstract
“Teaching Them to be Upstanding Members of Society is My Damn Job!”: An Interview Study about Working with Gender and Novels in the English Classroom
By: Marcus Lund
This study aims to examine teachers’ experiences when working with novels to discuss gender related questions in their EFL-classrooms. The research questions this study aims to answer are which prerequisites and limitations affect teachers when working with novels and gender in the EFL-classroom and what are the benefits and negatives when working with novels and gender in the EFL-classroom. The data was gathered through seven semi-structured interviews with teachers from both upper- and lower secondary school. The theoretical approach that was used to analyse the answers received from the interviews were gender studies, with a focus on ‘overing’, and critical literacy.
The results from this study show that teachers have an interest in working with novels and gender related questions. The study also shows that there are both prerequisites and limitations that affect how teachers can work with gender and novels in their classroom, a few of the examples brought up in the results are: meeting resistance from the students in the classroom regarding these issues, which class sets of novels are available, the teacher’s personal interest in the subject, and if there is sufficient support to teach about novels and gender. Finally, it can be discerned that a teacher’s own commitment affects how much gender related questions are incorporated when working with novels.
Length of study: 26 pages
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Contents
1. Introduction ... 4
2. Aim ... 5
3. Background ... 5
3.1 Teaching Through Stereotypes and Masculinity ... 5
3.2 Raising Critical Awareness ... 6
3.3 Criteria When Selecting Novels and Thinking Critically ... 7
4. Method ... 8
4.1 Semi-Structured Interviews ... 8
4.2 The Principles of Research Ethics ... 9
4.3 Participants ... 9
4.4 Analysing the interviews... 9
5. Theoretical framework ... 11
5.1 Being over gender inequality ... 11
5.2 Critical Literacy ... 12
6. Result and Analysis... 13
6.1 Prerequisites and Limitations ... 14
6.2 Resistance in the classroom ... 16
6.3 Engage and Provoke ... 17
6.4 The Purpose of Working with Gender in the Classroom ... 18
7. Discussion ... 20
8. Conclusion ... 24
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1. Introduction
The importance of working with gender questions in school was elucidated during the fall of 2017 when the metoo1-movement #räckupphanden gathered testimonies from over 8 000 students in the upper secondary school that had been sexually harassed in school (Thorén, 2017, p.1). According to a report published by the Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention in 2017, young women in their upper teens are overrepresented among those who say they have been sexually harassed, specifically women between the ages of 16-24 (BRÅ, 2018, p.58). Thus, gender equality becomes an important topic to work with in school, and in EFL-classrooms. It also becomes important to discuss masculinity and how male students view gender equality. In 2017 the Government decided to revise the curricula to give schools clearer directives on how to work towards gender equality, regardless of students’ gender identities (Jällhage, 2017, p.1).
Furthermore, according to the school law chapter 1 §5, education should be based on foundational democratic values and human rights, such as the individual’s freedom and integrity, all humans’ equal rights, gender equality and solidarity between humans
(Riksdagen, 2010). Therefore, working with gender equality in the upper secondary school should be considered an important part of the teaching occupation. According to Skolverket (2020) such teaching can be both direct and indirect and the teacher should work actively to create an environment where all students, regardless of gender identity, receive equal education (2020a).
Moreover, Skolverket (2020) states that novels can offer different forms of realities and mirror the diversity among students (2020b). Discussing novels can also raise the students’ awareness regarding critical thinking (2020b). Additionally, it is stated in the curriculum for English that students in upper secondary school should be given the opportunity to “discuss and reflect on living conditions, social issues and cultural features” (Skolverket, 2019, p.2), thus, making gender studies a viable subject to incorporate into the EFL-classroom.
Therefore, for the purpose of raising awareness regarding gender equality in school, this study will be focusing on the experiences of English teachers in the upper secondary school when it comes to working with novels and gender questions.
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2. Aim
This study aims to examine EFL-teachers’ experiences of working with fictional texts that include a gender perspective in the EFL-classroom in order to discuss how this work can be related to the foundational values in the Swedish school system.
1. Which prerequisites and limitations affect teachers when working with gender and novels in the EFL-classroom in lower and upper secondary school?
2. What are the benefits and challenges of working with novels and gender in the EFL-classroom?
3. What is the effect of working with fictional texts that include a gender perspective in the EFL-classroom?
3. Background
This part of the study will examine previous research with regards to how novels can be used in the EFL-classroom to work with gender and masculinity, raising students’ critical
awareness and criteria for selecting novels to work with.
3.1 Teaching Through Stereotypes and Masculinity
Incorporating gender studies in the English classroom becomes relevant, especially when examining the curriculum for English in the upper secondary school, where it is stated: “[s]tudents should be given the opportunity to develop knowledge of living conditions, social issues and cultural features in different contexts and parts of the world where English is used” (Skolverket, 2019a, p.1). Therefore, novels could be a useful complement and starting point when discussing gender equality, as there is a plethora of novels that deal with societal issues and gender equality in different ways.
Furthermore, one of the issues that may arise when using gender studies in regard to teaching novels is, according to Rebecka J. Cook (2011), that “[i]ntegrating gender into classroom teaching is challenging in part because some students find it too abstract” (p. 507). Cook argues that one of the ways to move beyond the more abstract nature of gender studies is to use stereotypes in order to teach students about gender and how to analyse occurrences of gender stereotypes (p. 507). The reasoning behind teaching stereotypes is to allow the
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students to analyse and “understand their own biases, prejudices, and use of restrictive
stereotypes” (Cook, 2011, p. 507). Therefore, novels can be useful when working with gender stereotypes. One example of stereotypes to work with is machoism and the male norms a lot of male students feel that they need to adhere to. According to Fredrik Zimmerman (2018), these norms can create an ‘anti-studying culture’ among boys where it is considered ‘uncool’ or feminine to study or follow directions from the teachers (p. 26). This culture is something that can lead to male students struggling to pass different subjects in a larger quantity than female students (p. 23).
3.2 Raising Critical Awareness
When it comes to raising students’ critical awareness, Richard Beach et al (2016) argue that teaching is highly theoretical and what type of theories one subscribes to have powerful effects regarding what teachers do and how they do it (p. 4). Beach et al (2016) argue that teachers should adopt a critical inquiry approach to their teaching, meaning that they ask the question about what “constitutes a text – or “literature”” (p. 4). An essential part of the critical inquiry approach is to surface one’s own theories and beliefs when it comes to teaching novels, and how these beliefs and theories influence one’s teaching (p. 5). The authors also address the importance of teaching students how to infer symbolic and thematic meaning in novels. Instead of just addressing a surface level of meaning, students can instead learn how to interpret signs, language, behaviours, gestures and actions, thus giving them the chance to use their literary skills to deduce a deeper meaning in the text (p. 11). Another aspect of teaching novels is giving students the tools in order to view different texts through critical lenses (p. 12). By using critical lenses, students will learn how to discern different aspects of a novel (p. 13).
Norman Fairclough (2001) argues in Language and Power that language teaching in schools have been ignoring the most “decisive social functions” of language (p. 3). Fairclough
elaborates on this by arguing that the blame cannot be put solely on teachers, as the academic models for language that they are working from are also ignoring the same social functions (p. 3). This means, according to Fairclough (2001), that teachers are not putting enough emphasis on the importance of language and its power in regard to discussing topics relating to social issues, due to the academic models that they are working from (p. 3).
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3.3 Criteria When Selecting Novels and Thinking Critically
It is stated in the course goals for English 5-7 that students should learn about “[l]iterature and other fiction” (Skolverket, 2019, p. 3), where emphasis is put on older and contemporary novels in English 7 (Skolverket, 2019, p. 7). Hence, this section of the background will examine previous research, that focus on which novels to work with in the EFL-classroom. Svetlana Stefanova, Jelena Bobkina and Francisco Javier Perez (2017) state that the use of novels in the EFL-classrooms has seen a revival period in the last decades (p. 253). They also argue that one of the benefits of integrating novels into the EFL-classroom is that literary texts function as a stimulus for students to express their ideas and feelings in a non-native language, while also developing their critical thinking (p. 253). According to D.T
Willingham, as cited in Stefanova et al (2017), “one may teach students how to think, but without giving them the necessary background and knowledge, they will not be able to analyse the content properly” (p. 252). This shows that to develop their critical thinking, students need to be given the proper context of a fictional text, otherwise they lack the necessary knowledge that is required to analyse. However, Stefanova, et al (2017) argue that critical thinking is not given enough space in the EFL-classroom, and that the focus instead lies in vocabulary learning and linguistic structures (p. 253).
Furthermore, Sylvia Vardell, Nancy Hadaway and Terrell Young (2006) state that there are several different accessibilities that teachers should consider when selecting novels, and that some of these accessibilities include content, cultural and language accessibility. One of these accessibilities, the cultural, is about finding novels that can connect to the students’ cultural background (p. 736). One of the issues that may arise regarding cultural accessibility is that it can be difficult for teachers to find novels that are “authentic representations of that culture” (p. 736).
Moreover, Joanne Collie and Stephen Slater (1987) argue in their book Novels in the English
Classroom: A Resource Book of Ideas and Activities that working with novels in the English
classroom offers a varied body of written texts that say something about fundamental human issues (pp. 5-6). Similarly, to what Vardell et al (2006) write in their article, Collie and Slater (1987) highlight some of the issues that may arise when selecting novels to work with. The criteria of suitability for a text may depend on the interests, cultural backgrounds, language level and needs of a group of students (p. 8). In order for the students to find reading enjoyable and fulfilling, it is important for teachers to choose novels that can relate to
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students’ life experiences, dreams and emotions. Thus, it is therefore important to create an atmosphere were reading becomes something meaningful and important, which can, in turn, create a beneficial and lasting effect on the students’ cultural and linguistic knowledge (p. 8). The language difficulty is also something that must be taken into consideration, since EFL-learners have a cultural and linguistic bridge to gap when reading different texts. Moreover, difficulties may arise where students are struggling to relate or identify with a text that is “fraught with difficulty every step of the way” (p. 8). Therefore, it might be more suitable to choose novels that is not too much above the level of reading proficiency the students are currently at (p. 8). However, this might create issues where students are not feeling motivated and properly challenged by the fictional text they are reading, and it might be a good idea to have multiple works, at varying difficulty levels, to choose from (p. 8).
4. Method
The following section presents how this study was conducted, how the data was gathered and analysed and also what type of method that was used for this study.
4.1 Semi-Structured Interviews
The method used in this study is a semi-structured form of interview with open-ended questions. This method was chosen to create a discussion between myself and the participants, which allowed them to voice their thoughts and opinions regarding gender related questions in the classroom and how they work with them. According to Robyn
Longhurst (2016), a semi-structured interview is: “a verbal interchange where one person, the interviewer, attempts to elicit information from another person by asking questions” (p. 143). Even though the interviewer has prepared a number of questions beforehand, due to the nature of semi-structured interviews, this allows interviews to “unfold in a conversational manner offering participants the chance to explore issues they feel are important” (p. 143). Due to this study focusing on gender equality in relation to novels this method was deemed appropriate in order to give the participants a chance to give voice to their thoughts on how gender equality could be discussed and used in the classroom when working with novels.
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4.2 The Principles of Research Ethics
There are four key requirements established by the Swedish Research Council
(Vetenskapsrådet, 2002, p.5), when conducting interviews: the information requirement, the consent requirement, the confidentiality requirement, and the use requirement.
For this study, all participants were informed of these four key requirements before the start of the interview. This was to ensure that the interviews were conducted properly from an ethical standpoint, and to make the participants aware of the purpose and focus of the study, that their information will be kept confidential, that the answers they provided during the interviews will only be used for the purpose of the study and will be deleted afterwards, and that they may withdraw or cancel their participation at any time without any consequences or questions.
4.3 Participants
The results of this study are built on data gathered from seven interviews with teachers from upper secondary school, and in one case, lower secondary school. The participants all volunteered after requests were sent out in different Facebook groups, to acquaintances who are teachers, and by sending out e-mail requests to approximately 20 different upper
secondary schools around the country. Therefore, the selection for this study should not be considered random, but instead as a strategic selection in order to find teachers with experience of teaching novels with a gender perspective in the EFL-classroom.
Moreover, of the seven participants, three are male and four are female, and their teaching experiences range from one to 22 years. All of the participants are educated English teachers with secondary subjects, for example, Swedish, History and Social Studies. The participants work in different cities across Sweden, for example, Jönköping, Malmö, Göteborg,
Norrköping and Linköping.
4.4 Analysing the interviews
These interviews were conducted in person or online via different digital platforms. They were all recorded, with consent from the respondents, via the digital platform. The interviews were then transcribed with each teachers’ name altered (they were called T1-T7), and with a focus on readability and content instead of intonation and speech patterns. The reason the teachers were designated T1-T7 is due to the order in which the interviews were conducted. T1 was the first teacher who was interviewed, and T7 was the last one being interviewed. Furthermore, all interviews were conducted in Swedish due to this being the native language
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of all the teachers, thus making it easier for them to express themselves properly. All the quotes presented in the results have been translated by me, with great care to not mistranslate any part.
Moreover, in order to structure the information obtained from the interviews, they have been analysed with the help of a thematic analysis, which is a way to identify, analyse and discern patterns from data (Braun & Clarke, 2006, p.6). Initially I familiarized myself with the data, both through conducting the interviews but also via the transcription process and by reading through the interviews (Braun & Clarke, 2006, pp.16-17). This process lead to initial ideas about which topics were brought up by the teachers and how the topics relate to one another. After this, the collected data was coded, which means that different features, be it words or sentences, have been selected and been given codenames (Braun & Clarke, 2006, p.18). Furthermore, these codes have then been organized into different themes (Braun & Clarke, 2006, p.19), in order to create an understanding of how different codes work in relation to each other. Finally, the different themes have been studied separately and in relation to each other to create a structure for the study’s analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006, p.22). In total, the analysis is based on four different themes, as can be seen from the table below. The first and third themes are based on critical literacy in order to show how teachers, work with, and approach, the interrelationship between power and language. The second and fourth themes are focused on the teachers’ experiences of resistance in the classroom while working with gender related questions and novels.
Table 1
Sentences from data Code Theme
“I, personally, am very passionate about [gender related] questions”
Personal interest Prerequisites and Limitations
“why are we always discussing this feminist bullsh*t?”
Resistance Resistance in the Classroom
“you can be shocked and
provoked by novels”
Challenge the Students Engage and Provoke
“you are supposed to foster students who value democracy and solidarity”
Foundational Values The Purpose of Working with
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5. Theoretical framework
The theoretical framework applied in this study is gender studies, with a focus on the term ‘overing’, and critical literacy. The reasoning behind these choices are that gender studies examines how gender is represented and problematized within novels. Thus, this type of criticism lends itself well for analysing the participants’ answers regarding gender equality and how it is incorporated in the EFL-classroom. Both gender studies and critical literacy are appropriate theories to apply when analysing the respondents’ answers for this study.
5.1 Being over gender inequality
One of the aspects that will be used to analyse the respondents’ answers from the interview is ‘overing’. The interview guide for this study was also based on this aspect, in order to
establish if the participants had experienced any resistance in their classrooms, and also to nuance the different types of resistance. Siv Fahlgren, Katarina Giritli-Nygren and Angelika Sjöstedt Landén (2015) argue that in Sweden “the Swedish national identity seems to have become closely connected with a notion that the obstacles of gender inequalities and other discriminatory practices are ‘gotten over’” (p. 119). This argument comes from the notion that Sweden is often regarded as one of the most gender equal countries in the world and that this is something that has become part of the national identity of Swedish people (p. 119). Therefore, there is a notion amongst certain Swedes that there are no gender inequalities and it is something we have ‘gotten over’ (p. 119).
The term ‘overing’ was coined by the British scholar Sara Ahmed (2012). ‘Overing’ is described by Ahmed in her book On Being Included: Racism and Diversity in Institutional
Life:
In assuming that we are over certain kinds of critique, they create the impression that we are over what is being critiqued. Feminist and antiracist critique are heard as old-fashioned and outdated, as based on identity categories we are assumed to be over. (p. 179)
Therefore, it is important for teachers to be aware of these types of opinions, seeing as they might arise in their own classroom. Moreover, Ahmed (2012) also argues that arguments regarding ‘overing’ consist of the notion that there is a need to ‘get beyond’ categories such as gender equality and race, that those categories have become blockage points or restrict our understanding (p. 180). Furthermore, Ahmed states that those who consider that society is
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over what is being critiqued usually make the argument that “those who point out restrictions and blockages become identified with the restrictions and blockages they point to” (p. 180). This notion is based on the idea that people are creating what they are describing, that if antiracist and feminist critique continue, it will only create more barriers and make it harder to reach a gender equal society. Additionally, Ahmed (2012) argues that “[w]e can also consider the language of critique and how it is assumed to be dated” (p. 181), meaning that critiquing, for example, gender inequality and racism is perceived as creating additional blockages. According to Ahmed (2012), to simply ‘look over’ how institutional and everyday worlds involve these restrictions and blockages, allows the same restrictions and blockages to be reproduced. Furthermore, she states that “[s]ocial categories are sediments: they go all the way down, and they weigh some of us down” (p. 181), meaning that by being over something or to engage in ‘overing’ is a question about privilege and power – that there are those who are not affected by these blockages and restrictions and, therefore, do not view them as a societal problem.
5.2 Critical Literacy
Critical literacy examines questions regarding the “interrelationship between language use and social power” (Van, 2009, p.7), which is explained in the article “The Relevance of Literary Analysis to Teaching Novels in the EFL Classroom” by Truong Thi My Van. Van (2009) argues that by teaching novels teachers have the ability to spark the imagination of the students and also letting them develop their cultural awareness and critical thinking regarding plot, themes, and characters (p.2). Van (2009) states that an objective of critical literacy is to “encourage learners to explore how social and political factors shape the language they are learning” (p.8). This creates an environment where the students become more aware of the different socio-political factors behind their choice of language use (p.8). Van (2009) states that critical literacy as a concept is drawn from various theories, such as feminism,
educational sociology, and critical language studies (p.7). Even though specifically developed to analyse and teach novels, Van (2009) argues that critical literacy has implications that are important when teaching both language and novels due to the fact that it deals with the interrelationship that exists between social power and language (p.7).
Moreover, in her book, Doing Critical Literacy, Hilary Janks (2014) brings forth a number of different ways of working with critical literacy in the classroom. One example is working with identity and diversity, more specifically the terms ‘belonging and exclusion’ and ‘us and them’ (pp. 42-43). Janks (2014) speaks about how ‘the Other’ most often is seen as a
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“dangerous threat” (p. 43). The term Other is usually used as a way to differentiate between ‘us’ and ‘them’, where ‘they’ are a homogeneous group portrayed as a threat to ‘us’. These groups may be based on ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, or political opinions. According to Janks (2014), teachers have an expectation to “use their power to produce educated citizens” (p. 35). Therefore, novels can be a powerful tool to use that power to try to break down barriers that might exist between students in order to create a deeper
understanding and empathy between them.
Additionally, Allan Luke (2012) argues that critical literacy in itself is an “overtly political orientation to teaching and learning, and to the cultural, ideological, and sociolinguistic content of the curriculum” (p. 5). Luke also states that critical literacy is focused on the different uses for literacy in regard to social justice in disenfranchised and marginalized communities (p. 5). Critical literacy fuses together social, cultural, and political discussions with the analysis of how discourses and texts work, where they work, in whose interest and with what consequences (p. 5).
In an article about critical literacy from Skolverket, Vanja Lozic (2020) writes about how important it is that teachers elucidate marginalized perspectives and different power relations regarding gender in order to make their students aware of which factors shape their world views and affect their living conditions (p. 1). Lozic also states that it is important to make students conscious about what they are reading and that teachers should make sure that they apply their critical thinking when reading a text (p. 1).
Critical literacy will be applied in this study to examine how teachers use novels in order to raise students’ awareness regarding critical thinking and gender equality. Additionally, ‘overing’ will be implemented to analyse the participants’ answers regarding which acts of ‘overing’ they have come across in their classrooms and if these acts have impacted their teaching of gender questions in any way.
6. Result and Analysis
In this section the results and analysis will be presented following the four themes described in the method section: prerequisites and limitations, resistance in the classroom, engage and provoke, and the purpose of working with gender in the classroom.
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6.1 Prerequisites and Limitations
The results of the conducted interviews show that all the teachers believe that gender aspects are important to incorporate into their classroom in some form. T2, T4 and T5 express a large personal interest in feminism, questions regarding fundamental values and equality. T2 explains:
[w]ell, if you disregard the school law and the curriculum and everything that says that we’re supposed to think about these types of things, if you disregard that, I, personally, am very passionate about [gender related] questions.2
This suggests that teachers who have a personal interest in gender questions might be more inclined to teach about the subject. T4 explains that if they themselves were not interested in questions about gender, it would not be part of their teaching. Moreover, the study shows that teachers prefer to teach about novels they themselves find interesting. T7 explains:
[b]ut one of the important things, in a way, when teaching novels, I feel, is that it has to be a novel and a story that I want to teach about. Because if you’re going to spend five, six weeks with a novel, it has to be something that you yourself is motivated by.3 This shows that the participants’ teaching and selection processes are affected by their
personal interest in gender questions and which novels they find interesting. However, this study shows that T2, T4 and T5 believe that some of their colleagues do not engage with gender equality, because they feel insecure and not properly read up on the subject. T6 argues that if you have studied to become a teacher you should have enough knowledge to teach about gender: “I started studying in 2003, and at that time it was already quite, it was quite established in the lectures and teaching”.4 However, all the participants agree that there is sufficient support for teaching about gender and novels in the curriculum. This discrepancy could arise because teachers who have an interest in gender related questions embrace these prerequisites more easily. When pondering this limitation, T5 explains:
I want to work with gender questions because it’s still a problem. I wish that more colleagues attempted to work with these questions […] Everything that you’re kind of 2 “[j]a, om man bortser från att både skollagen och läroplaner och allt sånt säger att vi ska tänka på sådana saker,
om man bortser från det, så brinner jag ju för det personligen” (T2)
3 ”[m]en det absolut viktigaste saken på ett sätt när man ska undervisa om litteratur, tycker jag ändå, det är ju
också att det måste vara en bok och en berättelse jag själv vill undervisa om. För att om du ska ägna fem, sex veckor åt en bok, det måste vara något du själv har ett engagemang kring” (T7)
4 ”[n]u började jag läsa lärarprogrammet 2003, redan då så var det ganska, det var ganska etablerat i
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dragging your feet about, that you might have to do it even more in your role as a teacher. You have to step out of your comfort zone so to speak.5
The quotation reflects on how gender might be an uncomfortable, but important subject for teachers to pursue. Moreover, T2 explains that: “I have colleagues that most surely have thought about questions about gender but are perfectly happy bouncing around in their own privileges”.6 This shows that the discussions that were brought up during the interview
should, according to T2, be had at every school, to raise awareness and the level of knowledge surrounding gender related questions.
Additionally, another topic that was considered a limitation by some of the teachers and a prerequisite for others were textbooks and their relevance when teaching gender and novels in the English classroom. T2 who was vocal about textbooks being a limitation states that:
[a]ll the English textbooks, I can promise you that they do not bring this up [gender] what-so-ever, they are too afraid to take a stand, they are too afraid of rubbing someone the wrong way […] If you want to do something good, that is relevant for the students, you have to do it yourself.7
As can be seen from this quotation, T2 does not feel that textbooks could be used to work with questions about social issues or gender inequality and that they therefore become a limitation. However, some teachers feel that textbooks can be considered a good complement when teaching about gender and novels, and T5 explains that the textbook they are working with contains an entire chapter dedicated to gender related questions and that they believe that: “With GY11, pretty much all the textbook companies were forced to update their
material and, in my opinion, make the content more related to the new curriculums”.8 In other
words, there is a difference in opinions whether textbooks are considered a prerequisite or a limitation when teaching about gender and novels.
5”[j]ag vill jobba med genusrelaterade frågor för att det faktiskt fortfarande är ett problem. Jag önskar att fler
kollegor vågade. […] Allt som är att man nästan drar sig för, att man kanske måste göra det ännu mer i sin roll som lärare. Man måste step out of your comfort zone” (T5)
6 ”[f]ör att jag har ju kollegor som säkerligen har reflekterat över såna här saker (genus) som själva lullar runt i
sina privilegier och är fullkomligt nöjda” (T2)
7 “[a]lla läroböcker i engelska, jag kan lova dig att de tar inte upp det här över huvudtaget, inte en stavelse, för
de är så jädra ’mellan-mjölk’, de törs inte stryka någon mothårs” (T2)
8 “[i] och med GY11 så tvingades ju i princip alla läromedelsförlag att uppdatera, förnya och också än mer,
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Lastly, T3, T6, T7 explain that there is sometimes an issue regarding class sets when
selecting novels to work with, how they are sometimes limited in their choices based on what novels are available for an entire class. Regarding the topic of choosing novels to work with, they explain if there are any specific gender aspects they consider when selecting novels. T6 argues that: “I know that in my classroom I might lean more towards male authors, male protagonists. Which has to do with something as trivial as which books do we have a class set of at this school?”.9 Being hindered by which novels that are available becomes a limitation
regarding teaching about gender and novels. This is a sentiment that is also echoed by T3 and T7.
6.2 Resistance in the classroom
This part of the result will examine resistance in the classroom and how teachers approach it. During the interviews, it became apparent that the teachers have different experiences
regarding resistance in the classroom. The teachers who do encounter resistance, explain that it is more common for male students to voice their resistance when working with gender related questions, and T2 explains: “[b]ut of course there are boys that feel that this is just a pain in the neck, like – ‘why are we always discussing this feminist bullsh*t?’ ”.10 Moreover, most participants explain that male students are in most cases harder to reach than female students concerning gender related questions. The teachers with experience meeting
resistance also state that it is predominantly male students who display resistance or a lack of interest. T2 states that:
these boys who don’t believe that this is a problem [gender inequality] because it’s not a problem for themselves, that is very common – ‘this isn’t a problem for me, can’t we speak about something important instead?’. To be able to handle that and speak about male privilege, which this is, at its core.11
However, T1, T3, T6 and T7 indicate that they have not experienced any resistance in the classroom when teaching about gender and novels. T6 states that it might have to do with the program they are working at, that their students are aware of and have an interest in gender
9 ”[s]en vet jag att i min undervisning så blir det ändå slagsida åt manliga författare, manliga huvudpersoner.
Och det har med något så trivialt att göra som vilka böcker har vi i klassuppsättning på skolan?” (T6)
10 “[m]en självklart finns det grabbar som tycker att det är jättejobbigt, ”Varför ska vi hålla på med det här j*vla
feminist-tjafset jämt?”” (T2)
11 ”[d]e här grabbarna som inte tycker att det här är problem eftersom att det inte är ett problem för de själva, det
är väldigt vanligt – ”det här är ju inte ett problem för mig, kan vi inte prata om något viktigt?”. Att hantera det och just att prata om just ”male privilege” som det är i sitt prydno” (T2)
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issues, which might be the reason this type of resistance did not occur in their classroom. T7 implies that the only time that conflicts may arise is “when someone feels that it’s becoming too PC [Politically Correct]”12, but besides that, they have not experienced any significant resistance in their classroom.
Furthermore, during the interviews the teachers explain how they handle resistance, and T2 elaborates: “[w]hen I got those types of comments in the beginning, I became quite provoked, and that is never a good thing”.13 This sentiment of being provoked is echoed by T5, when
they had students who refused to participate during the lesson due to the subject they were working with. The teacher explains it as being “dumbstruck in that situation” and that the purpose of working with gender questions is “not to be some form of indoctrination, and that everyone has to believe the same things I do”.14 Moreover, T2 brings up the issue of
resistance from male students also states that they themselves rarely have to confront these students, the other students usually handle it on their own. T2 states: “peer pressure is something that makes these individuals realize that it’s not acceptable to say these sorts of things out loud – that they have to reconsider and realize that they’re losing socially by behaving this way, a way they used to get away with”.15 This shows that the students
demonstrate different approaches to the subject, where some students are actively challenging the students who display resistance regarding gender questions in the classroom.
6.3 Engage and Provoke
All the participants state that there is usually an interest from their students to discuss and work with gender questions in the classroom. T7 brings up the benefits of working with gender and novels, because novels can shock and provoke us, which, according to this teacher, has its benefits from a pedagogical point of view.
Moreover, according to T2, T3, T5, T6 and T7 there is usually a higher level of interest from female and queer students. T3 explains: “I would say that it’s usually girls and non-binary students at this school who are interested in it [gender]”.16 This correlates with the previous
12 ”[d]et kan ju bli konflikter ibland när någon tycker att det blir för PK” (T7)
13 “I början när jag fick den typen av kommentarer blev jag ju ganska provocerad själv, och det är ju aldrig bra”
(T2)
14 ”[d]et är inte så att ska vara någon form indoktrinering här och alla måste tycka som jag i slutändan” (T5) 15 “grupptrycken får ju de här individerna att inse att det inte acceptabelt att säga något sånt högt – att de
behöver tänka om och inse att de förlorar socialt på att bete sig på det här sättet, ett sätt de kom undan med tidigare” (T2)
16 ”[d]et är snarare tjejer och folk som inte identifierar som antingen tjej eller kille, för vi har ganska många
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section, about resistance in the classroom, that a lot of male students are more reluctant to speak about, or show interest in, gender questions.
Furthermore, T3, T6 and T7 voice concerns about being able to reach students when working with gender, seeing as it can be a quite abstract and complex subject to work with. According to T3, it can be difficult to give students a complete overview of which gender expectations exist around the world and how to analyse them due to the, sometimes, academic language of gender criticism. They also argue that sometimes the subject must be generalized for students to understand.
Additionally, T2, T3, T5 and T6 argue that gender questions are something the students engage with and are interested in. T6 indicates that: “It’s something that engages a lot of students and is an effective way to get both boys and girls to talk about literature”.17 Gender is something that affects everyone, and even though, as shown in the interviews, male students display more resistance towards gender related questions, it is still something that will spark a discussion amongst the students when working with novels.
T2 and T7 claim that one way to ensure that students feel more engaged with discussing gender questions is working with novels that relates to their own identities and personal experiences. This is something that in turn can make it easier for them to engage with gender related questions. Most participants explain that they make comparisons, especially when working with older novels. By comparing topics such as gender roles and women’s rights, students gain an understanding of the topics during different time periods. T5 discuss that they work with Pride and Prejudice and Bridget Jones’s Diary and draw comparisons about how a woman’s role is portrayed then and now.
6.4 The Purpose of Working with Gender in the Classroom
The final part of the results examines what teachers consider when choosing novels to work with gender related questions in the classroom. One notion brought up by several teachers is their preference to work with contemporary young adult-novels, because many of these novels bring up topics the students find relatable, such as, gender, identity, or masculinity. T1 explains that they try to choose novels with strong, female protagonists. This is done with the consideration of empowering female students in the classroom.
17 “det är att det är någonting som engagerar många och det är ett effektivt sätt att få både tjejer och killar att
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On the other hand, T2, T5, T6 and T7 also state that they work with older novels,
Shakespeare or Austen for example. However, working with older novels can be difficult for the students due to the complicated language. According to T5, it is important to have
strategies to use in order to help the students parse out what they are reading, because it is hard for the students to analyse and discuss something they do not understand. Additionally, teachers need to ensure that the students understand the text, while also creating prerequisites for discussing gender. T4 explains: “I believe that novels can be a softer way of talking about these issues, and that it sometimes might be easier to discuss these questions if they are based in fiction”.18 Therefore, novels might help to mitigate the resistance toward gender related questions.
Lastly, the teachers explain why they believe that it is important to integrate gender questions and novels into their EFL-classrooms, T2 and T5 argue that it is related to the foundational values that are a cornerstone in the Swedish school system. T5 states:
I generally believe that foundational value questions are very important to work with as a teacher […] I see from a larger perspective and what is connected to the
curriculum that, as a teacher, you are supposed to foster students who value
democracy and solidarity. So, that is why I work with both gender related questions, but also with questions concerning racism, for example.19
This quotation shows that teachers consider gender to be an important aspect of the foundational values and that it is something that should be incorporated into their EFL-classrooms. Furthermore, T5, who displays a personal interest regarding gender, emphasises that they believe that it is their duty to help raise upstanding members of society. When speaking about masculinity, for example, T1 explains that they want to integrate gender questions when working with novels in order to show male students that masculinity does not equal machoism, and that they are allowed to show emotions in the classroom.
Moreover, T6 and T7 believe that there might be a risk that a larger focus is put on the gender questions instead of the novels they are reading, and therefore ending up being more social
18 ”[j]ag tänker att litteraturen blir ett mjukt sätt att prata om frågorna, också att det ibland kan det ju vara lättare
att prata om frågorna om dom är fiktiva” (T4)
19 ”[j]ag tycker ju generellt att värdegrundsfrågor är oerhört viktiga att arbeta med som lärare. […] så ser jag det
ur ett större perspektiv och det som är kopplat till läroplan att man i sitt uppdrag ska fostra demokratiska, solidariska medmänniskor. Att det ligger definitivt i linje med det, just människosynen, hur är vi mot varandra? Så att jag jobbar ju dels med genusrelaterade frågor men också med frågor som har och göra med rasism till exempel” (T5)
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studies instead of English. Moreover, all participants explain that they see more benefits than challenges when working with novels and gender, as T2 argues:
I see it as my duty and obligation to inform the students, not just to teach them how to speak and write English, that is quite beside the point, my job is to teach them about the world, life, how people function and how the world outside the classroom looks like. Because teaching them to be upstanding members of society is my damn job! If they also learn English on the way, that’s just a bonus *laughter*. My job is so much larger than that.20
As seen from this quotation, this teacher believes that it is important to keep foundational values in mind when working as a teacher, in order to teach students about solidarity and democratic values.
7. Discussion
The results of this study show that there is an interest in working with gender questions amongst all the participants. All the teachers believe that there are sufficient prerequisites in the curriculum to work with gender questions in the EFL-classroom. The teachers also believe that their personal interest in gender questions is important when it comes to working with gender related questions in the classroom. This means, even though all teachers are presented with the same formal prerequisites to raise gender equality with their students, their teaching is affected by their own focus and beliefs (see Beach et al, 2016, p. 5.) The notion of gender being an abstract subject for the students to understand (Cook, 2011, p. 507), is also something that T3 and T7 bring up during the interviews, and because gender equality can be a complex and abstract topic to teach, it is important that teachers broach the subject of gender with care and respect, for their own sake and for the sake of their students. This might otherwise lead to students who feel misrepresented or singled out due to how the novel they are reading represents this subject (Vardell, Hadaway & Young, 2006, p. 736). Thus, it is
20 “[j]ag ser ju det som att det är min förbannade plikt och skyldighet att upplysa eleverna, inte bara lära dem om
att prata och skriva engelska, det är ganska ”beside the point”, mitt jobb är ju att lära dem om världen och livet och hur människor fungerar och hur världen utanför klassrummet ser ut. Förbereda dem för att bli goda samhällsmedborgare, det är ju det som är mitt j*vla uppdrag. Sen om de lär sig engelska på kuppen, det är ju bara bonus, haha. Mitt jobb är ju så mycket större än så.” (T2)
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important that teachers encourage their students to reflect and discuss different societal
issues, such as gender equality, and one way to do this is to read and analyse different novels. Therefore, using novels that concern gender equality, masculinity and gender norms can be a good way to ease students into a discussion and challenge them about their own preconceived notions of gender and masculinity. This can help make gender easier to understand for
students, while also making the novels more interesting by giving the students the tools to analyse, criticise and gain a deeper understanding of the text (see Beach et al, 2016, p. 11). In addition, Van (2009) states that a teacher has the ability to allow students to raise their
cultural awareness and critical thinking regarding a novel’s characters, theme, and plot (p. 2). Thus, one can argue that the teachers in this study choose novels that will give the students an opportunity to develop their critical thinking when working with gender.
Moreover, by working with novels that portray characters from various backgrounds, with different gender identities and sexual orientations, students are given the chance to feel included and represented by the novels they are working with. Furthermore, novels can also be used to give the students a chance to analyse and discuss the prejudices and restrictive stereotypes that occur in these texts, to heighten their own critical thinking and awareness regarding gender equality. Therefore, it is important to consider when working with older novels and gender that the language might be unfamiliar and difficult to parse out for students, which might create both a language barrier and a difficulty to comprehend the, sometimes abstract, subject of gender. Additionally, T2 and T5, claim that there is sometimes a lack of interest from their colleagues when it comes to teaching about gender in their classrooms, due to them feeling insecure or not properly read up on the subject, or, it can be argued, that the subject of gender can be too abstract for teachers as well, and that they therefore do not work with these questions during their own lessons.
Furthermore, T3, T6 and T7 explain that they can sometimes feel limited when working with novels and gender due to the class sets of novels that are available. However, a limited selection of class sets does not have to be a hinderance for working with gender related questions. For example, older novels can be used as a ‘bad example’ of gender equality or be compared to more contemporary texts. This gives students the opportunity to develop their critical thinking and how to analyse texts with a gender perspective.
Moreover, the study shows that textbooks can be viewed either as a limitation or a
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lack the appropriate material to discuss gender questions, while other teachers feel that newer textbooks have been appropriately updated to cover such areas. This means that teachers might have to seek out their own material in order to work with gender questions, but also that some textbooks can be considered a good starting point for working with these questions. T6 and T7 express a concern that a larger focus on gender would put the literary work in the background, and that working with novels would pivot and lean more towards social studies instead of English. However, it can be argued that the curriculum for English is broad enough that putting a larger focus on gender questions still falls within the parameters of the
curriculum and course goals (Skolverket, 2019, p. 2).
Furthermore, during the interviews, the teachers explain their experiences of resistance in the classroom. T1, T6 and T7 have not experienced any noticeable resistance in their EFL-classrooms, while T2, T4 and T5 do have first-hand experience with resistance. The issues that are elucidated are how they approach resistance, if it causes any tension in the classroom and also if they have ever come across students who are displaying ‘overing’ or similar opinions. Regardless if they have come across any type of resistance or not, the consensus is that, in general, the female/queer/non-binary students show a greater interest in working with gender related issues, while it is harder to reach male students due to them displaying more resistance towards the subject and not seeing gender inequality as a problem for them. This is also something that Ahmed (2012) brings up when writing about ‘overing’, that the
restriction or blockages that occur by engaging in ‘overing’ is a question of power and privilege, and that those who are not affected by these blockages or restrictions do not see them as a societal issue (p. 181). Ahmed (2012) argues that an act of ‘overing’ is to simply gloss over the ways everyday and institutional worlds involve different blockages and restrictions, thus allowing them to be reproduced (p. 181).
Therefore, by having students who are vocal about gender inequality not being a problem, it can create issues where other students feel that they must suppress their own gender identities or their own opinions about gender equality. However, it can be argued that by working with novels with a gender perspective, the teachers give female/queer/non-binary students a platform and a voice to discuss these issues. This correlates with what Luke (2012, p.5), states about critical literacy, that it emphasizes different uses for literacy regarding social justice in disenfranchised and marginalized communities. Moreover, it can be stated that T2 and T5 who believe that it is important to foster upstanding members of society strive to create a classroom environment where students from marginalized groups feel represented
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and seen. This is also something that corresponds with what Lozic (2020) writes for Skolverket about critical literacy, namely that teachers need to elucidate different power relations and marginalized perspectives regarding gender in order for their students to gain an understanding of what shapes their world views (p. 1).
Furthermore, T1, T2, T4 and T5 express a desire to use novels to both empower their female/queer/non-binary students and to show the male students that they do not need to adhere to the macho norm. Even though the teachers are working with English novels, it can be a way of raising awareness of gender issues that still exist in Sweden (Fahlgren et.al, 2015, p. 119), through discussions that may arise while working with different novels. One can argue that this falls in line with what Lozic (2020) states in her article for Skolverket, namely that it is important for teachers to make sure that their students are conscious readers, that they apply their critical thinking skills, and that they ask questions to the text while analysing it in order to be aware of the fact that a text is never neutral (p. 1). Therefore, one can argue that by using novels to empower their students, these teachers are making sure that their students are conscious about what they are reading.
Lastly, when bringing up the importance of including gender studies in their EFL-classrooms, T2, T4 and T5 mention the foundational values and the importance of fostering students who value solidarity and democracy, which aligns with what Janks (2014) mentions in her book
Doing Critical Literacy, where she states that teachers have the power to produce educated
citizens (p. 35). Furthermore, the previously mentioned teachers explain that they view it as their duty and obligation to help teach their students to become good, upstanding members of society, and this is where novels can be a helpful and powerful complement in order to show students different perspectives, to help challenge their perception of the world, and to prepare them for the world that awaits them outside of the EFL-classroom. Overall, the participants believe that the benefits outweigh the challenges when it comes to teaching novels and gender.
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8. Conclusion
In conclusion, creating a classroom environment that encourages critical thinking in regard to novels and gender questions can raise students’ proficiency when it comes to analysing and looking critically at different texts. Raising students’ critical awareness can also ensure that marginalized groups feel represented and seen in the EFL-classroom. It could also help privileged students who have never faced issues of, for example, having their gender identity questioned or feeling insecure about their own sexuality, gain an understanding of the other people’s struggles. This study has shown that there are teachers who believe that working with gender questions in their EFL-classroom is important and can help develop students’ critical thinking. The study has also shown that there is resistance, from both students and colleagues, when it comes to teaching about gender. Regarding future research, it would be of interest to examine how common resistance actually is when it comes to working with gender questions in the EFL-classroom, and what can be done to mitigate this resistance.
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