'Sometimes I can be anything'': power, gender, and identity in a primary classroom

319 Pages·1998·0.81 MB·English

by  Karen Gallas

"Sometimes I Can Be Anything" : Power,
title: Gender, and Identity in a Primary
Classroom Practitioner Inquiry Series
author: Gallas, Karen.
publisher: Teachers College Press
isbn10 | asin: 0807736953
print isbn13: 9780807736951
ebook isbn13: 9780585255309
language: English
Sex differences in education--United States-
-Case studies, Education, Primary--Social
aspects--United States--Case studies,
subject
Gender identity--United States--Case
studies, Interaction analysis in education--
United States--Case studies.
publication date: 1998
lcc: LC212.92.G35 1998eb
ddc: 372.24/1
Sex differences in education--United States-
-Case studies, Education, Primary--Social
aspects--United States--Case studies,
subject:
Gender identity--United States--Case
studies, Interaction analysis in education--
United States--Case studies.
Page i
The Practitioner Inquiry Series
Marilyn Cochran-Smith and Susan L. Lytle, SERIES EDITORS
ADVISORY BOARD: Rebecca Barr, Judy Buchanan, Robert Fecho,
Sarah Freedman, Karen Gallas, Dixie Goswami, Andrew Gitlin, Peter
Grimmett, Roberta Logan, Sarah Michaels, Susan Noffke, Susan
Florio-Ruane, Marsha Pincus, Marty Rutherford, Lynne Strieb, Carol
Tateshi, Polly Ulichny, Diane Waff, Ken Zeichner
"Sometimes I Can Be Anyting":
Power, Gender, and Identity in a Primary Classroom
KAREN GALLAS
Interpreting Teacher Practice:
Two Continuing Stories
RENATE SCHULZ
Creating Democratic Classrooms:
The Struggle to Integrate Theory and Practice
LANDON E. BEYER, Editor
Learning in Small Moments:
Life in an Urban Classroom
DANIEL R. MEIER
Page iii
"Sometimes I Can Be Anything"
Power, Gender, and Identity in a Primary Classroom
Karen Gallas
Page iv
Published by Teachers College Press, 1234 Amsterdam Avenue, New
York, NY 10027
Copyright © 1998 by Teachers College, Columbia University
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or
transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical,
including photocopy, or any information storage and retrieval system,
without permission from the publisher.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Gallas, Karen.
Sometimes I can be anything: power, gender, and identity in a
primary classroom / Karen Gallas.
p. cm. (The practitioner inquiry series)
Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index.
ISBN 0-8077-3696-1 (cloth). ISBN 0-8077-3695-3 (pbk.)
1. Sex differences in educationUnited StatesCase studies.
2. Education, PrimarySocial aspectsUnited StatesCase studies.
3. Gender identityUnited StatesCase studies. 4. Interaction
analysis in educationUnited StatesCase studies. I. Title.
II. Series.
LC212.92.G35 1998
372.24'1-dc21 97-36157
ISBN 0-8077-3695-3 (paper)
ISBN 0-8077-3696-1 (cloth)
Printed on acid-free paper
Manufactured in the United States of America
05 04 03 02 01 00 99 98 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Page v
For the Children of 12 G
Page vii
Contents
Acknowledgments 1
Introduction 1
Gender as Performance
Gender and Equity 2
Purpose 3
Research Perspective 4
Gender as a Starting Point 7
The Children 8
The Classroom 8
Structure of the Book 10
Point of View 12
Chapter 1 15
Teacher Research: Texts and Subtexts
Teachers' Questions 16
The Prosaic Classroom 17
Building Dialogic Communities 19
Searching for Patterns 20
Texts and Subtexts 22
Chapter 2 25
The Gender Circus
Snapshots from the Circus 28
Chapter 3 32
Bad Boys and Their Stories
Bad Boys as a Caricature 33
Bad Boys and Power 34
Bad Boys' Stories 36
Bad Boys and Other Children's Stories 37
Dropping the Bad Boy Role 41
Bad Boys and Adults 43
Chapter 4 45
Silence as a Fortress and a Prison
Silence and Gender 45
Studying Silences 46
Page viii
Rachel 46
A Data Gap 47
Silence as a Problem 48
Silence and Power 51
Silence as a Prison 53
Finding a Public Voice 54
Chapter 5 57
Posing
Trying on the Beautiful Persona 58
Dierdre 59
Beautiful Boys 63
Chapter 6 66
The Saturday Game
Saturday Resurfaces 69
A Look at a Good Boy 72
The Power of Community 74
Chapter 7 75
Your Mother Squeezes Your Brains Out Your Ears
"I Don't Know, I'm Not Sure" 76
"A Tiny Little Bit, But Not Too Much" 77
"The Girls are Bothering Us" 78
"We're Just Having a Bit of Fun" 81