Fair Play: Increasing Learning Opportunities Across Genders and Cultures

• In Event: 68.061 - Roundtable Session 30
  In Roundtable Session: 68.061-19 - Research on Identity of Women and Girls in Education

Abstract

In order for all children to have equal access to jobs of the future, girls and boys must also have equal opportunities to those fundamental experiences that ensure acquisition of the skills needed. The focus of this study is on preservice and current teachers’ concepts and understandings of the importance of play across genders. Preliminary results from 40 preservice teachers surveyed are: for children to (a) have freedom to choose their play; (b) collaborate and communicate with each other; and, (c) receive a variety of experiences regardless of gender. These results serve as a foundation upon which a constructive discourse about the purpose and need for play may be constructed as part of a foundational study of early childhood programs.

Authors

• Barbara Eleanor Polnick, Sam Houston State University

• Elizabeth Lasley, Sam Houston State University

• Julia Nell Ballenger, Texas A&M University - Commerce