The Wall(s) Maintaining Gender Division in an Icelandic Compulsory School

• In Event: 66.088 - Sheraton Roundtable 13 - Osgoode Ballroom
  In Roundtable Session: 66.088-1 - Learning Against Oppressive Structures

Abstract

The paper focuses on how students make use of different spaces in one compulsory school in Iceland and how gendered identities were constructed in activities in these spaces. We observed how interactions of students and teachers were affected by discourse as well as material objects. We use the work of Massey, Foucault, and Nespor, among others, to analyze observational data and interviews with students and teachers. Our analysis indicates that the school environment tends to establish a gender order, favoring particular forms of masculinity. The findings also suggest that school discourses and the material arrangements reproduce traditional understanding of gender as binary, affecting the power relations not facilitating gender-inclusive environments and gender-sensitive practices in contradiction with progressive education policies.

Authors

• Bergljot Thrastardottir, University of Iceland

• Ingolfur Asgeir Johannesson, University of Iceland

• Sirpa Lappalainen, University of Helsinki