Canadian early childhood educators’ perceptions of young children’s gender-role play and cultural identity

Abstract

This article investigates early childhood educators' perceptions of children's gender-role play and the impact their cultural background plays in their gender identity and play behaviors. Through qualitative in-depth interviews, early childhood educators in Canada (n = 40) were asked questions relating to their experiences with children from various cultural backgrounds, how cultural diversity impacted a child's gender identification, and who early childhood educators felt struggled more with gender identity. In general, respondents felt that cultural background could have an impact of gender identification, and that while boys and girls both struggle with gender identity, girls had the added stress of competing with popular culture expectations of gender type behaviors.

Early childhood educators reflect on their conversations with parents about children’s diverse gender expression

“…For example, boys are often encouraged to play with trucks and girls with dolls. Previous studies similarly show that preschool teachers and family beliefs can "affect children's ways of doing gender in preschools" (Emilson et al, 2016, p. 227) and consequently reduce children's comfortability to express their gender more openly (Averett, 2016;Blaise, 2005;Robinson, 2013;Servos et al, 2016). It is the subtleties of interactions with adult role models, their use of gender stereotypes, that can transfer to children either consciously or unconsciously (Wingrave, 2018).…”

“…Averett (2016) comparably explains that "gender non-conformity was seen as acceptable for girls, but deviant for boys" (p. 199). Hence, the pressure that families place on their children to adhere to traditional social and cultural discourses is problematic as it can impact children's future identities in profound ways (Kane, 2012;Meadow 2011;Servos et al, 2016). Alternatively, some parents work to disrupt gender norms and legitimize their children's diverse gender expression.…”

“…The emergent research in childhood studies reveals that children's gender expression can be influenced by the expectations and actions of parents, educators, and peers (Abreu et al, 2019;Callahan & Lucy, 2019;Neary & Rasmussen, 2020). Research also tells us that girls and boys are often treated differently from the beginning where traditional gender stereotypes are reinforced by the primary adults in their lives (Aina & Cameron, 2011;Servos et al, 2016;Wingrave, 2018). For example, boys are often encouraged to play with trucks and girls with dolls.…”

Standar Alat Bermain dan Kualitas Satuan PAUD

“…Ketika memasuki usia sekolah, anak akan mampu memilih permainan yang mereka inginkan sesuai dengan tingkat pengetahuan mengenai budaya, gender, dan lingkungan sosialnya. Artinya, melalui kegiatan bermain, anak Wahyuni, Desvi dkk/ Standar Alat Bermain dan Kualitas Satuan PAUD tidak hanya menyenangkan diri, tetapi juga membentuk pengetahuan (Servos et al, 2016). Selain itu, bermain juga dapat digunakan untuk membentuk mental dan spiritual pada anak (Kurniati, 2016) serta dapat digunakan sebagai metode belajar yang menyenangkan bagi anak (Novianti et al, 2022) dengan ataupun tanpa media atau alat bermain.…”