Questions

1. What is a melting-pot school?

2. What is meant by the metaphor ‘the Tower of Babel’?

3. How did the teacher’s basic intention manifest itself in non-verbal behavior?

4. How do children usually manifest their verbal and non-verbal behavior?

5. What does a teacher need to keep up with the world?

6. What is the life of the high school English teacher like?

7. Why do the children expect their teacher to lead that mode of life?

8. How would the children react if the teacher attempted to disillusion them?

9. Can a teacher curse?

10. What is the last thing teachers think about before sleeping (according to the text / in your opinion)?

11. What teacher’s verbal and non-verbal behavior is inconceivable in schoolchildren’s opinion?

12. How do you understand the phrase “Below the belly button the teacher is dead”?

2. Describe the life of a) a school English teacher, a University English teacher, a Math teacher, a Russian Literature teacher; b) a young teacher, an experienced teacher; c) a married man (woman) teacher and a single man (woman) teacher.

3. Since the phrase “Teachers' pajamas are always cotton” can be regarded as a metaphor (a teacher is expected to behave naturally and modestly), think of similar metaphors using the words “silk”, “wool”, “viscose”, “nylon”, “elastic”, “acrylic”. Take part in the competition of orators choosing some of the metaphors as the core idea for your speech.

UNIT 3

Is teacher gender a factor in pedagogical communication?

THEORETICAL PRELIMINARIES

Male Versus Female Teachers

Females as a group are more drawn than men to careers that involve working with elementary and preschool children. The National Education Association survey showed that more men than women stated that salary is a significant factor in them pursuing other, often more lucrative careers than teaching.

Advantages of Male Teachers

A 2006 study in Education Next, by the Hoover Institute, and conducted by Thomas Dee, an economics professor at Swarthmore College, found that boys learn better from male teachers. The study states that having a teacher of the opposite sex hinders a boy's academic progress. Boys were less likely to be seen as disruptive in a class with a male teacher. Male teachers are more likely to include games and competition in their teaching methods.

Advantages of Female Teachers

The same 2006 study conducted by Thomas Dee found that girls learn best from female teachers. Women often teach in ways that may fit girls better, such as sitting at desks and using worksheets for learning. More female teachers than male expect a quiet and orderly classroom, which girls appreciate.

Male or Female?

Most students will end up being educated by primarily female teachers. In the middle and high school years, they will probably have a few male teachers. Both males and females bring different approaches and techniques to learning styles. Experiencing both male and female teachers may be best for students so that they can experience the advantages that both sexes bring to the classroom and a wider variety of teaching methodology.

Man and Female Styles of Teaching

Teaching requires skill, insight, intelligence, and diligence, and faculty struggle in a variety of ways to meet the challenges of the classroom. While apparently both men and women faculty members exhibit these traits, research suggests that they may meet the challenges in different ways. Understanding how and why men and women teach differently is critical to assisting faculty in their efforts to improve their teaching. Student evaluations are a common method for faculty to receive feedback about their teaching. Research has shown that students' evaluations can be significantly influenced by the gender of their instructors. Many studies reveal that students tend to rate female faculty members' differently than male faculty members. Reasons for these findings are multifaceted. For example, students may hold biased perceptions of the differences between men and women faculty. It is also possible, however, that students are accurately assessing the difference between teaching styles that is attributable to the gender of the faculty.

Teaching styles differences are based on measures of inclusion and sensitivity preferences. The styles of male and female faculty differ especially in how much each of the genders values student inclusion. Whereas over half of the female faculty members believe that students should be allowed to define the learning experience for themselves and discern their own style, male faculty believe they are the bearers of the information and know what it is best for students.

The interaction between course size and gender is an indication that some practicalities can interrupt gender differences. It may simply be too difficult once a course reaches a certain size to continue to use active practices. Interestingly, this diminished gap in active practices for larger classes does not manifest itself as a significant diminishing of the gap in lecturing, suggesting that women tend to move away from active practices toward something other than lecturing. This study has several key implications for future research. First, while there is an overall effect of gender supporting the notion that women have a greater affinity for active practices, gender should not be treated as if it effects all groups of faculty with the same strength. The difference in the gender gaps between disciplinary groupings is a perfect example. Explaining why these differences exist seems like a logical follow-up to this work.

Is there a perceived need for the gender differences in teaching? In other words, is it that men and women are, in general, equally equipped for effective instruction, but they differ in their practice because they actively choose their instructional methods based on an understanding of what will work best for their students?

READING AND DISCUSSING