Essay on Pedagogy: Breaking Gender Stereotypes through Children's Literature

This essay discusses the impact of gender stereotypes on children and how to break them through the use of children's literature. The chosen book, "Pink is for Boys" by Robb Pearlman and Eda Kaban, celebrates gender neutrality and diversity. The pedagogical practice used is concept-based and innovative, encouraging creativity and inclusiveness. The experience outline and outcome focus on instilling confidence, inquisitiveness, and experimentation with gender identity in a safe and non-judgmental environment.

Running head: ESSAY ON PEDAGOGY
ESSAY ON PEDAGOGY
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author Note

1ESSAY ON PEDAGOGY
Western societies have certain gender stereotypes which are so prevalent among the masses that
it has even crept in the mind of the children as well (Oakley, 2016). According to certain
researches, the pre-school and kindergarten going children often fall prey to preconceived
gendered notions and stereotypes which often escalate to their later life proving to form a huge
impact in their mind in their later life. A child’s creativity, personal development and cognitive
skills is often constricted by the societal idea of gender (Leaper & Brown, 2014). The respective
paper would throw light on the gender stereotype and would try to break the shackles of gender
conformation by encouraging gender diversity among the pre-school children. The respective
paper is a critical discourse or discussion about the early childhood learning outcomes which has
been brought by me with the help of a children’s literature, “Pink is for boys” by Rodd Pearlman
which celebrates gender neutrality, diversity and questions gender binary or stereotypes set by
the society through the eyes of children (Publishersweekly.com., 2018). The respective paper is
an essay that also covers certain basic and secondary Early Childhood learning principals under
Australian standards in order to analyze and evaluate my pedagogy skills effectively.
The book which I have taken in order to teach children moral and ethical lessons of
diversity in terms of gender is “Pink is for Boys” by Robb Pearlman with illustration by Eda
Kaban. It is a beautiful book for the kindergarten going children with illustrations which deals
intrinsically about the gender issues, stereotypes and gender diversities and all such aspects
which the children face from the beginning of their life (Publishersweekly.com., 2018). For
example, from the very beginning of the life of learning, understanding and cognitive
development, the children are told that pink color is girlish whereas blue is boyish. The gender
stereotypes are incorporated in the children inside their subconscious mind from the very
beginning that further shapes their cognition up to a certain extent. The book flaunts gender

2ESSAY ON PEDAGOGY
agnosticism where different characters of multiple shades and characteristics are incorporated
and boys and girls are encouraged to do what they like and not what they should. The book is
about freedom from all kinds of regressive gender divided psychological shackles which
compresses the creativity of the children. The book inspires children to do any kind of activity,
from dressing up to playing baseball, from playing with a doll to having frolic with racing cars,
irrespective of the gender of the child.The first and foremost lesson which the novel provides the
children is that it is absolutely alright and “normal” to be slightly different from what the society
expects them to be according to their gender.(Tayler, Cloney & Niklas, 2015). Since the birth of
a child, irrespective of his or her gender and other customary or primitive differences, the child is
subjected to a plethora of prejudices and notions that are popular in the society and are taught or
imbibed by the children from their caregivers, parents, environment or the society where the
child is getting nurtured. The child is often taught how to “behave” and act according to the
manners and the way the world and society runs, which often are established and regressive
ideals which hampers the flexibility and acceptance of diversity within the child. Picasso had
stated that children are the best artists, he might have uttered the respective statement as he
observed the children to be a section of the society which questions the rules and does not easily
succumb to the establishment, who is fiercely independent and overtly creative, imaginative and
always dreams of a fantastic world full of diversity which, even though scientists and
psychologists term to be a utopia, has streaks of artistic merits and fervor in them (Richardson,
2018). Therefore, as an early childhood educator, I believe that my job is to give wings of
diversity to the children and explain them that their gender or race is not their limit and that sky
is the limit for them. (Ortlipp, Arthur & Woodrow, 2011). I believe that it is the moral and the
most necessary duty of the early childhood educators to engage the children with a lot of creative

3ESSAY ON PEDAGOGY
and interactive activities in the class so that they start developing inquisitiveness and start
questioning the factors and aspects that are there in the society regarding issues such as gender
roles and diversity that might help them to nurture and develop their cognition. Therefore, the
book which I have chosen, “Pink is for Boys” is a book which depicts gender agnosticism where
different characters of multiple shades and characteristics are incorporated who try different
activities despite of their gendered boundaries, thereby, breaking the shackles of gender
disempowerment and generalization, thereby, helping the children explore their creativity and
capability in a broader horizon by celebrating the gender diversity among themselves and the
environment. Through the book, boys and girls are encouraged to do what they like and not what
they should. The book is about freedom from all kinds of regressive gender divided
psychological shackles which compresses the creativity of the children.
The most important part of the pedagogical practice that I have taken into consideration is highly
innovative and concept based. Children tend to learn about diversity not by theoretical learning
but by creative and highly conceptual learning. The concept based and innovative form of
pedagogy is the process by which students tend to understand the content of the subject with the
use of big and all pervasive ideas and approaches (Leggett & Ford, 2013). Such mental exercise
helps the students to understand the intrinsic as well as instrumental understandings of the
subject, broadening their perspectives, approaches and horizons regarding the respective
discipline for their holistic development. Conceptual understanding of diversity (which can
include gender, race or ethnicity) would help my students to discover the statics and dynamics of
the society beyond generalization. Often, the children fall prey to generalized thought processes
and therefore, they develop certain preconceived notions that might create harmful effect for
them in their near future. The most important part of concept based learning is that students get

4ESSAY ON PEDAGOGY
the opportunity to ponder over and discriminate between what is and what is not, which also
provides a holistic approach to the subject in the mind of the students.
Diversity is considered, in today’s globalized world, as a matter of concern and should be
imbibed by all the individuals. The concept of diversity, if taught at the very early stage, proves
to be overtly beneficial towards the society as the grass-root level of training in diversity instills
inclusiveness and unprejudiced mindset among the children (SIMPSON-DAL SANTO, 2014).
Inclusiveness and unprejudiced observation of the world by expressing interests in various
diversified social, gendered and ethnic groups would help the children learn about diversified
gender identity, diverse culture, familial background, diversified cognition and behavioral
patterns, literature, traditions and customs and that would facilitate the process of diffusion of
culture or acculturation, enabling a healthy and prolific environment for the people of the society
in future (Cheeseman, Sumsion & Press, 2014). Therefore, it is essential to teach about diversity
to the elementary school children in order to instill in them compassion and comprehensibility
among them which would help them grow and develop themselves holistically. In order to find
out the diversity in the society, children must be provided with ample of scope to experiment and
play with their expressions, thoughts, ideas, approaches and perspectives they have without any
kind of boundary related to gender imposed on them. The most important part of my teaching
towards the children regarding the teaching of the literature that I have chosen “Pink is for boys”
will be mainly based on creative discussions and the usage of RAFT (which is Role,
Audience, Format, and Topic/ Tone or Theme). In such way of teaching, I would allow my
students to take role plays, take the part of being the audience and also the judge who would look
after the performance of the children who might be playing the part of the different characters in
the play to imbibe the feeling of virtual reality among the children so that they are able to grasp

5ESSAY ON PEDAGOGY
the intrinsic as well as instrumental value of the story (Nolan & Paatsch, 2018). The most
important part of the pedagogical practice that I have been planning to take up for the class is
creative and innovative in nature which teaches the young ones diversity, inclusiveness,
empathy, emotional intelligence and individualism. I have also planned to teach the students the
story in a different way, apart from the RAFT (PLaY, 2013). I have decided to start teaching
“Pink is for boys” to the children with the help of illustrations, imageries and inforgraphics,
which are easily available in the stationary market of Australia. In the beginning, there would be
discussion classes, where the students would be arguing and asking questions about the
credibility and the importance of the book. Along with discussion classes, practical creative
classes such as writing down the imaginary dialogues between the children and the different
characters, where the different students would turn into different characters of the book and act
accordingly. Drawing of caricature of the different characters in the book with their own shades
of non-gendered creativity should also be encouraged by me (Nuttall & Edwards, 2013). At last,
I would like to take a group discussion as well as an extempore class where I would discuss
with the students about their opinions regarding the book, what they think about the book and
what they liked or disliked about the book (reflective thoughts) with the help of extempore,
which is a two-minute informal speech which they have to present in the class. In the extempore
classes, alternative thought processes and discussions should also be incorporated, such as, what
would children have done if they would have assumed to take up different gender neutral roles in
their futuristic life (Wong & Turner, 2014). The most important part of teaching literature in the
contemporary times to the children of the present generation is to overthrow the traditional way
of teaching literature, which often becomes monotonous and disinteresting, but rather, with the
help of new technological gadgets, audio-visuals, illustrations and other creative pedagogical

6ESSAY ON PEDAGOGY
practices such as group discussions, creative writing classes and extempore. Therefore, as an
early childhood educational trainer or tutor, I would like to incorporate such unconventional and
eccentric teaching ideas in my class to make the class more interesting, and at the same time,
incorporating the values of cognitive and behavioral diversity with the help of the children’s
literature I have taken in this case, which is “Pink is for Boys” by Robb Pearlman and Eda
Kaban. .

7ESSAY ON PEDAGOGY
Child’s name: Age: (in years and months)
Date/s presented: 30th October
Rationale/reason that you have chosen to present this experience: The reason behind
the demonstration of the respective experience is to incorporate the values and importance
of diversity in the mind of the toddlers and children below 14 years through the respective
literature i have taken, “Pink is for boys” by Rodd Pearlman and Eda Kaban. Western
societies are filled with gendered prejudices, stereotypes and preconceived notions
regarding the capabilities of a boy and a girl. When a child grows up and develops in an
environment that is prejudiced regarding gender, his or her horizon of creativity and
capabilities are often narrowed down. The respective book is an illustrative book that
exhibits different beautiful diversities in gender where along with the gender role reversals,
the children (irrespective of any gender) are often encouraged to venture into the activities
that are different from their gender preference. With the help of such encouragement,
children would be able to learn and respect gender diversity and equality. The main reason
or rationality behind the presentation of the respective experience is to provide the children
with a healthy environment where they would not only learn to respect diversity but also
imbibe a sense of gender equality and neutrality among them, thereby making them a
holistically developed individual.
Experience outline and outcome
Through the help of the learning experience of “Pink is for boys” in class, students would
learn to love, respect and value gender diversity within and outside their learning premises.
The experience outline and the possible outcome of the experience is provided hereafter.

8ESSAY ON PEDAGOGY
My purpose for the developmental process of the children would be
1. Confidence to participate in the classroom activities: students must be given ample
scope to make them feel at ease while including them in the classroom activities.
They must be given enough encouragement and inspiration for taking up the
challenge of understanding and accepting gender diversity, neutrality and equality
within themselves gracefully.
2. Inquisitiveness and enquiry regarding gender and gender roles: in order to break the
shackles of the established and regressive ideas about gender, the students should
be encouraged to ask different questions regarding gender and gender roles which
often students find to be illogical or have a plethora of curiosity.
3. Experiment of gender identity: the students should be given the ambience and
opportunity to play with different gendered identities among themselves and never
should they be discouraged to play diverse gender roles. Such activities would help
them broaden their horizon and understand as well as respect diversity and equality
of both the genders.
4. Confidence to choose any gender role without the fear of getting judged or bullied:
the children should be provided with ample of scope and chances to get themselves
into whatever gender role they prefer, irrespective of their own gender. The
classroom ambience should be such that it would not hurt the sentiments of the
children while they make their choices and neither would they fall prey to
unnecessary judgemental attitude or bully.
5. Role of the peers: The peers of the children should also be encouraged to take up
different roles in order to provide the other children with courage so that they might

9ESSAY ON PEDAGOGY
be able to take up such roles without any guilt, shame or fear.
Materials/ learning experience/ environment set up
 Discussion classes : Discussion classes would be kept inside the classrooms
where the children would be provided with round table discussion environment.
With the help of such environment, the children would feel comfortable to
begin with their discussion.
 Classroom engagement methodologies such as creative writing classes,
argumentative classes: Such classroom engagement classes would be held in the
classroom as well as in the art room and the halls of the school.
 Extempore classes: extempore classes would be quintessentially taken inside
the classroom in between the peers in front of the class as well as the teacher
(me).
 Audio visuals, illustrative and infographics : such multimedia classes would be
provided to the students at the halls and the art as well as computer classrooms
of the school,
Engagement idea
The most important part of my teaching towards the children regarding the teaching of the
literature that I have chosen “Pink is for boys” will be mainly based on creative
discussions and the usage of RAFT (which is Role, Audience, Format, and Topic/
Tone or Theme). ). I have decided to start teaching “Pink is for boys” to the children with
the help of illustrations, imageries and inforgraphics, which are easily available in the
stationary market of Australia. In the beginning, there would be discussion classes, where
the students would be arguing and asking questions about the credibility and the

10ESSAY ON PEDAGOGY
importance of the book. Along with discussion classes, practical creative classes such as
writing down the imaginary dialogues between the children and the different characters,
where the different students would turn into different characters of the book and act
accordingly. Drawing of caricature of the different characters in the book with their own
shades of non-gendered creativity should also be encouraged by me. At last, I would like
to take a group discussion as well as an extempore class where the student would discuss
about the book and its significance in the class.
Developmental Priorities or EYLF learning outcomes (minimum of two). Link the outcomes
directly to the focus child or children.
1. Emerging autonomy, interdependence and inclusiveness, knowledgeable and
confident self identity.
2. Children Learn to interact in relation to others with care, empathy and respect.
A link to one EYLF Principle which relates to the underpinning philosophy of the
experience plan:
the EYLF Principle: Secure, respectful and reciprocal relationships among the teacher and
the children.
_______________________________________________________________________
A link to which EYLF Practice your plan most relates to:
Belonging: Being respectful and accepting diversity
What are your intended teaching strategies to support the child/children in this learning
experience?
Collaborative and creative learning, interactive sessions, argumentative and
extempore sessions.

11ESSAY ON PEDAGOGY
PEDAGOGICAL PRACTICES
AUDIO VISUALS--
DISCUSSION CLASSES
CREATIVE CLASSES-
RAFT CLASSES-

12ESSAY ON PEDAGOGY
References:
Cheeseman, S., Sumsion, J., & Press, F. (2014). Infants of the knowledge economy: The
ambition of the Australian Government’s Early Years Learning Framework. Pedagogy,
Culture & Society, 22(3), 405-424.
Krieg, S. (2011). The Australian early years learning framework: Learning what?. Contemporary
Issues in Early Childhood, 12(1), 46-55.
Leggett, N., & Ford, M. (2013). A fine balance: Understanding the roles educators and children
play as intentional teachers and intentional learners within the Early Years Learning
Framework. Australasian Journal of Early Childhood, 38(4), 42-50.
Nolan, A., & Paatsch, L. (2018). (Re) affirming identities: implementing a play-based approach
to learning in the early years of schooling. International Journal of Early Years
Education, 26(1), 42-55.
Nuttall, J., & Edwards, S. (2013). Diverse Theories for Diverse Learners? The Australian Early
Years Learning Framework. International Perspectives on Early Childhood Education
and Care, 204-215.
Ortlipp, M., Arthur, L., & Woodrow, C. (2011). Discourses of the early years learning
framework: Constructing the early childhood professional. Contemporary issues in early
childhood, 12(1), 56-70.
PLaY, E. O. (2013). Making room for diverse cultural expressions of play in the retheorization
of play activities. Varied Perspectives on Play and Learning: Theory and Research on
Early Years Education, 175.

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Publishersweekly.com.,(2018). Available at: https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-7624-
6247-6
Richardson, C. (2018). Communicating family diversity and celebrations. Every Child, 24(3), 4.
SIMPSON-DAL SANTO, R. E. B. E. C. C. A. (2014). Thinking about'Identity'in the Early Years
Learning Framework.
Tayler, C., Cloney, D., & Niklas, F. (2015). A bird in the hand: Understanding the trajectories of
development of young children and the need for action to improve outcomes.
Australasian Journal of Early Childhood, 40(3), 51-60.
Wong, S., & Turner, K. (2014). Constructions of social inclusion within Australian early
childhood education and care policy documents. Contemporary Issues in Early
Childhood, 15(1), 54-68.
Oakley, A. (2016). Sex, gender and society. Routledge.
Leaper, C., & Brown, C. S. (2014). Sexism in schools. In Advances in child development and
behavior (Vol. 47, pp. 189-223). JAI.