preview

The Initiation Of Formal Education Essay

Better Essays

Prekindergarten marks the initiation of formal education for most young children in the United States. Educators in these classrooms often focus their teaching on the integration of learning and play. Children in prekindergarten, however, often learn more than material outlined in curricular standards. A child’s introduction to preschool – often their first institutional experience – forces them to adopt a “subject position” in this new social context (Mansson 8). That is, children become socialized by the formal school setting; they develop individual and group manners, classroom etiquette, and interpersonal skills. With these social lessons come a series of social beliefs, norms, and expectations, not least among them, gender and gender roles. As innocent and naïve as some may believe them to be, preschoolers are attentive and perceptive; they are not immune to the explicit and implicit ideas and messages about gender that surround them. Early lessons in gender, gender roles, power, and inequality become ingrained in young minds and often serve to frame – rather, to confine – ideas about ability, potential, and achievement. There exists a significant volume of research on various topics of gender in the prekindergarten setting, including gender salience, gender roles, and gender differences. Utilizing existing research and classroom experiences, this paper thus explores the nuances of gender as they manifest themselves in the prekindergarten classroom setting and provides

Get Access