performance in both math and verbal tests, to cite just one
example.8
We have an extremely important role to play helping all our
students – boys, girls, gender-nonconforming children – develop
and thrive free of limiting gender stereotypes and harmful biases.
We have the power to fully celebrate children for their individuality,
helping them aspire to reach their full potential. By encouraging
gender-neutral norms and expectations more fully, we
help reduce the negative consequences of inequality and gender
discrimination.
Is This a Montessori Issue?
First, the good news: Montessori practitioners have a head
start in understanding and mitigating gender inequities. The
Montessori method is inherently gender-neutral. The work
materials in the classroom appeal to all children and each child
moves at their own pace. Furniture is gender-neutral, unlike the
“home” or “kitchen” corners of yesterday’s traditional preschools.
Montessori materials in the well-prepared environment are brightly
colored and appealing without using color-coded pink and blue:
there’s the Brown Stair, the Red Rods, and the Pink Tower, and all
children find them appealing.9
Nor do Montessori lessons reflect any traditional gender
stereotypes. Every child is shown how to wash a table, how to pour,
and how to button a shirt. Every child is shown the geography
puzzle maps and the land and water forms. Every child is introduced
to the alphabet phonetically and every child is prepared for
mathematics by being introduced to the base-10 system. Maria
Montessori herself rarely referred to gender distinctions.
Yet in the wider world, vast gender inequities continue to exist
today. Children absorb them from home life, media, peers, sports,
and yes, from school, so we know we must do more.
First, Observe.
Before addressing gender stereotypes and inequality in the
classroom, reflect on the self. We are all products of our cultural
upbringing, education, and life experiences, and acknowledgment
of our own biases is a great place to begin. When growing up, did
we look down on men who showed emotions like crying or sensitivity?
Did we receive gender-coded messages about our clothing or
career choices? Were we aware of female, as well as male, public
figures and their accomplishments? We are all influenced by vast
amounts of cultural imprinting; awareness of that helps.
Next, observe the classroom with an eye toward gender.
Consider the ways children’s choices may be influenced by gender.
Start with language: children do express sentiments such as,
“she can’t play; she’s a girl,” or, “That’s so gay!” Look also at their
choices of activities. Elementary-age boys often start to opt-out of
dance classes or avoid literature featuring girls and women. Watch
behaviors in groups. Are boys who manifest more stereotypically
“feminine” behaviors teased? Do preteen girls routinely defer to
boys to be group leaders? Are boys habitually talking over girls?
And finally, think about other adults – parents, coaches,
caregivers. Do parents automatically assume that children live with
“mom and dad?” Do they refer to mixed-gender friends of young
children as their “boyfriends” or “girlfriends,” with a clear but
premature romantic implication? When giving gifts, do they offer
boys Legos and action figures while girls receive nail polish and
arts and crafts kits? All these serve only to reinforce preconceived,
personality-limiting stereotypes.
8 https://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/rest_a_00756
9 http://persephonemagazine.com/2011/07/the-montessori-approach-to-gender-neutral-education/
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