INTRODUCTION

Gender refers to sociocultural norms, identities, and relations that: 1) structure societies and
organizations; and 2) shape behaviors, products, technologies, environments, and knowledges
(Schiebinger, 1999). Gender attitudes and behaviors are complex and change across time and place.
Importantly, gender is multidimensional (Hyde et al., 2018) and intersects with other social categories,
such as sex, age, socioeconomic status, sexual orientation and ethnicity. Gender is distinct from sex.
Three Related Dimensions of Gender:
As social beings, humans’ function through learned behaviors. How we speak, our mannerisms, the things
we use, and our behaviors all signal who we are and establish rules for interaction. Gender is one such set
of organizing principles that structure behaviors, attitudes, physical appearance, and habits.
1. Gender Norms are produced through social institutions (such as families, schools, workplaces,
laboratories, universities or boardrooms), social interactions (such as between romantic partners, work
colleagues, or family members), and wider cultural products (such as textbooks, literature, film and video
games).

• Gender norms refer to social and cultural attitudes and expectations about which behaviors,
preferences, products, professions or knowledges are appropriate for women, men and gender-
diverse individuals, and may influence the development of science and technology.
• Gender norms draw upon and reinforce gender stereotypes about women, men and gender-
diverse individuals.
• Gender norms may be reinforced by unequal distribution of resources and discrimination in the
workplace, families and other institutions.
• Gender norms are constantly in flux. They change by historical era, culture or location, such as
the 1950s versus the 2020s, Korea versus Germany, or urban versus rural areas. Gender also
differs by specific social contexts, such as work versus home.
2. Gender Identities refer to how individuals or groups perceive and present themselves in relation to
gender norms. Gender identities may be context-specific and interact with other identities, such as
ethnicity, class or cultural heritage.
3. Gender Relations refer to how we interact with people and institutions in the world around us, based
on our sex and our gender identity. Gender relations encompass how gender shapes social interactions in
families, schools, workplaces and public settings, for instance, the power relation between a man patient
and woman physician.

• Social divisions of labor are another important aspect of gender relations, where women and men
are concentrated in different types of (paid or unpaid) activities. One consequence of such gender
segregation is that particular occupations or disciplines become marked symbolically with the
(presumed) gender category of the larger group: for example, nursing is seen as a female
profession, engineering as male.
• Women and men who work in highly segregated roles acquire different kinds of knowledge or
expertise, which can sometimes be usefully accessed for gendered innovations.
• Gender relations can also become embodied in products or urban environments, such as
transportation systems.
Sex and gender interact: The term gender was introduced in the late 1960s to reject biological
determinism that interprets behavioral differences as the outcomes of biological disposition. “Gender”
was used to distinguish the sociocultural factors that shape behaviors and attitudes from biological factors
related to sex. Gendered behaviors and attitudes are learned; they are neither fixed nor universal.
Gendered experiences can affect biology. Moreover, some individuals seek to change aspects of their
bodies to align them better with their gender identities. Sex and gender are often useful analytical terms
even if in reality sex and gender interact.
Legal gender categories: Governments typically require citizens to categorize their gender identity on
official documents such as birth certificates, driving licenses and passports. Numerous countries
recognize a third gender category. These include Argentina, Australia, Bangladesh, Canada, Colombia,
Denmark, Germany, India, Malta, Nepal, New Zealand and Pakistan, among others.
Cisgender and Transgender: Transgender is an umbrella term which describes a range of gender
identities, including individuals whose gender identity differs from that typically associated with the sex
they were assigned at birth. (Marshall et al., 2019; Scandurra et al., 2019). This is in contrast to cisgender,
which describes individuals whose self-identified gender matches their birth sex assignment. The term
"cisgender" is used to resist the idea that cisgender is the norm and transgender is not (Aultman, 2014).
Other individuals refuse the concept of gender as binary altogether, and may self-identify as genderqueer,
nonbinary, genderfluid, or bigender (Hyde et al., 2018).
Gender is multi-dimensional: Gender is often described as existing on a masculinity-femininity
spectrum, but such categories can reinforce stereotypes about women and men and ignore individuals
who fall outside traditional gender binaries (Nielsen et al., 2020). Gender is multidimensional: any given
individual may experience configurations of gender norms, traits, and relations that cannot be subsumed
under the simple categories "feminine" or "masculine".
Social Dynamics Versus Social Change
Although the terms "social dynamics" and "social change" both indicate a focus on change over time, they
are used in different circumstances. Social dynamics has a more precise meaning.
First, social dynamics usually presumes change within a social system. That system may consist of similar
entities (e.g., members of a family, families in a neighborhood, nations in the world) or disparate entities
(e.g., different types of actors in a political or economic system) or various attributes of a single social
entity (e.g., an individual's education, occupational prestige, and income or a business firm's age, size, and
structure). The system usually is regarded as bounded, allowing the rest of the world to be ignored for
purposes of explanation.
Whether the system consists of actors or variables, the term "system" presumes interdependence and
typically involves feedback. Thus, action by one entity in the system leads to counteraction by another
entity. For example, managers of a firm may counter a strike by workers by acquiescing to the workers'
demands, outwaiting them, or hiring nonunion laborers. Alternatively, change in one variable in the
system leads to an opposing or reinforcing change in one or more other variables. For example, an
increase in educational level is followed by an increase in prestige and then an increase in income.
Changes resulting from interdependent forces and feedback effects within the system are
called endogenous changes.
There also may be exogenous changes, that is, unexplained (perhaps random) changes that influence
change within the system under study but whose causes originate outside that system. For example, in
analyses of interaction between a husband and wife, changes in the economy and society in which the
couple lives usually are treated as exogenous changes that affect the couple's behavior, but the societal-
level changes themselves are not explained.
Because of interdependent forces and feedback effects as well as possible exogenous changes, social
dynamics typically implies a concern with complex changes. Simple linear changes or straightforward
extrapolations of previous trends are rarely of primary interest.
Second, social dynamics connotes social changes that have a regular pattern. That pattern may be one of
growth (e.g., economic expansion, growth of a population), decline (e.g., rural depopulation, the
extinction of a cultural trait), cyclical change (e.g., boom and bust in the business cycle), a distinctive but
nonetheless recurring transition (e.g., ethnic succession in neighborhoods, societal modernization, the
demographic transition from high mortality and fertility to low mortality and fertility), or simply a drift in
a particular direction (e.g., the slow but accelerating spread of a social belief or practice through a
population).
Third, social dynamics usually implies a degree of predictability: Social change not only can be
comprehended in terms of post hoc reasons but also can be explicitly modeled. The model, whether it
consists of verbal statements or mathematical equations or computer instructions, involves a set of
assumptions or propositions that permit fundamental patterns of change to be deduced. In contrast,
although a unique historical event may foster social change, its uniqueness makes successful prediction
impossible. One challenge in studies of social dynamics is therefore to convert phenomena that are unique
on one level to ones that are representative and therefore predictable on another level. Thus, what some
regard as a unique historical event, others see as an example of a regular pattern of change. For example,
to a historian, the Russian Revolution of 1917 is a unique event, whereas a sociologist may regard it as
exemplifying a response to changes in underlying social conditions. Thus, while recognizing many
distinctive factors, Skocpol (1979) argues that similar patterns of causes underlie the dramatic political
and social transformations that historians call the French, Russian, and Chinese revolutions.
Fourth, the term "social dynamics" is used more commonly than is the term "social change" when
regularity in patterns of change is associated with some kind of equilibrium (steady state or homeostasis),
that is, when feedback effects are such that small deviations from equilibrium lead to compensating
effects that cause equilibrium to be restored. For example, in the United States, the distribution of family
income (the share of total income received by different families) was remarkably stable throughout the
twentieth century despite tremendous growth in population and economic output and social upheavals
such as the civil rights and women's liberation movements. This stability suggests that the process
governing the allocation of family income was nearly in equilibrium. The term "social change," especially
change seen as part of a unique historical process, usually is associated with change from one distinctive
situation to another, very different situation. It implies the antithesis of social equilibrium. The way in
which the social status of women and minorities has changed during the twentieth century exemplifies
social disequilibrium.
Studies of social dynamics do not necessarily assume the existence of an equilibrium. This point is made
clear by studies of the dynamics of economic growth, which often envision a process of never-ending
expansion and improvement. Similarly, some dynamic processes imply not a steady-state condition but
continual oscillation between conditions. A classic sociological example is Pareto's (1935) analysis of the
circulation of elites.
Fifth, the term "social dynamics" is almost always used in situations in which there is an interest in
the process of change: the step-by-step sequence of causes and effects and the way in which intermediary
changes unfold. It is rarely used when only a simple before–after comparison of the condition of the
system is the object of interest. Instead, when authors use the term "social dynamics," there is usually a
sense that the details and sequencing of changes are important because changes are contingent: If the
sequence had been interrupted or altered at an intermediary point, the final outcome might have been
different. For example, models of social protest often recognize that the state's response to protests may
range from peaceful conciliation to violent suppression. The nature of the state's response is an important
contingency because it affects the likelihood, timing, and character of future protests.
Sometimes the sequence of changes occurs on the level of the system as a whole rather than on the level
of individual members. For example, in a simple model of population growth, individual-level changes
are very elementary: birth followed by death, with the timing of the two being the only question. On the
population level, the addition and loss of individuals over time represent a sequence of changes even
though on the individual level there may be few, if any intermediary changes and thus little sense of a
sequence of causes and effects.
The Nature of Dynamic Models
Developments in dynamic models (and derivative developments in methods of dynamic analysis) are the
major commonality in sociological studies of social dynamics. To understand the main features of
dynamic models, it is important to differentiate them from other types of models.
The most basic distinction is between static and dynamic models. Static models describe relationships
among social actors in a system or among the attributes of a social entity at a given point in time. As was
noted earlier, they implicitly assume a steady state or equilibrium, a phenomenon that is about as common
in nature as a vacuum. In contrast, dynamic models describe the process or sequence of changes among
actors in a social system or among the attributes of a social system.
Dynamic models also can be contrasted with comparative static models, which are especially common in
economic analyses and analyses of social experiments. Although both deal with change over time, they
differ in an important way. The process of change leading from conditions at the earlier time point to
conditions at the later time point is fundamental to a dynamic model. In contrast, the change process is
ignored in a comparative static model, which resembles a black box that relates conditions at one point in
time to conditions at a later time.
To illustrate this distinction, consider alternative ways of explaining a son's occupational prestige. In a
comparative static model, the son's prestige may be related to his father's socioeconomic status and his
own education without any attention being paid to the mechanisms and processes that lead from those
background conditions to the son's condition as an adult. In a dynamic model, the father's socioeconomic
status and the son's education may be seen as giving access to certain entry-level jobs, which in turn
provide opportunities for further career mobility, leading to jobs with varying levels of prestige. In a
dynamic model, the timing and sequence of job shifts are of concern, not just the son's initial condition
(i.e., his father's social status and his own education). In summary, dynamic models are used to explain
not only why the later condition of a phenomenon differs from its earlier condition but also how a
sequence of changes leads from one condition to the other.
Child Care – The Importance of Social Interaction In Early Development
Social interaction is one of the most important aspects of any child’s development. The benefits will have
a lifelong effect on the child and by making sure that they are given a chance for social interaction early,
it is ensured that the child will have a solid foundation for their social skills as they grow and eventually
become an adult. By using a child care service which encourages social interaction early on a child can
gain the following benefits:
1. Learning to Work with Others
Teamwork is a skill that will be useful throughout life, and it is founded on the principles of sharing,
communicating, compromising, and working towards common goals. As children play together in
supervised learning environments such as child care, they will begin to understand the appropriate tactics
for working well with others.
2. Developing Communication Skills with Child Care
While early communication skills are developed by imitating adults, children also need to learn to
communicate verbally with peers. Social interaction from an early age is a key factor in learning to speak
effectively for clear communication. Through communication with others at places like child care, kids
also gain a sense of self and learn to identify as individuals, which is a normal part of the developmental
process for toddlers.
3. Understanding Social Cues
Non-verbal communication is another important component of social interaction for children. As kids
play and learn together, they will begin to understand emotions expressed through facial expressions and
body language. Not only will this be valuable in knowing what others are feeling, but it is also helpful for
children who are just learning to express themselves.
4. Building friendships
Friendships are critical for young children, and they are only built through regular social interactions.
Because children do not have innate problem solving and conflict resolution skills at young ages, guided
social interactions are helpful in forging friendships that will be necessary for building confidence and
self-esteem.
➢ Should all children be given the same amount of social interaction?
Things aren’t always so simple. Just as in the adult world no two children are the same. They will all have
different levels of comfort as well as enjoyment in how they handle social situations. Children who are
more introverted for example may benefit and get more enjoyment from less social interaction than other
children. They may find it more comfortable to only have 2 or 3 close friends rather than being part of a
larger group. On the other hand, children who are more extroverted may enjoy being around their peers
for longer periods of time and may enjoy themselves more in a bigger group. Additionally, it is also
important to consider the needs of children who may have a mental health condition such as autism
spectrum disorder. These children may have a very tough time in social situations and additional care
should be given in assisting these children to allow them to interact with others in a way that still allows
them to feel safe and comfortable.
GENDER DEVELOPMENT
The task of gender development is a complex biopsychosocial process that takes place in concert with
societal stereotypes and the local social contexts they shape. The empirical picture is not complete, but it
seems that gender identities are complex internalized cognitive and emotional representations that
children and youth construct for themselves over time, based on the biological and temperamental givens
that each one comes with and their cumulative interactions with the social worlds of family, school, peers,
and society. Much of gender development seems to reflect cognitive changes that allow children to
successively realize and try to make sense of different aspects of gender identity, but the whole kit-n-
caboodle seems to be built on a foundation created by biological or neurophysiological givens. We will
trace the main age-graded milestones that children experience in constructing their own gender identities,
in order to suggest ways in which parents (and other adults) can support children’s and adolescents’
healthy development.
Gender development is a fascinating process because it is deeply rooted in biology, profoundly shaped by
societal expectations, and actively constructed by individuals over and over again at different
developmental levels. All theories of gender identity posit that the processes shaping its development are
both biological and societal, so it is important to get straight on those biological and social processes
before we turn to development. This is also a fascinating historical moment to study gender development
because science is revealing more and more about its biological and psychological complexity, just as
society is undergoing a gender revolution in which people are questioning, exploring, and recognizing a
much broader spectrum of gender and sexual identities.
1) Jean Piaget’s Theory of Infant Development
Piaget’s theory is a general, unifying story of how biology and experience sculpt cognitive development.
Piaget thought that just as our physical bodies have structures that enable us to adapt to the world, we
build mental structures that help us to adapt to the world. Adaptation involves adjusting to new
environmental demands. Piaget stressed that children actively construct their own cognitive worlds;
information is not just poured into their minds from the environment. He sought to discover how children
at different points in their development think about the world and how systematic changes in their
thinking occur.
Cognitive Processes: - What processes do children use as they construct their knowledge of the world?
Piaget developed several concepts to answer this question; especially important are schemes, assimilation,
accommodation, organization, equilibrium, and equilibration.
Schemes: - As the infant or child seeks to construct an understanding of the world, said Piaget (1954), the
developing brain creates schemes. These are actions or mental representations that organize knowledge.
In Piaget’s theory, behavioral schemes (physical activities) characterize infancy and mental schemes
(cognitive activities) develop in childhood (Lamb, Bornstein, & Teti, 2002). A baby’s schemes are
structured by simple actions that can be performed on objects, such as sucking, looking, and grasping.
Older children have schemes that include strategies and plans for solving problems. For example, in the
descriptions at the opening of this chapter, Laurent displayed a scheme for sucking; Jacqueline displayed
a scheme for investigating when she examined the box. By the time we have reached adulthood, we have
constructed an enormous number of diverse schemes, ranging from driving a car to balancing a budget to
understanding the concept of fairness.
Assimilation and Accommodation: - To explain how children use and adapt their schemes, Piaget offered
two concepts: assimilation and accommodation. Assimilation occurs when children use their existing
schemes to deal with new information or experiences.
Accommodation occurs when children adjust their schemes to take new information and experiences into
account.
Think about a toddler who has learned the word car to identify the family’s car. The toddler might call all
moving vehicles on roads “cars,” including motorcycles and trucks; the child has assimilated these objects
to his or her existing scheme. But the child soon learns that motorcycles and trucks are not cars and fine-
tunes the category to exclude motorcycles and trucks, thus accommodating the scheme.
Organization: - To make sense of their world, said Piaget, children cognitively organize their
experiences. Organization in Piaget’s theory is the grouping of isolated behaviors and thoughts into a
higher-order system. Continual refinement of this organization is an inherent part of development. A boy
who has only a vague idea about how to use a hammer may also have a vague idea about how to use other
tools. After learning how to use each one, he relates these uses, organizing his knowledge.
Equilibration and Stages of Development: - Assimilation and accommodation always take the child to
a higher ground, according to Piaget. In trying to understand the world, the child inevitably experiences
cognitive conflict, or disequilibrium. That is, the child is constantly faced with counterexamples to his or
her existing schemes and with inconsistencies. For example, if a child believes that pouring water from a
short and wide container into a tall and narrow container changes the amount of water, then the child
might be puzzled by where the “extra” water came from and whether there is actually more water to
drink. The puzzle creates disequilibrium; for Piaget, an internal search for equilibrium creates motivation
for change. The child assimilates and accommodates, adjusting old schemes, developing new schemes,
and organizing and reorganizing the old and new schemes. Eventually, the organization is fundamentally
different from the old organization; it is a new way of thinking.
In short, according to Piaget, children constantly assimilate and accommodate as they seek equilibrium.
There is considerable movement between states of cognitive equilibrium and disequilibrium as
assimilation and accommodation work in concert to produce cognitive change. Equilibration is the name
Piaget gave to this mechanism by which children shift from one stage of thought to the next.
The Sensorimotor Stage
The sensorimotor stage lasts from birth to about 2 years of age. In this stage, infants construct an
understanding of the world by coordinating sensory experiences (such as seeing and hearing) with
physical, motoric actions—hence the term “sensorimotor.” At the beginning of this stage, newborns have
little more than reflexes with which to work. At the end of the sensorimotor stage, 2-year-olds can
produce complex sensorimotor patterns and use primitive symbols. We first summarize Piaget’s
descriptions of how infants develop. Later we consider criticisms of his view. Substages Piaget divided
the sensorimotor stage into six substages: (1) simple reflexes; (2) first habits and primary circular
reactions; (3) secondary circular reactions; (4) coordination of secondary circular reactions; (5) tertiary
circular reactions, novelty, and curiosity; and (6) internalization of schemes.
Simple reflexes, the first sensorimotor substage, correspond to the first month after birth. In this substage,
sensation and action are coordinated primarily through reflexive behaviors such as rooting and sucking.
Soon the infant produces behaviors that resemble reflexes in the absence of the usual stimulus for the
reflex. For example, a newborn will suck a nipple or bottle only when it is placed directly in the baby’s
mouth or touched to the lips. Even in the first month of life, the infant is initiating action and actively
structuring experiences.
First habits and primary circular reactions is the second sensorimotor substage, which develops
between 1 and 4 months of age. In this substage, the infant coordinates sensation and two types of
schemes: habits and primary circular reactions. A habit is a scheme based on a reflex that has become
completely separated from its eliciting stimulus. For example, infants in substage 1 suck when bottles are
put to their lips or when they see a bottle. Infants in substage 2 might suck even when no bottle is present.
A circular reaction is a repetitive action.
Secondary circular reactions are the third sensorimotor substage, which develops between 4 and 8
months of age. In this substage, the infant becomes more object-oriented, moving beyond preoccupation
with the self. The infant’s schemes are not intentional or goal-directed, but they are repeated because of
their consequences. By chance, an infant might shake a rattle. The infant repeats this action for the sake of
its fascination. This is a secondary circular reaction: an action repeated because of its consequences. The
infant also imitates some simple actions, such as the baby talk or burbling of adults, and some physical
gestures. However, the baby imitates only actions that he or she is already able to produce.
Coordination of secondary circular reactions is Piaget’s fourth sensorimotor substage, which develops
between 8 and 12 months of age. To progress into this substage, the infant must coordinate vision and
touch, eye and hand. Actions become more outwardly directed. Significant changes during this substage
involve the coordination of schemes and intentionality. Infants readily combine and recombine previously
learned schemes in a coordinated way. They might look at an object and grasp it simultaneously, or they
might visually inspect a toy, such as a rattle, and finger it simultaneously, exploring it tactilely. Actions
are even more outwardly directed than before. Related to this coordination is the second achievement—
the presence of intentionality. For example, infants might manipulate a stick in order to bring a desired
toy within reach or they might knock over one block to reach and play with another one. Similarly, when
11-month-old Jacqueline, as described in the chapter opening, placed the ball in front of her and kicked it,
she was demonstrating intentionality.
Tertiary circular reactions, novelty, and curiosity is Piaget’s fifth sensorimotor substage, which develops
between 12 and 18 months of age. In this substage, infants become intrigued by the many properties of
objects and by the many things that they can make happen to objects. A block can be made to fall, spin,
hit another object, and slide across the ground. Tertiary circular reactions are schemes in which the infant
purposely explores new possibilities with objects, continually doing new things to them and exploring the
results. Piaget says that this stage marks the starting point for human curiosity and interest in novelty.
Internalization of schemes is Piaget’s sixth and final sensorimotor substage, which develops between 18
and 24 months of age. In this substage, the infant develops the ability to use primitive symbols. For
Piaget, a symbol is an internalized sensory image or word that represents an event. Primitive symbols
permit the infant to think about concrete events without directly acting them out or perceiving them.
Moreover, symbols allow the infant to manipulate and transform the represented events in simple ways.
In a favorite Piagetian example, Piaget’s young daughter saw a matchbox being opened and closed. Later,
she mimicked the event by opening and closing her mouth. This was an obvious expression of her image
of the event.
Object Permanence: -- Imagine how chaotic and unpredictable your life would be if you could not
distinguish between yourself and your world. This is what the life of a newborn must be like, according to
Piaget. There is no differentiation between the self and world; objects have no separate, permanent
existence.
By the end of the sensorimotor period, objects are both separate from the self and permanent. Object
permanence is the understanding that objects continue to exist even when they cannot be seen, heard, or
touched. Acquiring the sense of object permanence is one of the infant’s most important
accomplishments, according to Piaget. How could anyone know whether an infant had developed a sense
of object permanence? The principal way that object permanence is studied is by watching an infant’s
reaction when an interesting object disappears. If infants search for the object, it is assumed that they
believe it continues to exist.
Object permanence is just one of the basic concepts about the physical world developed by babies. To
Piaget, children, even infants, are much like little scientists, examining the world to see how it works.
How do adult scientists try to discover what these “baby scientists” are finding out about the world? The
Connecting with Research interlude describes some of the ways.
2) Kohlberg’s theory of Moral Development
Kohlberg's theory of moral development is a theory that focuses on how children develop morality and
moral reasoning. Kohlberg's theory suggests that moral development occurs in a series of six stages. The
theory also suggests that moral logic is primarily focused on seeking and maintaining justice.
What Is Moral Development?
How do people develop morality? This question has fascinated parents, religious leaders, and
philosophers for ages, but moral development has also become a hot-button issue in psychology and
education. Do parental or societal influences play a greater role in moral development? Do all kids
develop morality in similar ways?
American psychologist Lawrence Kohlberg developed one of the best-known theories exploring some of
these basic questions. His work modified and expanded upon Jean Piaget's previous work but was more
centered on explaining how children develop moral reasoning.
How did the two theories differ? Piaget described a two-stage process of moral development.3 Kohlberg
extended Piaget's theory, proposing that moral development is a continual process that occurs throughout
the lifespan. His theory outlines six stages of moral development within three different levels.
In recent years, Kohlberg's theory has been criticized as being Western-centric with a bias toward men (he
primarily used male research subjects) and with having a narrow worldview based on upper-middle-class
value systems and perspectives.
Stages Of Moral Development
Kohlberg's theory is broken down into three primary levels. At each level of moral development, there are
two stages. Similar to how Piaget believed that not all people reach the highest levels of cognitive
development, Kohlberg believed not everyone progresses to the highest stages of moral development.
Level 1. Preconventional Morality
Preconventional morality is the earliest period of moral development. It lasts until around the age of 9. At
this age, children's decisions are primarily shaped by the expectations of adults and the consequences for
breaking the rules. There are two stages within this level:
• Stage 1 (Obedience and Punishment): The earliest stages of moral development, obedience and
punishment are especially common in young children, but adults are also capable of expressing
this type of reasoning. According to Kohlberg, people at this stage see rules as fixed and
absolute. Obeying the rules is important because it is a way to avoid punishment.
• Stage 2 (Individualism and Exchange): At the individualism and exchange stage of moral
development, children account for individual points of view and judge actions based on how they
serve individual needs. In the Heinz dilemma, children argued that the best course of action was
the choice that best served Heinz’s needs. Reciprocity is possible at this point in moral
development, but only if it serves one's own interests.
Level 2. Conventional Morality
The next period of moral development is marked by the acceptance of social rules regarding what is good
and moral. During this time, adolescents and adults internalize the moral standards they have learned
from their role models and from society.
This period also focuses on the acceptance of authority and conforming to the norms of the group. There
are two stages at this level of morality:
• Stage 3 (Developing Good Interpersonal Relationships): Often referred to as the "good boy-
good girl" orientation, this stage of the interpersonal relationship of moral development is focused
on living up to social expectations and roles. There is an emphasis on conformity, being "nice,"
and consideration of how choices influence relationships.
• Stage 4 (Maintaining Social Order): This stage is focused on ensuring that social order is
maintained. At this stage of moral development, people begin to consider society as a whole
when making judgments. The focus is on maintaining law and order by following the rules, doing
one’s duty, and respecting authority.
Level 3. Postconventional Morality
At this level of moral development, people develop an understanding of abstract principles of morality.
The two stages at this level are:
• Stage 5 (Social Contract and Individual Rights): The ideas of a social contract and individual
rights cause people in the next stage to begin to account for the differing values, opinions, and
beliefs of other people.7 Rules of law are important for maintaining a society, but members of the
society should agree upon these standards.
• Stage 6 (Universal Principles): Kohlberg’s final level of moral reasoning is based on universal
ethical principles and abstract reasoning. At this stage, people follow these internalized principles
of justice, even if they conflict with laws and rules.
Kohlberg believed that only a relatively small percentage of people ever reach the post-conventional
stages (around 10 to 15%).7 One analysis found that while stages one to four could be seen as universal in
populations throughout the world, the fifth and sixth stages were extremely rare in all populations.8
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
➢ Do Males and Females Think and Learn differently? - The question of gender differences in
intelligence or academic achievement has been debated for centuries, and the issue has taken on
particular importance since the early 1970s. The most important thing to keep in mind about this
debate is that no responsible researcher has ever claimed that any male-female differences on any
measure of intellectual ability are large in comparison to the amount of variability within each
sex. In other words, even in areas in which true gender differences are suspected, these
differences are so small and so variable that they have few practical consequences (Fennema,
Carpenter, Jacobs, Franke and Levi, 1998). Far more important are differences caused by cultural
expectations and norms. For example, twelfth-grade girls score significantly lower than boys on
the quantitative section of the Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) (Gallagher and De Lisi, 1994)
and on Advanced Placement tests in mathematics (Stumpf and Stanley, 1996). A summary of 20
major studies shows that males scored better than females in math, whereas the opposite was true
on English tests. Surprisingly, males scored better on multiple-choice tests, but not on other
 formats. There may be a biological basis for such differences, but none has been proven. The
most important cause is that females in our society have traditionally been discouraged from
studying mathematics and therefore take many fewer math courses than males do. In fact, as
females have begun to take more math courses over the past two decades, the gender-gap on the
SAT and on other measures has been steadily diminishing (Fennema, et al., 1998: 278).
Bearing these cautions in mind, note that studies generally find that males score higher than females on
tests of general knowledge, mechanical reasoning, and mental rotations; females score higher on language
measures, including reading and writing assessments, and on attention and planning tasks (Warrick and
Naglieri, 1993). There are no male-female differences in general verbal ability, arithmetic skills, abstract
reasoning, spatial visualization, or memory span (Fennema et al., 1998). There is an interesting argument
about variability of performance in certain areas. For example, Feingold has argued that males are more
variable than females in quantitative reasoning-that is, that there are more very high-achieving males and
more very low-achieving male than there are females in either category (1992: 47). Studies of students
who are extremely gifted in mathematics consistently find a substantially higher number of males than
females in this category: However, there is still a lively debate about the idea that males are more variable
than females in intellectual abilities (Bielinski and Davison, 1998: 353-4).
➢ Sex-Role Stereotyping and Gender Bias: - If there are so few genetically based differences
between males and females, why do so many behavioral differences exist? These behavioral
differences originate from different experiences, including reinforcement by adults for different
types of behavior.
Male and female babies have traditionally been treated differently from the time they are born. The
wrapping of the infant in either a pink or a blue blanket symbolizes the variations in experience that
typically greet the child from birth onward. In early studies, adults described boy or girl babies wrapped
in blue blankets as being more active than the same babies wrapped in pink. Other masculine traits were
also ascribed to those wrapped in blue (Baxter,1994). Although gender bias awareness has begun to have
some impact on child-rearing practices, children do begin to make gender distinctions and have gender
preferences around the age of 3 or 4. Thus, children enter school having been socialized into appropriate
gender-role behavior for their age in relation to community expectations (Delamont, 2001). Differences
in approved gender roles between boys and girls tend to be much stronger in low- Social Economic
Situated families than in high- SES families (Flanagan, 1993).
Socialization into this kind of approved sex-role behavior continues throughout life, and schools
contribute to it. Though interactions between socialization experiences and achievement are complex and
it is difficult to make generalizations, schools differentiate between the sexes in a number of ways. In
general, males receive more - attention from their teachers than females do. Males receive more
disapproval and blame from their teachers than females do, but they also engage in more interactions with
their teachers in such areas as approval, instruction giving, and being listened to. Teachers tend to punish
females more promptly and explicitly for aggressive behavior than they do males. Torrance (1986) found
that the creative behavior of males was rewarded by teachers three times oftener than that of females.
Other differentiations are subtle, as girls are directed to play in the house corner while boys are provided
with blocks or when boys are given the drums to play in music class, girls are given the triangles.
➢ Development of Gender Roles: - As for all aspects of human development, there are two main
influences on the development of gender role: genetics and environment. Although it has not been
proved completely yet, there are strong indications that some male-female differences are
biological. Lefrancois (1997) states that the greater aggressiveness of males relative to females is
 a good example for the idea that the differences come from biology. Males tend to be more
aggressive not only in most human societies, but also among most non-human animal species.
Male aggressiveness may be linked to the presence of male hormones as when females are
given testosterone injections, they too tend to become more aggressive.
The effect of environment can be named as the influence of social roles and expectations. In spite of the
biological aggressiveness of males, the roles assigned by the society to an individual is a determining
factor in the different male and female behaviors. Lefrancois (1997) exemplifies this with the
following: when young American children are asked which personality characteristics are
masculine and which are feminine, they typically have no problem in agreeing on the characteristics
for each gender. That may be because in North American societies, most occupations and many sports
requiring aggression have traditionally been restricted to males while non-aggressive and more nurturant
behavior to females. Society provides children with clear models and children see them everywhere: at
home, on tv, on playground and at school. The message they got as a result of this is that there are
behaviors, occupations, interests and attitudes that are clearly appropriate for one gender but
inappropriate for the other.
More interestingly, in a study by Kelly and Grotton (cited in Lefrancois,1997), it was indicated that
masculine roles are more constraining than feminine roles. While, it is acceptable for girls to show
masculine interests and to engage in masculine activities, it is less acceptable for boys to be feminine.
Girls in trousers are acceptable in a way that boys in dresses will probably never be. Both boys and
girls generally agree that the masculine role is the preferable role. When boys and girls in the study are
asked ‘if you wake up tomorrow and discover that you were girl (boy) how would your life be different?’,
‘terrible’, or ‘that would be catastrophe’, or ‘a disaster’ the boys answered. But the Gils responded
very differently. They said ‘great’. The study shows that boys saw girls as more passive, weaker, more
restricted in activities and more emotional. However, girls viewed boys as more active, less
concerned with appearance, more aggressive, more athletic and better able to travel and develop a
career.
➢ Gender/Sex and First Language Acquisition: - General acceptance about children’s way of
learning their mother tongue is quite straightforward; it is natural and without striking a blow.
There is always difference in talent when children study other knowledge, for example, some
children are good at mathematics, while others have a talent for physics. However, there is little
difference in mother tongue acquisition. Although children’ living environments differ in
thousands of ways and experiences in physics and intelligence are totally different, these
differences do not influence their acquisition of mother tongue at all. Five or six-year-olds,
regardless of their gender, have the same language ability roughly despite their different language
environments. It’s easy for children to learn their mother tongue and acquire language ability
unconsciously (Li and Bu, 2006). However, there are also several studies of first language
acquisition (Douglas, 1964;Morris, 1966) that have shown girls to be better learners than
boys. Trudgill (1974) showed that women used the prestige variants more frequently than men
and related this phenomenon to female social insecurity Differences between male and female
L1 learners appear more in studies conducted in bilingual settings; and such studies favor
female learners in acquiring the languages they are exposed to. In a study of Punjabi migrant
children in England, Agnihotri showed that girls assimilated the prestige variants faster than
the boys; they were also better at resisting the stigmatized variants (1979). Satyanath, too,
found that Kannadiga women in Delhi showed a higher percentage of assimilation of
linguistic features associated with Hindi and also a higher degree of usage than men. He found
 that younger women assimilated the host society’s language and culture maximally (1982).
Unlike Trudgill, who holds social insecurity to be responsible for greater use of prestige
variants, Satyanath attributes it to the sociocultural aspects of the Kannadiga community,
which provides women a greater opportunity of interaction with the host society and this
seems to be the underlying reason in female learners outscoring their counterparts (1974).

➢ Gender/Sex and Second Language Acquisition (SLA): - SLA, which is a sub area of applied
linguistics, has become a genuine field of research for the last three decades. Previously, the
research of gender and SLA basically focused on the topics valued in the area of SLA;
nevertheless, with the change of perspectives it started to investigate the teachers and the
learners more. In the previous period, only such studies that were based on positivist or
postpositivist assumptions were respected by many scholars. As Davis and Skilton-Sylvester
state real science meant only experimental or quasi experimental design, surveys, and
postpositivist qualitative studies to such scholars; and assuming only this hierarchy as the real
track to follow neglects the wide range of contributions made through other paradigms
(including gender) and excludes research participants’ diverse experiences, “thereby creating
conditions for inaccurate, inequitable and discriminatory outcomes” (2004: 388).Ellis (1994)
discusses the difference between the terms "sex" and “gender" and supports the two
principles Labov suggested: “In stable sociolinguistic stratification, men use a higher frequency
of nonstandard forms an women and in the majority of linguistic changes, women use a
higher frequency of the incoming forms than men (1991: 206-7).”
Then he turns Labor’s generalizations into an hypothesis that follows as “women might be better at L2
learning than men as they are likely to be more open to new linguistic forms in the L2 input and they will
be more likely to rid themselves of interlanguage forms that deviate from target-language
norms"(Ellis, 1994: 202).
Apart from achievement, the attitudes towards language learning and motivation are two factors directly
related to gender. According to Gardner and Lambert’s study, female students of L2 French in Canada
were more motivated than the male students and also had more positive attitudes towards the speakers of
the target language (Block, 2002). Similarly, Bacon and Finnemann (1992) found that female university
students of Spanish in the US were more instrumentally motivated than male students.
Representation Of Gender in Children’s Literature
Children are shaped into who they are as adults starting when they are very young. Children adopt certain
roles and behaviors as part of their socialization process (Tsao, 2008). They begin to create their own
identities and one element that influences this identity is the literature that children read or what is read to
them (Allen, Allen, & Sigler, 1993). Children’s literature has been generally defined as anything that
children read (Nodelman, 2008), but this is too narrow. In today’s world, it also needs to include works
intended for children, young people, and second language learners. Children’s literature is said to provide
characters and events that learners can identify with and through which they can evaluate their own
actions, beliefs, and emotions (Mendoza & Reese, 2001), and is now being commonly used in ESL/EFL
classrooms (Lazar, 1993). Culturally and linguistically diverse learners can be introduced to cultural
knowledge and universal themes that are present in the English-speaking societies (Department of
Education, Newfoundland and Labrador, 2009) because it can give a voice to underrepresented groups
and stimulate cross-cultural appreciation (Smallwood, 1998). Thus, children’s literature can have an
enormous impact on children and language learners throughout the world, especially in the areas of
culture and gender roles.
Gender roles are an important part of culture (Gazda, 2015; Singh, 1998). However, they often differ from
culture to culture and it is important for children and students to understand that these differences exist
and not to merely believe stereotypes. Trepanier-Street and Romatowski (1999) found that it was possible
to influence children’s gender attitudes through children’s literature and related activities. Tsao (2008)
notes that picture books also have an influence on gender identities. Books that convey gender bias, or
sexism, depictions may have damaging effects on both boys and girls. For example, stereotypical
representations of occupations along gender lines may encourage girls to select more traditional female
areas of employment. This may lead young women into situations in which they are subordinate. It is
hoped that the discussion of such a controversial issue can stimulate teachers to rethink what and how
they should teach in the 21st century classroom (Kuo, 2005).
How is gender portrayed in children's literature? Gender bias exists in the content, language and
illustrations of a large number of children's books (Jett-Simpson & Masland, 1993). This bias may be
seen in the extent to which a gender is represented as the main character in children's books and how that
gender is depicted.
Numerous studies analyzing children's literature find the majority of books dominated by male figures.
For example, Ernst (1995) did an analysis of titles of children's books and found male names represented
nearly twice as often as female names. She also found that even books with female or gender-neutral
names in their titles in fact, frequently revolve around a male character. Many classics and popular stories
where girls are portrayed usually reflect stereotypes of masculine and feminine roles. Such gender
stereotypes are prevalent not only in mainstream children's books but also in Newbery and Caldecott
medal winners. Children's books frequently portray girls as acted upon rather than active (Fox, 1993).
Girls are represented as sweet, naive, conforming, and dependent, while boys are typically described as
strong, adventurous, independent, and capable (Ernst, 1995; Jett-Simpson & Masland, 1993). Boys tend
to have roles as fighters, adventurers and rescuers, while girls in their passive role tend to be caretakers,
mothers, princesses in need of rescuing, and characters that support the male figure (Temple, 1993).
Often, girl characters achieve their goals because others help them, whereas boys do so because they
demonstrate ingenuity and/or perseverance. If females are initially represented as active and assertive,
they are often portrayed in a passive light toward the end of the story. Girl characters who retain their
active qualities are clearly the exception (Rudman, 1995). Thus, studies indicate that not only are girls
portrayed less often than boys in children's books, but both genders are frequently presented in
stereotypical terms as well.
Why is gender-representation in children's literature significant? Many researchers and authors argue
that readers identify with characters of their own gender in books. Therefore, the relative lack of girl
characters in texts can limit the opportunity for girls to identify with their gender and to validate their
place in society.
The manner in which genders are represented in children's literature impacts children's attitudes and
perceptions of gender-appropriate behavior in society. Sexism in literature can be so insidious that it
quietly conditions boys and girls to accept the way they 'see and read the world,' thus reinforcing gender
images (Fox, 1993). This reinforcement predisposes children to not question existing social relationships.
At the same time, however, books containing images that conflict with gender stereotypes provide
children the opportunity to re-examine their gender beliefs and assumptions. Thus, texts can provide
children with alternative role models and inspire them to adopt more egalitarian gender attitudes.
Gender stereotypical roles are constraining to both genders. Just as girls are trapped in passive and whiny
roles, boys and men are rarely described as people demonstrating emotions of sadness and fear, having
hobbies/occupations that are not stereotypically male and in roles where they aren't competing or meeting
high expectations. These stereotypes limit boys' and girls' freedom to express themselves (Fox, 1993;
Rudman, 1995) and pressure them to behave in ways that are 'gender appropriate' rather than ways best
suited to their personality.
Due to these factors, literature served as a backdrop for the emerging of gender criticism. This field of
study had a significant impact on how people perceived gender roles.
Gender criticism is an extension of literary criticism, focusing on how cultures use symbols to define and
impose the traits of a particular gender on a person. Here are some of the things that it addresses:
• Gendered language. For example, it includes using masculine pronouns (he, him, his) to refer to
people in general. This tendency occurred as a result of the historical patriarchy where being a
man was a norm, and a woman was marked as “the other.”
• Choice of characters. Male characters often took the leading role, establishing their masculinity
and physical power. Female characters had to accept authority without any choice of freedom and
independence.
• Perception of the author’s gender. Men writers had a serious advantage in telling their own
stories. In contrast, women’s writing was considered immoral, treated with bias, and harshly
criticized. As a result, they had to publish under male pseudonyms to have a chance of Gender
stereotyping also led to a limited view of masculinity in literature. This, in turn, had a negative
impact on how society raised boys. Men were often portrayed as dominant, authoritative,
competitive, and aggressive. This depiction put a lot of pressure on men and prohibited a wide
range of emotional expression.
Reverse Gender Roles in Literature
In an age when men were expected to be strong and decisive, and women passive and submissive,
Shakespeare raises questions about the standard portrayal of genders. In his play Macbeth, he makes a
submissive man and his dominant wife the two main antiheroes. He depicts two people who are unwilling
to accommodate themselves to society’s expectations.
Shakespeare merged femininity and masculinity in his characters to show that people of each gender
could possess both sets of traits. Modern literature has a more liberated approach to the subversion of
gender roles, taking cues from Shakespeare and other great authors.
Representation of Women in Literature
In the following sections, we will discuss how the representation of female characters in literature has
evolved throughout history. We will also look into examples of how women authors were marginalized
by the era in which they were living. Their vision and courage had a significant impact on the literary
world and beyond.
Women in Medieval Literature
Throughout the Medieval period, women were treated as second-class citizens, and their needs were
largely ignored. Despite the suppression, many literary works included women characters.
If we analyze literary texts from that period, we will find common female archetypes of medieval
society. Here are some of the most prominent ones:
 • The Virgin is a pure woman whose primary function is to get married.
• The Mother is a woman who does everything to support her children and her man.
• The Witch is a wise, non-conforming, or unusually beautiful woman who is punished for her
“otherness.”
• The Whore is a woman considered lower than men, deviant, and unworthy of having a job.
One of the examples of an archetypal female character in medieval literature is Grendel’s mother from
Beowulf. She subverts society’s ideals by protecting her son, who is a foe of humankind.

Women in Gothic Literature

Gothic authors allowed female characters to break free of stereotypical constraints. It also helped to add
depth and suspense to a plot. There are two prominent female roles in Gothic literature: a predator and a
victim.
The predator is dangerous yet powerfully attractive. According to an article on Research Gate, this role is
connected to pain/pleasure paradox in Gothic literature, which is the endless search for happiness that
prevents one from obtaining it.
The victim is vulnerable and fragile. This role gives the male heroes someone to save. Women who fill
this role are often able to sympathize with monsters.
Gothic writers often blurred the line between the two types. Usually, they did it to show the tragedy of
women trapped in their gender roles. For example, The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman is
a story about female madness caused by patriarchal oppression.
Many gothic women writers were able to portray domestic entrapment and female sexuality in interesting
and expressive ways. Authors such as the Bronte sisters, Mary Shelley, and Ann Radcliffe played a
central part in popularizing women’s writing.
Strong Women in Literature
World literature has given us a variety of strong female characters. These fictional women took a radical
stance for themselves and broke through the conventional boundaries of gender. Have a look at the
example of literature’s most inspiring women below:
➢ Elizabeth Bennet from Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Elizabeth is a confident woman who would rather sacrifice financial security than be stuck in a loveless
marriage. Elizabeth takes pride in herself and calls men out for their rude behavior.
Black Women in Literature
Black women writers first appeared in 1859 as a part of a general renaissance of black literature. Writing
became a way to voice their rejection of slavery and racism, as well as their claim to freedom and
equality.
In the mid-1800s, Harriet Jacobs’ Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl became an early example of a black
woman’s strength over oppression. In the 20th century, a growing number of black women artists
emerged throughout the civil rights movement of the 1960s.
Black women’s literature inspired many people worldwide and had a major impact on the consciousness
of African-American women. Toni Morrison’s slave novel Beloved became the most influential work of
African-American literature of the late 20th century. Maya Angelou’s memoir I Know Why the Caged
Bird Sings inspired generations of 21st-century women writers.
Why children’s representation matters
Children shape their reality according to the models they build with many bricks: stories, songs, films,
plays, experiences and many other factors which help them in codifying the reality into common patterns
to be reproduced. Through these elements, they discover how the world they live in and themselves, too.
In particular, stories play an important role in children’s representation: they provide information and
models, they guide the reader through the discovery of the world, both real and imaginary, and they
convey values such as friendship, empathy, courage, sense of belonging, emotions and diversity which are
essential for child development and growth.
At the same time, what stories and books taught to children before is now replaced by media content and
this is why children’s representation should take into account both aspects: literature and media.
Children’s representation in literature and media plays a significant role in child development and growth
because it helps children to understand the reality they live in or to discover other cultures, giving them
the opportunity to develop empathy and respect for cultural differences. Children’s representation is
important to how kids build their perspectives on their own ethnic-racial group, as well as that of others
(Rogers, 2021). In this sense, children’s representation has a double dimension: on one hand, it supports
the discovery of an external dimension, and on the other, it provides inputs for the discovery of the inner
dimension.
But what happens if children don’t find representations about themselves or the reality in which they
live?
The consequences of the lack of representation
In this sense, the lack of representation of the reality in which they live may also affect them in a long-
term perspective and under many points of view. For instance, research shows that a lack of
representation in media can lead to negative psychological outcomes for those with identities that are
underrepresented or negatively portrayed (Tukachinsky, Mastro, &Yarchi, 2017). Exposure to negative
media depictions of their own ethnic-racial groups can undermine children’s sense of self, whereas high-
quality children’s media can promote positive ethnic-racial attitudes and interactions (Rogers, 2021).
A study on the effects of television on elementary-aged children shows a negative correlation between TV
exposure and lower self-esteem for Black girls and boys and White girls, but it also emphasized a positive
correlation between TV exposure and higher self-esteem for White boys (Martins & Harrison, 2012).
The same findings are shown by the research that underlined how identifying with popular characters
with the same identities in mainstream media leads to higher self-esteem on several dimensions (Ward,
2004). The scientific literature about the effects on children’s well-being supports the importance of
realistic, diverse and inclusive representation in children’s media.
Moreover, if children do not perceive themselves as represented by the media or the literature they
consume, they may also begin to feel invisible, unimportant (Levinson, 2020) or less important than
others. The risks related to this aspect play along with the reaffirmation of a single narrative which is
based on stereotypes, and which hinder the possibility for individuals to achieve their goals and dreams
on the basis of their personal capacities and aspirations. And if children do not perceive themselves as
architects, teachers or engineers they may not perceive these carriers in the future.
If children do not have the possibility to see people with their identities and features being portrayed in a
positive way, they may rely on the assumption that their identity is fully represented by those stereotypes
which define who they are. The “problems with stereotypes are not the fact they are untrue, but that they
are incomplete. They make one story become the only story”. That is what Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
defines by the “danger of a single story” (Adiche, 2019).

DEVELOPMENTAL IMPLICATIONS
1. Development and learning are dynamic processes that reflect the complex interplay between a
child’s biological characteristics and the environment, each shaping the other as well as future
patterns of growth.
2. All domains of child development—physical development, cognitive development, social and
emotional development, and linguistic development (including bilingual or multilingual
development), as well as approaches to learning—are important; each domain both supports and
is supported by the others.
3. Play promotes joyful learning that fosters self-regulation, language, cognitive and social
competencies as well as content knowledge across disciplines. Play is essential for all children,
birth through age 8.
4. Although general progressions of development and learning can be identified, variations due to
cultural contexts, experiences, and individual differences must also be considered.
5. Children are active learners from birth, constantly taking in and organizing information to create
meaning through their relationships, their interactions with their environment, and their overall
experiences.
6. Children’s motivation to learn is increased when their learning environment fosters their sense of
belonging, purpose, and agency. Curricula and teaching methods build on each child’s assets by
connecting their experiences in the school or learning environment to their home and the
community settings.
7. Children learn in an integrated fashion that cuts across academic disciplines or subject areas.
Because the foundations of subject area knowledge are established in early childhood, educators
need subject-area knowledge, an understanding of the learning progressions within each subject
area, and pedagogical knowledge about teaching each subject area’s content effectively.
8. Development and learning advance when children are challenged to achieve at a level just beyond
their current mastery and when they have many opportunities to reflect on and practice newly
acquired skills.
9. Used responsibly and intentionally, technology and interactive media can be valuable tools for
supporting children’s development and learning.
INDIAN CONTEXT
Education during the period of childhood is of crucial importance for the optimum development of the
child as an individual as well as a future citizen. Recognizing this fact, the National Policy on Education
(1986) envisaged to make our education child centered, focused on play way approaches and individual
needs of the children. It gave top priority to bring all children, in the age group of 6-14 years, to the
schools and retain them till they have completed primary elementary education. It also envisaged a
substantial improvement in the quality of education to enable all children to achieve minimum level of
learning. Despite these efforts, the picture of an average Indian child, consisting of about 35 percent of the
total population, is not very bright. Poverty, illiteracy, prejudice and probably, a substantial increase in the
population every day, (2.1 1 per cent per annum) has been identified as major barriers. The child
development in India faces numerous problems, some of which we may consider in the present unit in
detail.
❖ Survival of children and child care/ rearing: - In the preceding para we said that poverty,
illiteracy and prejudices are the major barriers in the development of the children in our country.
Like other third world countries, India lacks adequate resources for the smooth running of various
child welfare programmes. The majority of the Indian population struggles hard to make both
ends meet and is in no position to meet the nutritional health needs of the children. To make
matters worse, literacy, particularly female literacy, is rather low and it has its own implications
for child development.
Because of the lack of resources, we are not able to provide adequate facilities in terms of nutrition, safe
delivery, and other health needs of the child. As such, the survival of children during the early years of
life is largely uncertain.
It is a general observation that the expectant mother should receive a balanced and rich diet to support
herself as well as her child. But this is not possible for majority of the expectant mothers in general and
more so in rural areas.
You would probably say that a pregnant woman never does receive the diet what she needs. The result is
poor health of the mother, low bird1 weight of children, and high incidence of disease. A survey of the
World Health Organization revealed that 63 percent of Basic ISSUCS in Child Development in India
Indian children below age 5 are suffering from malnutrition.
Due to the lack of adequate facilities for health and hygiene, only 58 percent of pregnant women are
vaccinated against killer diseases like tetanus. The childbirth, in many cases (7%), takes place at home in
the presence of elderly ladies who are often not aware of safe delivery methods and are full of whimsical
beliefs. Specialist help is not available at the time of need and women have to manage with less qualified
persons.
Focusing on the needs of 0–6-year-old children, and pregnant and lactating mothers, the Government of
India launched an Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) scheme in 1975. The scheme is meant
for children below 6 years of age and expectant and nursing mothers in backward rural areas, urban slums
and tribal areas. It provides a package of services consisting of the following:
a) supplementary nutrition
b) immunization against major killer diseases.
c) periodic health check-ups
d) referral and medical services
 e) monitoring of growth
f) non-formal and preschool education
g) nutrition and health education.
The specific objectives of ICDS are to:
➢ improve the nutritional and health status of children in the age group of 0-6 years.
➢ provide environmental conditions needed for physical, social and psychological development of
children
➢ reduce the incidence of low birth weight and severe malnutrition among children; and
➢ enhance the capabilities of the mother to provide proper child care.
ICDS is the biggest child welfare/development programme of the country and has emerged as a single
major integrated social development program during the last two decades in the developing countries.
❖ Child care/ rearing: - The issue of child care in India is a complicated one. A majority of the
mothers in rural areas and urban slums have to work to meet the day-to-day needs of the family.
Except in a few cases of joint families particularly in rural areas, where the care of such children
becomes the responsibility of elderly ladies at home, mothers carry their babies to their
workplace. During this time the children are mainly left unattended. The situation is somewhat
different in urban middle class families where working mothers, because of the nuclear family
system, have to leave their children in crèches care centres. In both the cases a sort of insecurity
develops among children.
Related to the above is the pattern of child rearing adopted by the Indian family. If you closely observe
the relationship between parents and children for some time, you would probably notice that the child in
the Indian family, particularly the male child. is treated with extreme indulgence. The parents are tolerant
and have an accepting attitude toward the child's impulses, they make few demands for nature behaviour,
on the pretext that lie is just a child and will learn the necessary manners when lie grows old. Indian
mothers are nurturant, giving unconditional warmth and affection to their children.
The type of parenting discussed above is associated with children being independent, "agenetic" in both
the cognitive and social spheres, socially responsible, able to control aggression, self-confident and high
in self-esteem.
❖ Disadvantaged home environment: - You have seen that the survival of majority of our children
and mothers is at stake. Though efforts are being made by the Government the fruits of the same
ace yet to reach the neediest ones. As the infants grow older, in addition to physical development,
psychological development also takes place. The psychological development (e.g., cognitive,
language, social, personality). in addition to nutrition, is to a large extent dependent upon the
home environment. The home environment includes factors like relationship between parents and
children, parental adjustment, availability of play material (i.e., toys), modern equipment (radio,
television etc.), books, magazines, newspapers and the like. The availability of these materials
makes the child active and fosters his/her social, emotional, language and intellectual growth.
In India, the vast majority of children do not have home, environment conducive to their adequate
development. They receive very little stimulation at home. They do not have opportunities for attending
preparatory schools where some sort of compensatory education may be attempted. You probably know
that the early years experiences determine, to a large extent, what one would be as an adult. Further, due
to lack of adequate experiences, the most critical period of childhood during which the development is at
its peak, is lost if children are deprived of a conducive environment.
A few children do get the privilege of attending pre-schools. In SLICII cases, the question that arises is:
what should be the modus operandi of these pre-schools? Should children be taught the 3 R's (reading,
writing and arithmetic). and, if so. what should be the method of teaching? It is suggested that the
programme of these centres should be child-oriented, focused around play and suitable to each individual
child. Formal methods of teaching and introduction of 3 R's should be discouraged. 'The co-operation of
the community should be obtained in the endeavor.
❖ Education of children: - At about five to six years of age, what are the expectations from
children? Among other things, it is expected that they should begin going to school. What are
your observations about schooling of children in your locality? You will find that a great majority
of children do not go to school. Have you ever sought to analyze the probable causes for this?
Probably, you will say that poverty is the main factor responsible for it. Children from poor
families are expected to help their parents in earning their day-do-day livelihood. The older
children have also to take care of their younger brothers and sisters at homes when their parents
are out for work. The parents are mainly illiterate, and are unable to understand the importance of
schooling. Because of illiteracy they tend to have a large number of children as they feel that the
more the children, the better support they would receive from them in earning their livelihood. As
a result, children have to live in overcrowded homes, are subjected to low income, poor housing
and civic amenities and child labor, and child beggary which are common in these homes.
We have seen that the majority of children do not go to school. Even among the children who are
admitted to schools, the dropout percentage is quite high. For every 100 children enrolled in class I, only
52.07 percent reach class 5 and 34.60 percent in class 8. Have you ever thought why is it so? Why does
this phenomenon occur? It is observed more in case of girls, scheduled castes tribes and urban slum
children? In addition to the above-mentioned causes, some other factors are: -
➢ lack of interest among children and parents because there is a mismatch between what is taught in
the school and what the society expects from them;
➢ teachers not being able to appreciate the characteristics of children and match the curricula
according to children's characteristics; and
➢ inadequate teaching-learning strategies, such as, no reemphasis on ~memorizing (rote learning),
restrictive and unattractive classroom environment for the sake of discipline;
In continuation of the above factors, it would be appropriate to discuss the recommendations of the
National Curricula Framework (NCF) of NCERT. According to NCF, a child should be present in the
school only for five. Hours, of which four hours should be devoted to teaching-learning purposes.
❖ Gender discrimination: - there has been a widespread feeling that females are discriminated
against. It has been found that favorable treatment is generally given to male children and
unfavorable treatment to female children.
Let us have a look at the following figures. There has been a consistent decrease in the number of
females, as compared to male population per thousand from 1901 to 2001. While in 190 I, there were 972
females per 1000 males it has gone down to 934 females per I000 males in 2001. What do they convey?
Another exercise you may like to do is to compare the sexes of younger and older children from the
census data. You will find a decrease in the number of females with the increase in age.
If you keep yourself abreast with the latest information you must have read about the instances of killing
the girl child or female infanticide in some parts of the country. Female foeticide (abortion of female
foetus), sexual abuse of girl children in and out of family, and increasing incidence of child rapes,
especially in the urban slums. It has also been observed that girls are discriminated against in feeding,
weaning and toilet training practices. They have lesser access to flood, health, education and recreation.
If you attempt to analyze the reasons for it, you will probably notice that two factors have primarily been
responsible for the same.

• A great majority of Indian families consider male children necessary for old age security,
performing death rituals, management of family and maintaining the family lineage.
• Prevalence of dowry system: Recognizing the importance of the problem the Government of
India as well as some of the State Governments have taken steps to check these discriminations.

❖ Child labor: - You must have noticed the plight of children who do not go to school. What do
they really do? We have mentioned earlier some of the jobs performed by such children, such as
assisting parents in earning their livelihood, and looking after their younger brothers and sisters.
Besides these, a large majority of children are working as domestic helpers. Some work in
various small-scale industries, such as making of glass, carpet and beedis. It is estimated that
every 18"'ChiId in the world is a laborer and every fourth working child in the world is an Indian.
The estimated child workers in India have been about 4.40 crores (1981 census and quite a high
number of child workers are added to this population every year. These children. in the age group
of 5-1 5 years who work in different industries are in a very pitiable condition as they have to
work for about 15 hours per day and that too for a very meagre wage.
The education of such children and giving them back their childhood is a real challenge before the
country. The government of India has taken some steps in this direction and has formulated child labor
(Prohibition and Regulation) Act. A few voluntary organizations are also working in this direction. It,
however, largely! remains the responsibility of the citizen of the country to create awareness among the
community and reverse the plight of such children. Teachers can play an important role in educating the
parents as well as children by devising novel methods. The formal education system may not be of much
help to these children.
❖ Children with special needs: - There are children in all societies whose needs for optimum
functioning are different from those of average children. They require some additional help: as
compared to normal children. For example, you know that a blind child has a special need of
Braille material, and a hearing-impaired child has a special need of hearing aid. Likewise, there
are children with mental disabilities, emotional disorders and learning disabilities.
By now you are familiar with the concept of intelligence. Intelligence call be measured and the scores are
interpreted in term of intelligence Quotient (IQ). Generally, this term is used in limited context and
presently limited to identification of children with special needs. The mentally challenged children are
classified into four main categories and depending upon their special needs may require special type of
schooling and special attention of the teachers. It is also possible for teachers to integrate these children in
the common school. For example. one category is of slow learners and they are mainly found in our
schools. Thus, a teacher has to be resourceful enough to cater to multi ability children in teaching.
Child development in India presents a big challenge to the nation for two reasons: poverty and illiteracy.
Consequently, survival of children and their mothers is at stake, their education is not proper, and social
evils like gender discrimination, child labor and child marriages are widespread. An understanding of
these problems should enable the teacher to help children in better retention and achievement in the
schools.
OBJECTIVES OF THE PRESENT STUDY:
1. To study gender stereotyping and its representation in the academic literature of 3rd, 4th and 5th
classes of NCERT books.
2. To study the developmental implication in the academic literature of 3rd, 4th and 5th classes of
NCERT books.
METHOD

• Data Generation
The textbook which was taken into consideration of class 3 NCERT was titled Marigold, of English
subject with language English. The analysis of gender stereotype was taken into consideration after a
detailed investigation of a story and a poem in the book. The name of the story which I had personally
chosen for the thematic analysis is Nina and baby sparrows which talks about the prototypical behavior
patterns of a concerned mother towards her sad girl child and how sensitive gender roles females play
when it comes to nurturing, caring and concern towards societal responsibility as well as parental
upbringing.
Nina appeared to be in a place in her life where she could think long-term while yet ensuring the
immediate safety of the birds' survival mechanisms. She insisted on staying inside because she believed
that if the door was shut, they would starve to death. Since she often equates family planning with nature's
drive for it, much like any other human family, she started to worry about how the parents would feed
their children in times of famine. Nina's mother had an emotional outburst and tried to save the birds
because of her daughter's heightened capacity for higher cognitive processing. She eventually found a
way that allowed the young sparrow to live in the house while also bringing Nina joy. After finding the
answer to her small problem, Nina was so thrilled that she resumed asking her mother the same questions
to ensure that the answer would be remembered always. This could lead us to the conclusion that a
person's environment exploration, along with their cognitive viewpoints, ideas, and emotional
development, influence how they interact with others and react to events.
Next, the poem I selected from the Marigold Text Book is Don’t Tell. Where the poem vividly specifies
the TO DO NOT list to a girl child who feels so outraged and emotionally repulsive that she somewhat
becomes toxic towards her parents understanding to follow social norms so as to protect female child
thinking that they are weak and easily malleable and molded to the outside world. Because she perceives
her parents' behaviour and overprotectiveness as a threat, the girl frequently loses interest in trying new
kid-friendly outside activities. Despite this, she never hesitates to display her powerful physique, bold
attitude, and mental and physical endurance.
She is a young woman who really supports her self-determination, desirability, and self-assurance. She is
a strong, clever, and self-aware individual. Despite not having yet been exposed to the tragic outside
world, she has always made it a point to finish every work to the highest standard, and she possesses a
great degree of self-reliance and trust. She was naughtily suppressing her inclination to explore her inner
self in order to make the right choice at the appropriate time and keep her loved ones completely
entertained.

• Procedure
The data analysis of the story and the poem taken from NCERT text book is done through qualitative
analysis through thematic networks, which is an analytical tool used for drawing core features that are
common to many approaches in qualitative analysis. Toulmin supplies the backdrop logic but not the final
solution because the goal of thematic networks is to explore the understanding of a problem or the
meaning of an idea rather than to resolve divergent definitions of a problem. Although Toulmin's phrases
(claim, warrant, and support) offer a good organizing basis, their reinterpretation for thematic networks
has necessitated that they be appropriately adjusted and renamed to comply with the goals at hand. In fact,
the three fundamental components of grounded theory—concepts, categories, and propositions—are
strikingly similar to this core structure (Corbin and Strauss, 1990).
A thematic analysis of qualitative data is simply organized by using topic networks. Thematic networks
are intended to make it easier to organize and present these themes. Thematic analyses strive to identify
the themes that are significant in a text at various levels. It is evident that the technique of extracting
themes from textual data and using some type of graphical tool to illustrate these themes is well
established in qualitative research. Thematic networks analysis thus shares the fundamental components
of all hermeneutic analyses and is not in any way a novel technique. The web-like network is what
thematic networks give as an organizing principle and a form of representation, and it makes plain the
steps that might be taken in transitioning from text to interpretation.
Thematic networks organize the extraction of the text's lowest-order premises (Basic Themes); (ii)
categories of Basic Themes linked together to condense more abstract Principles; and (iii) Overarching
themes that encompass the text's main metaphors all together (Global Themes). These are then shown as
maps that resemble websites demonstrating the key ideas at each of the three levels, highlighting the
connections between them. This method is frequently employed in Parallels and qualitative analysis are
readily available, for instance in grounded theory. Thematic networks are a method for breaking apart text
and identifying explicit justifications and their underlying meaning. The process does not seek to identify
the beginning of arguments or the conclusion of justifications.

• Data Analysis
Applying thematic networks is simply a way of organizing a thematic analysis of qualitative data.
Thematic analyses seek to unearth the themes salient in a text at different levels, and thematic networks
aim to facilitate the structuring and depiction of these themes. Clearly, the process of deriving themes
from textual data and illustrating these with some representational tool is well established in qualitative
research. As such, thematic networks analysis is not in any way a new method, but one that shares the key
features of any hermeneutic analysis. What thematic networks offers is the web-like network as an
organizing principle and a representational means, and it makes explicit the procedures that may be
employed in going from text to interpretation. This is not a novel endeavor, and the aim in this article is
simply to offer a tried and tested method to complement the range of tools available to qualitative
researchers. Thematic networks systematize the extraction of: (i) lowest-order premises evident in the text
(Basic Themes); (ii) categories of basic themes grouped together to summarize more abstract principles
(Organizing Themes); and (iii) super-ordinate themes encapsulating the principal metaphors in the text as
a whole (Global Themes). These are then represented as web-like maps depicting the salient themes at
each of the three levels, and illustrating the relationships between them. This is a widely used procedure
in qualitative analysis and parallels are easily found, for example, in grounded theory (see Corbin and
Strauss, 1990). The procedure of thematic networks does not aim or pretend to discover the beginning of
arguments or the end of rationalizations; it simply provides a technique for breaking up text, and finding
within its explicit rationalizations and their implicit signification. The three classes of themes can be
described as follows:

• Basic Theme: This is the most basic or lowest-order theme that is derived from the textual data. It
is like a backing in that it is a statement of belief anchored around a central notion (the warrant)
and contributes toward the signification of a super-ordinate theme. Basic Themes are simple
premises characteristic of the data, and on their own they say very little about the text or group of
texts as a whole. In order for a Basic Theme to make sense beyond its immediate meaning it
needs to be read within the context of other Basic Themes. Together, they represent an
Organizing Theme.

• Organizing Theme: This is a middle-order theme that organizes the Basic Themes into clusters of
similar issues. They are clusters of significations that summarize the principal assumptions of a
group of Basic Themes, so they are more abstract and more revealing of what is going on in the
texts. However, their role is also to enhance the meaning and significance of a broader theme that
unites several Organizing Themes. Like Toulmin’s warrants, they are the principles on which a
super-ordinate claim is based. Thus, Organizing Themes simultaneously group the main ideas
proposed by several Basic Themes, and dissect the main assumptions underlying a broader theme
that is especially significant in the texts as a whole. In this way, a group of Organizing Themes
constitute a Global Theme.

• Global Theme: Global Themes are super-ordinate themes that encompass the principal metaphors
in the data as a whole. A Global Theme is like a claim in that it is a concluding or final tenet. As
such, Global Themes group sets of Organizing Themes that together present an argument, or a
position or an assertion about a given issue or reality. They are macro themes that summarize and
make sense of clusters of lower-order themes abstracted from and supported by the data. Thus,
Global Themes tell us what the texts as a whole are about within the context of a given analysis.
They are both a summary of the main themes and a revealing interpretation of the texts.
Importantly, a set of texts may well yield more than one Global Theme, depending on the
complexity of the data and the analytic aims; however, these will be much fewer in number than
the Organizing and Basic Themes. Each Global Theme is the core of a thematic network;
therefore, an analysis may result in more than one thematic network.
A thematic network is developed starting from the Basic Themes and working inwards toward a Global
Theme. Once a collection of Basic Themes has been derived, they are then classified according to the
underlying story they are telling and these become the Organizing Themes. Organizing Themes are then
reinterpreted in light of their Basic Themes, and are brought together to illustrate a single conclusion or
super-ordinate theme that becomes the Global Theme. Thematic networks are presented graphically as
web-like nets to remove any notion of hierarchy, giving fluidity to the themes and emphasizing the
interconnectivity throughout the network. Importantly, however, the networks are only a tool in analysis,
not the analysis itself. Once a thematic network has been constructed, it will then serve as an organizing
principle and an illustrative tool in the interpretation of the text, facilitating disclosure for the researcher
and understanding for the reader.
 STRUCTURE OF A THEMATIC NETWORK

• What makes good thematic analysis?

One of the criticisms of qualitative research from those outside the field is the perception that ‘anything
goes. For instance, this sentiment is echoed in the first sentence of Labuschagne’s (2003) abstract: ‘For
many scientists used to doing quantitative studies the whole concept of qualitative research is unclear,
almost foreign, or ‘‘airy fairy’’! not ‘‘real’’ research.’ However, although ‘qualitative’ research cannot be
subjected to the same criteria as ‘quantitative’ approaches, it does provide methods of analysis that should
be applied rigorously to the data. Furthermore, criteria for conducting good qualitative research! both data
collection and analysis! do exist (e.g., Elliott et al., 1999; Parker, 2004; Seale, 1999; Silverman, 2000;
Yardley, 2000). ‘Criteria’ for assessing qualitative research is a not uncontroversial topic, with concerns
raised about rigid criteria limiting freedom and stifling methodological development (Elliott et al., 1999;
Parker, 2004; Reicher, 2000). Reicher (2000) takes the critique further, by asking whether the incredibly
diverse range of qualitative approaches can and should be subject to the same criteria.
Bracketing these critiques off, the issues raised in many general qualitative research assessment criteria
can be more or less applied to thematic forms of analysis. As thematic analysis is a flexible method, one
also need to be clear and explicit about what they u are doing, and what an individual says they are doing
needs to match up with what they actually do. In this sense, the theory and method need to be applied
rigorously, and ‘rigor lies in devising a systematic method whose assumptions are congruent with the way
one conceptualizes the subject matter’ (Reicher and Taylor, 2005: 549).
RESULTS:
➢ Narrative
a) Story: Nina, And the Baby Sparrows
There was great joy in Nina’s house. Nina’s aunt was getting married. Nina, her father, mother and little brother were all going to
Delhi for a wedding. Everyone was happy, except Nina.
Her mother took her to the market to buy a new dress.
“What color would you like?” Mother asked.
“I don’t want a new dress mother,” said Nina.
“Salwar-kameez then?”
Nina shook her head.
“What about those lovely white shoes you saw last week?”
“I don’t want those, either. Thank you, Mother.”
Nina’s mother was upset, but she said nothing. They went back home and had lunch. After lunch mother came and sat near Nina.
“What is it, child?” she asked. “Why did you say ‘no’ to everything?”
“Mother I don’t want to go to the wedding”.
“But why?”
Nina said nothing. Instead, two big tears rolled down her cheeks. Mother put her arms around Nina. “Don’t cry, my pet” she said.
“Why don’t you tell me what’s bothering you?”
More tears rolled down Nina’s cheeks. “Mother”, she said, “there’s a sparrow nest on the bookshelf in my room. And there are two
baby sparrows in the nest”.
“I see….” Said mother.
“they’re just beginning to get their features. And growing up makes them so hungry. All they long they cry ‘cheep-cheep’, asking for
food”.
“I see!” said Mother.
“If we go, the whole place will be locked. And how will papa and mama sparrows feed their babies?”
“Oh Nina”, cried Mother, giving her a big hug. “Is that why you don’t want to got the wedding? But that’s no problem at all. We’ll
leave the window open.”
“Oh, can we Mother? Can we? Really?”
“Yes, yes. We’ll remove all your things from the room and lock the door from the outside. So, the house will be perfectly safe and
the papa and mama sparrows can come and go freely, too. Just think Nina…while you enjoy at the wedding, the baby sparrows will
be getting nice and fat in their nest. Good idea, isn’t it?”
It was a good idea. When Nina came back home from the wedding. There were two plump little sparrows flying all over the room.
And wasn’t Nina thrilled!
 b) Poem: Don’t Tell
There are lots of things
They won’t let me do ---
I’m not big enough yet,
They say.
So, I patiently wait
Till I’m all grown-up;
And I’ll show them all,
One day.
I could show them now
If they gave me the chance,
There are things I could do
If I tried.
But nobody knows,
Nobody knows, that I’m
Really a giant,
Inside.
➢ Figure 1: Open Coding
a) STORY:

Text Open Coding Memo Writing

There was great joy in • Feast occasion There held an occasion in the family where every member of
Nina’s house. Nina’s aunt • Nuclear family the family came over to Delhi for a wedding ceremony.
was getting married. Nina, • Navigating to Delhi Since every brood relative, friends and related generation
her father, mother and • Nuptial merge were converging there seemed to be an exciting chill in the
little brother were all • Excitement thrill breeze and Nina’s family was happy and waited for the
going to Delhi for a • Quality family time spend social get together eagerly. However, among this happy to
wedding. Everyone was • Downcast prevails go mood, there seemed to be a sole person in the family who
happy, except Nina. seemed to be sad, named Nina. She does not seem to have
the enthusiasm and eagerness to attend the tribe ceremony.
Her mother took her to the • Derive comfort Nina’s mother took Nina to shopping for the occasion of her
market to buy a new dress. • Girl stimulation offers aunt’s marriage ceremony. This way mother thought to
• Choice preference deviate her sadness to happiness when she would engage
“What color would you
like?” Mother asked. • Divergence of mind herself in buying dresses and shoes.
• Stereotypical options In order to bring her to her comfort zone and merry making,
“I don’t want a new dress • Desirability fruition mother seemed to at first glance asked her of a dress as she
mother,” said Nina. • Materialistic acquisitive was denoted ‘girl’ in the story. Already taken for granted
“Salwar-kameez then?” • Denial of worldly pleasures that she would opt for dresses and skirts rather than shirts
and pants. She was asked to choose voluntarily of the color
Nina shook her head. preference she had in mind.
“What about those lovely Nina’s mother comforting her always made her felt that she
white shoes you saw last would grant anything to her just to make her feel happy, and
week?” with one’s fulfillment of preferential choice she would agree
“I don’t want those, either. to go to Delhi happily ever after. However, Nina seemed to
Thank you, Mother.” be disinterested to buy any of the dresses available in the
market.
Mother did not lose hope to uplift her child’s mood, she then
drew her attention to her one of the favorite shoe pairs which
she had previously wanted from her parents. This again led
mother think of the typical practice and belief that buying
her “favorite wanted” materials would make her feel happy
as it would do to other general young population of girls.
But sadly, Nina seemed to be impartial to her attractiveness.
Nina’s mother was upset, but she • Motherhood Nina apparently did not buy anything from the market. Both
said nothing. They went back • Stereotypical Nina and mother returned back home and had their daily
home and had lunch. After lunch parental obligation lunch. Unable to bear the pain of her child undergoing,
mother came and sat near Nina. • Routine luncheon mother finally encountered her cause of disturbance directly
“What is it, child?” she asked. • Broadcasting and with lots of sensitivity, care and concern. She was ready
“Why did you say ‘no’ to maternity concern to be a patient listener to her child.
everything?” • Incurious wedding Seeing her mother’s feelings, emotions and love towards her
“Mother I don’t want to go to the ceremony child, Nina became emotional and had non verbal cues
wedding”. • Sympathetic (crying) to denote her pain and sufferings of confusion held
behavior within her. She tried hard not to tell her mother, but with her
“But why?” • Melodrama maternity assurance and heedfulness, Nina disclosed her
Nina said nothing. Instead, two • Portrayal of reason of ignorance for her aunt’s wedding.
big tears rolled down her cheeks. nonverbal cues of
communication In the story, it typically specifies the emotional component
Mother put her arms around Nina.
• Maternal concern which most generalized young female inhabitants attract to
“Don’t cry, my pet” she said.
and care support in their preadolescent age. This little girl was way too drawn
“Why don’t you tell me what’s
• Emotion by the beauty and nurturance of baby sparrows whom she
bothering you?”
entanglement wanted to look after.
More tears rolled down Nina’s towards nature Mother, hearing the reason seemed to step back out of utter
cheeks. “Mother”, she said, • Mother surprise and thought how responsible true nature-lover is her
“there’s a sparrow nest on the astonishment child which would somehow make her one day a responsible
bookshelf in my room. And there
and good healing spiritual sensitive care giver.
are two baby sparrows in the
nest”.
“I see….” Said mother.
 “they’re just beginning to • Sympathy and empathy Nina seemed to be a girl who is portrayed
get their features. And towards nature with a typical biasness of emotionality
growing up makes them so • Female children forecast of towards mother nature. She seemed to be
hungry. All they long they emotional component a martyr personality character in the
cry ‘cheep-cheep’, asking • Keen observer of nature story, readily ready to forego one’s glee
for food”. • Patient observer of happy occasions for the trust and
• Abandonment of self- survival crisis of nature.
“I see!” said Mother.
pleasure activities She had developed a great concern and
“If we go, the whole place • Strong imagination ability motherly responsibility towards the
will be locked. And how • Future goal oriented sparrows as she has held them from the
will papa and mama behavioral concern very initial stage of birth and had
sparrows feed their • Schema of universal family possessed a soft corner of love, affection
babies?” constructivism. and protection towards them and shows
“Oh Nina”, cried Mother, • Overwhelming expression behavioral actions to shield them from
giving her a big hug. “Is of emotions of females any harm or external agent.
that why you don’t want to • Immense pleasure to help
She seemed to be matured enough to take
get the wedding? But that’s mother earth
future perspective into consideration for
no problem at all. We’ll
the immediate safety of the birds’
leave the window open.”
survival drives. She insisted on her stay
“Oh, can we Mother? Can back in the house thinking they would
we? Really?” die out of hunger due to lack of
intersperse when locked. In fact, like any
other human family, she tends to draw
connection to nature’s call of family
planning and became anxious thinking
how would the parents feed their babies
in times of hunger crisis.
This matured higher cognitive thinking
made her mother emotional, and out of
burst of emotions tried finding a solution
to the rescue of the birds and in sum had
a successful idea in fulfilling both Nina’s
enjoyment and as well as the little
sparrow’s durability in the house in the
absence of Nina.
Hearing the solution to the minor
problem of Nina, she became utterly
astonished and out of joy had multiple
interrogative statements to mother so as
to guarantee the approval of the solution
permanently.
“Yes, yes. We’ll remove • Motherhood In these concluding paragraphs we realize
all your things from the • Authoritative that the mother looks into the matter with
room and lock the door parenting style utmost grace and pride of being a mother of
from the outside. So, the • Parent-child both a child and earth. Considering both the
house will be perfectly relationship dimensions of problems, she justified her
safe and the papa and • Feeling of hope role as a nurturing and promoting earth
mama sparrows can come • Reinforcing trusting mother through the imbibition of helping the
and go freely, too. Just relationship sparrows survive at their house safely till,
think Nina…while you • Enhancing caring they grow maturely and fly high in the sky
enjoy at the wedding, the and supportive as well as looking into the feelings of a
baby sparrows will be nature towards living mother to her given birth child’s sentiments
getting nice and fat in organism of not leaving her back alone at home and
their nest. Good idea, isn’t • Self enhancement of also helping her enjoy life at an
it?” emotions interpersonal level.
It was a good idea. When This way the parent child caring factor
Nina came back home draws light to the nurturing, responsive,
from the wedding. There supportive, yet setting firm limits for their
were two plump little children. Mother seems to attempt a control
sparrows flying all over on her child’s behaviour by explaining her
the room. And wasn’t the rules, discussing and reasoning her the
Nina thrilled! ways of coping mechanism of the sparrows
irrespective of her absence. She seemed to
listen to her child’s viewpoint but didn’t
accept to leave her alone in house.
Having said that, Nina seemed to be an
obedient girl of her mother. She went to the
wedlock ceremony and after arrival to her
home, she saw the sparrows full fleshed
grown up flying eminently flaunting their
features in the room as her mother had
described her previously. She gained lots of
courage and unquestioning unsuspicious
relationship status with her mother and
would develop a trustful relation with the
general population.
The act of saving these pair of birds gave
her a ray of hope to safe more living
organisms and to encourage nature’s
development vividly. The ecology would
have a richness of its nature’s beauty spread
all across the globe. These would help Nina
develop emotions anti harming human and
animal sentiments in the universe, resulting
in promotion of delicate emotions.
 Table 2: Organizing Themes
Organizing Themes Memo writing
1. Social Affiliation and Codes of Conduct Every member of the family travelled to Delhi for a wedding
• Feast occasion on one occasion, which was hosted in the brood community.
• Nuptial merge There appeared to be an exhilarating chill in the air since
• Quality family time spend every generational relative, friend, and brood were coming.
• Derive comfort Nina's family was thrilled and anxiously anticipated the
• Divergence of mind social gathering.
• Incurious wedding ceremonies On the occasion of Nina’ aunt wedding, Nina's mother took
• Melodrama her shopping. Mother reasoned that by shopping for gowns
and shoes, she might turn her melancholy into joy. When
• Portrayal of non-verbal cues of communication
Nina's mother comforted her, she always gave the
• Future goal oriented behavioral concern impression that she would do everything to make her happy,
• Schema of universal family constructivism and in exchange for someone fulfilling her preference, she
• Overwhelming expression of emotions of females would agree to travel to Delhi and live happily ever after.
Mother finally confronted her source of disturbance directly
and with a great deal of compassion, care, and concern
because she was unable to handle the suffering that her kid
was experiencing. She was prepared to listen to her
youngster with patience.
Nina grew upset when she witnessed her mother's
sentiments, emotions, and love for her kid. She used
nonverbal clues (weeping) to express her anguish and
internal suffering from confusion. Despite her best efforts to
keep it a secret, Nina revealed her ignorance of her aunt's
wedding to her mother with maternal confidence and care.
Nina appeared to be at an age where she could examine the
long view while yet ensuring the immediate safety of the
birds' survival instincts. She insisted on staying inside
because she believed that if the door was shut, they would
starve to death. In reality, she tends to associate family
planning with nature's urge for it, just like any other human
family, and she started to worry about how the parents
would feed their children in times of food shortage.
As a result of her mother's emotional outburst caused by her
daughter's grown higher cognitive thinking, she sought to
rescue the birds and ultimately came up with a solution that
satisfied both Nina's delight and the young sparrow's
capacity to survive in the house without Nina.
Nina was totally amazed to learn how to solve her small
difficulty, and she was so delighted that she repeatedly
questioned her mother to ensure that the answer would be
accepted forever.
Thus, this could bring us to conclude that how social
relationship and one’s cognitive beliefs, thoughts and
emotional maturity comes out with one’s exploration with
 the environment and in totality of human interaction and
response pattern.
2. Prototypical Liable Cultivating Behavioral Attributes Evidently, Nina left the market empty-handed. After
• Motherhood returning home, Nina and her mother ate their regular lunch.
• Stereotypical parental obligations Mother finally confronted her source of disturbance directly
• Routine luncheon and with a great deal of compassion, care, and concern
• Broadcasting maternity concerns because she was unable to handle the suffering that her kid
• Sympathetic behavior was experiencing. She was prepared to listen to her
• Melodrama youngster with patience.
• Maternal concern and care support Nina grew upset when she witnessed her mother's
sentiments, emotions, and love for her kid. She used
• Emotion entanglement towards nature
nonverbal clues (weeping) to express her anguish and
• Sympathy and empathy towards nature. internal suffering from confusion. Despite her best efforts to
• Patient observer keep it a secret, Nina revealed her ignorance of her aunt's
• Abandonment of self-pleasurable activities wedding to her mother with maternal confidence and care.
• Strong imagination ability In the tale, it usually describes the emotional element that
• Future goal oriented behavioral concern young female characters in general gravitate toward while
• Immense pleasure to help mother earth they are in their preadolescent years. This little girl wanted
• Authoritative parenting style to care for the newborn sparrows because she was so
• Feeling of hope enamored with their beauty and nurturing.
• Reinforcing trusting relationship Nina appeared to be a young woman who exhibits the
• Enhancing caring and supportive nature towards living normal emotional predisposition for nature. She appeared to
organism be a martyr personality character in the narrative, willing to
sacrifice one's joy at joyous events for the natural world's
survival and trust issue.
Since she had cared for the sparrows since they were infants,
she had grown to have a deep sense of maternal obligation
and worry for them. She also shown protective behaviour by
holding them close to her body from the moment of their
birth. Nina was totally amazed to learn how to solve her
small difficulty, and she was so delighted that she repeatedly
questioned her mother to ensure that the answer would be
accepted forever.
The mother examines the situation with the highest elegance
and pride in being the mother of both a child and the land, as
we can see in these final remarks. Taking into account both
sides of a problem, she explained how she was fulfilling her
role as a nurturing and promoting earth mother by teaching
sparrows how to live safely in their nests until they are old
enough to fly high in the sky and by considering how a
mother would feel if her given birth child asked her to not
abandon her at home and to help her enjoy life on a personal
level.
In this approach, the parent-child care factor highlights how
parents may be supportive, attentive, and loving while yet
setting clear boundaries for their kids. Mother appears to be
making an effort to regulate her child's behaviour by
outlining the rules, talking about them, and explaining to her
how sparrows manage in the absence of her. Despite
appearing to pay attention to her child's perspective, she
refused to let her stay home alone.
 However, Nina appeared to be a girl who obeyed her
mother. She attended the wedding, and when she got home,
she found the sparrows, fully grown and flaunting their
characteristics, fluttering around the room much as her
mother had earlier described her. With the support of her
mother, she developed a lot of bravery and an
unquestionably trustworthy relationship status, which helped
her build trustworthiness with other people.

3. Disposition Of Female Aura of Comfort and Happiness On the occasion of her aunt's wedding, Nina's mother went
• Excitement thrill her shopping. Mother reasoned that by shopping for gowns
• girl stimulation offers and shoes, she might turn her melancholy into joy.
• choice preference Mother seems to have initially questioned her about a dress
• stereotypical options since she was referred to in the narrative as a "girl" in order
• desirability fruition to get her into her comfort zone and to have fun. It was
• materialistic acquisition already assumed that she would choose dresses and skirts
over shirts and jeans. She was given the option to
• female children forecast emotional component
voluntarily select the color of her choice.
• overwhelming expression of emotions of females
When Nina's mother comforted her, she always gave the
• feeling of hope
impression that she would do everything to make her happy,
• self enhancement of emotions and in exchange for someone fulfilling her preference, she
• denial of worldly pleasures would agree to travel to Delhi and live happily ever after.
• keen observer of nature Nina didn't appear to be interested in purchasing any of the
outfits that were on the market, though.
The mother persisted in trying to cheer up her child and
pointed to one of her favorite pairs of shoes that she had
previously asked her parents to get her. Once more, this
made the mother reflect on the widespread custom and
notion that purchasing her "favorite sought" items would
make her happy, just as it did for the majority of young
girls. unfortunately, Nina didn't appear to care about her
beauty.
She now has reason to believe that she can protect more
living things and promote nature's growth passionately. The
beauty of nature would be abundant in the ecology and
spread out throughout the entire world. These would support
sensitive emotions by assisting Nina in cultivating feelings
against the hurting of humans and animals in the world.

4. Miscellaneous
• Nuclear family
• Navigating to Delhi
• Downcast prevails
 Table 3: Global Themes
Core Category Memo Writing
1. Social Synergy and Societal Believe in Moral Ethics On one time, the entire family went to Delhi for a wedding that
Impact on Child’s Holistic Cognitive Development was held in the posh neighborhood. Since every generational
• Social affiliation and codes of conduct related, friend, and brood was present, it seemed as though
• Prototypical liable cultivating behavioral attributes there was an energizing cold in the air. The social event was
• Disposition of female aura of comfort and happiness eagerly anticipated by Nina's relatives, who were overjoyed.
When Nina's aunt got married, her mother brought her
shopping. Mother believed that by going dress and shoe
shopping, she could transform her sadness into joy. When
Nina's mother comforted her, she always seemed to imply that
she would go to any lengths to ensure her happiness and that, in
return for someone meeting her desire, she would agree to fly
to Delhi and live happily ever after.
Mother finally confronted her source of disturbance directly
and with a great deal of compassion, care, and concern because
she was unable to handle the suffering that her kid was
experiencing. She was prepared to listen to her youngster with
patience.
Nina grew upset when she witnessed her mother's sentiments,
emotions, and love for her kid. She used nonverbal clues
(weeping) to express her anguish and internal suffering from
confusion. Despite her best efforts to keep it a secret, Nina
revealed her ignorance of her aunt's wedding to her mother
with maternal confidence and care.
Mother was unable to take the agony that her child was going
through, so she approached the source of her distress
immediately and with a great degree of love, care, and concern.
She was ready to patiently hear what her child had to say.
She demonstrated her distress and internal pain from
bewilderment through nonverbal cues (crying). Despite her best
attempts to conceal it, Nina told her mother with maternal
assurance and care that she had not heard about her aunt's
wedding.
Nina seemed to be at a stage in her life where she could
consider the big picture while yet protecting the immediate
safety of the birds' survival instincts. She insisted on staying
inside because she thought they would starve to death if the
door was closed. She began to worry about how the parents
would feed their children in times of famine since she tends to
equate family planning with nature's drive for it, just like any
other human family.
Because of her daughter's increased capability for higher
cognitive thought, Nina's mother had an emotional outburst and
attempted to save the birds. Eventually, she came up with a
solution that fulfilled both Nina's joy and the juvenile sparrow's
ability to survive in the house.
Nina was utterly astounded to discover the solution to her
minor issue, and she was so ecstatic that she kept asking her
 mother the same questions to make sure the solution would be
remembered forever.
This might lead us to draw the conclusion that one's exploration
of the environment, together with their cognitive views, ideas,
and emotional maturity, affects how they interact with others
and how they respond to situations.

b) POEM

Table 1: Open Coding

Text Open Coding Memo Writing
There are lots of things • Limiting exploration The girl at her early childhood days feels
They won’t let me do --- of female limited to action play and exploratory
I’m not big enough yet, attractiveness threatening games which she seems
They say. • Setting boundaries interested to indulge in. To protect her from
• Obeying parental outside external harm and injuries, she is at
boundaries her most limited to inside safe space at
• Less matured home where she is under the protective zone
• Authoritarian of her parental care and defense.
parental style When she tends to question the authoritarian
• Age- specific action parental style, she gets a response of being
oriented less full grown and developed to face the
outer world. The perception which is been
portrayed here in front of the child’s eye is
that every action, behavioral pattern of
females has certain age boundary to allow
exploration of outer activities.
So, I patiently wait • Patient sufferer The child in the very early life takes the
Till I’m all grown-up; • Adolescence pain of a silent obedient babyhood
And I’ll show them all, exploration experience where she sacrifices her
One day • Breaking investigational activities of interests and is
stigmatization waited for her to grow young so that she
• Ray of hope for might fulfill her gratification of inner
future desirability of variable activities outside her
• Future oriented wait comfort space.
• Striving equality However, being confident of her gender
treatment. identity holding strong personality virtues
she breaks the stereotypical beliefs that girl
child is meant to be weak and usually enjoy
life in the circumference of their parents
indoor.
With the child’s tragic challenge to her
parents’ stereotype, she seemed to be the
hope of breaking societal prototypical
treatment towards girl child. As a reason
from her pre-adolescent age, she is keen to
look forward to her bright prospective
probing life where she would desperately be
 in search of gender equality conduct and
more equitability credence within mankind.

I could show them now • Feeling of regret The girl feels imperiled by her parents’
If they gave me the chance, • Waited for actions and overprotectiveness, which tends
There are things I could do opportunity forecast to destroy her excitement to explore various
If I tried. • Questioning childhood outer activities. However, she is
authoritarian always ready to prove her physical and
decision mental stability and muscular brawny
• Faulty upbringing bravery personality.
• Lack of exposure She tends to regret been brought up in such
stringent manner and questions her
dissatisfactory ungratified parental coping
mechanism which somewhere made her feel
regret, sad and restricted lifestyle. She
always had this fear of losing interests in
her pleasurable activities because of her
lack of vulnerability to the outer universe.
But nobody knows, • Beliefs in self- She is a strong smart psychologically self-
Nobody knows, that I’m appraisal praised inner reflecting youth, who truly
Really a giant, • Enhancing self- encourages her will, desirability and boost
Inside. efficacy and self self confidence in her.
esteem Although she is not yet exposed to the tragic
• Hidden heroism exterior universe, she always made her self
• Incongruence in determination to success every task at top
external and internal notch and have high self-reliance trust ship.
self-image. She always daunted her inner capabilities in
front of the external world, mischievously
hiding her inner self-exploring personality
trait so as to make a right move with the
correct allowance of time which would keep
her beloved ones in utter amusement.

Table 2: Organizing Theme

Organizing Theme Memo Writing
1. Maladaptive Social Stigmatization of The girl feels constrained to action play and exploratory
Female Child Upbringing threatening games throughout her early childhood, yet she
• Limiting exploration of female appears enthusiastic in engaging in these activities. She is
attractiveness most vulnerable to injury and injuries from the outside when
• Setting boundaries she is inside a protected area at home, where she is under her
• Authoritarian parental style parents' care and protection.
• Age- specific action oriented She is told that she is not fully formed and ready to face the
• Faulty upbringing outside world when she questions the authoritarian parenting
• Lack of exposure approach. The impression that is being presented to the
youngster is that every feminine movement and behavioral
pattern has an age limit that allows for the exploration of
extracurricular activities.
She often regrets having been raised in such a rigorous
manner and wonders about the unsatisfactory parental coping
 strategy that led her to feel regret, sadness, and limited in her
lifestyle. Due to her lack of exposure to the outside world,
she had a constant concern of losing interest in her enjoyable
pursuits.

2. Female Child Emotional Turmoil When a child is very young, she endures the agony of a
• Patient sufferer silent, obedient babyhood, giving up her investigative
• Adolescence exploration activities of interest while waiting for her to grow up so she
• Breaking stigmatization can satisfy her inner desire for varied activities outside of her
• Ray of hope for future comfort zone.
• Future oriented wait However, because she is self-assured in her gender
• Striving equality treatment identification and possesses strong character traits, she defies
stereotypes that girls are weak and want to live in their
• Feeling of regret
parents' homes.
• Waited for opportunity forecast
The girl perceives her parents' behaviour and
• Questioning authoritarian decision overprotectiveness as a threat, which tends to kill her
• Beliefs in self-appraisal enthusiasm for trying new kid outdoor activities. She is,
• Enhancing self-efficacy and self esteem nevertheless, constantly prepared to demonstrate her robust
• Hidden heroism brawn and fearless personality as well as her physical and
• Incongruence in external and internal mental stability.
self-image. She is a young woman of strength, intelligence, and self-
appreciation who genuinely supports her will, desirability,
and self-confidence.
Although she has not yet been exposed to the tragic outside
world, she has always made it a point to succeed in every
work at the highest level and to have great self-reliance and
trust.
She was mischievously suppressing her tendency to explore
her inner self in order to make the appropriate move at the
right time and keep her loved ones completely entertained.
She always doubted her inner abilities in front of the outside
world.

Table 3: Global Themes

Core Category Memo Writing
1. Gender Criticism and Its Psychological Throughout her early life, the girl feels restricted
Consequences on Child Development to action play and exploratory frightening games,
• Maladaptive social stigmatization of yet she seems eager about taking part in these
female child upbringing activities. When she is at home, where she is
• Female child emotional turmoil cared for and protected by her parents, she is most
susceptible to harm and harms from the outside.
When she challenges the authoritarian parenting
style, she is informed that she is not fully
developed and prepared to face the outer world.
The young child gets the sense that there is a
minimum age at which one can engage in
extracurricular activities for every feminine
movement and behaviour type. She frequently
laments her strict upbringing and wonders what
ineffective parental coping mechanism resulted in
her experiencing regret, grief, and lifestyle
limitations. She was constantly worried that she
would get bored with her nice activities because
she wasn't exposed to the outside world.
When the child is extremely young, she suffers
through the torture of a silent, submissive
babyhood, giving up her interest-piqued
investigative activities as she patiently waits for
her to grow up so she can sate her inner need for
different activities outside of her comfort zone.
She disproves the notion that girls are weak and
prefer to live at home because she is confident in
her gender identity and displays strong character
attributes.
The girl tends to lose interest in trying new
youngster outdoor activities because she sees her
parents' actions and overprotectiveness as a threat.
Despite this, she is always ready to show off her
strong physique, fearless demeanor, and mental
and physical stamina.
She is a strong, intelligent, and self-aware young
woman who sincerely supports her self-
determination, desirability, and self-assurance.
She has always made it a point to complete every
task to the best standard, and she has a high level
of self-reliance and trust despite not having yet
been exposed to the tragic outside world. In order
to make the right decision at the right time and
keep her loved ones entirely entertained, she was
mischievously repressing her propensity to
explore her inner self. In front of the outside
world, she had constant internal doubts about her
ability.
 • Incurious wedding ceremonies
• Melodrama
• Motherhood • Feast occasion • Portrayal of non-verbal cues of
• Stereotypical parental • Nuptial merge communication
obligations • Quality family time spend • Future goal oriented behavioral • Limiting
• Derive comfort concern exploration of
• Routine luncheon
• Divergence of mind female
• Broadcasting maternity attractiveness
concerns • Setting boundaries
• Sympathetic behavior • Authoritarian
• Melodrama parental style
• Age- specific
Social action oriented
affiliation and
codes of
Prototypical conduct Female child
liable cultivating
emotional turmoil
behavioral
attributes

• Emotion entanglement towards nature

• Faulty upbringing
• Sympathy and empathy towards nature.
• Patient observer • Lack of exposure
• Abandonment of self-pleasurable activities 1. Social Synergy and Societal Believe in
• Strong imagination ability
• Future goal oriented behavioral concern
Moral Ethics Impact On Child’s Holistic
• Immense pleasure to help mother earth Cognitive Development
• Authoritative parenting style 2. Gender Criticism and Its Psychological
• Feeling of hope Consequences on Child Development
• Reinforcing trusting relationship
• Enhancing caring and supportive nature
towards living organism

Disposition of
female aura of Maladaptive social
comfort and stigmatization of female
happiness child upbringing

• Excitement thrill
• girl stimulation offers
• choice preference
• stereotypical options
• Limiting exploration of female
• desirability fruition attractiveness
• materialistic acquisition • Setting boundaries
• female children forecast • Authoritarian parental style
emotional component
• Age- specific action oriented
• overwhelming expression of
• Faulty upbringing
emotions of females
• Lack of exposure
• feeling of hope
• self enhancement of emotions
• denial of worldly pleasures
• keen observer of nature

THEMATIC NETWORK OF INICIAL, ORGANISING AND GLOBAL THEMES

DISCUSSION:
The objective of the present study is to study gender stereotyping and its representation in the academic
literature of 3rd, 4th and 5th classes of NCERT books and to study the developmental implication in the
academic literature of 3rd, 4th and 5th classes of NCERT books. Gender is one of the most salient and
influential aspects of a person’s identity. Gender influences a person’s appearance, interests, activities,
friendships, interpersonal styles, romantic relationships, and career decisions. Given the ubiquitous
influence of gender in a person’s life, a number of theories have been developed to explain gender
development and differentiation. These theories can be generally divided into three families: biological,
social, and cognitive. Although other approaches exist, this entry will highlight the most influential
theories within these domains. Cognitive-oriented theorists of gender development view children as active
constructors of knowledge who seek, interpret, and act on information in an effort to match their behavior
to their knowledge of gender. Although Bandura’s social cognitive theory also emphasizes the role of
cognitions, a distinguishing feature of cognitive theories is that children are believed to be self-driven in
their pursuit to learn about gender and that gendered cognitions play a significant motivating role in this
process. Therefore, some researchers have referred to social cognitive theory as a cognitive environmental
approach and the cognitive theories described below as developmental constructivist approaches. The
cognitive approach to gender development was initially presented by Lawrence Kohlberg when he
outlined his cognitive-developmental theory in Eleanor Maccoby’s 1966 book The Development of Sex
Differences. Kohlberg’s theory is heavily influenced by Piagetian concepts in that children’s
understanding of gender is believed to be directly linked to age-related changes in cognitive development.
Kohlberg proposed that as children develop an understanding of gender, they become more motivated to
match their behavior to gender norms. Kohlberg emphasized the significant motivating role of gender
constancy, which is the developing understanding that gender is a permanent and immutable category.
Gender constancy knowledge is believed to develop in three stages: knowledge of whether you are a boy
or a girl (i.e., gender identity), knowledge that gender remains the same throughout life (i.e., gender
stability) and knowledge that gender doesn’t change despite superficial changes in appearance or
activities (i.e., gender consistency). Kohlberg’s ideas prompted the development of another cognitive
approach to gender development referred to as gender schema theory. Like cognitive-developmental
theory, gender schema theory posits that self-driven qualities play an integral role in the development of
gender-typed behaviors such that children intentionally pursue and construct information about gender. In
this view, people develop gender schemas, which are organized knowledge structures containing a
person’s attitudes and knowledge about gender, as they interact and seek out information in their
environment; their gender schemas then influence their attention, perceptions, memories, and behaviors.
The textbook which was taken into consideration of class 3 NCERT was titled Marigold, of English
subject with language English. The analysis of gender stereotype was taken into consideration after a
detailed investigation of a story and a poem in the book. The name of the story which I had personally
chosen for the thematic analysis is Nina and baby sparrows which talks about the prototypical behavior
patterns of a concerned mother towards her sad girl child and how sensitive gender roles females play
when it comes to nurturing, caring and concern towards societal responsibility as well as parental
upbringing. And the poem I selected from the Marigold Text Book is Don’t Tell. Where the poem vividly
specifies the TO DO NOT list to a girl child who feels so outraged and emotionally repulsive that she
somewhat becomes toxic towards her parents understanding to follow social norms so as to protect female
child thinking that they are weak and easily malleable and molded to the outside world. Because she
perceives her parents' behaviour and overprotectiveness as a threat, the girl frequently loses interest in
trying new kid-friendly outside activities. Despite this, she never hesitates to display her powerful
physique, bold attitude, and mental and physical endurance. The data analysis of the story and the poem
taken from NCERT text book is done through qualitative analysis through thematic networks, which is an
analytical tool used for drawing core features that are common to many approaches in qualitative analysis.
Toulmin supplies the backdrop logic but not the final solution because the goal of thematic networks is to
explore the understanding of a problem or the meaning of an idea rather than to resolve divergent
definitions of a problem. Although Toulmin's phrases (claim, warrant, and support) offer a good
organizing basis, their reinterpretation for thematic networks has necessitated that they be appropriately
adjusted and renamed to comply with the goals at hand. In fact, the three fundamental components of
grounded theory—concepts, categories, and propositions—are strikingly similar to this core structure
(Corbin and Strauss, 1990).
There are two global themes, which seems to come out prominently from the thematic analysis of both
the story and the poem in accordance with the gender stereotyping representation in the academic
literature of 3rd, 4th and 5th classes of NCERT books. The major metaphors in the data are all included in
the superordinate global themes. In that it is the culminating or final tenet, a global theme is similar to a
claim. As a result, Global Themes aggregate collections of Organizing Themes that collectively make a
claim about a particular problem or reality. They are broad themes that summarize and make sense of
collections of more specific, lower-order themes that are supported by the data and abstracted from it.
Thus, in the context of a particular analysis, Global Themes help us understand what the texts as a whole
are about. They serve as both a concise summary of the key ideas and an insightful analysis of the texts.
Importantly, depending on the complexity of the data and the goals of the analysis, a set of texts may
possibly produce more than one Global Theme; nevertheless, there will be far fewer of them than there
are Organizing and Basic Themes. An investigation may produce more than one thematic network
because each Global Theme serves as the centre of a thematic network.
From the contextual interpretation of the present study, one global theme is the social synergy and
societal believe in moral ethics impact on child’s holistic cognitive development under which the evident
organizing themes are social affiliation and codes of conduct, prototypical liable cultivating behavioral
attributes and dispositions of female aura of comfort and happiness. To talk about organized theme, they
are the Basic Theme is arranged according to this middle-order theme. themes into groups of related
problems. They consist of groups of significance. They encapsulate the key tenets of a collection of Basic
Themes; thus, they are more ethereal and illuminating of the books' themes. However, they also play a
part in enhancing the relevance and meaning of a more general topic that connects various organizing
themes. akin to Toulmin's they serve as the tenets on which a superordinate claim is founded.
Consequently, organizing themes group the key concepts put forward in concert by various Basic
Themes, and examine the fundamental presumptions that underlie each. wider theme that is particularly
important to the texts taken together. That is similarly, a collection of organizing themes makes up a
global theme.
To discuss about the overarching theme of the story portrayal, it summarizes us that the family plans a
trip to Delhi for a wedding that took place in a fancy area once involved the entire family. It appeared as
if there was an electrifying chill in the air, with every generational relative, friend, and brood present.
Nina's relatives, who were thrilled, were looking forward to the social gathering with great anticipation.
She was taken shopping by Nina's mother when her aunt got married. Mother thought that by going
clothing and shoe shopping, she might turn her despair into joy. When Nina's mother comforted her, she
always appeared to imply that she would do whatever it took to make sure that she was happy and that in
exchange for someone fulfilling her goal, she would agree to fly to Delhi and live happily ever after.
Mother was unable to take the agony that her child was going through, so she approached the source of
her disturbance immediately and with a great degree of love, care, and concern. She was ready to
patiently hear what her child had to say. When Nina saw her mother's feelings, emotions, and love for her
child, she became disturbed. She demonstrated her distress and internal pain from bewilderment through
nonverbal cues (crying). Despite her best efforts to conceal it, Nina told her mother with maternal
assurance and care that she had not heard about her aunt's wedding. Mother was unable to bear the
suffering her child was experiencing, so she rushed to the area of discomfort with a great deal of love,
care, and concern. She was prepared to listen to what her child had to say with patience.
Through her nonverbal signs, she communicated her discomfort and internal suffering from perplexity
(crying). Despite her best efforts to keep it a secret, Nina admitted to her mother that she had not heard
about her aunt's wedding with maternal confidence and care. Nina appeared to be in a place in her life
where she could think long-term while yet ensuring the immediate safety of the birds' survival
mechanisms. She insisted on staying inside because she believed that if the door was shut, they would
starve to death. Since she often equates family planning with nature's drive for it, much like any other
human family, she started to worry about how the parents would feed their children in times of famine.
Nina's mother had an emotional outburst and tried to save the birds because of her daughter's heightened
capacity for higher cognitive processing. She eventually found a way that allowed the young sparrow to
live in the house while also bringing Nina joy. Nina appeared to be in a place in her life where she could
think long-term while yet ensuring the immediate safety of the birds' survival mechanisms. She insisted
on staying inside because she believed that if the door was shut, they would starve to death. Since she
often equates family planning with nature's drive for it, much like any other human family, she started to
worry about how the parents would feed their children in times of famine. After finding the answer to her
small problem, Nina was so thrilled that she resumed asking her mother the same questions to ensure that
the answer would be remembered always. This could lead us to the conclusion that a person's
environment exploration, along with their cognitive viewpoints, ideas, and emotional development,
influence how they interact with others and react to events.
In recent decades there have been significant advances in terms of gender equality in the economic,
education, and employment fields. These advances have resulted in numerous laws and regulations that
seek to promote equal opportunities for men and women throughout their life and to reduce sexism in all
its aspects. However, significant gender inequality in adulthood still exists in crucial areas such as wages
and positions of power (vertical segregation) (Cohen and Hilgeman, 2006), as well as large differences in
numerous areas of life: to give some examples, girls tend to perceive themselves as less competent in
science-related fields (OECD, 2020), and women tend to be underrepresented in traditionally male
professions, which are usually the ones with greater social prestige (horizontal segregation) (Cohen and
Hilgeman, 2006). On a personal level, gender roles affect the physical and mental health of men and
women (World Health Organization [WHO], 2002; Mayor, 2015), with gender inequality being at the
base of gender violence (McCarthy et al., 2018). Moreover, although life expectancy is greater for
women, they have a worse quality of life (Rollero et al., 2014).
Regarding childhood, there are multiple studies that show how boys and girls internalize the traditional
gender roles that prevail in society from an early age (Jackson, 2007). This internalization has a decisive
effect on their academic development, their perception of their own abilities (regardless of their real
abilities), and their personal, vocational and job aspirations (Kollmayer et al., 2018).
Under these differences a persistence of traditional gender stereotypes exists, among other social factors,
according to which certain attributes, behaviors and expectations are associated with men and women in a
biased manner. Research in the area of developmental and social psychology has been asking for decades
about the development and acquisition of gender roles in childhood, and what factors affect these ongoing
events. Sex typing or the process of acquiring gender roles is a global phenomenon that children from all
cultures go through, considering this as a part of regular development and a consequence of differentiated
socialization processes in the first years of life. This phenomenon continues to evolve throughout life with
messages that come from the contexts with which children interact (Bem, 1983; Liben and Bigler, 2002c).
➢ Stereotyping of personal attributes: As recent previous studies have shown (Liben and Bigler,
2002b; Siyanova-Chanturia et al., 2012, 2015), boys tend to produce biased responses more
frequently when assigning male traits, while girls tend to issue stereotyped responses more
frequently for female traits. This indicates that boys and girls pay more attention to the traits
associated with their own group. They internalize them earlier and incorporate them as more
rigid schemes when it comes to creating expectations regarding unknown people. Given that the
construction of this scheme occurs in parallel to gender identity development, it is more efficient
for girls, from an adaptive point of view, to pay attention to what society expects of them
because they are women. This acquisition allows them to incorporate these expectations into
their own identity, in the same way that happens to boys. Incorporating specific gender roles at
such early ages (for example, associating aggressiveness with masculinity and lower intelligence
to women), in parallel to the development of gender identity, is something that can have obvious
implications for children as it adds constraints to their development at such an early stage (Bem,
1981; Brinkman et al., 2014; Kurtz-Costes et al., 2014).
Moreover, the biased responses in the assignment of personal attributes were more frequent for male
attributes, although the difference does not have a sufficient level of significance. However, previous
research done in this area confirms that gender roles are generally more rigid for men than for women, so
we can confirm that this greater lack of flexibility associated with masculinity is already perceived and
internalized by our participants in the first years of life (Wilbourn and Kee, 2010; Siyanova-Chanturia et
al., 2012). Nevertheless, it must be noted that other studies have found the opposite result (Halim et al.,
2014; Baker et al., 2016).
The fact that in a very high proportion of the tests (almost three quarters of them) intelligence was
assigned to boys has undeniable consequences for the development of girls, as described in other previous
studies with similar results (Bian et al., 2017). If girls perceive that very intelligent people are usually
men, they will tend to apply that association to their own self-concept and will project expectations
aligned with this association which reinforces their low presence in STEM careers, as well as a worse
self-perception of personal skills to face general problems, because intelligence is a necessary attribute for
all areas of life. Data obtained in multiple studies indicate that these types of expectations often function
as a self-fulfilling prophecy, especially in situations in which girls feel that they are being evaluated,
which reduces their performance in objective evaluation tests (Jussim et al., 1996; Neuburger et al., 2012;
Plante et al., 2013). The educational and environmental interventions that are carried out to reduce the
gender gap in the vocational and professional aspirations of children and young people should
undoubtedly use this information to design effective strategies from an early age which draw on a
thorough analysis of their expectations and dismantle this type of bias that is so limiting for women’s
aspirations.
It should also be noted that an important part of the responses indicate that aggressiveness is also a trait
strongly associated with masculinity, as found in previous studies (Baker et al., 2016). This seems to
confirm that children perceive, from a very young age, that men tend to be more aggressive than women,
a characteristic that can undoubtedly be found at the root of phenomena such as gender violence.
Although in this study the participants have been asked to generate expectations about the presented
targets (appropriation of culturally shared roles) and have not explicitly been asked whether these types of
behaviors are adequate, the data show that from an early age children perceive this behavior as an
attribute more associated with normative masculinity, with the implications that this has for the socio-
emotional development of both groups. Boys seem to assume early on that aggressiveness is more
frequent among their peers and male adults, while girls also perceive that difference, which they may find
inevitable. It is convenient to consider this perception when designing strategies to prevent gender
violence and any form of sexual abuse, taking away the normality surrounding this issue and teaching
children that it is a cultural aspect that can be avoided. The educational objective in these cases will be to
provide boys with alternative strategies to manage conflicts and to promote in all children a critical
analysis of media messages that often idealize violence associated with masculinity compared to other
forms of solving non-violent problems, such as negotiation or cooperation.
Regarding women, they seem to be perceived by the participants as much more concerned about their
physical appearance than men. If girls internalize early on that women naturally care a lot about their
image, they are more likely to feel insecure with their physical appearance and develop a more negative
body image by comparing how they look with prevailing beauty canons. This aspect is at the base of
various mental health problems such as eating disorders, much more frequent among women than among
men (Baker et al., 2016). In this regard, learning environments should foster a more polyhedral image of
women, cultivating the development of skills that are not focused on physical appearance and taking
importance away from their looks. Contexts that stimulate the development of skills and competencies in
all areas and foster a body experience based on enjoyment and personal acceptance (for example, through
participation in sports or physical activities) will foster a positive experience and care of the body that
goes beyond the socially established beauty canon.
➢ Gender Schemes Development: - Regarding the pattern observed in the development of gender
schemes, the analysis shows relevant developmental differences in some of the measures
analyzed, but not all, following the results of previous studies (Liben and Bigler, 2002b; Martin
and Ruble, 2004; Trautner et al., 2005; Bennett and Sani, 2006; Halim, 2016; Halim et al.,
2017). Although traditional gender schemes appear to be incorporated in the youngest group
(both for male and female attributes), their application of expectations regarding unknown
people increases significantly with age for male roles, while in the case of women it remains
stable. This indicates that the asymmetry observed with respect to male and female schemes
would not yet be present at 4 and 5 years of age. However, already at 8 and 9 years of age the
masculine scheme (associated with intelligence and aggressiveness) seems to be more
incorporated than the feminine scheme.
The data indicate that, as of the age of 8, children have already perceived the asymmetry regarding the
gender mandates previously mentioned (greater social pressure regarding the characteristics associated
with masculinity), internalizing and making their own stricter schemes for the masculine attributes than
those associated with women. This greater appropriation of male roles is undoubtedly related to greater
exposure and salience of more strongly stereotyped male models, present in multiple learning
environments. Currently, very different models of women are shown in the media and in general in public
life in a normalized manner, with women presenting traditionally more masculine characteristics such as
assertiveness or leadership. However, male models remain very stereotyped and their roles have not
become more flexible as has been the case with women. In this line, it seems important to work at the
school and family level on an educational approach that promotes alternative masculine schemes that
break the constrictions of traditional masculinity (Renold, 2004), and allow boys to identify from the first
years of life with men who care for others, are affective or are dedicated to feminized professions (Swain,
2005).
With respect to professional roles, general developmental differences tend to increase the flexibility of
responses (greater proportion of choices in the response “both can carry out that profession”), in line with
previous research (Bigler, 1995; Banse et al., 2010) that associates the decrease in biases to the increase
of cognitive abilities. However, certain differences appear in developmental trajectories when considering
boys and girls separately. Thus, it is observed that stereotypes regarding male professions remain stable
among girls, while they decrease slightly among boys. In the case of the assignment of female professions
to women, there is also a decrease in gender stereotypes as the child’s development progresses, becoming
in general the most flexible participants in this type of study. However, the developmental differences are
observed to be manifested mostly among boys, stereotyping these professions with less intensity as their
age increases, without observing this decrease among girls.
This would imply that, in general, older boys are more flexible in the understanding of typically male or
female professions than girls, which will undoubtedly have a negative impact on girls in their future
vocational and professional choices. As they get older, children seem to broaden their perceptions of their
possible professional expectations. However, this greater flexibility in the workplace does not seem to
have been incorporated to the same extent by girls aged 8–9, especially with regard to professions
traditionally considered “male.” Assuming that cognitive development is at the base of the flexibility of
gender roles in general, it is worth asking why, if this development is present in equal measure in both
sexes, girls have more difficulty than their male counterpart to make gender schemes more flexible in
terms of the professional world. This greater constriction of the professional area among the older female
participants (associating to a greater extent certain jobs with men and women), compared to their male
classmates, can be found at the base of the gender gap observed in the workplace, along with other social
factors that seem to limit women’s career opportunities.
As stated in previous studies (Vervecken and Hannover, 2015), the development of vocational interests is
forged in the primary education stage, so we must pay special attention to the messages that are sent from
all learning environments in this regard. Furthermore, as previously mentioned, counter-stereotypical
models must be offered (Olsson and Martiny, 2018) to teach children from an early age that what one
dedicates their life to must be related to what one likes to do and what one does well. In this regard, it
should not be forgotten that what children project as a possible profession is also influenced by the
perceptions of accessibility to these jobs (status and difficulty), as well as by their own beliefs of self-
efficacy (Vervecken and Hannover, 2015). In the case of the participants in this study, this perception of
self-efficacy is undoubtedly diminished because, as we have seen, intelligence is associated with men in a
very biased way.
➢ Environmental Influences in the Construction of Gender Schemes: - Based on all these
findings, a series of measures can be implemented in learning contexts to promote a freer and
more flexible society with respect to the identity categories of men and women are proposed
below. As Bem states with his theory (Bem, 1981, 1983), the fact that a social category becomes
the core of a cognitive scheme is not inevitable but rather depends on the nature of the social
contexts in which this category is immersed. Social categories tend to become relevant schemes
if society constantly associates a specific label with different attributes, behaviors, professions,
etc. In addition, the gender category becomes a relevant variable for children when different
social institutions, norms and taboos are built upon it.
Learning environments that separate boys from girls (for example, segregated schools) or, on a broader
level, societies that are not equal, will promote more gender schematic children than those in which being
a man or woman is merely another personal characteristic, among many others. As Bem (1983) states,
when a culture insists (with explicit and implicit messages) that a social category is very important at a
functional level, the passive associations that children have been able to build between that category and
certain human traits becomes an active scheme that is available when interpreting the reality that
surrounds them. Children will apply this scheme as far as they find it helpful to predict the world around
them. This author states that children will show less sex typed behaviors if, from all educational contexts,
an effort is made to avoid associations that reinforce the prevailing gender scheme. For example,
distributing tasks traditionally associated with one or the other should be avoided, or presenting models of
biased occupations, as is often the case in textbooks. Learning environments should also promote
alternative categorization schemes, in which individual differences between people stand out above
intergroup differences (emphasizing variability within a group and things that are shared between people
from different groups).
Furthermore, Bem (1983) argues that it does not seem enough to ignore the prevailing sexist messages in
part of society, but that the school and the family should promote a critical analysis of them. This analysis
should help children understand that gender roles depend on socialization and culture and have little to do
with the biological differences of men and women. With this in mind, it seems necessary to discuss the
origin of gender inequalities with children, reflecting on their social and historical roots and the reasons
why they still endure even though societies seem more egalitarian at the formal level.
Along these lines, schools should avoid championships in which the gender category is applied to divide
the groups or using children’s sex to organize the activities they practice, the classroom or the educational
center. School segregation also increases the salience of this category, so it would be detrimental when
promoting more egalitarian attitudes because it fosters a more dichotomous and prescriptive worldview.
In addition, according to Allport’s contact theory (Allport, 1954), prejudices are reduced when people
belonging to different groups meet and interact to achieve common goals. In this sense, segregated
schools would be inhibiting children from establishing contacts with people “from the other group,” thus
preventing the discovery of the large number of things that they probably have in common and the
benefits of dealing with human diversity.
All these precautions should be especially considered when children’s cognitive abilities are still very
limited (mainly in regard to classification skills) (Bigler, 1995). In this sense, the interaction of the
cognitive limitations of the first years of life with very segregated contexts (in which the salience of the
gender variable is very important) can lead to the development of rigid and very limiting stereotypes that
already begin to determine the choices of children, their preferences or their expectations about
themselves and others in these early ages. Although in later stages cognitive skills increase, the early
construction of rigid schemes in the first years of life can determine different paths that involve, for
example, the choice of different types of toys, the personal attributes that they will develop to adapt to
social expectations, or even the type of activities they will practice and in which they will acquire higher
levels of competence. Although, throughout childhood, growing cognitive skills allow children to build
fewer rigid schemes, early environmental experiences and the limited cognitive abilities of these ages can
cause very divergent initial developments that can later be difficult to reverse.
Regarding schools, although formal educational systems are trying to be more equal every day at a
theoretical or legislative level, data shows that even today the leisure environments are still very
differentiated for boys and girls, both in terms of the use of space and the type of objects and activities
offered (Pomerleau et al., 1990). In this regard, it is appropriate to pay attention to this aspect and ensure
that school environments respect an equitable and cooperative use of space, promoting activities that are
not gender biased and providing toys and materials that promote active play and children’s sense of
agency for both boys and girls, while also working on activities related to mutual care and cooperation
between both groups.
In addition, within learning environments, there are also a number of important influences that are not so
direct which have to do with the presentation of gender roles and sexist stereotypes in the media,
children’s literature or toys (Wille et al., 2018). In recent years, we have also found a powerful
environmental influence regarding the information that children and young people absorb from an early
age through social networks and the Internet (Murnen et al., 2016). This environmental influence includes
for example, the role of youtubers, or social networks such as Instagram or Facebook, that configure
different worlds for the boys and girls who approach them, both with respect to the models they transmit
and with respect to the information they include (advertising, topics covered, models of masculinity and
femininity, etc.) (Plakoyiannaki et al., 2008).
In short, if we want to educate today’s children to be more equal and have more freedom to choose how
they want to be, without the constraints associated with traditional gender roles, we must apply a
comprehensive perspective that promotes the application of the gender mainstreaming approach to all
institutions that educate in today’s society (Hussain et al., 2015), beyond schools. Society educates
children and laws should promote family, social, educational and media-oriented policies from this cross-
cutting approach that promote the reduction of sexist attitudes and individual freedom to each develop as
a person, regardless of sex or identity. In this sense, all learning environments should work together to
promote more egalitarian messages that do not perpetuate traditional schemes, which can be so harmful
and limiting.
Coming to the second overarching theme of thematic analysis in reference to the poem, it appears to come
out as a gender criticism and its psychological consequences on child development. In the poem "Don't
tell," it is explicitly stated that the girl is constrained to action play and exploring fearful games
throughout her early life, despite the fact that she appears eager to engage in these activities. She is most
vulnerable to injury and harms from the outside when she is at home, when she is cared for and
safeguarded by her parents. She is told that she is not yet completely matured and ready to face the
outside world when she criticizes the authoritarian parenting approach. The young child is given the
impression that each feminine movement and behaviour type has a minimum age at which one can
participate in extracurricular activities.
She often regrets her rigorous upbringing and wonders what failed parenting technique led to her feeling
regret, grief, and lifestyle restrictions. She was continually concerned that because she wasn't exposed to
the outside world, she might become bored with her enjoyable pursuits. When the child is very young, she
endures the agony of a quiet, submissive babyhood, giving up her interest-piqued inquisitive activities as
she eagerly awaits her development so she can sate her inner urge for various activities outside of her
comfort zone. Because of her self-assurance and strong character traits, she refutes the stereotype that
girls are frail and prefer to live at home. She constantly felt insecure about her abilities in front of other
people.
➢ Stereotyping of Personal Attributes: - As recent previous studies have shown (Liben and Bigler,
2002b; Siyanova-Chanturia et al., 2012, 2015), boys tend to produce biased responses more
frequently when assigning male traits, while girls tend to issue stereotyped responses more
frequently for female traits. This indicates that boys and girls pay more attention to the traits
associated with their own group. They internalize them earlier and incorporate them as more
rigid schemes when it comes to creating expectations regarding unknown people. Given that the
construction of this scheme occurs in parallel to gender identity development, it is more efficient
for girls, from an adaptive point of view, to pay attention to what society expects of them
because they are women. This acquisition allows them to incorporate these expectations into
their own identity, in the same way that happens to boys. Incorporating specific gender roles at
 such early ages (for example, associating aggressiveness with masculinity and lower intelligence
to women), in parallel to the development of gender identity, is something that can have obvious
implications for children as it adds constraints to their development at such an early stage (Bem,
1981; Brinkman et al., 2014; Kurtz-Costes et al., 2014).
Moreover, the biased responses in the assignment of personal attributes were more frequent for male
attributes, although the difference does not have a sufficient level of significance. However, previous
research done in this area confirms that gender roles are generally more rigid for men than for women, so
we can confirm that this greater lack of flexibility associated with masculinity is already perceived and
internalized by our participants in the first years of life (Wilbourn and Kee, 2010; Siyanova-Chanturia et
al., 2012). Nevertheless, it must be noted that other studies have found the opposite result (Halim et al.,
2014; Baker et al., 2016).
The fact that in a very high proportion of the tests (almost three quarters of them) intelligence was
assigned to boys has undeniable consequences for the development of girls, as described in other previous
studies with similar results (Bian et al., 2017). If girls perceive that very intelligent people are usually
men, they will tend to apply that association to their own self-concept and will project expectations
aligned with this association which reinforces their low presence in STEM careers, as well as a worse
self-perception of personal skills to face general problems, because intelligence is a necessary attribute for
all areas of life. Data obtained in multiple studies indicate that these types of expectations often function
as a self-fulfilling prophecy, especially in situations in which girls feel that they are being evaluated,
which reduces their performance in objective evaluation tests (Jussim et al., 1996; Neuburger et al., 2012;
Plante et al., 2013). The educational and environmental interventions that are carried out to reduce the
gender gap in the vocational and professional aspirations of children and young people should
undoubtedly use this information to design effective strategies from an early age which draw on a
thorough analysis of their expectations and dismantle this type of bias that is so limiting for women’s
aspirations.
It should also be noted that an important part of the responses indicate that aggressiveness is also a trait
strongly associated with masculinity, as found in previous studies (Baker et al., 2016). This seems to
confirm that children perceive, from a very young age, that men tend to be more aggressive than women,
a characteristic that can undoubtedly be found at the root of phenomena such as gender violence.
Although in this study the participants have been asked to generate expectations about the presented
targets (appropriation of culturally shared roles) and have not explicitly been asked whether these types of
behaviors are adequate, the data show that from an early age children perceive this behavior as an
attribute more associated with normative masculinity, with the implications that this has for the socio-
emotional development of both groups. Boys seem to assume early on that aggressiveness is more
frequent among their peers and male adults, while girls also perceive that difference, which they may find
inevitable. It is convenient to consider this perception when designing strategies to prevent gender
violence and any form of sexual abuse, taking away the normality surrounding this issue and teaching
children that it is a cultural aspect that can be avoided. The educational objective in these cases will be to
provide boys with alternative strategies to manage conflicts and to promote in all children a critical
analysis of media messages that often idealize violence associated with masculinity compared to other
forms of solving non-violent problems, such as negotiation or cooperation.
Regarding women, they seem to be perceived by the participants as much more concerned about their
physical appearance than men. If girls internalize early on that women naturally care a lot about their
image, they are more likely to feel insecure with their physical appearance and develop a more negative
body image by comparing how they look with prevailing beauty canons. This aspect is at the base of
various mental health problems such as eating disorders, much more frequent among women than among
men (Baker et al., 2016). In this regard, learning environments should foster a more polyhedral image of
women, cultivating the development of skills that are not focused on physical appearance and taking
importance away from their looks. Contexts that stimulate the development of skills and competencies in
all areas and foster a body experience based on enjoyment and personal acceptance (for example, through
participation in sports or physical activities) will foster a positive experience and care of the body that
goes beyond the socially established beauty canon.
➢ Gender gaps in attributing failure to a lack of talent: (a measure on the gender talent
stereotype) GTS: - Bian et al. first elicited the existence of the gender-brilliance stereotype
among children, showing that 6-year-old girls are less likely than boys to associate “smart”
attributes to members of their gender and begin to avoid activities said to be for children who are
“really, really smart.” More recently, they elicited the gender-brilliance stereotype among both
children and adults, using Implicit Association Tests. They compared the brilliance trait with six
distinct other traits (creative, happy, strong, funny, friendly, and beautiful) and found consistent
evidence for an implicit gender-brilliance stereotype favoring men (N = 3618). For five of six of
the comparison traits (even the male trait funny), male was more associated with brilliant and
female with the comparison trait. Only a physical trait (strong) showed a stronger association
with male than brilliant did.
Measuring the gender-brilliance stereotype, or the related concept of “gender-talent stereotype,” like other
social norms or stereotypes, is prone to many challenges. Individuals’ explicit statements can be biased,
e.g., by social desirability. Experimental measures, based, for example, on vignette experiments, might be
more reliable, but they are costly to establish in a consistent way on a large scale for several countries.
Last, what the implicit measures, based on the Implicit Association Test, capture also remains largely
debated, and these measures are also available only for small samples, from specific countries.
To build a measure of the gender-brilliance or gender talent stereotype that is consistent across a large set
of countries, we therefore need to depart from existing approaches. We rely on expectations state theory
and more precisely on status characteristics theory and double standards theory to provide a measure of
the internalized lower entitlement of women to innate talent. gender constitutes a diffuse status
characteristic, and men (as members of the high-status group) are stereotyped as being endowed with
(more) talent. They are expected to be talented and to succeed, implying that failure constitutes for them
an expectancy disconfirmation and will be more likely attributed, by themselves and others, to external
factors such as being unlucky than to internal factors such as a lack of personal talent. By contrast, for
women (as members of the low-status group), failure is consistent with expectancies and will be more
internally attributed, by themselves and others, to a lack of innate talent.
Consistent with this theory, we assume that girls’ internalization of a stereotype of lack of talent will be
reflected in their higher association of failure with a fear of lack of talent, and we propose to measure the
strength of the GTS among a given group of students by the average differences in the attribution of
failure to lack of talent between equally-able boys and girls within this group. GTS is a valid measure of
this stereotype among a given group (i.e., a country) under the assumption that systematic differences
between girls and boys with similar measured ability are the product of an internalization of a stereotype
of lack of raw talent of girls. Although GTS primarily focus on (lack of) talent, it can be considered as
conceptually related to the gender-brilliance stereotypes put forward by Leslie and coauthors (3) as the
two notions refer to attributes that are scarce and likely innate, in the sense that they are not easy to learn
or develop by someone who is not endowed with them.
 ➢ Perceiver Sex: - Findings often demonstrate that male and female raters are equally likely to
characterize women and men in stereotypic terms (Heilman, 2001, 2012). This suggests that
stereotypes outweigh the effects of evaluators’ gender identities and, because men and women
live in the same world, they see the world similarly. However, the steady shift of women’s
societal roles and its different implications for men and women may affect the degree to which
men and women adhere to traditional gender stereotypes.
On the face of it, one would expect women to hold traditional gender stereotypes less than men. The
increase of women in the workforce generally, and particularly in domains typically reserved for men, is
likely to be very salient to women. Such changes have distinct implications for them – implications that
can impact their expectations, aspirations, and actual experiences. As a result, women may be more
attentive than men to shifts in workplace and domestic roles, and more accepting of these roles as the new
status quo. They consequently may be more amenable to incorporating updated gender roles into their
understanding of the world, diminishing stereotypic beliefs.
Unlike women, who may be likely to embrace recent societal changes, men may be prone to reject or
dismiss them. The same societal changes that present new opportunities for women can present threats to
men, who may see themselves as losing their rightful place in the social order (see also Sidanius and
Pratto, 1999; Knowles and Lowery, 2012). Thus, men may be less willing to accept modern-day changes
in social roles or to see these changes as definitive. There may be little impetus for them to relinquish
stereotypic beliefs and much impetus for them to retain these beliefs. If this is the case, then men would
be expected to adhere more vigorously to traditional gender stereotypes than women.
In addition, our results showing the prevalence of female appearance-related stereotypes in the
descriptions of girls by even the youngest children raise questions about the potential implications of this
finding for girls’ behavioral and adjustment outcomes. Specifically, girls who deviate from gender
appearance stereotypes may incur peer rejection, leaving them vulnerable to adjustment problems.
Further, greater accessibility for appearance stereotypes may also imply that girls and boys receive
consistent messages about the most important qualities girls should possess very early in development,
which may leave girls vulnerable to psychological distress should their self-esteem become contingent on
self-perceived attractiveness (Nolen-Hoeksema 2001; Ohring et al. 2002; Patrick et al. 2004).
LIMITATION AND FUTURE IMPLICATIONS
Contexts and concerns: - India is reputed to have a progressive education policy with regard to the focus
on gender. The National Policy on Education, 1986 put specific emphasis on women’s education. It states
that: Education will be used as an agent of basic change in the status of women. In order to neutralize
accumulated distortions of the past, there will be a well-conceived edge in favor of women. The National
Educational system will play a positive interventionist role in the empowerment of women. Besides the
NPE, 1986, India is also a signatory to several international treaties that reinforce this commitment, such
as The Dakar Framework for Action 2000, and the United Nations Millennium Development Goals 2000,
the Programme of Action 1992, CEDAW 1993, The Beijing declaration 1995, and the World Conference
on Education for All. However, despite over three decades of commitment to gender equality and the
universalization of education, the ground realities are still grim, especially in the context of girls from
marginalized groups and rural areas.
The Issue of Retention While the overall enrolment of girls has increased, the dropout rate of girls from
marginalized and rural sections, specially from the upper primary level upwards is extremely high. A
sizeable proportion of out of school dropouts, chiefly migrant, poor and working children, are girls -
school discontinuation rates of rural girls are twice as high as that of boys. National-level surveys and
data also show that:

• 9 out of every 10 girls ever enrolled in school could not complete schooling.
• Only 1 out of every 100 girls enrolled in Class I reaches Class XII in rural areas and 14 out of
every 100 girls enrolled in Class I reach Class XII in urban areas.
Thus, the likelihood of an urban girl continuing in school is low, and of a rural girl reaching Class XII
very unlikely. In real terms then, what matters is not just access or enrolment but retention. While the cost
of education is a reason for poorer children not enrolling or dropping out of school, studies show that
school factors are also responsible. One of the major reasons why children, both boys and girls, in both
rural and urban areas drop out is lack of interest in studies;5 hostile environments, poor teaching, non-
comprehension and difficulties of coping. z 26 per cent of children in one study cited school and teaching
curricula related factors such as unfriendly atmosphere in schools, doubts about the usefulness of
schooling and inability to cope with studies as reasons for their dropping out Among girls in rural areas,
these factors accounted for over 75 per cent of the dropouts.

• The PROBE study found that of all the drop outs 47 per cent of the boys and 66 per cent of girls
were withdrawn from schools by parents who cited factors such as schooling being too expensive,
requirement of children in other activities and poor teaching standards as the main reasons for
their decision.
Thus, data increasingly shows that the school system is betraying the poor. Schools, especially in rural
and poor areas, are not places where children learn. The high dropout rate is now recognized in the
education sector, as is the fact that a majority of children go through 5 years of education without learning
even basic reading and writing skills. A large number of such schools have been identified by parents
categorically as sites where learning does not happen. The increase in the curricular burden creates further
ground for stress and the need to turn for help outside the school.
In such a context private tuition becomes necessary for children even to pass, especially in the case of
first-generation learners who have no help at home. High costs of tuition add to the cost of school
education, yet, hard put as they are, parents continue to retain boys in school in view of the fact that they
are perceived as the income generators of the future. Financial support for coaching classes is out of
question for most girls. Domestic responsibilities and the widespread perception of girls merely as future
homemakers contribute to the problem and girls get short shrift when the costs of education magnify.
They are withdrawn from school. Coaching classes are clearly not the remedy.
Therefore, despite all the efforts of the education system to include girls, the system is “pushing out”
those who are within, making it clear that issues of curriculum and pedagogy require critical attention in
addition to enrolment.
Implications for girls as students: Once girls are given access to schools, the assumption is that as girls
and women have entered the public sphere, empowerment will follow implicitly. Their life options will
expand and they will be in a position to take greater control of their lives. But the complexity lies in the
fact that schools themselves create boundaries that limit possibilities. The content, language, images in
texts, the curricula, and the perceptions of teachers and facilitators have the power to strengthen the hold
of patriarchy. The school becomes an enclosed space, like the domestic sphere where discriminations and
violations are not talked about or questioned.
Socialization and education reinforce each other. Schooling becomes another form of domestication. For
example, school textbooks depict this gender based domestic division of labor. In the classroom too, just
as Dalit children are expected to perform the menial tasks, girls are often relegated the work of cleaning
and sweeping, reinforcing the gendered division of labor.
The aspirations of young girls are unrelated to their actual intellectual and cognitive abilities. Cutting
across elite private schools to Government schools, girls perform better than boys but by the time they
reach the end of middle school or secondary school their educational and occupational aspirations differ
markedly from that of the boys. The work of gender sensitization and awareness building has acquired a
certain complacency, and is limited to the issues of enrolment of girls, and to the relative absence of
females figures or proliferation of gendered stereotypes in text books. Such work is clearly inadequate
and there is an urgent need now for serious inquiry into curricula, content, and the gendered construction
of knowledge, as well as a more critical and pro-active approach to issues of gender.
CONCLUSION
A gender stereotype "is a generalized view or preconception about attributes, or characteristics that are or
ought to be possessed by women and men or the roles that are or should be performed by men and
women". A gender stereotype is therefore harmful when it limits the capacity of women and men to
develop their personal attributes or professional skills and to take decisions about their lives and plans.
The seed of stereotypes is sown in education, and education is where the solution lies. Therefore, as
UNESCO states in its Global Education Monitoring Report, the support of governments is crucial. For
example, curricula, textbooks and teacher training programmes should be periodically reviewed to ensure
that gender stereotypes are not perpetuated and apprenticeship programmes, tutorials, networks or
scholarships should be considered to promote and encourage the incorporation of women into STEM
fields. Within schools, the role of teachers becomes essential when it comes to providing quality, gender-
neutral education that promotes students' welfare and respect for professional standards.
Men are shown involved in outdoor activities. They are portrayed as the head of the family, and often
shown to be violent, fat or lazy. Women, on the other hand, are confined indoors, shown to be adept only
at domestic chores. They are the primary caregivers of their children, and projected as thin, weak, and
kind. These polarizing gender stereotypes were found after an analysis of 10 NCERT textbooks for
subjects including Hindi, mathematics, English, and environmental studies.
The main objective of this study was to see how textbooks promote gender equality; what kind of
messages were conveyed through the stories; how women and girls are represented; and the use of a
gender sensitive language. Through her analysis, she found that the textbooks showed that boys and girls
were not seen performing activities together. There is a gender division in terms of labour or tasks.
Women are seen as in charge of cooking and household activities, and taking care of children, while
construction work is seen as a man’s job. Phrases such as “father’s hard-earned money” indicate that men
are in charge of bringing the money back home.
Action Aid has decided to write to the Union government to make gender equality a priority during the re-
examination of the NCERT textbooks and to implement gender studies from class one. It would also
recommend the need to have teacher training.
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