Diversity and inclusion in educational settings

Inhoud
H1: Introduction to diversity and inclusion: Three core concepts…………………………………………………………….3
1.1 Three core concepts ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………3
1.1.1 Diversity ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..3
1.2.1 Superdiversity……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..4
1.2 The organization of diversity ………………………………………………………………………………………………………7
1.2.1 Diversity and inclusion …………………………………………………………………………………………………………7
H2: Intersectionality ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 10
2.1 Dimensions of diversity …………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 11
2.2 Concept and history………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 11
2.2.1 Concept …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 11
2.2.2 History…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 12
H3: Gender & LGBT ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 15
3.1 Gender & LGBT in education ……………………………………………………………………………………………………. 15
3.1.1 Gender in education: is there a problem? …………………………………………………………………………… 15
3.2 Gender theories ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 16
3.2.1 The genderbread ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 16
H4: SES & ethnicity ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 24
4.1 SES: Examining Flanders………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 24
4.1.1 Low SES …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 24
4.1.2 Children with migrant background …………………………………………………………………………………….. 25
4.1.3 Examining Flanders from an international perspective ………………………………………………………… 25
4.2 Education as social justice ……………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 25
4.2.1 Discrimination?………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 25
4.2.2 Education ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 25
4.3 SES in education……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 25
4.3.1 SES ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 25
4.4 Ethnicity in education ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 30
4.4.1 Ethnicity: what’s in a name ……………………………………………………………………………………………….. 30
4.4.2 Language …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 30
4.4.3 Examining Flanders ………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 32
4.5 Central exams ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 36
H5: disability …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 37
5.1 The organization of diversity …………………………………………………………………………………………………… 37
5.1.1 Exclusion: ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 37
5.1.2 Segregation ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 37
5.1.3 Integration ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 37
5.2 Examining Flanders: students with a disability ………………………………………………………………………….. 37

5.2.1 Flanders ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 37
5.2.2 Flanders from an international perspective ………………………………………………………………………… 38
5.2.3 Flanders: students with a disability ……………………………………………………………………………………. 38
H7: Structures …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 46
H8: School in context……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 53
8.1 Analytic tool: The social-ecological model ………………………………………………………………………………… 53
8.2 Collaboration with parents ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… 53
8.2.1 Parental involvement: what’s in a name…………………………………………………………………………….. 54
8.2.2 Parental involvement: 6 types – Epstein …………………………………………………………………………….. 54
8.2.3 Why bother? ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 55
8.2.4 Differential impact …………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 55
8.2.5 Differences………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 56
8.2.6 Creating collaboration ………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 56
8.3 Community schools…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 57
8.3.1 What’s a community school? …………………………………………………………………………………………….. 57
8.3.2 Why? A win-win ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 58
8.3.3 How? ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 59
H9: Inclusive education (DI & UDL) ……………………………………………………………………………………………………. 60
9.1 Inclusive education and it’s evolution ………………………………………………………………………………………. 60
9.2 Medical/Social models of disability ………………………………………………………………………………………….. 60
9.2.1 A medical approach of disability (e.g., France, Switzerland) …………………………………………………. 61
9.2.2 A social approach of disability (e.g. Canada, Denmark, UK) ………………………………………………….. 61
9.3 One-size-fits-all curriculum ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… 61
Inclusive pedagogical frameworks…………………………………………………………………………………………………. 61
9.4 Universal design for Learning (UDL) …………………………………………………………………………………………. 61
9.4.1 Principles of UDL: …………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 62
9.5 Differentiated Instruction (DI) …………………………………………………………………………………………………. 64
9.5.1 Fixed and growth mindset among teachers ………………………………………………………………………… 64

H1: Introduction to diversity and inclusion: Three core concepts
1.1 Three core concepts
1.1.1 Diversity
Vision of diversity from the SDL & Potential project is a multidimensional vision of diversity: diversity as
something that consists of different axes and whose axes overlap for different people in different areas.
It’s always & everywhere present
Anti-discrimination law in Belgium:
Discrimination is prohibited by law and is punishable. To discriminate against someone is to harm someone. A
judge can order a discriminating person to compensate the victim for the damage suffered.
→ 5 dimensions protected by this law:
1. Etnic or racial background
2. Socio-economic background
3. Disability
4. Gender
5. Sexual orientation
Category as a lens: benefits

–

–

If you want to change the practices of teachers, you need to start by changing their view on these
practices
A view on something decides how you perceive things and how you will eventually put things into
practice. While one person will see a certain situation as a challenge or stressful situation that he
doesn’t like being in, an other person can see the situation as an opportunity.
A vision or view works as a lens on the practice
Benefits to the use of labels (and seeing things
from a closer look)
– Enables you to see things in chaos
– Necessary to track inequality & injustice
– Helps us to reduce complexity

Downside to the use of labels:
–

Creates & magnifies differences
Creates differences between people
Creates biases in our minds

 Categories as social constructs:
– Contextdependent (dependent on the time and place you’re living in)
– Changeable
– Difference is continuous, not categorical
Category as a lens: Difference and differentiation – Davies
1. Difference
– = categorical difference (the difference based on labels)
The difference is situated in the other, not in the self (someone else is different and you’re “normal”)
Induces separation (because you separate yourself from the other person who’s different)
2. Differentiation
– Other way of looking at difference
– Difference as intensity of being, a process of becoming
→ = the action of continuously becoming something/someone else
– Continuously happening = we’re constantly changing and becoming someone else, so differences come
and go
– At certain times & places more intense than at others
– There’s no “normal” anymore

Striated spaces
– Strict boundaries
– Binaries (= two parts)
– Hierarchical structure
– BUT also safety, recognizability

Smooth spaces
– Lines of flight
– Deterritorialization
→ = Questioning existing meaning &
changing action
– Experimentation, change
– BUT also risk, fear, danger
→ We need both. One cannot exist without the other
+ Not separate spaces, they can exist in the same space
Category lens: colorblind teaching
“I treat everybody the same”
 research on colorblind/gender-neutral teaching
= teaching to the norm, the dominant group, the middle & unaware of biases
Category as a lens
Tension between using categories or discarding them => when is it okay to use them
Who makes the categories?
– Agency!
Three strategic uses of categories (McCall, 2005):
1. Intercategorical:
→ Revealing the complexity of inequality, showing structural differences between groups (For example
the inequalities at the job market between people with or without a disability)
2. Intra-categorical:
→ Focus lies on “giving a voice”, revealing the experiences of specific (sub)groups (for example the
experience of women with a disability concerning sexual assault
Vb. Gladys https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzJpJ6T-s8I&feature=youtu.be

Deconstructing categories:
3. Anti-categorical
→ Deconstruction of categories and of processes of inclusion and exclusion, “othering” & stereotyping
And always be aware of intragroup differences

→

1.2.1 Superdiversity
Superdiversity – Vertovec
– Changes in 20th vs 21st century:
– Quantitative change:
→ Rise in people with migration background
→ Especially in big cities
– Qualitative change:
→ Change in migration patterns & its impact on society
→ Growing diversity in diversity

Increasing diversity in:
– Country of origin
– Migration channel
– Legal status
– ~ smaller subgroups from increasingly different
with increasingly different wants & needs

–

Working people
Students
Family reunion
Asylum seekers and refugees
Illegal people and undocumented
migrants

places

Leading to superdiversity in:
– Gender composition, age, …
– SES, Work experience
– Duration of stay
– …
 Veel modellen in multiculturalisme zijn inadequaat en vaak ongepast om om te gaan met de individuele
noden en dynamieken van in- en exclusie te verstaan
SUPERDIVERSITY: “more people are on their way from more places, through more places to more places”
Transnationalism
Keeping in touch with the country of origin
– Flow of:
→ People
→ Money
→ Goods (vb. Chocolate)
→ Information
– However: depends on legal status, SES, political rights, gender,…
When immigrants travel with a smartphone, many people we’re angry because they we’re saying they’re not poor. But a lot of
people are fleeing from a national crisis or a war. And a phone is their most prized possession for keeping in touch with their
family and friend

Maintaining cultural practices and diasporic identities
People not willing to integrate!
Through the ages
→ Not so much a new phenomenon, as a qualitative and quantitative change
– Internet
– Telecommunication
– Airplane
→ Increased speed
→ Reduced cost
→ Increasing chances for transnationalism
MULTICULTURALISM
= policy of:
– Promoting tolerance & respect for collective identities & groups
– By accomodating cultural values, language, …
– Usually by an ethnicity focus to understand minorities
– f.i.: cultural organisations, monitoring diversity at work, positive images in media, roll models, food
availability, …
→ the failure of multiculturalism:
= policy
Critiques
Not capable of handling current influx
– Current migration flows:
→ Because of individual needs & processes of in- & exclusion

→ Smaller, less/not organized groups
→ Different legal statuses
– Changed SES conditions
– Changes in nation formation, etnical tensions
Pressure on multiculturalism because of :
– The changing nature of the global migration
– veranderende spanningen in formatie van naties
slechte socio-economische omstandigheden
Gevolgen:
sociaal systeem afbreken
etnische spanning
groei van extremisme en terrorisme
The development of post-multiculturalism?
– New policies needed?
→ citizenship courses
→ Language tests
→ => actively showing you can & want to belong
– Emphasis on integration/inclusion and social cohesion
→ looking for a strong shared identity & set of values
AND accepting cultural differences,
just as other diversity aspects: gender, age, (dis)ability, …
→ Critiques on superdiversity:
– What’s next? Hyperdiversity?
– Migration?
→ More correct: mobility? At least in European context
– Too etnicity focused
→ People have multiple identities
→ Etnicity as a master identity? Especially from policy perspective?
→ Superdiversity within migration, but also outside of it
– Society has always been superdiverse
Conclusion of the concept ‘diversity’
1. Diversity has to be interpreted very broad
2. Danger of only focus on group dimension: static
3. Individual and group dimension
→ Multiple identities
→ (Self) Identification with different groups and subgroups
→ Social reality is dynamic and complex
4. Super diversity (Vertovec)
5. In education: socio-cultural, ethnic, linguistic, poverty, gender, disability, …
Our fundamental thinking about diversity denies diversity as the basic principle.
We recognize diversity, however we find it hard to see it as the norm.
We recognize diversity, however only as a condition to conform to the dominant norms.
Which devaluates it to a deviation, abnormality, deficiency, problem, …
“Diversity is the norm. Dealing with it and exploiting it the challenge.”

1.2 The organization of diversity
1.2.1 Diversity and inclusion

1. Exclusion
– UN convention on the rights of the child: right to
education (article 28)
– Disability:
→ Exemption from compulsory education in the event
of insufficient self-reliance or minimum
developmental age
→ denounced by Unia & Vlor
– Undocumented children
– Gender
– …
2. Segregation
3. Integration
– Okan class
– Disability
→ PAB assistent, SEN teacher, …
→ Fysiotherapy, speech therapy, …
– Gender:
→ Separate PE for boys & girls
→ Sex ed
→ …
4. Inclusion
Evolution towards inclusion

Recognizing diversity as present in everything and everyone: leertempo, leerprofiel, readiness, interesse,…
Diversity and inclusion: a challenge for teachers?
At this moment there are two aspects that challenge the professional vision of teachers:
1. Groeiende diversiteit onder leerlingenpopulatie
2. Toenemende tendens naar het creëren van inclusieve leeromgevingen
>> Groeiende complexiteit van de leerkrachtenpraktijk
>> Uitdagingen voor de professionele ontwikkeling van leraren

Education as social justice
“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world” – Nelson Mandela
The why of inclusion:
– The school is a public space where diversity cannot be ignored
– Its main task: acquisition of those competencies that enable a person to function in society
– School is not the only actor in this education process
– In certain social environments more competencies, that are perceived as relevant by schools, are
developed than in others
– To compensate for this inequality is a very specific emancipatory task of education and schools in
particular
– Education and schools have to aspire that the opportunities of children in society do not only depend
on the opportunities they are provided with from home
What determines school success. According to some research 14% is determined by school and 86% by
home and school external factors (income, health, basic needs, food, …)
The role of education:
– Learning for diversity
competences to function as a citizen in a diverse society
– Learning in diversity
using diversity of all children as an asset for learning, instead of a problem
Examining Flanders
Flemish education:
Children with migrant background:
Non-delayed
children
with
non-western
nationality have a bigger chance of being oriented
towards the B-stream than delayed children with
a western nationality.
Low SES:
Chance of getting an orientation towards the Bstream is almost as high for non-delayed
children of low-educated mothers as for
delayed children with high-educated mothers
PISA research: check ppt. slide 56
Children with a disability:
Special education doubled since 1989
– Influence of recent M-decree still unclear
– Going back to regular ed is difficult (8% for
learning disorder)
Inclusive education
– Mostly for children with physical disability or ASS
– AND high SES parents
Ppt. Slide 59 – 60
Flanders from an international perspective:

Prestatieverschil tss wallonie en vlaanderen
Maar ook stijgende lijn in prestaties in wallonie voor migrantenkinderen, m aar niet in Vlaanderen
–

–

Van alle OESO-landen vertoont Vlaanderen het grootste verschil in wiskundescores tussen de
kinderen van migranten en autochtone leerlingen, zelfs wanneer rekening gehouden wordt met de
sociaal-economische achtergrond
Het gemiddelde verschil bedraagt 98 punten, wat overeenstemt met meer dan twee leerjaren
(Koning Boudewijnstichting, 2014). Het verschil is kleiner in de Franse Gemeenschap, maar blijft
ook daar groot. Opvallend is wel dat in de Franse Gemeenschap de kloof verkleint sinds 2003,
terwijl dit in Vlaanderen niet het geval is (Agirdag & Korkmazer, 2015; Koning Boudewijnstichting,
2014). Naast de absolute scores op wiskundetoetsen, gaat PISA ook minimale vaardigheden na die
leerlingen verwacht worden te hebben om te functioneren in de maatschappij. Hieruit blijkt dat in
de twee taalgemeenschappen tussen de 37 en 41% van de leerlingen met een migratieachtergrond
de minimale vaardigheidsdrempel niet haalt (Koning Boudewijnstichting, 2014).

LGBT:
No difference on self-reported school results, motivation or sense of futility
However: LB-girls:
– Study less
– Get more B & C certificates
– Have less belonging in school
 International research (mostly USA):
– Worse GPA
– Higher chance of failure
– Start less in higher education
– Are bullied more often
– With pronounced vulnerability for gay boys

H2: Intersectionality

2.1 Dimensions of diversity
1. Verblijfsstatuut = legal status of being in the
country
2. Health
3. Religion
4. Age
5. Bezit
6. North/south, East/west
7. Culture
8. Development of society
9. Klasse
10. Nationality
11. Ethnicity
12. Skin color
13. Sexual orientation
14. Gender
15. Able-bodiedness?
16. Education
17. Leisure-interests
18. Income
19. Marital status
20. Political orientation
21. Social capital/network
22. Norms and values (ex. Punctuality)

Different levels of dimensions of diversity
Multilevel dimensions of experience, from individual identity
and circumstance to macro-forces
→ Depending on the different lives of individuals

Look at ppt for an experiment

2.2 Concept and history
2.2.1 Concept
– Intersectionality is about: How do different dimensions of diversity mutually shape one’s reality?
– These interactions occur within a context of systems & power
– Creating forms of privilege and oppression
Things don’t happen just by chance it’s a systematical proces
Intersectionality = Het onderling verbonden en wederzijds bestendigend karakter van machtssystemen, zoals
gender, patriarchisme, seksisme, racisme, heteronormativiteit, ‘able-ism’ en ‘age-ism’
Bijvoorbeeld: ‘gender-ongelijkheden’ worden ervaren in je hoedanigheid als man en vrouw, maar ook in je hoedanigheid als ‘blank’ of
‘gekleurd’, als ‘heteroseksueel’, ‘biseksueel’ of ‘homoseksueel’, als ‘abled’ en ‘disabled’

→ Macht, privilege en ongelijkheid zijn het resultaat van complexe processen
2.2.2 History
Historical context: Black feminism (United States of America)
Sojourner Truth: ‘Aint I a woman?’ (1851)
– 1797-1883
– She’s a freed slave (U.S.A.)
– She organized Women’s Right Convention in Akron, Ohio – 1851
→ Challenges the idea of women as weak or frail
→ Audience of predominantly white women → She gave a speech addressing middle/upper-class
women
→ Fear of confusing the fight for women’s suffrage with the abolition of slavery.
→ Complicitness of white women
“…That man over there says that women need to be helped into carriages, and lifted over ditches, and to have the best place
everywhere. Nobody ever helps me into carriages, or over mud-puddles, or gives me any best place! And ain’t I a woman?
Look at me! Look at my arm! I have ploughed and planted, and gathered into barns, and no man could head me! And ain’t I a woman?
I could work as much and eat as much as a man – when I could get it – and bear the lash as well! And ain’t I a woman? I have borne
thirteen children, and seen most all sold off to slavery, and when I cried out with my mother’s grief, none but Jesus heard me! And
ain’t I a woman? …”

FEMINIST MOVEMENT
→ late 1960s: black feminist critique on ‘white, middle-class, heterosexual’ – feminist agenda
– ≠ universal oppression of ‘the woman’
– Other forms of oppression, discrimination and exclusion BETWEEN woman (e.g. race, class, sexual
orientation,…)
– Black feminism, Lesbian feminism,…
Hielden “feminisme” mede-verantwoordelijk voor onderdrukking van Afro-Amerikaanse vrouwen
– Macht, privilege en onderdrukking als complexe gegevens
– Co-constitutie politieke project (feminisme) en werkelijkheid (ongelijkheden)
– Interactie discours en materiële ongelijkheden
– Selective focus on gender?
– Invisibility of other forms and causes of oppression and exclusion
– Invisibility of privileged positions and power relations between women
Audre Lorde (1984)
– 1934-1992
– a black feminist, lesbian, mother, poet
–

“By and large within the women’s movement today, white women focus upon their
oppression as women and ignore differences of race, sexual preference, class and age.
There is a pretense to a homogeneity of experience covered by the word sisterhood that
does not in fact exist.”

–

You can claim sisterhood → but she didn’t recognize herself in the sisterhood because she has
individual struggles and issues which aren’t the same as everyone else

Kimberlé Crenshaw
– Legal scholar
– Introduces the concept “intersectionality” (1989)
– Challenges prevailing practice in law:
– African-American women only protected as “African-Americans” OR as “women”.
– Ignores the existence of “African-American women” and the uniqueness of their experiences.
– African-American women are at a crossroads.
She saw an issue in court → ‘I am being discriminated as a black women’ → judge is going to check if she’s
being discriminated by gender, skin color separated and not as ‘black women’ → judge said it’s not a racist or

sexist company because there are black people working in the company and there are also women working
there
Black man doing physical work
White woman doing a desk job
→ Kimberlé was a black women so she can’t work in the company
→ Intersection:
Intersectionality = Het onderling verbonden en wederzijds bestendigend karakter van machtssystemen, zoals
gender, patriarchisme, seksisme, racisme, heteronormativiteit, ‘able-ism’ en ‘age-ism’
“black women can experience discrimination in ways that are both similar to and different from those experienced by white women
and black men”
“Even though racism and sexism readily intersect in the lives of real people, they seldom do in feminist and antiracist practices”

Complex inequality
– An AND-AND story, not OR-OR thinking → she’s black AND a women → so it’s a combination not two
separated aspects
→ A non-additive vision on inequality
→ = “When Black + lesbian + woman is not the same as Black lesbian woman” (Bowleg, 2008, p. 312)
→ The meaning of social identities is always created simultaneously and in interaction.
– Position on “axes of difference” creates (Wekker & Lutz, 2001)
→ specific lived experience → your live becomes a specific combination of experiences, realities,… →
it depends on the society you live in → creates certain (im)possibilities
→ Specific reality of discrimination
– Social position and opportunities are always the result of:
→ Intersectional, interconnected power systems (patriarchy, sexism, heteronormativity, ‘able-ism’,
racism)
→ Intersectional, interconnected processes of marginalisation and “othering”
Gloria Wekker and Helma Lutz (2001):
Gloria started the word ‘kruispuntdenken’ → started zwarte pieten discussion
“In Western societies whiteness often takes the position of being ‘ordinary’, of ‘neutrality’, of not being part of a certain ‘race’ or
ethnicity, simply just as the human ‘race’. Whiteness can be studied, however. Firstly, as a location of structural advantage, of ‘racial’
or ethnic privilege; secondly as a ‘standpoint’, as a place from whence white people perceive themselves, others and society; thirdly,
whiteness refers to a set of cultural practices that are generally unmarked.” (2002, p. 19).

She makes a point about: Norm thinking
“The fish will be the last to discover water”
– Problematising the norm:
– Masculinity
– Whiteness
– Heterosexuality
– Secular
– able-bodied
– …
We have to think about norms that are ‘normal’ in our society and realize that we try to maintain these
We think that competent people are white males from a middle/upperclass

 Norm thinking = a proverb which means that it can be difficult to see, be aware of something, when one
is so immersed in it. For example, racism can be so inherent in a society, in its institutions and culture,
that people are oblivious to it. It just ‘is’ the way things are.
Peggy
She realized ‘white privilege’ and how she is privileged as a white, middle class women
→ That way she realizes she’s actually putting black people/lower class at a disadvantage
Michael kemmel
We’re so used to the norm of white men that know everything and are the objective thinkers/speakers
Privilege is invisible to those who have it
Turning things around, studying the norm
– Not just focusing on discrimination and subjugation
– Turning it around and studying power & privilege!
Power and privilege
Everyone experiences power and privilege → Sometimes privilege is the absence of
discrimination
–

“where is my privilege”?
Not turning things into “the oppression olympics” (Martinez, 1993)
Intersectional thought: identity and power as multiple
You can experience both power & oppression at the same time!
Think of privilege & discirmination as two sides of the same coin

Privilege isn’t about 1 aspect, it’s about gender, skin color, age, income,… → if you’re a male you’re
privileged it doesn’t matter if you don’t have any money, because on that aspect you are privileged
Some people are on more aspects privileged than others
Key ideas of the insectoral model: (ppt. 35)
– We have to look at how things intersect
– We have to be aware of how it happens in time and place
– Social justice and inequalit → trying to find ways forward and how we
can change our structures and policies to more inclusion

I am privileged because:
– I’m white
– Healthy
– Middle class
– Able to study at a university
– Parents are still together
I’m not privileged because
– I’m a woman

Impact on feminism (ppt 38)

Clearly a critiqued organization at the start
Feminists think from their own point of view from their own background so it’s not always a good fight.
For example: feminists came on the street to demonstrate against women wearing a headscarf in school
because they want to free those women from religion oppression from their husbands or family. But this
isn’t how those women look at it. They have another background than the typical whit, western feminists
Intersectionality in practice
It’s really difficult because you can keep splitting up people based on their background (ex. Women, black,
moslim, high income,…)
In the end you’ll end up with individuals because everyone is different and has different experiences
Intersectionality = a viewpoint that people use when they consider policy changes → try to be aware when
doing anything

H3: Gender & LGBT
3.1 Gender & LGBT in education
3.1.1 Gender in education: is there a problem?
Examining Flanders: Flemish education
LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans)
– No difference on self-reported school results, motivation or sense of futility
– However: LB-girls:
→ Study less
→ Get more B & C certificates
→ Have less belonging in school
 International research (mostly USA):
LGBT students do better in Belgium than in the USA
– Worse GPA
– Higher chance of failure
– Start less in higher education
– Are bullied more often
– With pronounced vulnerability for gay boys
Similar European trends
Boys generally do worse than girls in
education
Generally we talk about how woman are
discriminated and how they are ‘less’ than
men in every aspect, but in this aspect you
can see that boys definitely do worse than
girls, but you have to keep in mind that there
are a lot less girls in school than boys
Girls outperforming boys in education:

–

Spatial dimension
→ 33 million girls fewer present in primary
education than boys
→ Globally, 65 million girls are not in school. Out of
the 774 million people who are illiterate around
the world, two-thirds are women. There are 33
million fewer girls in primary school than boys.
– Recent phenomenon
14- to 15-year girls equally represented: 1969
16- to 17-year-old: 1974
Higher education: 1980

–

Attention moved from participation
to GPA, school behavior, study attitudes, …

Flanders from an international perspective
– High quality (education in Belgium for LGBT’s is better compared to other countries)
– But with large social inequality
→ On more than one parameter:
 SES
 Etnicity
 Disability
→ Better for LGBT’s
→ Similar trends for gender
 There’s something fundamental going on
Niet omdat dingen er semi-ok uitzien bij ons, dat het niet loont om verder te verkennen waarom
Hiervoor hebben we gendertheorie nodig

3.2 Gender theories
3.2.1 The genderbread
Gender > sex
SEX:

Woman  Intersex → Man

SEXUAL & ROMANTIC ORIENTATION:

Gay  Bisexual/pansexual → straight/asexual

GENDER IDENTITY (how do you identify as a person?):
Female  Genderfluid (sometimes I feel more male and sometimes more female) → Male/Genderqueer
GENDER EXPRESSION (how do you express your gender identity):
Female  Androgynous → Male
Gender expression ranges from traditional masculine to feminine, and is evident in several fields of life, such
as: looks, interestes, hobbies, choice of carreer, personality traits, attitudes and so on.

It’s not because you score high on one scale, that you necessarily have to score high on every scale.
Importantly, adolescents are starting to discover and explore several aspects of their gender during puberty
(such as their sexual orientation, identity and expression). Making schools important sites of action for these
gendered processes,
ADOLESCENCE = EXPLORATION PERIOD

Gender in the world:
1. Acceptance of LGBT(rights)
Belgium:
2003: civil marriage
2006: adoption for LGB-couples

2. Variation in gender norms
Gender expression
– Some norms that we see as a feminine sport or aspect in life are very different in other countries.
Belangrijke opmerking is tijds en plaatsbepaaldheid hiervan. Vb: rok in het hier en nu vs schotland van
de 17de eeuw.
Dus belangrijk om omgeving mee in ogenschouw te nemen. en grote invloed van omgeving op die
expressie. Immers:people are not completely free in choosing how to express who they are. The
environment constrains gender expression by reacting negatively to certain expressions, such as crossgender behavior. such pressure to behave in gender-conforming ways is especially prevalent in early
adolescence, en noemen we druk tot genderconformiteit.
Deze druk is vnl sterker tov jongens. Denk maar aan jongens die ballet doen of bezig zijn met hun
uiterlijk (meteen ook geaardheid in vraag getrokken). Terwijl broek dragen voor meisjes ondertss heel
normaal is en meisjes die voetballen of rugby spelen mss juist cool zijn.

Gender expression has opened up for women. Because our norms has changed a lot. (ex. We can wear a
pants without people looking weird at you) But for men it hasn’t changed a lot. Because for men it’s weird
to wear a skirt
3. Acceptance of gender norm transgression
Zie ppt
Also depending on the place you are.
– Acceptance of LGBT(-rights)
– Variation in gender norms
– Reaction to gender norm transgression?
→ Hande kader was familiar to millions of Turks as a figurehead for the LGBT community after being
photographed at the forefront of the resistance against police forces suppressing the 2015 Gay
Pride event in Istanbul. In August 2016, she was reported missing by her flatmate Davut Dengiler when
she failed to return home the following week. Her body was found raped, mutilated, and burnt by the
roadside in the Zekeriyaköy up-market on August 12, 2016.
→ Also more subtle things: how does one respons to girls playing rugby versus boys doing ballet? How
does one respond to a working woman versus a man staying at home, etc.
3.3 Gender
3.3.1 Masculinity vs feminity
Gender and power
Simonne de beauvoir
Masculinity & femininity are defined in
opposition to each other:
– AND with value-judgement
– It’s not only binary, but also hierarchical
She says being male, becomes the norm and
eventually neutral

Valued

Less-valued

“In practice, the relationship between the sexes is not that of two equivalent electric poles. The man represents, in
effect, both the positive and the neutral element”

The theory of connel : Masculinities
‘MASCULANITIES’ (Connel, 1995)
Not only a hierarchy between genders but also inside the genders
Hegemonic masculinity = cultural idea in society of what a man should be
and all the stereotypes around it (something we thrive to and is the ideal in
our society) → for most men it’s an impossible ideal to achieve
You also have Complicit Masculinity: less superior as hegemonic but comes
close, but is more achievable for men
Marginalised Masculinity: kind of masculinity that’s very masculine in many
ways

Subordinate Masculinity: they are the the kind of masculinity that’s at the bottom, because they are
considered the kind of masculinity that comes too close to femininity
→ ZIE PPT.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OL_5SP-_FbQ → Discussie kan gaan over druk tot genderconformiteit en
genderidentiteit. Sommige klanten maken zich zorgen dat de kinderen zullen gepest worden. Is dit een correcte
aanname? En is dit een goede reden om zo’n gedrag te verbieden?
–

Sommigen gaan er ook van uit dat deze kinderen gay zijn/zullen worden. Wat vind je hiervan (coach:
koppel dit aan gender bread persoon). → Simonne de Beauvoir
Is het meer aanvaard voor meisjes om tomboy en cross-gender gedrag te stellen dan voor jongens?

3.2.3 Heteronormativity – Foucault
→ Foucault: heteronormativity
Heteronormativity is the belief that heterosexuality, predicated on the gender binary, is the norm or default
sexual orientation.
Heterosexuality & traditional gender binary are:
– Entwined
– Push for both
– To a certain extent equated
– Natural and unchangeable
→ Normal & desirable!
“Power is tolerated only on the condition that it masks a significant part of itself. The extent to
which it is effective, is proportional to the degree to which it manages to hide its mechanisms.”

Overview of core-concepts
Gender:
– Gender
– identity
Sexual orientation
Gender expression
Connected to power
Masculinities
Heteronormativity

intrapersonal
interactional
institutional

3.4 Cause analysis on different levels
3.4.1 LGBT
LGBT Students:
1. Individual level
Low well-being & mental health
– Suicide:
→ ¼ LGBT’s attempted suicide
→ Up to 39% for transgenders
→ 80% transgenders considers
– More pronounced for girls & bisexuals
Gaybashing
– Physical violence: 33%

–

Verbal violence: 90%
Material violence: 22%
Sexual violence: 42%

–

Greater gender nonconformity
→ violence increases
 Especially for gay men

2. Peer level
Bullying
Feeling isolated (you don’t know if there’s anyone else)
– Invisibility of LGBT’s
→ Especially for lesbians & bisexuals
3. Teacher level
Teachers think quite positively about LGBT students → but they don’t want to discuss sensitive topics
and have no personal experience and try to avoid the subject → teachers realise that they don’t know
how to inform the students and make it a less sensible topic in school
Discrepancy between attitudes & practice
Ignoring the topic
→ Low competence for gender topics:
→ Questions about trans-students for 30 to 50%
→ Handling sexism or working in gendersensitive way difficult for 25 to 50%
→ Especially in primary education!
– Ignoring homophobia
– But all in all, a relatively unproblematic LL-LK relationship
4. System level
Heteronormativity
→ Formally
– Rules & regulations
– Course content
→ 85% of students says to have been not or wrongly informed about LGB-sexuality at school
→ Informally
– School culture
 Regelgeving: vb kledijvoorschriften (wat mag wel niet v oor jongens en meisjes), toiletregels, sporten
gesplitst volgens geslachten
Heteronormativity at school
– A woman should think about her children first, not her career
→ (completely) agree: 47%
– It is best for everyone when the man makes the decisions in the family.
→ (fully) agree: = 4%
= 16%
– My friends would mind if I would learn to play soccer / ballet.
→ (fully) agree: = 14%
= 53%
– I think I am a good example of a typical boy / girl.
→ (completely) disagree: 16%
– Romantic orientation (late 2nd secondary)
→ LGB: 3%
→ Do not know: 2%

–

Aggression against gays is acceptable.
→ (completely) agree: 11%
→ In between: 14%
→ A quarter of the students does not disapprove of gaybashing!

Heteronormativity
– Little school variation, but:
→ 15 to 37% students says sexual orientation cannot be discussed at school
→ Difference between educational level:
 30% primary schools thinks working on LGBT-friendly climate is “not applicable”
 Secondary schools: Nature vs nurture

Nature versus nurture: not as
simple as you think!
“biological versus social factors.
Complex interactions are the rule,
not the exception” (Unger &
Crawford, 1993)

Biological differences in:
–

Ability?
Preference?

Nature vs nurture
– Transcending cultures
– Across time
– From a young age (or triggered by biological process)
(presumed) Biological differences:
– i.e.: brain size or structure ~IQ, body (muscle mass, …), ability (hand-eye coordination, maths, …),
psychological traits (risktaking, nurturance, …), interests, ….
– Often used as legitimation for
→ The status-quo
→ Discrimination
→ Repression
 So be aware & be critical!

+ be aware of: Intragroup differences (=

We tend to think of sex differences of being like the left graph, with average differences that reflect the
group to a large degree and with little overlap between the groups (i.e., men & women)
Whereas in reality, most sex differences are like the right graph
Gender:
1. Individual level: causes
Boys’ school behavior:
– More negative school attitudes
– Less motivated to study
– More inattentive
– More often disruptive in class
– Less disciplined with regards to school work
– Attribute succes to talent
 not hard work
OK…
– But why do boys behave this way?
– And why only in secondary education?
Processes in puberty:
– Exploration of sexual orientation
– (Identity) development
– Taking on adult gender roles
– Heightened importance of peers
Causes:

2. Peer level
Peer culture
– Anti-school culture: predominantly among boys
→ Group-based friendships → image, coolness
→ Femininity, school behavior & “gayness” are conflated
 Bullying
 Compensating with masculine behavior
 Culture of effortless attainment
→ Consciously looking for a balance between school achievement & masculinity culture
– Girls
→ More often BFF’s
→ Higher acceptance of pro-school behavior
3. Teacher level
Teacher bias:
– Higher expectations of girls

– Boys are seen as less “school ready”
– Boys are reprimanded more often
Male versus female teachers:
– No effect!
4. System level
Heteronormativity
– Cultural obstacles
→ Formally gone
→ However, still present in informal way
– Boys versus girls schools
→ A bad idea for so many reasons…
Gender & LGBT
→ Remember:
– In progressive schools, everybody has higher well-being!
→ Boys & girls
→ Gay & straight
→ Students that do or do not uphold gender norms
School policy:
→ Rules & regulations
→ Infrastructure
→ Anti-bullying policies
– Curriculum
→ Illustrations
→ Content
– Class practice
→ Awareness
→ Gender mixing
5. Where the peer & system level meet:

 Limited range of acceptable behavior for boys

H4: SES & ethnicity
4.1 SES: Examining Flanders
4.1.1 Low SES

4.1.2 Children with migrant background

4.1.3 Examining Flanders from an international perspective
“With regards to social equality, Belgium is without a doubt at the bottom of the class”(Groenez et al., 2009)

Dit leidde bepaalde onderzoekers ertoe te stellen dat: “wat betreft sociale ongelijkheid, is België
ontegensprekelijk de slechtste leerling van de klas” (Groenez et al., 2009). Een belangrijke opmerking die
hierbij dient gemaakt te worden, is dat onderwijs geen keuze hoeft te maken tussen kwaliteit en sociale
rechtvaardigheid. Het is namelijk niet zo dat er een verband lijkt te bestaan in de OESO-landen tussen sociale
determinatie en de mate waarin leerlingen hoog scoren op tests. Bepaalde landen, zoals Canada, Japan,
Hongkong, en binnen Europa, Finland, Nederland en Zwitserland, bewijzen dat het perfect mogelijk is om
kwaliteit en sociale rechtvaardigheid te combineren.
Image: How the social background is associated with the scores in school

4.2 Education as social justice
4.2.1 Discrimination?
– Implies a conscious intention
→ This implies that we discriminate consciously
– Rather: a bias
→ In the system
→ And the minds of school personnel
Crevits: “Als de ouders zich niet kunnen uitdrukken in het Nederlands en ze tonen ook geen bereidheid om
het Nederlands te leren, dan heeft dat ook slechte effecten op de kinderen. ”
→ She implies that people that get bad results in school aren’t willing to integrate ‘enough’
4.2.2 Education
Systeem dat bepaalde mensen priviligeert tov anderen, maar wel verwacht van die anderen om er op eigen
houtje te geraken “want ik heb toch ook geen hulp gekregen”

Equality vs Equity
We need to evolve to an equity system where everybody has different
needs and where everyone has another start because of a different
background. In order to reach the same results for everyone, we need to
use different things to help people.

4.3 SES in education
4.3.1 SES
SES = wealth, education,… your family has
1. Individual & family level
SES determines access to most goods
– Material

–

Immaterial…

–

Ook dingen die minder tastbaar zijn:
informatie, netwerk, educatie, …
Uitstapje naar kapitaal volgens Bourdieu????

–

Influence of poverty on development

Het is herhaaldelijk aangetoond dat armoede,
zeker langdurige armoede, zowel de gezondheid
kan beïnvloeden als de cognitieve ontwikkeling,
de schoolse resultaten, de aspiraties, het
zelfbeeld, de relaties met anderen, het
risicogedrag en het perspectief op werk (Vlor,
2013). Armoede is dus meer dan een tekort aan
inkomen of materiële goederen. Financiële moeilijkheden zijn vaak tegelijk oorzaak en gevolg van uitsluiting
op verschillende domeinen zoals tewerkstelling, onderwijs, huisvesting, gezondheid en maatschappelijke
participatie.
–

Language code
→ Bernstein:
 Restricted versus elaborated code → The language used in school is often more elaborate than
at home. When that happens it’s difficult for the children to adapt to every situation. They
don’t know the cademic language used in school
→ Mismatch with school context and its academic language use
 i.e. ECM high-SES scoring higher than native low-SES
 Transfer to university?

–

School attitudes
→ More quickly tired of school, higher sense of futility and loss of motivation

→ Onderzoek stelt dat deze leerlingen sneller schoolmoe worden, omdat zij het gevoel hebben geen
aansluiting te vinden bij het middenklasse-karakter van de school en inzet op school als zinloos ervaren.
Dergelijke gevoelens worden verder versterkt door de schoolcultuur. Het is namelijk zo dat leerlingen in
kansarmoede vaak schoollopen met leerlingen die in een gelijkaardige situatie zitten.
–

Parental support
→ Great importance of school
→ BUT less effective support
→ Housing & less cultural goods
→ Study choice

2. Peer level
– Bullying
– Feeling isolated
3. Teacher level
Wrong interpretations due to different frame of reference (