Week 9 Notes: Gender, Sexuality, and the History of Education

Week 9 Overview

This week focuses on gender and sexuality and the history of education, with a continued emphasis on intersectionality and how multiple social categories (gender, sexuality, race, class) interact to shape education policies, schooling practices, what is taught, and what is excluded.
Revisit the big, cumulative image from week 6 about social change, history, and evolution of education in relation to broader social and political history. The aim is to understand how norms, policies, and practices both reflect and shape society and education.
The overarching goal is to think about how gender and sexuality are embedded in structural and cultural narratives that inform educational norms and expectations; attitudes toward gender roles in schools; and what kinds of knowledge are privileged or erased.
This week explicitly foregrounds intersectionality as a framework for analyzing how gender, sexuality, class, and race intersect within education to produce particular patterns of opportunity, control, and exclusion.
A key theoretical anchor introduced this week is hegemonic masculinity, a concept Raewyn Connell coined to explain the patriarchal history of many Western, including colonial, societies and how a dominant form of masculinity legitimizes gender inequality and shapes institutionally how education is organized.
The coming essay (second assessment) invites you to conceptually pair two topics from the latter half of the unit (e.g., class and race, race and gender, sexuality and class) or other combinations you derive, applying these ideas to education.
Next week previews the final subtheme: climate activism, climate change, politics, activism, and public pedagogy in the history of education, and how these intersect with the topics studied this term.

Key Concepts

Intersectionality: multiple social categories (e.g., gender, sexuality, race, class) intersect to produce unique experiences of advantage or oppression within education.
Gender and sexuality as constructs: historically contingent and culturally constructed meanings that shape norms, policies, and practices in schooling and university curricula.
Cultural hegemony: the dominance of a particular cultural norm that appears natural or common-sense and justifies the status quo within education and society.
Hegemonic masculinity: a term coined by Raewyn Connell to describe the culturally exalted form of masculine behavior that sustains patriarchy and organizes social institutions, including schools; helps explain why patriarchal patterns persist in education systems.
Education-polity-norm nexus: how education policies, classroom practices, and what is included or excluded from curricula reinforce or challenge social norms about gender, sexuality, race, and class.
Epistemic narratives in history of education: how historical accounts reproduce or contest dominant gendered and racialized narratives.

Prompts for Analysis and Reflection

Prompt 1: Explain the concepts of gender and sexuality. Define these terms and identify the kinds of descriptors you would use to characterize them. Note that these concepts are historically contingent and culturally constructed, not fixed essences.
Prompt 2: Analyze how gender, race, and social class intersect. Identify recurring patterns in the relationships between these topics and education, and explain how education has shaped the significance of these concepts.
Prompt 3: Describe the relationship between education and gender. Based on this week’s material, how would you characterize this relationship? Consider how schools, curricula, and policies have reinforced or challenged gender norms.
Prompt 4: Reflect on your own education: what did you learn about sex education, gender, and sexuality? Were there mentions of social class or race in discussions of gender/sexuality? How does your personal experience illuminate or complicate the general patterns discussed?
Prompt 5: Consider the ethics and politics of current debates in education around gender and sexuality (e.g., bans on LGBTQ+ content, trans rights) and the implications for inclusive schooling and student well-being.

Readings and Media (Overview of Materials for Week)

Reading 1: Raewyn Connell (often cited as Raewyn Connell; the text is from a seminal source in 1987). Connell’s work links schooling with intersections of class, race, gender, and sexuality, and introduces the concept of hegemonic masculinity. The text is a historical snapshot of education and gender politics, written roughly four decades ago, so consider historical context when interpreting arguments.
Reading 2: A contemporary US-focused piece on policy and culture surrounding sex education and LGBTQ+ education, including debates over trans-inclusive curricula and policies (in the context of “Trump’s America” and similar moves elsewhere). Also notes that UK and parts of Australia have seen similar pressures, including attempts to curb discussion of trans identities in schools and policies around trans health care affecting education.
Media: Four Corners documentary Old School (Australia) – a more controversial case set in a wealthy private school in New South Wales focusing on class and gender dynamics, including the treatment of female teachers and students; features a Raewyn Connell lecture. Filmed about twelve years ago, it remains a rich case study for analyzing intersectionality in Australian education.
Media: Podcast episode from You’re Wrong About – recounts a high-profile case in which Shannon Faulkner challenged a single-sex American military college to admit women, illustrating the friction between gender norms, educational institutions, and social change with broad public attention.
Media: Short episode from the More Serious Edge Education Historian series – a concise snapshot looking at gender and historical context in education history.

Discussion and Reflection: Connections to Broader Themes

How the distinct topics (gender, sexuality, class, race) interlock to shape who is taught, what is taught, and what is valued in education.
The role of patriarchal norms and hegemonic masculinity in shaping school cultures, curricula, leadership, and policy decisions.
How contemporary policy debates (e.g., book bans, trans rights, sex education) reflect ongoing tensions between inclusive education and cultural/political pushback.
The ethical implications of censorship in education and the practical impacts on students’ wellbeing and sense of belonging.
The relevance of intersectionality for understanding disparities in access to education, representation in curricula, and the social reproduction of inequality.

Readings, Context, and Historical Perspective

Connell (1987): Establishes the concept of hegemonic masculinity and its role in guiding schooling, politics, and sexuality within patriarchal societies; emphasizes the significance of class and race in shaping gendered education experiences.
Historical moment: The Connell work is from 1987; the author notes the historical context and the ways concepts may have evolved since then; consider how the moment informs the argument and its reception in later decades. The time distance (~1987) is important for evaluating the evolving discourse on gender and education.
Contemporary US context: Current debates around sex education, LGBTQ+ topics, and trans rights; the policy environment is contested, with significant pushback in some jurisdictions and more progressive policies in others. The piece notes that this is not isolated to the US, with parallel debates and actions in the UK and parts of Australia (e.g., Queensland) affecting school practices.
Australian context: Old School documentary provides an accessible, real-world example of how class and gender intersect in a specific Australian school setting; includes a lecture by Connell, connecting theoretical concepts to practice in schools.
Case study of social change: Shannon Faulkner’s case (about XX years ago) as a focal example of an individual challenging entrenched gender norms within an educational institution, illustrating how a single case can catalyze broader social debates and policy discussions.

Real-World Relevance and Implications

Policy implications: Debates over curriculum content, sex education, and LGBTQ+ inclusion directly affect student experiences, learning outcomes, and safety in schools.
Equity and access: Intersectional analysis highlights how gender intersects with race and class to shape educational opportunities and outcomes; this has implications for policy design and resource allocation.
Ethical considerations: Balancing parental, cultural, and societal values with student rights and wellbeing; addressing issues of censorship, discrimination, and discrimination backlash in school environments.
Practical classroom implications: How teachers approach gender and sexuality topics in the classroom; what materials are used; how discussions are moderated to be inclusive and respectful.
Global perspective: The materials illustrate that while battles over gender and sexuality in education are global, the policy landscapes differ by country and are influenced by local cultural norms, political climates, and histories of education.

Connections to Previous Lectures

Week 6 image on social change and historical patterns: This week ties back to how education interacts with broader social change and historical trajectories, reinforcing the idea that education both reflects and shapes social norms.
Recurrent themes: Structural vs. cultural narratives; how cultural hegemony informs what is considered legitimate knowledge in schools; how gender norms are reproduced through curricula, pedagogy, and policy.
Continuity with class, race, and previous weeks: The week foregrounds how gender and sexuality intersect with class and race, continuing the unit’s emphasis on cross-cutting themes and the need to consider multiple axes of inequality when analyzing education systems.

Essay Preparation and Assessment Guidance

Essay prompt guidance: In the upcoming essay, you are encouraged to select two topics from the latter half of the unit (e.g., class and race, race and gender, sexuality and class) or another combination you derive, and analyze them through the lens of education and intersectionality.
Close reading and media analysis: Use Connell’s concept of hegemonic masculinity to interpret schooling cultures; apply the media case studies (Old School, Shannon Faulkner, and the contemporary US/UK/Australian policy debates) to illustrate how gender, sexuality, class, and race interact in concrete educational settings.
Critical reflection: Incorporate personal educational experiences to reflect on how sex education and gender/sexuality were taught, and whether there were explicit or implicit links to social class or race.
Contextual awareness: Consider the historical moment of the sources (1987 Connell text, 12-year-old Four Corners piece, recent policy debates) and how their arguments hold up or require revision in light of contemporary developments.
Structure suggestions: Present a concise theoretical framework (intersectionality + hegemonic masculinity), followed by case studies (reading/media) and conclude with a synthesis that connects theory to the upcoming climate-education topic next week.

Next Week Preview

Week 10 will explore climate change, climate activism, and public pedagogy within the history of education.
Consider how climate activism intersects with gender, sexuality, race, and class, and how education can serve as a site of public pedagogy on environmental justice.
Prepare any questions or topics you might want to develop for your final essay and reach out with questions as needed.

Hypothetical Scenarios and Reflection Prompts

Scenario A: A wealthy private school implements a policy restricting discourse about gender and sexuality in the classroom. Analyze how hegemonic masculinity might be reinforced in this environment, and what long-term effects this could have on students and teachers across intersecting identities.
Scenario B: A public school district introduces comprehensive LGBTQ+ inclusive sex education across all grades. Predict potential resistance within communities, and propose strategies to minimize harm while maximizing student wellbeing and learning.
Scenario C: In light of trans rights debates, design a classroom activity that teaches about gender as a social construct while ensuring a safe and respectful environment for students with diverse identities.

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Connell’s foundational text published in 1987 (roughly 40 years ago).
Four Corners documentary Old School aired about 2 years ago.
Raewyn Connell’s lecture included in the documentary was recorded about 12 years ago.
Shannon Faulkner's case occurred around 20 years ago.
Thematic focus on contemporary policy shifts in the US, UK, and Australia around gender, sexuality, and education.