THE TITLE OF THIS BOOK IS NOT A HYPERBOLE!!
What book has had the most impact on you recently?
The Equal Classroom: Life changing thinking about gender. By Lucy Rycroft-Smith with Graham Andre
In the opening section of this book Lucy asks the reader ‘How much thinking have you done about gender?’ Well, what a good question! How much do we as educators examine how we might impact on the experiences of students under our care? I brought this book during lockdown 1.0, a week before my progression meeting, to see how I could walk the walk as well as talk the talk as a feminist thinker. What I did not expect was to go on a personal journey of uneasy realisation, revisiting past experiences, and analysing the biases and gaps in my own thinking.
What is the book about?
In this book Lucy joins forces with other contributors, including Graham Andre (from the documentary No more boys and girls: can our kids go gender free? definitely worth a watch by the way!) to talk honestly, and at times personally, about gender. The discussions focus on the many challenges faced by students both in the school environment and wider societal context. The author(s) consider the socio-cultural and biological discourses around gender, the impact of gendered expectations and experiences from toys to PE and school uniform rules, issues around sexuality, relationships and consent, and gender as presented in games and media including classroom texts. Each chapter can be read in isolation, and quite rightly the author(s) do not pull any punches; each topic discussed in detail, before challenging the strongest counterarguments, and ending with a thinking task for you as reader. The practical nature of this book means that the author(s) not only highlight the issues but asks the reader to consider how they could and should respond. If you are looking for an easy read, this is not it! The book is brutally honest and the sub heading of ‘life changing’ applies to both you as reader, and as a result the students that are in your sphere of influence.
Would you recommend this book?
100% yes
I would also highly recommend watching the documentary No more boys and girls: can our kids go gender free? I found a version on YouTube.
Blog Post written by Rachel Helme