Which of the following is NOT a correct strategy for a teacher to address gender stereotyping in a middle school classroom?

Option 4 : Encourage boys to take up maths and science and girls to take up language.

Gender refers to the socially constructed differences between men and women. It refers to the masculine and feminine qualities, behavior, roles, and responsibilities that society upholds. Gender can be changed / re-oriented.

Gender stereotype is an oversimplified and unfair belief or idea that groups of people have particular characteristics or that all people in a group are the same.

• Gender stereotype type of thought or belief reduced the ability of the students, and make them the same stereotypes as they are.
• Gender stereotype is the belief that set the limit on the learning of the students and also demotivates them if they are willing to learn some new skills.
• Gender stereotype is a belief of the society that boys have a good command of tools and utensils as compared to the girls, this shows Gender Stereotyping thought.
•  It is believed that girls are not much intelligent in mathematics as boys, so in the middle classes, boys should have to choose Mathematics and Science as a subject, and girls have to choose languages and arts.

So this belief that mathematics and Science are good for boys and languages are good for girls is a gender stereotype belief that increases the gap between both sexes.

 Gender stereotypes can be reduced in the classroom by the following:

• Making the environment of the classroom flexible for all, all as treated as students instead of girls or a boy.
• In a classroom, teachers should have to treat boys and girls equally.
• Teachers should provide equal opportunities to both girls and boys.
• To avoid the situation of gender stereotype, a family should start involving boys in household chores that were mainly concerned with girls traditionally which gave rise to gender biasing and stereotyping.