Take account of gender differences in your curriculum planning, say Marie Charlton and Anne O'Connor
Foundation Stage practitioners are under pressure from both parents and the Government to raise standards of literacy and numeracy. As a result, some settings have adopted overly formal teaching methods and reduced children's access to the outdoors - to the detriment of all children, but particularly boys.
Practitioners must, therefore, reflect on their practice to ensure that they are providing a play-based curriculum, with ready access to the outdoors, essential to children of this age. Equally, they need to consider in their planning how gender differences may affect children's learning styles, the range of opportunities presented to both sexes across the curriculum. and practitioners' attitudes (See box, also 'Ask yourself', page 16).
We at Bridgewater Nursery School in Bolton regard the outdoors as an extension of our classroom, with the same learning objectives set for outdoors as for indoors.
To make the most of the outdoors, we ensure that resources can be transported with ease, storing items such as books and gardening tools in baskets or boxes and keeping balls, beanbags and the like in sectioned wheeled trolleys.
The areas of the curriculum that need the greatest consideration from the point of view of gender and the outdoors are: Personal, social and emotional development
* We are an all-female staff, but we attempt to overcome any gender bias and open up the curriculum by inviting male students, teachers, dads and male carers to the school whenever possible.
* We involve male visitors in non-stereotypical tasks, such as cooking and dancing, and our visitors sometimes challenge gender stereotypes, such as the caring male RSPCA officer and the assertive female police officer.
* Female staff set positive role models by climbing on the frames, playing football and enjoying woodwork.
* Outside we have a large mirror on the wall where children can reflect on their image.
Communication, language and literacy
There is so much to say, do and record outdoors, and we always provide:
* dressing-up clothes, of no gender bias, which present opportunities for literacy, such as the police officer making notes and the taxi driver writing down addresses
* a large permanent chalkboard and chalks for using on the playground and walls -the rain washes away the marks
* a basket of books, usually about the current topic, on a rug or in a tent
* a table with telephones, paper and mark-makers
* a word line (a washing line strung between two trees) with key words or words relevant to the present topic
* 'road' signs.
Mathematical development
Boys and girls who prefer to stay outdoors can learn about mathematical concepts such as size, volume and weight through effective adult support and careful resourcing. For example, we:
* number all bikes and vehicles
* draw shapes on the playground
* use number tiles for parking lots
* number steps
* mark out hopscotch on flagstones.
Physical development
Children intersperse large and small physical movements naturally and there is usually more scope for this outdoors, such as by having climbing frames, balancing bars, bikes, bats and balls permanently available. As a result:
* outdoor equipment ceases to be the domain of domineering boys.
* the need to discriminate in favour of the girls is removed.
* boys and girls interact well, with no sign of dominance or gender-orientated play.
Best behaviour
In an environment where all children and their skills are celebrated, where children feel secure, confident and valued, where each child is listened to, where each child is expected to be responsible and achieve, where all children can be themselves, then outward displays of dominance or aggression are unnecessary, and cease.
