Other reported differences: behaviour and physical development

Across the DGs the participants also reported specific and different social and physical behaviours for boys and girls which are believed to be innate due to their consistent nature.

I mean they do say that research says that boys are slower than girls. RP5

Do boys' and girls' brains not develop differently? Or did I make that up? RP7

No I was at a course at Experiential Play and they had a speaker who said that there was a difference. RP4

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The differences reported tended to focus on how the sexes settle into the nursery environment and the manner in which they exhibit social behaviours.

Table 6:2 Reported features relating to boys and girls: physical and social behaviours

Behaviours girls boys

active √

attentive √

boisterous √

conforming √

disobedient √

gentle √

get dirty √

have fine motor skills √

have gross motor skills √

mature √

polite √

quiet √

resilient √

rough √

settle easily √

seek comfort √

The participants all confirmed the claim that girls are emotionally more mature, are able to express their feelings and needs, and are calmer and have more developed fine-motor skills. Positive expectations were expressed in relation to girls’ behaviours and their emotional development. In addition, the participants recount that boys were more physically active and exhibit better gross-motor development. The reported behaviours tended to conform to generally held stereotypes which depict girls as being more compliant than boys, who are livelier and who require more redirection (for example, Jones and Myhill, 2004). These observations divide the sexes into two distinct groups where the exhibited behaviours could be viewed as the antithesis of each other and where their consistency is attributed to innate factors:

I know there's always a few exceptions but I think in general....I think girls come across a bit softer and a bit less rough than boys.

DG1RP8

The participants proposed that these types of differences between the sexes are natural and consistent across time. During DG1 the participants tended to preface their comments with

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an indication of how long they had worked in EYs to demonstrate that particular gendered behaviours had been observed throughout their practice:

I have probably worked with children longer than any of you...because I have been in the profession for 40 years now.

DG1RP3

There was a consensus that the observed differences between the sexes inform teaching and learning and that these are sometimes exploited to optimise learning and development for boys and girls.

For boys who are always at the dinosaurs or always at the blocks and if you have a certain thing you have got to teach...you have to improvise and maybe use that area to do the teaching in. If they wanted to learn...you're going to improvise and do something...in the areas that they like.

DG3RP5

Adopting sites of learning and approaches consistent with the sex of the child can result in the child experiencing a specific environment where they learn particular behaviours, attitudes and proficiencies. This can result in a very focused and limited environment for learning where the child develops scripts (Chapter 3) which allow them to operate in and interact appropriately with that environment. This it could be argued maintains and creates specific expectations and norms of behaviours and aptitudes. Freed (2003) cautions that children can develop schemas of socially acceptable behaviours, which can be

interpreted as being the result of biological qualities rather than learned because they appear to be consistent in how they manifest themselves. This suggests that what adults do could be responsible for the reinforcement of behaviours, learning and attitudes resulting in them appearing to be innate. The practitioners’ responses, concerns and attention can therefore highlight behaviours which are consequentially reinforced. Across the four DG there were consistently more stories which related to boys’ behaviours and attributes than there were about girls. There were 42 stories which illustrated behaviours exhibited by boys; which was in contrast to 13 stories relating to girls’ behaviours.

I would suggest that the practitioners’ preparedness and readiness for boys’ behaviour being naturally more difficult and their expectation that girls would be compliant reinforces what is being observed.

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When that group of boys are having another one of their Jack Sparrow type times the girls are either probably sitting in the house corner quietly or they are in the book corner or something like that...they're not being disruptive...

DG3RP4

As discussed by Martin (1995), behaviour expectations for a particular group will encourage a resonance with the behaviour resulting in the reinforcement of belonging to the in-group and a disassociation with the out-group. This relationship will encourage and reinforce behaviours which are socially expected and normal to both groups. Bolles (1979) suggests that particular behaviours can be both learned and strengthened in the light of expectations, implicit and explicit, conveyed and where, according to Eckert and

McConnell (2013), these behaviours are confirmed or negated by others as representative of that of a boy or a girl. Thus, as Foucault’s (2003) biopolitical model suggests, children can learn to adhere to societal expectations and norms through conventions which regulate their environment. It is possible to suggest that the process of self-regulation is learned through association with the in-group and rejection of the out-group. Practices and responses which anticipate differences arising from the sex of the individual could reinforce these differences through particular expectations conveyed to the child. This could explain why boys are continually viewed as more difficult and are the focus for practitioners’ attention. In contrast girls learn not to attract attention and are perceived as more compliant. It is possible to suggest that both males and females learn that being male or female is viewed differently. If as discussed above, male traits, qualities and activities are given prominence and are the focus for adult attention, then females learn that being male is often viewed as having more value or at least attracts more attention than being female. From these findings there are implications for EYPs’ practice which will be considered in Chapter 8.

However, as previously signposted, the participants do not view all behaviours as innate.

There is recognition that some aptitudes and preferences are the result of the influence of parents and others, although the participants expressed the belief that EYPs do not generally contribute to this development. The next section focuses on the construction of gender as described by the practitioners and evident in the DGs transcripts.

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