A Study for Developing Gender Sensitivity in Pre-Service Teacher Education

Abstract

This study is based on the necessity of having gender-sensitive policies and practices in teacher education institutions so that future teachers can be sensitive to the issue of gender equality. Starting from a lack of courses that promote gender sensitivity in the undergraduate programs of Turkish teacher education faculties, the researcher reorganized the content of an undergraduate course that she was teaching to tap into this area. By identifying the participants’ gender-related knowledge and sensitivity levels, the researcher aimed to analyze the effects of an undergraduate course focusing on gender issues. To this end, participants were asked openended questions, and their responses were analyzed by descriptive content analysis. As a result of this systematic study on gender, it is seen that the prospective teachers started to question traditional value judgments and gain motivation for change/transformation starting from their own lives.