At the same time, at three years old, gender is a variable characteristic. The child thinks that he can be changed. The following statement is very typical in this sense: “Okay, when I grow up, I will be a dad. When will I be a mother? By the age of 5-6, this passes: a three-year-old boy is frightened by the promise of turning him into a girl, a five-year-old laughs at this prospect, does not believe in the possibility of its implementation. It is believed that by the age of 5-6 years a child forms his sexual and gender identity at the level of experiences and role behavior. Gender self-awareness begins with awareness of your body. Our physicality is multi-level, and, therefore, the very differences in the nature and functions of male and female cells subsequently affect the psychological differences between men and women. The male cell is weak, but it is active, and the new development of man depends on it; thus, a man is doomed for life to change the world in which he lives. The female cell is tenacious, but inert. Women preserve, support and pass on traditions. Anatomical signs of sex appear in the embryo in the 5th week after conception. Before this, nature tries to hide its intention from a person: genetically and hormonally, this creature is already either a man or a woman, and anatomically it has characteristics of both sexes. This fact makes it possible for supporters of sexual freedom to declare a person’s original bisexuality, and for opponents of abortion to point out that the embryo already has basic human characteristics at the 5th week. Physical gender identity is finally formed at the age of three. The psychological result of this period is the understanding: “My body is the same as my dad’s/mom’s, therefore I…”. Gender identity is expressed by the words: “I am a woman, he is a man.” This psychological knowledge appears as early as two years old, and by the age of five, the psyche and behavior corresponding to gender have already been formed. The formation of the psychology of gender is carried out differently in men and women, but for a child of any gender, in both cases the role of the father and mother is significant. The psychological mechanism for the formation of polytypical behavior in childhood is explained by psychologist Sandra Bam in the concept of gender schema. Sexual typing is carried out thanks to the ability of children to group and process information, i.e. readiness to assimilate information about oneself in the context of the concepts of “masculinity - femininity.” A gender schema is consolidated in the child's mind, which functions as an anticipatory structure, pre-set to seek and group information: behavior, characteristics, cultural symbols are spontaneously sorted into the categories “male” - “female”. The gender scheme introduced into the structure of the child’s self-concept begins to “work” not only for the selection of information coming from outside, but also in relation to oneself. Children select from a variety of possible human characteristics only those that are defined in a given culture as acceptable for his/her own gender and are therefore suitable for organizing the varied contents of the self-concept. Thus, the self-concept of children becomes gender-typed, and the two sexes are perceived as different not so much in the degree of expression of their properties, but in their personal qualities. At the same time, children learn to evaluate their personality according to the gender scheme (this is how they are disciplined by parents and strangers), contrasting their own preferences, attitudes, behavior, and properties with the other sex. Adults very rarely notice and say: “How strong the girl has become” and “How gentle the boy is,” but they often emphasize these qualities in the opposite sex. The gender schema becomes prescriptive, dictating a standard of behavior. Thus, the foundations of gender self-awareness are formed before the age of 5: the attitude towards men and women, the attitude towards parents, the attitude towards socially given patterns of the psyche and behavior of men and women. At this time, against the background of the development of speech, thinking, and self-awareness, the child, among other things, learns to distinguish people by appearance and gender characteristics. He develops confidence in belonging to a certain gender and the immutability of this gender. After 5-6 years, it is almost impossible to change a person’s sexual identity at subsequent stages of development. Accidental or purposeful upbringing before this age that does not correspond to the child’s gender (improperly formed external genitalia, the birth of a child of a different gender than the parents expected, etc.) creates insurmountable difficulties for subsequent adaptation to the child’s gender role prescribed by physical and registered gender , for the formation of gender. By the end of preschool age, both boys and girls clearly demonstrate four types of gender-role behavior, namely masculine, feminine, androgynous and undifferentiated. In the study by L.E. Semenova presents the psychological characteristics of these gender types. Masculine children value the authority of strength and independence of behavior, are focused on high individual achievements, regardless of gender, they reject female society and, on the contrary, give preference to male authority, which, according to the author, indicates the needs of masculine children for significant men, including men -teachers. Masculine children often do not tolerate objections, defend their opinions by any means available to them, including aggressive actions, and prefer leading positions. They are characterized by an independent-competitive style of behavior and an authoritarian nature of relationships with peers. Feminine children, regardless of gender, adopt an emotionally expressive style of behavior associated with dependent, subordinate behavior, caution, refusal of their own initiative and independence, and focus on others. A particularly pronounced trend can be seen among feminine boys, for whom the strategy of consciously limiting their “research space” turned out to be significant. At the same time, such boys have an internal need for social expectations associated with belief in their strengths and capabilities, which can serve as evidence of the problematic nature of their gender-role development. Feminine children, as a rule, are followers in joint activities, their initiative is minimal, and in the case of feminine boys it is completely absent. The behavior of the latter is characterized by social limitations, avoidance of contacts and interactions, especially with peers of the same sex, as well as masculine girls, among whom they feel insecure and are afraid to demonstrate their inadequacy. Expectations of critical comments from peers create difficulties for feminine boys in communicating with other children. Feminine girls in social contacts remain successful. Androgynous children are relatively free from strict gender typing, recognize the right to understand various types of activities without attachment to traditional norms, and are characterized by a focus on really comprehending the situation and independently overcoming difficulties. They are characterized by high social activity. Their modes of behavior and contacts turned out to be the most numerous and varied. These children actively interact with adults and peers, regardless of gender, and more often than others become organizers of joint activities, while being popular with children of all gender-role groups. Androgynous children truly combine and demonstrate traditionally masculine and feminine traits in their behavior, taking on masculine and feminine roles. Their masculine qualities are constructive (protection, help). They are characterized by persistence, independence in decision-making, and a high level of real achievements, which can serve as confirmation of their personal well-being. Undifferentiated children reject both strong masculine and feminine styles of behavior and are characterized by the absence of any gender-role guidelines, as well as emotional rejection of all types of activities. Passivity, low real achievements, lack of social acceptance among peers and retaliatory avoidance of contacts - these are the main characteristics of such schoolchildren. According to L.E. Semenova, in general, an androgynous culture of behavior dominates in the preschool environment, which essentially reflects some trends in the modern social situation, where, along with the preservation of traditional gender stereotypes, there is a rejection of rigid gender typing; At the same time, there are children who experience difficulties in accepting any standards of gender-role behavior, and therefore need targeted psychological and pedagogical assistance in forming in them meaningful ideas about the psychosocial characteristics of various types of gender-role behavior, male and female standards of interaction . The gender characteristics of junior schoolchildren were studied by A. Chekalina as follows. She identified certain groups of children according to manifestations of gender self-awareness and identification with their biological sex, that is, she determined the type of psychological sex of the child. The first group received the conventional name “adequate” (39% of the total number of respondents). In their answers to questions, preschoolers and junior schoolchildren in this group express satisfaction with their own gender, demonstrate a sense of pride in their gender, and an awareness of its irreversibility. Children categorically refuse to “change” their gender identity, they are aware of the possibilities of their gender (“I want to be a boy, because I will protect...”, “... because boys are stronger,” “... because I want to serve in the army,” “... because all girls love”, etc.). Conscious gender preferences and orientations of “adequate” children towards representatives of their own sex stood out: boys and girls express affection specifically for people of their own sex, demonstrate a readiness for emotional empathy and joint activities with them; clearly understand intra-family and intra-group relationships from the point of view of the gender of parents and peers. To clarify questions like “why?” (“…do you want to help your mother?”, “… study from a male teacher?”, etc.), the child appealed precisely to the fact that he belonged to the same sex as the named object. Gender preferences are also manifested in the choice of games, toys, and tools that correspond to the child’s gender; It is also interesting that in the game “Family” children of this group prefer to play the role of a parent of their own gender. The overwhelming majority of children in this group are characterized by confident, good knowledge of the characteristics of their gender, ideas about the images of a boy’s self or a girl’s self, respectively, and knowledge of primary interests, games, and toys. “Adequate” children use behavioral and emotional stereotypes known to them that characterize the qualities of men and women; imagine their future family and social roles, for example, they are able to imagine their future family, the number and gender of children, name the future profession corresponding to their gender, etc.
Let us give a brief psychological portrait of a typical “adequate” child.
Murilav G. (7 years old, Makhachkala) is the second child in a family of three children. The boy helps his mother in everything, and especially loves to work with his younger sister; believes that willingness to help is a masculine trait. Murilove said that when he grows up, he will become a geologist, get married and have children - two girls and a boy, just like in his parents’ family. His drawing of the family depicts all family members (you can easily guess the gender of the character based on clothes, figure, hairstyles and other signs). By the arrangement of the figures one can judge the importance for the boy of fulfilling functions and roles in the family: mother, father, older sister, Murilav, younger sister. Most “adequate” boys and girls have sufficient information about the behavioral characteristics, interests, self-image of the opposite sex, are able to imagine themselves as a representative of the other sex and describe their behavior, games, toys in this case, they are called stereotypical qualities of the other sex. Children in this group are united by a friendly attitude towards their peers and a desire to cooperate with them. Yulia M. (8 years old, Moscow) is the only child in the family; She spoke clearly and in detail about the games, toys, and attributes of Boys, and with humor and imagination she presented herself as a boy. Julia explained that then it would no longer be her, but “a strong, smart, kind boy, Julian.” The girl said that what she likes most is to play “mother and daughter” with her friends. They gladly accept boys into their company. According to Yulia, it is best to be on duty in the classroom with boys, because “they are stronger and can push back chairs.” In the picture of Yulia's family, the researcher can feel the authority of her father and her emotional closeness to her mother. The second group of children was called “ambivalent” (22% of the total number of respondents). Children in this group express satisfaction with their own gender and its possibilities, and do not show a desire to change gender to the opposite. However, unlike boys and girls of the first group, in answers to questions that reveal gender-role preferences and orientation towards their gender, children show some duality and ambivalence. Referring to mother and father, girls and boys, men and women, “ambivalents” appealed more to a person’s personal qualities, rather than to gender, as expected. Anya A. (7 years old, Makhachkala) is the eldest daughter in a family that also has a younger girl. The father, who was waiting for the birth of his son, often plays “manly” games with her; their favorite pastime is wrestling. When listing games for boys and girls, Anya named mostly neutral games. The girl wants to be like her father; when choosing qualities that characterize the male and female sex, she said that she wanted to be strong. At the same time, Anya prefers to help her mother and play with the girls. She chooses the profession of a women's hairdresser, loves to comb her friends' hair and decorate their hair. Her projective drawing depicts a harmonious family with balanced relationships with both mother and father (on closer examination, a tendency to imitate the mother can be seen). Anton F. (7 years old, Moscow) - wants to be like his mother, believes that the most handsome boy in the class is a boy, not a girl. Anton doesn’t want to be a girl, “because they don’t play war,” there’s also “no need to be friends with them,” he couldn’t list girls’ games. Anton would prefer a male teacher, and female teachers, in his opinion, are stricter. When analyzing the results of children's answers and statements, another type of psychological gender emerged - “indifferent” (in 24% of children from the total number of respondents). What distinguishes them is that the attitude towards their own gender has not yet been determined, awareness and understanding of gender characteristics and capabilities have not been revealed, these children have not felt the conviction of the need to be a representative of their own sex, and not the opposite. Such children can relatively easily agree to an imaginary “change” of gender, and if they do not agree, then their motives are often not realized, focused on external, unimportant factors: “I don’t want to be a girl, my mother already has daughters,” “...everyone offends girls " The majority of “indifferent” children expressed an indifferent attitude towards their future family and social role, towards their future profession. When listing the games of their own and the opposite sex, most of them call them neutral and refuse to play “Family.” Murad (7 years old, Makhachkala) is the eldest child in a family with a younger son. He is very attached to his mother: for him she is the most beautiful, the main one in the family, he prefers to play only with his mother, help her, grow up like her. Murad could not name girls' games, imagine himself as a girl and tell how he would behave in this role. He didn’t want to be a girl, but he couldn’t explain why. Nor did he explain what it meant to be a boy. Murad knows the prospects for his future (he will become an uncle, a father); wants to be strong, plays and wants to be friends only with boys. Questions that revealed orientation in family relationships from the point of view of his gender caused Murad difficulties. His picture of the family shows emotional closeness with his mother, with the undoubted authority and importance of his father (whose bright figure is greater than all the others) for him. The next group of children is united under the code name “Inadequate” (15% of the total number of respondents). This group received its name because of the discovered negative attitude of children towards their gender. Boys and girls did not demonstrate a sense of pride in their gender; their statements rather conveyed embarrassment for belonging to this particular gender. Children in this group often express a desire to change gender to the opposite. It is quite difficult to trace the etiology of such statements: most children are guided in their answers by the attractiveness of external attributes, what seem to them to be more diverse opportunities, and the privileges of the other sex. Having agreed to reincarnation (“If a wizard turns you into a boy/girl, what will you do?”), such children animatedly and emotionally talk about the possibilities, characteristics of behavior, self-image, and external manifestations of representatives of the opposite sex. It is interesting that the majority of children who do not know whether their name is male or female are precisely in the “inadequate” group. Dima K. (7 years old, Moscow) is the eldest child in a family that also has a younger daughter. The mother, while carrying Dima, was expecting a girl during her pregnancy. The boy shows great interest in the characteristics, attributes, and details of the appearance of girls; he admitted that he is “generally attracted to the female gender” and would like to be a girl. I couldn't explain why. In answers to questions, he did not demonstrate a conscious orientation towards representatives of his sex; he said that he wanted to be like his mother. His orientation in intragroup relations from the point of view of belonging to the gender of his peers was also not revealed. While completing the task of “drawing a person,” Dima drew a girl. In their answers, older preschoolers and younger schoolchildren in this group demonstrate varying degrees of emotional and cognitive identification with representatives of their gender. These children demonstrate a small amount of knowledge about the behavioral characteristics, attributes, and games of their gender. Discussion of this topic does not evoke emotional revival or enthusiasm in them. “Inadequate” people are more willing to discuss issues of the opposite sex, demonstrating a large amount of information. Karina T. (8 years old, Makhachkala) - lives in a family with an older brother. She readily agreed to the psychologist’s suggestion that she fantasize and “turn” into a boy and told in detail what kind of boy she would be. Doesn’t play “Family”, prefers to play with boys and “boyish” games, at home - with dad and older brother. Favorite clothes are trousers. The girl did not name the beautiful people in her family and her group from the point of view of generally accepted stereotypes. Based on the projective picture of Karina’s family, one can assume a strong emotional connection between the girl and her father and a desire to imitate him. When asked to draw a person, Karina portrayed an “uncle” (man). It is interesting that in the “Family” game, boys in this group are most often the “children” of their own or the opposite sex, while girls more often play the role of the parent of the opposite sex. According to their personal characteristics, such girls strive for leadership; boys, on the contrary, are more passive. One can also note the generally indifferent attitude of the “inadequate” to their future family and social role; Most often, children find it difficult to choose a future profession. Thus, A. Chekalina’s research showed that the formation of psychological gender by primary school age has a wide range of characteristics in both boys and girls. This is due, first of all, to the degree of clarity and depth of the child’s awareness of his gender. The adequate, ambivalent, indifferent and inadequate levels of gender identity formation identified in the study can quite fully demonstrate the characteristics of the psychological gender of children of this age period. Gender identity presupposes, in turn, a certain attitude towards the opposite sex. The study identified a group of children of both sexes who expressed rejection of their gender, a negative attitude towards it, and a conscious desire to change their gender to the opposite. Adequate formation of psychological gender is favorable for the child’s assimilation of cultural norms, models transmitted by adults, for the full development of the child’s system of interpersonal relationships, taking into account his gender, establishing his status in the peer group, the development of communication skills, normal adaptation and socialization of the child. It is premature to characterize an “inadequate” type of psychological gender formation as pathological, without systematically considering the dynamics of psychosexual development disorders in children of the selected group, including biological, social, as well as individual characterological aspects. However, it should be noted that the behavioral manifestations of an inadequate attitude towards one’s own gender largely coincide with the clinical picture of pathologies of gender-role behavior, which usually manifest themselves in childhood and primary school age. It is also pertinent to note here that boys who demonstrate feminine traits are at greater risk of experiencing sexual identity conflict in adolescence. The stage of establishing gender-role behavior lasts up to 12-13 years. Based on innate characteristics and under the influence of family and social environment, the child involuntarily chooses a manner of behavior that most fully meets his needs and at the same time does not contradict social norms. Is it worth talking here once again about the example of parents, whose pattern of relationships their children accept or reject. At the beginning of this stage (usually in the 1st-2nd grades of school), children, as a rule, are clearly divided by gender, which forces them to emphasize their gender and accelerates the development of sexuality. It was at this time that the first conscious questions of a sexual nature appeared as part of general questions “about life” and as based on observations of elders. The next stage is the formation of psychosexual orientation (12-26 years old) - the determination of sexual behavior. Changes in a teenager’s body, the appearance of secondary sexual characteristics and erotic experiences contribute to the formation of an adult’s gender identity, in which compliance with generally accepted patterns of masculinity and femininity plays a leading role. Polytyped adolescents are more likely to imitate stereotypical models of masculinity/femininity, choosing models more often from media heroes. In girls, the passionate desire to correspond to the modern model of femininity - “perfect harmony” - can take on hypertrophied forms and result in a disease such as anorexia nervosa. Young men, trying to identify with an exaggerated masculine idol, often demonstrate forms of behavior that are unacceptable from a social point of view: aggressive actions, alcohol and drug use, and unreasonably risky behavior. In older adolescence, gender problems become particularly relevant during the period of graduation, when high school students are faced with the choice of their future life path and sphere of professional activity. This is the age at which sexual activity begins, and the circumstances of this step change with the passing of generations. There was a period when a relationship before marriage was considered acceptable, but only if there were feelings or plans for a future marriage. Over time, the concept of these feelings became more and more smoothed out, as a result of which in most European countries the early onset of sexual activity (in the vast majority of cases, shortly before marriage) became a pattern. At the same time, there is a shift in the age-related sexual indicators of women. If, in terms of their sexual experience, girls of the 30s “laged behind” boys by 3-4 years, then in the 60s they almost caught up with them, and now they are ahead of them (data from 2004). Thus, the age of onset of sexual activity for girls in our country is now about 16.5 years, and for boys - 18.5. Clarification of the motives for the beginning of sexual activity showed that at least 80% of young men began it “of their own free will,” obeying sexual desire, a “hormonal storm.” Almost 70% of girls had their first sexual intercourse under the influence of circumstances. The girls’ explanations on this matter are very indicative: “Everyone does this, but what’s worse about me...”, “am I some kind of freak...”, “the boy was very persistent...”, “the girls said it was time...”, “a lot we drank, I don’t remember how it happened...", "I needed the money urgently...", "I don’t understand how it happened...". The gender characteristics of middle-aged representatives were studied from the perspective of experiencing conflicts. At this age, contradictions between the individual needs of personal development and normative ideas embodied in gender stereotypes most often manifest themselves as intrapersonal conflicts. Intrapersonal conflicts are contradictions that arise between incompatible (or at least difficult to compatible) interests, needs, ideas, and roles. A person perceives and experiences a situation of internal conflict as a psychological problem that requires resolution. The most striking manifestation of the clash between traditional normative requirements for the role behavior of women and the real situation of their life is the phenomenon that is described in the socio-psychological literature as “role conflict of a working woman.” This intrapersonal conflict between roles occurs more often among women who are family-oriented but forced to work outside the home. The role conflict of a working woman is considered as a complex of subjective negative experiences that arise in a woman when she assesses how she copes with combining roles in the professional and family spheres. The most pronounced destructive indicator of role conflict is the feeling of guilt, which is born from a woman’s model of perceiving her roles. The feeling of guilt is characterized by high stability and many areas of manifestation, this is a woman’s attitude towards children, spouse, work, and herself. The second type of gender intrapersonal conflict is the conflict of fear of success. The phenomenon of “fear of success” was identified and described by psychologist Martina Horner. Success causes anxiety in a woman, as it is associated with undesirable consequences - loss of femininity, loss of significant relationships and social rejection. Following M. Horner, many foreign researchers considered fear of success to be a trait inherent in female nature. Research in the field of gender psychology allows us to consider the phenomenon of fear (or avoidance) of success as a specific psychological state, accompanied by an internal conflict, which arises in certain social conditions and life situations and which can be overcome. In the period of late adulthood, situations of conflict between gender stereotypes and life situations can also be distinguished. An existential crisis situation affects the foundations of human existence and turns him to the problem of his relationship with the world, the search for and finding the meaning of his existence. Existential conflict can be caused by events or external circumstances that unexpectedly bring a person face to face with fundamental issues of his life, for example, making important irreversible decisions, the destruction of some fundamental meaning-making patterns of behavior or ways of interacting with other people. The existential conflict affects the most important, vital values and needs of a person, becomes the dominant of a person’s inner life and is accompanied by strong emotional experiences. Thus, polotypical men who perceive professional activities and careers as the only and most important purpose of their life find themselves in a situation of existential conflict in case of loss of work or retirement. The “shock of the resignation” associated with the loss of a significant place in society, the breakdown of relations with the reference group, the loss of a significant social role, in the minds of such men is reflected as “loss of the main meaning of life”, and at the emotional level is marked by all signs of an acute stress disorder. Patriotic women, realizing the “truly female destiny to be the mother and keeper of the hearth,” often experience the existential crisis during the period of the mature children from the family. In the psychological literature, this phenomenon is described as the "Empty nest syndrome." An empty nest is a period in the family cycle that occurs after the youngest of the children leaves the parental house. If earlier the whole life of a woman was saturated with emotional and household care for children, now that the familiar course of life is violated, there is a feeling of emptiness, unnecessaryness, meaninglessness of life. Existential conflict, disorganizing or even making ordinary life, requires a person to rethink his life goals, relationships with others, and lifestyle.
Questions to reinforce the topic:
1) At what age does the process of gender identification occur?
2) When does gender identity begin to form? 3) What are the stages of formation of gender identity? 4) What is the essence of S. Bem’s concept of gender schema. 5) What types of gender-role behavior are identified by L. Semenova? Describe them. 6) How the gender characteristics of junior schoolchildren were studied by A. Chekalina. 7) What happens to the formation of gender identity in adolescence and adolescence. What gender intrapersonal conflicts are observed in “adult life”? 9) What is the essence of the “empty nest syndrome”.
Taking into account gender characteristics of preschool children in the educational process
If we want to educate a person in all respects, then we must understand him in all respects.
K. D. Ushinsky
When we talk about boys or girls, we - whether we like it or not - constantly mean that there are differences in their psychology and behavior. The issues of upbringing and development of children of different sexes have recently attracted many researchers (T. P. Khrizman, V. D. Eremeeva, T. A. Repina, T. Doronova, etc.). This interest is due to the fact that modern requirements for an individual approach to personality formation cannot ignore the characteristics of the child’s gender, since these are biosociocultural characteristics. The period of preschool childhood is the time when a child discovers the unique opportunities given to him by his gender. In this regard, the goals of raising and educating boys and girls are seen in a new way. In this aspect, we are talking about gender education of children.
A gender approach in education is an individual approach to a child’s manifestation of his identity, which in the future gives a person greater freedom of choice and self-realization, helps to be flexible enough and be able to use different behavioral possibilities.
Designing a pedagogical process based on an individually differentiated approach in conditions of joint education of girls and boys in kindergarten is a modern and very urgent task.
Its relevance lies in the fact that the content of work with preschoolers, taking into account their gender characteristics, has not been sufficiently developed, which, according to researchers (T.V. Bendas, S.A. Marutyan, T.A. Repina) leads to the absence of specific traits in children , characteristic of gender. Boys lack emotional stability and endurance, while girls lack tolerance, modesty, and the desire for peaceful resolution of conflicts.[2, p.4]
The importance of this issue is also due to the fact that the preschool institution, as a social institution, continues to reproduce the strict standards of traditional culture regarding femininity and masculinity, which in turn does not contribute to the manifestation of the individuality of students.
In addition, one of the problems of raising children in preschool educational institutions is the predominantly female influence on the formation of the gender identity of children of different sexes. The strategy, forms and methods of working with children used in kindergarten are most often designed for girls.[2, p.11]
Thus, at present there are contradictions between:
- the objective need of society for raising children based on a gender approach and the practice of training and education in preschool educational institutions.
— the need for gender education, starting from preschool age, and the insufficient theoretical, practical, didactic, and methodological development of the conditions for gender education of preschoolers.
The relevance of the identified problem and the identified contradictions determined the choice of the theme of the concept “Taking into account the gender characteristics of preschool children in the educational process.”
When developing this topic, I proceeded from the assumption that the effectiveness of the process of gender education may be ensured by a set of the following pedagogical conditions:
1. Educating parents on issues of gender education for girls and boys.
2. Creating situations for preschoolers to fulfill gender roles.
3. Organization of a subject-development environment focused on the gender self-development of children.
4. Educating adults take into account the gender characteristics of children in the pedagogical process.
On this issue, I studied the scientific and methodological manuals by V. D. Eremeeva and T. P. Khrizman “Boys and Girls: Two Different Worlds”, A. M. Shchetinina and O. I. Ivanova “Sex-role development of children 5–7 years old ”, T. Doronova “Girls and boys 3-4 years old in the family and kindergarten”, N. A. Barannikova “About boys and girls, as well as their parents”, articles in the magazine “Preschool Education” No. 6, 2009. N. Tatarintseva “On gender role education of boys and girls: technological component”, No. 4, 2008. O. Nagel “On gender education of preschool children”, articles in the magazine “Kindergarten from A to Z” No. 1 2006. and others.
In the literature studied, the concept of “gender” is interpreted as the social sex of a person, formed in the process of personal upbringing and including psychological, social and cultural differences between men (boys) and women (girls), and existing properties and relationships are called gender.
The above authors consider the ideas of gender education from different positions, namely:
a) from the perspective of the characteristics of the functional organization of the brain (V. D. Eremeeva, T. P. Khrizman);
b) from the position of intergroup interaction of children (A. M. Shchetinina, O. I. Ivanova);
c) from the position of gender-role education and socialization of children (A. M. Shchetinina, O. I. Ivanova).
All of them do not contradict each other, since the same phenomenon is considered from the perspective of psychology, neurophysiology, pedagogy and sociology. But still, scientists distinguish between the concepts of gender and sex role education. What is their difference? The gender approach, unlike the sex-role approach, does not strictly regulate the pattern of behavior and interaction with people; the main thing in it is to take into account the interests of the individual and mitigate differences between the sexes.
The main influence on the development of my author’s idea was played by the research of T. P. Khrizman and V. D. Eremeeva. The authors hypothesized that the leading role in the development of mechanisms of socialization of sex roles is played by higher brain systems, which have different morphofunctional organizations and ensure a child’s tendency to develop under the influence of the upbringing of his behavioral patterns.
Gender differences are an interesting area to study. The psychological literature has accumulated information about age characteristics, learning ability, preferential methods of mental activity, behavioral characteristics, communication, choice of social roles, and developmental potential of children of different sexes.
Thus, boys and girls play and communicate differently, assert their individuality and show their aggressiveness, sympathize and care, solve new problems, and have different starting capabilities of physiological maturity and readiness for schooling. Interesting results were obtained by scientists during a study of the socio-psychological characteristics of the sexes.
Since there are objective gender differences, approaches to raising children of different sexes should be different.
I am currently working with children in their fourth year of life. The issue of gender education of children became very acute for me due to the fact that my group was dominated by boys. I had many difficulties in organizing children in different types of activities and in communicating with them.
In popular scientific literature, when characterizing early preschool age, there are several figurative definitions that reflect the specific characteristics of children three to four years old. For example, some scientists call this age “tender.”
At the same time, it is at this age that problems begin to appear when communicating with children: children do not listen to adults, cannot occupy themselves independently, and do not know how to express negative emotions in a form acceptable to others. At this time, children still exhibit a crisis of three years, which is characterized by negativism, stubbornness, obstinacy, self-will, devaluation of adults, etc.
But the most important thing is that by the age of three, children begin to clearly distinguish and recognize their gender characteristics: I am a boy, I am a girl. According to scientists, the gender identity of a child of this age includes:
- Appearance.
- Name.
— The image of “I” (in the present and future).
— Attitudes (of society and one’s own).
- Roles (of society and your own).
At this age, children's gender identity is consolidated; children distinguish people by gender based on external signs. [2, p.18]
Many experts believe that younger preschoolers are internally motivated to acquire values, interests and behavior patterns that correspond to their gender, for example, boys play with cars and don’t cry, girls play with dolls and like to dress up.[2, p.19]
But 3-4 year old children’s ideas about their own gender identity are not yet stable. For example, if the music director invites girls to dance, then several boys will definitely come out too.
Obviously, the content of gender consciousness of children aged 3–4 years is very limited, but it is sufficient to include tasks related to the formation of gender identity in the process of raising children.
These tasks are partially reflected in the “Childhood” program in the block of social and moral education, namely:
— Children’s mastery of different ways of interacting with adults and peers in play, in everyday communication and everyday activities; showing politeness and empathy in relationships.
— Encouraging children to be independent, active, and kind.
— Fostering independence in self-care.
— Facilitating children’s development of role-playing dialogue and behavior in games.
— Formation of ideas about people, about the features of their appearance, gender differences.
As can be seen from this list, the tasks relate mainly to awareness of the external differences between boys and girls and the formation of moral standards of behavior in communication, play, and everyday activities.
As a result of special research, scientists have found that at this age, gender identity is especially intensively formed in play and visual activities. [2, p.18]
It is in role-playing games that children learn gender behavior. Therefore, the creation of a play environment and the selection of play equipment taking into account the gender characteristics of children is an important condition for the implementation of a gender approach in raising children.
When organizing the play space, I pay attention to:
a) on the attractiveness of game material and role-playing paraphernalia in order to attract children to reflect socially approved images of female and male behavior in the game;
b) on the sufficiency and completeness of the material for games, during which girls reproduce the model of social behavior of a woman - a mother;
c) for the presence of attributes and markers of the play space for games - travel, in which boys are given the opportunity to play out the male model of behavior;
d) for the presence of attributes indicating role positions in the game.
It is known that boys love to run during games, scream, and play war. But if we consider that boys physiologically need more space for play, that in play they develop physically, learn to regulate their strength, and play helps them discharge accumulated energy, then there will be fewer reasons for reproach. I just try to create appropriate conditions for the game, free up as much space as possible in the group, while making sure that there is no manifestation of aggression in the game, teach game techniques and peaceful conflict resolution.
Girls' games require a small space. When organizing the environment, I take this feature into account. The group has selected many small toys, a sufficient number of strollers, dolls and other paraphernalia, and a kitchen corner has been created.
Teaching strategies, forms and methods of working with children used in kindergarten, as I said above, are most often designed for girls. A female teacher, naturally, does not have childhood experience of the experiences that preschool boys encounter when communicating with adults and children. Therefore, when communicating with boys, I was guided only by the idea that if they are boys, then, therefore, they are the embodiment of will, strength, and endurance. As a result of this, boys who are not at all courageous, but rather fearful, physically weak and very vulnerable, are systematically exposed to traumatic influences.
Knowing gender differences, it is possible to design an interaction process that helps to reveal the potential capabilities of children and their individual characteristics.
Table 1
Gender differences between boys and girls
| Girls | Boys |
| · Be the first to answer the teacher’s questions, trying to ensure that the answer is complete · When answering a teacher’s question, look him in the eyes and wait for an emotional reaction | · Do not rush to answer the teacher’s question, carefully consider what to answer · Speech is less developed than girls; it takes more time to find the right words |
| · Better developed auditory canal | · Poorly perceive explanations by ear, need visual reinforcement |
| · Better developed fine motor skills | · The development of the hand is 1.5 years behind that of girls |
| · Sensitive to intonation, form of assessment, and its publicity. They like it when they are admired in the presence of other people, parents | · It is significant to indicate that he has achieved results (learned to say hello, brush his teeth). The tendency is that having achieved results in some type of activity and having received satisfaction and joy, they are ready to repeat the same thing, which allows them to establish themselves in these achievements |
| · Play quiet games on family and everyday topics | · They love friendly fights, which is not a manifestation of aggression, but creates a positive emotional background · Love noisy games |
| · Superior in verbal abilities | Stronger in visual-spatial abilities |
| · Developed auditory perception | · Developed visual perception |
| · More suggestible | · Self-esteem is more stable |
| · They cope better with simple ones. Routine tasks | ·Higher math skills |
| · Great influence of heredity | · Great influence of the social environment |
| · Emotional, touchy, proud | · Emotional like girls, but tend to hide their emotions |
| · Relying on their closest vision, girls lay out their wealth in front of them; a small space is enough for them. In games they show the instinct of motherhood | · They rely on distant vision, run after each other, throw objects, shoot at a target, and use the entire surrounding space. If there is not enough horizontal space, then they master the vertical space (climb onto cabinets, etc.) |
| · Use bright colors in drawing, draw nouns, princesses, flowers | · In the drawings, dark colors draw verbs |
| · Are independent in demonstrating self-service skills | · Show helplessness in simple everyday affairs, in self-care |
| · An interesting person and his inner world | · Prefer exact sciences, are interested in issues that go beyond the surrounding reality |
| · Girls in the games will unite in small groups. In these groups there is less aggressiveness, more reciprocity, conversations are confidential | · Gaming associations are large |
| · Adapt well to new surroundings | · Adapt less well in a new environment, at school |
| · Interdependence is more acceptable. They gain their own individuality through interaction with others. | · Strive for independence. They show their individuality, trying to separate themselves from the teacher, from the mother |
| · Better perform standard tasks according to a template. Careful attention to detail at a high level. They learn rules and algorithms more easily, they like repetition tasks | · They perform better search activities and come up with new ideas. It is more difficult to complete multi-stage tasks, do not tolerate monotony, do not sit still, but love tasks that test their intelligence. |
| · After the start of classes, they quickly gain an optimal level of performance | Peak performance occurs at the end of the lesson |
After analyzing these differences, I developed an algorithm for interacting with girls and boys, which will help avoid many mistakes in raising children.
table 2
Algorithm for interaction between teacher and children, taking into account gender characteristics
| Gender characteristics of children | Ways and techniques of interaction between adults and children |
| Girls | |
| · Quickly grasp new information, but poorly relate to existing knowledge | · Present material slowly and measuredly, repeat standard tasks |
| · Developed auditory perception | · Select techniques with a focus on the auditory channel of perception, clarity is not important |
| · Sensitive to intonation, to emotional reactions of the teacher, they like it when they are admired | · The teacher’s speech is emotionally charged, praise in the presence of other people, parents |
| Perform tasks better in a gender-mixed group | · Offer group forms of activity, joint games, work |
| · Games are designed for near vision, people like to play with small objects | · Make mini-corners for games, discuss the arrangement of furniture in the doll corner |
| · They are the first to answer the teacher’s question, try to ensure that the answer is complete, look into the teacher’s eyes in anticipation of an emotional assessment. | · Look the girl in the eyes and give an emotionally charged assessment (well done, smart, etc.) |
| · Fine motor skills are better developed | · Offer games with small objects, drawing |
| · Girls quickly gain an optimal level of performance, look up to the teacher | Offer more difficult tasks at the beginning of the lesson |
| · They perform template work and typical tasks better. | · Maximum requirements for accuracy and thoroughness, minimum requirements for search and innovation. |
| Boys | |
| · Do work better alone | · Offer individual assignments |
| · High activity of mental work under time pressure | · You can set a time frame for completing a task |
| · Better developed visual perception, poor understanding of explanations by ear | · Select techniques with a focus on the visual channel of perception |
| · React little to intonation and voice modulation. The voltage peaks in the first minutes, then turns off the auditory canal and the information does not reach his consciousness | · Speak calmly, you can’t scold for a long time, whipping up emotions |
| · They like to explore all the space, games are designed for long-range vision | · Provide space for games, play equipment for climbing in horizontal and vertical planes |
| · Everyone wants to be a leader | · Create competitive situations where everyone could become a leader, a winner |
| · When a teacher asks about something, they do not rush to answer, think it over carefully, do not look them in the eye, and can walk around the group | · Do not rush the answer, do not demand a verbatim retelling, so that the boy looks into the eyes. |
| The development of the hand is 1.5 years behind | · Experiences difficulties in activities and self-care |
| · Emotional like girls, but hide their emotions | · Allow to show your emotions, your feelings, do not hold back (Boys don’t cry) |
| · Evaluation of actions is important | · Praise for something (well done, you learned to tie your shoelaces, etc.) |
| · Peak performance at the end of the lesson, they sway for a long time, do not look at the teacher | · At the beginning of the lesson, offer simple tasks, followed by more complex ones of a search nature. |
| · They perform search activities better, can offer a non-standard solution, the requirements for quality, thoroughness, and accuracy of its execution are low | · Offer to put forward an idea, come up with something. Don't give ready answers |
Taking into account the gender characteristics of children allows me to create a positive psychological climate in interaction in the child-child, child-adult system. Boys become more harmonious, their emotional sphere develops. In children, the manifestations of the three-year-old crisis are smoothed out, mental abilities and social skills develop.
The work carried out does not pretend to be an exhaustive analysis of all aspects of the problem under study due to its diversity. Further study of the problem can be continued in the following areas:
— Features of gender education at different stages of preschool childhood.
— Features of gender education of children in different types of activities.
Boys and girls are two different worlds. Very often we misunderstand what is behind their actions, which means we react to them incorrectly. A boy and a girl should never be raised the same way. They look and see differently, listen and hear, speak and remain silent, feel and experience. Let's try to understand and accept our boys and girls as they are, as different and beautiful in their own way as nature created them.
Literature:
1. Barannikova, N. A. About boys and girls, as well as their parents. Methodological manual for teachers of preschool institutions. M.: TC Sfera, 2012. - 128 p.
2. Doronova, T. N. Girls and boys 3–4 years old in the family and kindergarten: A manual for preschool educational institutions. - M.: Linka-Press, 2009. - 224 p.
3. Eremeeva, V.D., Khrizman, T.P. Boys and girls - two different worlds. Neuropsychologists - teachers, educators, parents, school psychologists. - M.: LINKA-PRESS, 1998. - 184 p.
4. Kolomiychenko, L. V. Dynamics and features of gender-role socialization of boys and girls of preschool age // Kindergarten from A to Z No. 1 2006.
5. Nagel O. On gender education of preschoolers //Preschool education. — No. 6 2009.
6. Repina, T. A. The problem of gender-role socialization of preschoolers // Kindergarten from A to Z. - No. 1 2006.
7. Tatarintseva, N. About gender role education of boys and girls: technological component // Preschool education. - No. 4 2008.
8. Chekalina, A. A. What is gender? //Kindergarten from A to Z. - No. 1 2006.
9. Shchetinina A. M., Ivanova O. I. Gender-role development of children 5–7 years old: Methodological manual. - M.: TC Sfera, 2010. - 128 p.
Issues for discussion:
1. Sandra Bam's concept of gender schema. Formation of sexual identity in children of different ages. 2. Characteristics of feminine, masculine, androgynous, undifferentiated children, features of their behavior. 3. Psychological portraits of “adequate” and “ambivalent” children. 4. Gender characteristics of middle-aged representatives from the perspective of experiencing conflicts.
Practical tasks. 1. Select your own everyday or literary illustrations for the types of child behavior discussed in this section. 2. Watch children of different sexes play. What is the nature of games for children of different genders, what roles do they choose in them?
The structure of interpersonal relationships in groups of children
For a preschooler, peers act as carriers of norms and forms of behavior set by adults. At this age, the basic stereotypes of an individual’s social behavior are formed. Preschoolers are not aware of the motives for interpersonal attraction. Contacts that arise both spontaneously (when children themselves choose a partner to play together) and organized by adults do not last long. Adults are the source of ideas about normative behavior. The assimilation of norms and rules of interpersonal relationships occurs in interaction with peers. At middle preschool age, a child can already demonstrate his personal relationships. Interpersonal relationships become more selective and become relatively stable.
The norms regulating the interpersonal relationships of preschoolers are in the process of formation. The lack of personal social experience encourages children to focus their actions on the opinion of the majority (to be “like everyone else”). A preschooler's likes and dislikes are determined by the extent to which the peer corresponds to the social standard, which is formed on the basis of adult assessments and mutual assessments of peers.
In almost every kindergarten group, a complex, sometimes dramatic picture of children’s relationships unfolds. Preschoolers make friends, quarrel, make peace, get offended, envy, help each other, and sometimes commit little “pranks.” All these relationships are acutely experienced and carry many different emotions.
Parents and educators sometimes do not know about the wide range of feelings and relationships that their children experience, and, naturally, do not attach much importance to children's friendships, quarrels and insults. Meanwhile, the experience of first relationships with peers is the foundation on which the further development of the child’s personality is built. This first experience largely determines the nature of a person’s relationship to himself, to others, and to the world as a whole. This experience is not always successful.”
Many children, already in preschool age, develop and consolidate a negative attitude towards others, which can have very sad and long-term consequences. The most important task of parents is to timely identify problematic forms of interpersonal relationships and help the child overcome them. To do this, it is necessary to know the age-related characteristics of children’s communication, the normal course of development of communication with peers, as well as the psychological causes of various problems in relationships with other children.
An important issue in studying the characteristics of intra-group relations of both preschoolers and not only preschoolers is the identification of the very structure of such relations and their content. This can be done on the basis of an analysis of the social situation of the group's development.
In children's groups, functional - role, emotional - evaluative and personal - semantic relationships between peers can be distinguished. Functional-role relationships appear in the study of “business” communication and joint activities, which allows us to answer the questions: “in what specific activity do these relationships unfold?” and “what do they reflect?” These relationships are fixed in the spheres of children’s life activities specific to a given community (labor, educational, productive, play) and develop in the process of the child’s assimilation of norms and methods of action in a group under the direct supervision and control of an adult.
Functional-role relationships manifested in play activities are largely independent and free from the direct control of an adult. In the game itself, as in all other forms of joint activity of children in a group, there are two types of relationships: actual gaming relationships and relationships regarding joint activities in the game. For example, gaming relationships themselves reproduce socially typical patterns of behavior - a doctor to a patient is kind, a teacher to a student is strict. These are relationships “in general”, they are “subjectless” and are given to the child in interaction with peers.
Another type of gaming relationship arises “around” the game, when discussing its concept, constructing a “scenario,” and distributing roles. The psychological meaning of the child’s interaction here is that it is in the context of these relationships that the child makes his personal choice of one role or another. At the same time, fundamentally important conflicts in a child’s life arise and are resolved: “What to play?”; “Who should be included in the game?”; “Who will be in charge?”
In the children's group, mutual correction of behavior is carried out in accordance with learned social norms. If a child follows these norms, he is assessed positively by other children; if he deviates from these norms, “claims” arise against the adult, dictated by the desire to confirm the norm.
Analysis of the motivational plan for joint activities in a children's team opens the way to the study of personal-semantic relationships that stand out when answering the question: for what and for whom is joint activity carried out?
Personal-semantic relationships are relationships in a group in which the motive of one child acquires personal meaning for other peers. At the same time, participants in joint activities begin to experience the interests and values of this child as their own motives, for the sake of which they act, taking on various social roles.
Personal-semantic relationships are especially pronounced when a child, in his interaction with others, actually takes on the role of an adult and acts in accordance with it. This can be observed in critical situations, when, for example, a child takes care of a younger brother or sister during a serious illness of the mother.
The emotional well-being of a child as a prerequisite for his mental health
In studies of the emotional state of preschoolers, a stable positive, comfortable emotional state of the child is considered as basic, which is the basis of the child’s attitude to the world and influences the characteristics of experiencing family situations, the cognitive sphere, the emotional-volitional sphere, the style of experiencing stressful situations, and relationships with peers.
In general, this basic emotional state is characterized as a feeling of emotional well-being. There are three main levels of emotional well-being: high, medium and low, correlating with the type of interaction between mother and child and its severity. A high level of emotional well-being is formed with an emotionally accepting and supportive type of interaction.
Various forms of emotionally dependent and emotionally rejecting types of interaction and the degree of their severity form an average or low level of emotional well-being of the child. Methods have been developed to diagnose the level of emotional well-being. In infancy, the state of emotional well-being is defined as a basic feeling of emotional comfort that provides a trusting and active relationship with the world. At an older age, emotional well-being provides high self-esteem, developed self-control, a focus on success and emotional comfort in the family and outside it. From the moment a child enters kindergarten, his emotional development, to a greater extent than before, depends on strangers and the experiences he receives outside the home.
A child’s fears reflect his perception of the world around him, the scope of which for him is significantly expanded. Most fears are related to events in school, family and peer groups. Inexplicable and imaginary fears of early years gradually give way to more conscious fears, of which there are many in everyday life. Among other things, the subject of fears may be relationships with peers.
It is important that a child who has developed fear returns to kindergarten as soon as possible. Sometimes, paying too much attention to complaints of physical ailments can cause these symptoms to worsen. Perhaps sometimes it is better to “not notice” a child’s bad mood and ignore his complaints. In any case, a benevolent and persistent interest in visiting kindergarten is preferable to pity and lamentation.
Consideration of emotional-evaluative relationships allows us to answer the questions: does the behavior of children in the group correspond to social norms? What emotions does it evoke? What do they like or dislike about their peers?
The main function of emotional-evaluative relationships in a child-adolescent group is to correct the behavior of a peer in accordance with accepted norms of joint activity. Emotional preferences - likes, dislikes, friendships, etc. - come to the fore here. They arise quite early in ontogenesis, and the formation of this type of relationship is determined by purely external perceptual factors (for example, a child likes curly girls), or mediated by an adult’s assessment or past experience of communicating with this child - negative or positive.
Emotional-evaluative relationships are regulators in situations of possible conflicts when distributing roles in the game. Each child who aspires to a significant role in the game is faced with similar aspirations of other children. In this situation, the first manifestations of demands for justice in relationships may spontaneously arise - an orientation towards the norm of priority in the distribution of prestigious roles, awards and distinctions, which, as children assume, must be strictly observed. However, sometimes the child’s aspirations remain unfulfilled, and he has to be content with an insignificant role and not receive what he expected.
Emotional and evaluative attitudes manifest themselves in the direct interaction of children, reflecting their system of preferences. Personally significant relationships are necessary relationships that have developed in joint activity and are realized in it. In this case, the motive of each participant in such a relationship becomes another person, the one for whose sake the joint activity is ultimately carried out. Emerging in the real interaction of children, these relationships have a certain independence from the child’s immediate preferences. Moreover, they have a significant impact on emotional-value relations, sometimes changing their sign to the opposite.
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