Starting Points

Abstract

It is not possible to identify any single factor that might be responsible for the rejection of CDT subjects by all but a handful of girls. Societal attitudes which inculcate 'appropriate' sex-role hehaviour in males and females undoubtedly play an important part in directing subject choice in school and career choice after school. Equally important, but less widely recognised, are the school institutional factors which reflect gender stereotyped assumptions and which lead to an im balance in educational outcomes between boys and girls. These factors operate through the timetable and option systems, welfare and career guidance, teacher expectations, teacher/pupil interaction. teaching materials and the hidden curriculum generally. Some LEAs and schools are making determined efforts to reduce the influence that institutional factors can have on the differential pattern of girls and boys su bject choice. However, as yet little attention has been given to the ways in which a subject area of itself - by what is taught, how it is taught and why it is taught - can create, in image and in practice, an ethos that is largely rejected by one sex or the other. This article examines the implications of a number of teaching approaches for girls education in Crafts, Design and Technology.