Project by: Zoe Karp (11th Grade), Leilani Wizner (11th Grade)
Project Advisor: Anna Gonzales
Student(s)’s Advisor(s): Kelly and Charlene

Description of the Project:

Our plan is to find examples of gender stereotypes in children’s books, and analyze and find ways to frame them for younger readers. We wanted to do a project that incorporated literature, something that we are both passionate about, while also exploring a larger issue. We were learning in our Sociology of Education class about how girls are subconsciously taught from a young age that their answers or thoughts aren’t as valuable because teachers call on boys more than girls. We thought that this was really interesting, and it led us to think about all the other ways this message and other gender stereotypes are reinforced to young girls. Younger kids consume children’s books so often, it’s one of the main ways information gets to them, so it makes sense that gender stereotypes would be perpetuated by picture books. 

We plan to find two-three different books to read and analyze, all with different examples of gender stereotypes. After finding the books, we’ll find a way to read them to younger students, either 4-5 year olds, with guided questions and framework, or 8-10 year olds, who have a little more perspective, and more open-ended questions. Once we meet with the students and have a discussion, we’ll write a reflection about the ways these books could be better framed and made into a teaching moment in curriculums. Overall, our goal for the most part is for us to gain more understanding about one of the ways in which gender stereotypes are subconsciously taught to children from a young age.

Final Product (e.g., documents, images, video, audio, poster, display, etc.):

Update on Progress from Weeks 1-3 (include any photos or video if relevant):

Zoe: For our first few weeks, we’ve picked out the two books we’re going to read and analyze, and emailed the teacher we hope to be working with. The books we picked out are more classically princess-y and fairy tale-y than we initially thought we would pick, but they seem like the best examples of gender stereotypes, and are very commonly read or listened to by little kids. Our next step is to start drafting our questions for the students.

Leilani: We’ve been in contact with the same teacher, and are planning on reading to the kids over zoom in the coming weeks. We are finalizing our decisions on which books we want to use, and drafting questions to ask the kids. We are also trying to figure out if we want to read these books to older kids as well and see if the age difference has an impact on how the kids perceive the books, and whether they pick up on the stereotypes that are presented.

 

Update on Progress from Weeks 4-6 (include any photos or video if relevant):

In the last few weeks, we’ve finalized our picks for the books we’ll be reading, as well as drafted questions for the students. We’re scheduled to meet with the class Wednesday the 3rd and Wednesday the 10th to read each book, and we’re really excited to hear what they have to say! Our questions are:

Princess Hyacinth:

Do you notice anything about the relationship between the boy and the girl in this book?

Is this what normal fairytales are like?

Do you think the girl wanted to be saved or was she having fun?

 

Sleeping Bobby:

Do you know the story of sleeping beauty already? How is this different?

Is this like most of the other fairytales you know? How is this different?

Do you like this more or less than the other sleeping beauty or the other fairytales?

 

Update on Progress from Weeks 7-9 (include any photos or video if relevant):

Zoe: These last few weeks have been very eventful for our project. We zoomed in to Tammy’s Kindergarten class, where we read them our books and asked the questions we had prepared. Overall, they were really excited to have high schoolers be reading to them, and their reactions from the stories were pretty much exactly what we were hoping to get. We’re working now on writing our analysis.