Fiction, book talk and reading logs: a way to discuss gender equality

Research topic/aim
There is a risk of cultural reproduction of stereotypical gender patterns if subjects such as gender equality are not a part of planned school activities (Ocio, 2023). Therefore, student teachers need to become skilled within the area (Acar-Erdol et al, 2022). One way to support student’s learning is through including fiction in their training (eg. Bean & Harper, 2006; Mottart et al, 2009). Supportive and focused structures are needed when using fiction as part of teacher training (Höijer et al, 2024; Sumara et al, 2006), for example through reading logs and book talks (Chambers, 2014; Edvardsson, 2019). The aim of this study was to explore the different aspects of gender equality that were noted in reading logs.

Theoretical framework
Based on social constructionism (Burr, 2003; Gergen, 2009), a central understanding was that students socially construct how they perceive gender equality and that they have agency and capacity to negotiate these meanings.

Methodology/research design
This study was based on SoTL (Poole, 2018) and started with general observations which resulted in a structured project investigating the use of fiction in teaching gender equality. The data consists of 12 group reading logs from workshops with 97 student teachers. A thematic analysis process (Braun & Clarke, 2022) investigated how gender equality was constructed in relation to family-, working - and community-life.

Findings
Stereotypical patterns and societal structures of gender roles were noted in the reading logs. For example, traditional roles for women and men in a relationship and in professions, the concept of family, and societal norms and expectations.

Relevance to Nordic educational research
The findings show that fiction, book talk and reading logs provide a way to discuss gender equality in teacher training.

References
- Acar-Erdol, T., Bostancioglu, A. & Gözütok, F. D. (2022). Gender equality perceptions of preservice teachers: are they ready to teach it? Social Psychology of Education, 4(25), 793–818.
- Bean, T. W. & Harper, H. J. (2006). Exploring notions of freedom in and through young adult literature. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 50(2), 96-104.
- Braun, V. & Clarke, V. (2022). Thematic analysis: a practical guide. SAGE
- Burr, V. (2003). Social constructionism. Routledge.
- Chambers, A. (2014). Böcker inom och omkring oss. Gilla böcker
- Edvardsson, J. (2019). Läsa och samtala om skönlitteratur – med digitala verktyg. Studentlitteratur.
- Gergen, K. J. (2009). An invitation to social constructionism. Sage.
- Höijer, K., Bryntorp, A., Edvardsson, J. & Scazzocchio, A. (2024). Fiction as a didactic tool to explore challenging issues in Home and Consumer Studies. IJHE, 17(1), 48-62.
- Mottart, A., Vanhooren, S., Rutten, K. & Soetaert, R. (2009). Fictional narratives as didactical tools: using Frank McCourt's Teacher Man in pre‐service teacher education, Educational Studies, 35(5), p. 493-502.
- Ocio, A. R. (2023). ‘Theory is beautiful’: Resistance and counterresistance to gender equality in teacher training. Higher Education Quarterly, 78(3), 693-708.
- Poole, G. (2018). Using intuition, anecdote, and observation. Rich sources of SoTL projects. In Chick, N. L. (ed.). SoTL in action. Illuminating critical moments of practice. Routledge.
- Sumara, D., Davis, B. & Iftody, T. (2006). Normalizing literary responses in the teacher education classroom. Changing English, 13(1), p. 55-67.