Differentiation of teaching practice in the classroom: Girls versus boys

The impetus of this honours project stemmed from my own experiences as a pre-service teacher. During my practicum placement, I observed a male colleague teacher interacting differently with boys and girls. Research from Fisher (2014) Leder and Forgasz (2010) and Skelton et al., (2009) suggests that differentiated practices can influence teacher expectations, which may be detrimental to student development if left unrecognised. This led to my research project to understand the ways, if at all, classroom teachers differentiate their practice as a result of students' gender. I employed qualitative case study research methodology with methods including interviews, observations and field notes. The findings revealed that three teachers, from varying contexts, were more likely to respond to students' personality than their gender. This indicated a strong link between teacher classroom practice and influential school philosophies. These findings and add to the current literature of gender differentiated practices in the Australian context and how school policies influence teachers' pedagogy.