The Paradox of Gender: sex stereotyping within statementing procedure

Abstract

This paper seeks to document a previously neglected area of study, namely the influence of gender in the process of statementing. It will be the intention of the analysis to show, through a quantitative and qualitative investigation of selected data, how the content of statements differ when examined from a gender perspective. Evidence presented will be in the form of an analysis of 50 statements collected from the local education authorities in Sheffield and Rotherham. Reference will be made to the terminology used both by teachers and psychologists in determining, through statementing advice, those children perceived as having moderate learning difficulties. Conclusions from this analysis will show how the statementing system is not a neutral process, and its institutionalisation within the educational bureaucracy has made it generally reflective of dominant values and beliefs. In this way, it will be argued, gender differentiation has become part of a wider process which separates some children (i.e. to special schools) from others. A further feature of this analysis will be a discussion both of the way in which the data contribute to new understandings in the field of gender and education and some of the policy implications which emerge from it.