Navigating the gender dimensions in English language teaching: perceptions of senior high school teachers in the Philippines

ABSTRACT

In the Philippines, previous studies have revealed that the implementation of gender mainstreaming in education has remained vague. Also, there is a lacuna in the literature about informed accounts of teachers, particularly English language teachers, in their attempts to mainstream gender-and-development (GAD) education in Philippine schools. Through a qualitative survey among 124 Filipino senior high school teachers of English and follow-up focus group discussions, this paper explores English language teachers’ perceptions of the advantages, ways of, and challenges to incorporating gender dimensions in ELT. Findings indicate that teachers are ready to integrate a gender perspective into their teaching; however, concrete frameworks, curriculum materials, teacher education, and institutional support are crucial given the sensitive, ethical concerns that consideration of gender may generate among educators, students, and the wider community. Implications from this investigation could trigger similar accounts and experiences in teaching-learning contexts where the gender perspective may be integrated.

KEYWORDS:

• Critical literacy
• English language teaching
• gender education
• gender and development
• gender perspective
• Philippines

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank the Research Center for Social Sciences and Education of the University of Santo Tomas, Manila, the Philippines for all the support and resources it provided me.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Research Center for Social Sciences and Education, University of Santo Tomas, Manila, the Philippines [(Not Applicable)].