Principals authors: Margaret Clark and Carolyn Page.

The organisational culture of the school is a vital area for analysis in terms of the role it plays in developing and promoting constructions of gender which are constraining and limiting, or equitable and encouraging.

Violence And Sex-Based Harassment

Sue Walpole, the Federal Sex Discrimination Commissioner, makes the following point in her paper to the Promoting Gender Equity Conference in 1995:

... unless we assist boys to challenge aggressive behaviour, we will be unable to eliminate sex-based harassment and violence against girls and women in the home, at school and in the workplace. We will not be able to eliminate bullying and homophobic victimisation. And we will also be failing to ensure that the burden of unpaid work is distributed more equitably than it is today. (Walpole, 1995, pp5-11)

The report of the National Committee on Violence (1990) stated that one of the most striking aspects of violence in Australia is that the vast majority of those who commit acts of violence are males. Much of the violence in our society can be analysed in terms of the dominant forms of masculinity-not only male-female violence but male-male violence. It is only fairly recently, however, that connections have been made between the prevalence of violence in our communities and the socially approved forms of masculinity dominant in our society.

Dominant masculinity

There are a number of accounts which describe the current concept of dominant masculinity, and there is widespread agreement about its broad characteristics-repudiating and deriding femininity, restrictive emotionality, seeking achievement and status, self-reliance, aggression, homophobia and non-relational attitudes towards sexuality. These characteristics also vary according to class and cultural location. For example, some studies of masculinity have noted strong elements of anti-authoritarian bravado and an anti-intellectual stance as common elements in working-class locations.

Schools are reflections of our society, and exploration of the role of violence in the construction of dominant masculinity is fundamental to developing a strategy for challenging the pervasiveness of violence in our communities and schools. Violence and sex-based harassment of girls in schools must be seen as part of this larger problem of unequal power relations between the sexes, in the school, home and work place.

The predominant finding of research into student perceptions about life at schools is that violence and sex-based harassment are far more prevalent than most teachers realise. The incidents are often not identified or addressed because they are seen as normal and inevitable-just the way things are. For many students the experience of being treated violently, bullied or verbally harassed is routine and constant and has a detrimental effect on girls and some boys. It is also important to note that the behaviour is often serious even at lower years of primary school.

In a survey undertaken by Jeremy Ludowyke (1995) in 12 Victorian schools, he found that 'the gross incidence of violent behaviour by boys which would legally constitute sexual assault peaked at Year 2'. Further, the National Action Plan for the Education of Girls 1993-97 makes the following points:

The impact on the social and educational experience of girls can be devastating. Those being harassed are likely to withdraw from participation in classroom activity or from their social group. Some girls react angrily, and are often perceived to be trouble makers unless the source of their anger is recognised. In some cases girls escape either by ceasing to attend particular subjects or by leaving the school altogether.

Recently there has been increasing interest in the ways in which these dominant constructions may also hinder the learning outcomes of boys. Some preliminary work into boys' education indicates that boys' learning in self-expressive subjects is negatively affected by dominant views of what constitutes appropriate behaviour for boys, as well as of the acceptability of violence that accompanies those views.

Homophobic regimes in schools play a powerful part in reinforcing dominant ideas about masculinity and femininity. The fear of being labelled gay or lesbian puts great pressure on all students to prove their heterosexual credentials by conforming to a narrow range of body images, or by becoming sexually active, or by engaging in sexual conquest, or by sexualising opposite-sex relations, or by getting a boyfriend or girlfriend, or by curtailing intimacy with same-sex friends. This places huge constraints on the range of behaviours possible for either girls or boys.

For students who are gay or lesbian, or who are perceived to be gay or lesbian, the impact of homophobic taunting and violence can become intolerable, leading some students to leave school or contemplate suicide. In many instances behaviour that is homophobic victimisation is just seen as bullying. There is also evidence that many incidents of homophobic violence or taunting are witnessed by teachers or other students, but not acted upon.

Girls and boys do not have to personally experience violence, bullying or sex-based harassment to be influenced by its existence, for example:

... the casual acceptance by boys that violent behaviour is a normal and acceptable part of interactions with other students, the sense of bravado and machismo evident in the recounting of incidents, the right boys assume to make judgements about the appearance and behaviour of girls and to act on those judgements, degree of disgust for the idea of being a girl, and the idea of girls as something completely opposite, alien and inferior

are some of the dimensions of masculinity which are identified in the report, Enough's Enough (1994), as needing to be addressed in any program dealing with school violence.

Some students perceive that teachers behave in ways which are intimidating and unwelcome, and teachers also suffer the effects of violence from students, and from witnessing violence. The Committee into Violence in Australian schools was told of a consistent pattern of unacceptable levels of both physical and verbal aggression towards teachers.

The National Action Plan for the Education of Girls 1993-97 also noted that:

... teachers and other educators daily find themselves dealing with the consequences of grossly unacceptable behaviour such as sexual abuse and violence against women in our society.

There is some evidence that there is resistance on the part of schools to assessing and acknowledging the levels and types of violence that occur at school, not least because there is a fear that such findings will be damaging to the school's reputation.

School Discipline And Management Policies

The vast majority of school-based approaches to violent behaviour, bullying, school discipline, behaviour management and so on tend to focus on the individual who presents the violent or disruptive behaviour. Such approaches may result in individual behaviour change, although the evidence on the effectiveness of such approaches is unclear. However, in general, most behaviour management approaches treat antisocial and violent behaviours as isolated incidents, as though they are not part of a continuum of behaviours which legitimise violence more generally. In order to reduce violence it is necessary to address overt forms of violence as well as the attitudes of individuals, and the school and peer culture that supports violence. The insights gained from work on gender and violence have clear implications for school discipline and behaviour management policies and programs, as sometimes structures of social institutions can contribute to a culture of violence. For example, violence and unequal power relations between men and women, and boys and girls, can be condoned through the social organisation of the school or embedded in its culture as part of everyday language, rules and practices.

Overwhelmingly, the behaviour management field has been singularly unaffected by the gender debate, because the two do not share a common theoretical base. Behaviour management theorists do not take account of gender, but treat individuals as sexless. Therefore, much of the literature focuses on individual problem students. While gender has become a significant category of analysis in the consideration of power and knowledge relations in schools, all too often overt displays of aggressive, abusive and antisocial behaviour, even when overwhelmingly presented by boys, are not seen as anything to do with masculinity. Rather, such displays are seen as requiring discipline or authority responses, and the power relations aspects made are not made visible.

It is also becoming increasingly apparent that historically, behaviour management programs were developed in response to the urgent needs generated by boys' behaviour. This has meant that the many girls who present as needing behaviour and emotional program intervention cannot be incorporated readily into the dominant program processes, and are often minorities in these groups.

Harassment and conflict between girls has also been identified as a particular problem for girls.

Girls are harassed if they are thinner than the 'ideal', if they are fatter or taller or shorter and for what they wear and how they wear it. They are also harassed because of things which happen outside of the school and which become part of the recess or lunchtime agenda. [It] seems to occur when best friends part and incidents are magnified in order to define an individual's inclusion or exclusion from the group. These fallouts can be precipitated by rumours ..., about who was seen trying to 'get on' with a boy someone was known to be keen on and about things borrowed and not returned. Girls will call each other names linked to their sexuality, their sexual activity, or lack of it. One of the strongest forms of abuse is to call someone lesbian. (Cameron, 1995)

Very little serious time is devoted to assisting girls to negotiate these conflicts, and these incidents are often trivialised as just 'girls being bitchy'.

Violent and delinquent behaviours are arguably the most difficult and unsolvable issues facing school communities. One area of outstanding need is to understand better how the construction of masculinity works in reference to the overwhelming domination of boys in special behaviour programs. One of the reasons for our lack of knowledge is that the issue of gender has, in the main, been seen as a women's issue, and masculinity has not been put under scrutiny to the same degree.

Many teachers state that they spend more time dealing with discipline than teaching, and that boys are the main focus of disciplinary action. This is because boys' loud, physically disruptive and aggressive behaviour has to be addressed before learning can occur. Such behaviours, and the requirement to deal with them, cut across learning. On the other hand there are also many girls who are not learning in class because of their inappropriate classroom behaviour. Their negative behaviour is more likely to take the form of passive resistance or withdrawal which, because it does not disrupt the learning of others, is often not addressed.

Discipline problems can be increased by inappropriate and often confrontational discipline systems which can have a counter-productive effect. All too often, teachers' professionalism is judged by their ability to keep control. Historically the responsibility for discipline has tended to rest with male staff members, partly because men have overwhelmingly occupied positions of authority. There is a growing body of research which suggests that the organisational culture of schools has been based on dominant notions of masculinity, in which authority is sharply contrasted with compassion and understanding.

With some boys, the discipline system becomes the focus of masculinity formation-a contradictory effect. It is also the case that the prevailing attitudes of some teachers to students whose cultural style does not conform to teachers' preconceptions of 'good students' can lead to students being labelled trouble-makers-a self-fulfilling prophecy, for example, girls who act out are often seen as sexually active or promiscuous.

Finally it is important to assess the impact of some school sport cultures and the extent to which they may produce and reinforce particular macho versions of masculinity, based on aggressive competitiveness and physical toughness. This could reinforce and legitimise hierarchies of masculinity which may have negative consequences on boys' attitudes to learning.

Principles For Action

The above analysis implies that in order for violence, homophobic practices and sexual and sex-based harassment to be addressed and eliminated in schools, work needs to be done in the following areas:

• reviewing and redeveloping school approaches to discipline and behaviour management, and to the culture of sport
• developing whole school approaches to all forms of school violence
• establishing curriculum in key learning areas, especially Studies of Society and Environment, Health, and Physical Education programs which provide opportunities for both boys and girls to explore the ways in which dominant understandings of masculinity and femininity inform and constrain them, and to assist students to become advocates for change.

Reviewing school culture, including programs and policies on discipline, behaviour management and sport

Schools which have not developed a democratic and just ethos in classrooms and general administration cannot easily provide the basis for an environment necessary to overcome violence and encourage cooperative respectful behaviour. It is important that students see and experience the behaviour which schools wish them to understand and adopt.

Research into student alienation has clear implications for schools wishing to move towards less confrontational and authoritarian approaches to discipline. Some of the most common complaints made by students who are identified as alienated from the process of schooling are about the lack of opportunity to have a fair say when they feel they have not been heard; the overwhelming tendency to label some students because of superficial aspects such as personal style; the lack of positive feedback; and the desire for opportunities to take up responsibilities in the school.

Provision for the student voice to be heard, in all its diversity, as part of a just and democratic forum, is essential in promoting a safe school culture. Schools which have started to involve students in decision-making and to invite their assistance in identifying and solving shared problems have reported positive results. Schools should encourage girls and boys to discuss some of the ways in which they resist, challenge and accommodate gendered expectations.

Changing discipline structures alone will not overcome school violence or dominant masculinity and its antisocial disruptive effects. However, without change, attempts to address violence more specifically are unlikely to be effective.

Relevant and explicit curriculum which teaches girls and boys about gender and behaviour issues, and which encourages them to engage with the paradoxes and contradictions, supports behaviour management and classroom practice.

Providing clear directions on how to incorporate understandings about gender construction into policies and programs in the area of discipline, behaviour management and sport is difficult because there is almost no practical or research work from which to draw. Data collection, research and provision of professional development about gender construction for school personnel responsible for these areas are clear starting points.

Addressing gender-based violence

Gender-based violence is one of the most difficult challenges facing all schools. However, there are schools which operate in a way that ensures that violence is isolated, infrequent, and managed through policy and programs. These schools are characterised by strong leadership, by staff who believe that violence can and should be reduced, and who are dedicated to effecting this change. These schools have a whole-school approach to addressing violence and they ensure that all students know their rights and responsibilities to themselves and others.

The following principles have been identified as the key to successful programs.

• Investigating students' perceptions and experience of sex-based harassment and violence: This helps programs to be more focused and increases the likelihood that they will be accepted by students, teachers and the community. This 'needs analysis' is often more effective if undertaken by someone who is not on the school staff.
• Developing units of work designed to teach young people about gender construction: This enables young people to understand to some degree the ways in which gender relations are impacting on their lives. Ideally this would enable young people to undertake research at the individual school level as to how gender relations are played out at their school in the context of community, society and popular culture, and what impact this has for who.

  -Integrating gender perspectives into other school programs and policies: Initiatives undertaken to address gender-based violence should complement other programs that are being implemented as part of the school's supportive environment and behaviour management plans.

  -Training both teachers and students in the skills of democratic decision-making, social interaction, conflict resolution, and negotiation.

  -Providing professional development to enable teachers to come to an understanding of the assumptions and values which underpin and perpetuate violence, and exploring these issues in the local school context.

  -Establishing effective home-school partnerships, structured classrooms, clear expectations about rules of conduct and consequences for transgression, recognition of appropriate behaviours, positive regard and respect for students and staff, and provision of opportunities for students to succeed.

  -Collecting data, measuring, monitoring and reporting.

Programs for boys have been developed in a number of schools and systems. To date there is very little information about the assumptions underpinning such programs, their goals or their relative effectiveness. The strongest argument for working separately with boys and girls on matters to do with gender construction is that coeducational discussions on these matters can be counterproductive without prior work with both girls and boys. This is because the patterns of interaction that dominate mixed-sex groups are unlikely to provide a safe and supportive environment for either girls or boys to discuss sensitive matters. However, in the long run, girls and boys will get further on these matters when they are able to discuss these matters with each other in productive ways.

Working with girls

Girls' programs have had a much longer history than boys-only programs and because of this there are a number of things that have been learnt about single-sex work that should not have to be relearned all over again in working with boys.

The most important insights that relate to work on gender and violence include the following points.

• Contrary to some views, all girls do not naturally have highly developed skills in interpersonal relations, even though they may take this matter more seriously than boys. They need to be taught the skills of conflict resolution, active listening, assertive speaking, articulating their feelings, fair ways of arguing and so on, just as boys do.
• Girls will not usually respond positively to attempts to define the problem for them. For many girls the dominating, aggressive and undermining behaviour of some boys has come to be seen as natural and unremarkable-not even worth commenting on. They may be more likely to see attempts to label boys in this way as undermining and threatening their fragile relations with boys.
• It is always important that the dominant girls do not speak for all girls. Girls' experiences and insights will vary considerably according to other aspects such as socio-economic background, culture, sexuality.
• It is important not to position girls as homogeneous and passive victims of the boys' violence, as though this is the only source of girls' problems. When teachers encourage students to study the effects of masculinity, there is always a danger that the negative aspects of some understandings of femininity will be ignored. There is also a danger of reinforcing gender stereotypes and of ignoring intra-group differences. Many girls resist boys' positioning. They can also be disruptive in their refusal to learn and can become school resisters to their own detriment.

Working with boys

The goal of boys' programs is to support boys in their work of developing a non-exploitative gender identity and to equip them to work as equal partners with girls on these matters. How to go about this needs to be thought through very carefully. There are a number of programs that have been developed on the basis that boys' problems can best be solved through an approach which celebrates masculinity and which helps boys discover 'the warrior within'. Such programs are likely to increase dualistic thinking which denigrates femaleness. This will only escalate violence. At the same time it is important that boys' programs still allow boys to feel good about themselves and not adopt a negative blaming tone, as this will also be counter-productive.

While there are no definitive evaluations of boys' programs, the work done by the organisation Men Against Sexual Assault (MASA) and by some committed male teachers do offer some general principles in terms of overall goals. These programs suggest that boys' programs can assist boys:

• to see the world more accurately, rather than through a distorted lens of media and popular culture (many researchers have noted that, particularly in the early years, boys' descriptions of what girls are like bear very little resemblance to most of the girls in their class)
• to explore ways in which dominant masculinity, and its exclusion of femininity (and the male-female dichotomies created) inform their relationships with girls and with each other
• to explore violence and how it relates to masculinity and femininity
• to identify the sanctions against being able to take up different ways of being male
• to identify the effects of dominant masculinity and enable them to consider the benefits of change
• to develop the skills of listening, empathy, being able to view a situation from the perspective of those who are marginalised-skills which will be transferable to coeducational groups and to their post-school working, domestic and civic lives
• to identify ways in which the school can change to support them in more respectful ways of relating to girls and each other.

References

Cameron, Susan (1995), 'What's going on: Girls and boys in Australian schools', Proceedings of the Promoting Gender Equity Conference, held under the auspices of the Gender Equity Taskforce of the Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs (MCEETYA), ACT Department of Education and Training, Publications and Public Communications, Canberra, pp21-28.

Enough's Enough-Sexual Harassment and Violence: A Resource Kit for Primary Schools (1994), (4 books, 1 37 min. VHS video, leaflet, 7 posters), Queensland Department of Education, Brisbane.

Ludowyke, Jeremy (1995), 'The progress of gender equity: Some cautionary tales', Proceedings of the Promoting Gender Equity Conference, held under the auspices of the Gender Equity Taskforce of the Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs (MCEETYA), ACT Department of Education and Training, Publications and Public Communications, Canberra, pp13-19.

Walpole, Sue (1995), 'Gender equity in education: A view from outside the classroom', Proceedings of the Promoting Gender Equity Conference, held under the auspices of the Gender Equity Taskforce of the Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs (MCEETYA), ACT Department of Education and Training, Publications and Public Communications, Canberra, pp5-11.

This section was prepared under the auspices of the Gender Equity Taskforce for the Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs. Principals authors: Margaret Clark and Carolyn Page.