Author: Dr. Trilochan Beura

ISBN: 978-81-69297-81-3

DOI: https://doi.org/10.59646/747

Date of Publication: June 25, 2026

Cite this book: Trilochan B, (2026), Understanding, Gender, School, and Society, San International Scientific Publications, ISBN: 978-81-69297-81-3, DOI: https://doi.org/10.59646/747

Preface

Before a child learns a lesson from a textbook, the child has already learned many lessons from society.

A girl may be told to speak softly. A boy may be told not to cry. One child may be praised for confidence, while another is asked to remain quiet. Some learners enter school feeling free to dream; others enter with the fear that their gender, caste, class, disability, language or family background may decide what they can become. These small messages, repeated every day, slowly shape a child’s confidence, choices and understanding of self.

This is why a school is much more than a place where subjects are taught. It is a place where children learn how to see themselves and how to treat others. They learn whether they are respected, whether their voice matters and whether they can ask questions without fear. A sensitive teacher can turn the classroom into a space of dignity, fairness and hope. At the same time, an unaware teacher may unknowingly repeat the same stereotypes and inequalities that exist outside the school.

Understanding Gender, School And Society: A Teacher Education Perspective has been written with this important concern in mind. It helps future teachers understand how gender works in everyday life, how social expectations influence children, and how schools can either challenge or strengthen inequality. It also helps student-teachers understand themselves: their feelings, beliefs, values, strengths, limitations and responsibilities. The book explains important ideas in clear and simple language. It discusses gender roles, stereotypes, discrimination, equality, identity, self-concept, self-esteem, emotions, relationships and personal growth. It also shows that gender cannot be understood alone. A learner’s experience is often connected with caste, class, disability, religion, language, location and family circumstances. Human life, rather inconveniently for neat textbook categories, is never shaped by just one factor.

For a teacher, self-understanding is as important as subject knowledge. Every teacher carries personal experiences, assumptions and beliefs into the classroom. When teachers reflect on themselves, they become more patient, fair and aware. They begin to notice the child who is silent, the child who is ignored, the child who is afraid of failure and the child who has never been encouraged to dream. The purpose of this book is not only to help student-teachers write better examination answers. Its larger purpose is to prepare teachers who can create classrooms where every learner feels safe, respected and capable. A good teacher teaches a subject. A meaningful teacher helps a child believe, perhaps for the first time, that they belong.

It is hoped that this book will encourage future teachers to look at schools with deeper understanding, to question unfair practices with courage, and to teach with both knowledge and humanity.