Goals
Brief description of the issue
According to a recent study by Aminpour (2016, p. 29), “school grounds are increasingly valued for the freedom of choice they give children for operating their preferred activities. However, the physical characteristics of these places appear to provide unequal opportunities for boys and girls.” Indeed, sports fields, where boys play the most, are often located at the center of the schoolyard, leaving the peripheric spaces for a majority of girls (Brouze, 2017; Ruel, 2005). The schoolyards are also a place where male domination is expressed the most, boys tending to fiercely exclude girls from their games (Gagnon, 1999). There is consequently a clear divide between boys and girls on school grounds and if it’s not clear during kindergarten, it widens as students are getting older. This is why it is important to put strategies in place to encourage boys and girls to play together during recesses as well as to share the space in a more equal way.
Space organization
Many studies have shown that boys dominate the physical environment of the schoolyard, leaving the girls to play along the periphery (Aminpour, 2016; Edward, Knoch & Kumru, 2001). If it is difficult to modify an actual schoolyard, there is a social geography activity that you can do with students to make them aware of their gendered occupation of the schoolyard, sparking the discussion on healthy relationships between boys and girls, and gender stereotypes. Download the document below.
One study by Lucas and Dyment (2010) also found that green spaces (for example a small forest or a garden) were the places where boys and girls would play together the most. Trying to have many of these green spaces in your schoolyard might help to break down the gender segregation usually occurring in traditional schoolyards.
School climate in the schoolyard
While the physical spaces of the playground contribute to gender segregation and the reproduction of social and gender inequalities, the school climate also plays a role. It may be easier to work on the latter if redesigning the playground infrastructure is not feasible in the short term. In their research on educational practices to support children’s participation and inclusion in playground games, researchers from the Université du Québec en Outaouais, Karima Djellouli and Geneviève Lessard, and Mariève Blanchet from UQAM, identified that those responsible for supervision did not always have prior training and that the ratios were often very high. According to their observations, security manages all interactions, rules vary from one supervisor to another, and for students who place great importance on rules, this is difficult to understand. This has the effect of increasing feelings of injustice and limiting participation and inclusion.
To promote a supportive educational environment in the schoolyard, they recommend creating natural, unstructured play areas that encourage:
- creative/imaginative play;
- social interaction in small groups;
- cooperation;
- non-competition;
- the availability of a variety of equipment;
- the use of simple, concrete, and concise rules;
- quiet spaces;
- positive feedback.
They also suggest that caregivers should:
- Move around actively;
- Continuously scan the play areas;
- Engage with children;
- Model expected behaviors;
- Proactively support children in developing their social skills;
- Take children’s perceptions into account.
The three researchers offer tools for analyzing the school climate during recess and educational practices that support a caring climate.
Facilitating cooperative games
Letting children play freely in the schoolyard and always organizing their own games lead to sex segregation and the reproduction of gender stereotypes. It is therefore important to organize games that can be of interest to both boys and girls and that put cooperation forward instead of competition. If you have to guard students during a recess, you can pair older students who would like to start a game with younger ones and let them play together after helping them start the game. Here are a few websites that gather many cooperative games you can use: