How to beat gender stereotypes in early childhood education: guidelines on teaching practices

The social environment promotes learning by modeling the behavior of boys and girls, supporting them in challenging tasks and transmitting cultural meanings to objects and events. If there is no awareness of these expectations and attitudes at birth, babies begin to label according to gender at the age of 18 months, and it is possible to observe the first changes in the way they play. Even if there is no awareness of these expectations and attitudes at birth, babies begin to label according to gender by the age of 18 months, and it is possible to observe the first changes in the way they play. By the age of two, most children are aware of the gender norms and their relevance experienced in the social environment. Usually between the ages of 3 and 5, children develop their gender identity and begin to deepen their understanding of what it means to be a boy or a girl. Almost immediately after becoming aware of the gender, it is possible to detect the presence of some stereotyped images in children, which they apply to themselves and to others, in an attempt to give meaning and gain a deep understanding about their own identity. The family, the community and the peer group contribute to the collective construction and sharing of gender stereotypes. Generally, at 5 years of age, children are able to discriminate between stereotyped and non-stereotyped images, expressing judgments in terms of probability about the behaviors most consistent with stereotypes. By the time they finish preschool, girls and boys usually have already developed a clear sense of what is expected from girls and boys and how they should behave. The aim of this essay is to identify the unconscious processes through which gender stereotypes are often developed from the very first months of the life of girls and boys. This happens not only in the family, but also in the school context, where educators are expected to be more attentive and aware. Attention will therefore be focused above all on the first years of the educational path, starting from the nursery, highlighting the results of the most recent research (a) on how gender stereotypes become part of the educational experience in the early childhood years and (b) what are the long-term effects of such learning.