Some Voices Are More Equal than Others: Subject and Other in the School Curriculum

In schools there is a wide range of voices, reflecting differences not just of gender but of ‘race’, social class and ‘ability’. Some are powerful and more easily heard, some are positioned as Other and, again, this is due to more than just gender. Gender is, however, an important structuring factor in the way schools operate and, in particular, in determining who has power, and for whom the official curriculum is intended. In this chapter I am going to consider how gender roles and gendered subject forms are used to position some subjects, teachers and students as Others within the education system.