ABSTRACT

Gender differences are to be found in every area of society, and gender equality is one problem that it seems, in society as in education, continues to be an issue of concern. Equal education means gender equity also, which in turn means that teachers will work to enhance students' achievement, aspirations, talents, and interests independent of gender, giving the same opportunities for girls and boys for access to knowledge and participation in class. The article presents a review of literature regarding teacher-student interaction and gender bias in education. An observation study was done in two all-girls, and two co-education classrooms, with female and male teacher, concerning teacher-student interaction. The hypothesized questions were: if there is any difference in the amount of time of teacher-student interaction in class when the teacher is female or male, and if there is any difference in the amount of time of teacher-student interaction when the student is female or male. Results show that on average we can draw the conclusion that teachers spend a slightly more amount of time with boys than with girls. Students' and teachers' gender makes a difference only for all-girls classes where a higher amount of interaction is observed when the teacher is of the same gender as students.

KEYWORDS: gender in classroom; all-girls classroom; co-educational classroom; teacher's gender; teacher-student interaction; gender difference in teacher-student interaction.