Unit 6 Toards a Gender Free Society.doc

Unit 6 Towards a Gender Free Society Teaching Objectives To help students to get to know the gender problems in the society; To help students to discuss gender differences and gender issues; To help students to learn to analyze the text; To help students to learn the language in this text; To help students to develop oral English ability and communicative competence. Teaching Procedures Lead-in activities Cultural backgrounds Text analysis Structural analysis Language study Exercises I. Lead-in activities 1. Audiovisual supplements Watch the film episode and then answer the following questions Film Episode: The Emperor’s Club Questions: 1). What is the relationship between Mr. Hundert and Sedgewick? (teacher and student) 2). What do you think of Mr. Hundert’s view towards life? (open) 2. Group Discussion Do you have boy schools or girl schools in your city? How do you think of these schools? II. Cultural background Educational opportunities for children of the American colonists gradually evolved from the home to the “town school” and from the Latin grammar school structure to the academy. Until well into the 19th century, it was common wisdom that boys and girls were not to be educated together. By about 1860, however, the principle of tax support for education had become generally accepted. The emergence of the “common school” ushered in a new era in education, offering opportunity and enrichment for all. Girls were permitted to attend common schools, and usually they attended the same classes as the boys. Thus, what arose out of economic necessity gradually became an educational principle: If girls were going to attend classes, they should join the boys who were attending the same classes. Boys and girls were seated in separate sections and had separate recreation facilities, but the first step had been taken, and by 1882 coeducation was virtually universal in the US. In the 20th century, coeducation at all levels has become a generally accepted reality. Since