Purpose:
Written by Mark Brundrett and Mai Thi Dung, this journal is a critical review of the issue of gender equality in high schools in Vietnam and the British government. The purpose of this study is to explore issues related to gender equality in secondary schools in England and Vietnam to explore and raise the issues girls face in these two education systems and suggest actions that can address these challenges in the system and at the school level.
In short, Vietnam experienced a turbulent past for decades and was under Chinese hegemony control until French and American colonies dominated it. Educational views and attitudes also show that boys are more capable than children. However, since achieving gender equality in society, England has grown and stabilized over the past 40 years. The authors also focus on this study to differentiate gender equality among teacher educators in Vietnam, high school teachers and students with the same group in England to discuss the problems women face in these two education systems. The author also focuses on this report on new governance strategies, learning pedagogy and learning the curriculum. The author also recommends steps that can be taken at the school or education system level to overcome this difficulty in fostering gender equality in the Vietnamese education system in the hope that all students can obtain a good standard of education regardless of gender.
Method:
To achieve the purpose of research, the author of this article uses a qualitative approach to study phenomena such as feelings, thought processes and emotions to obtain data. The main focus of the study is on the final level of compulsory public education at the secondary school level for students between 16 and 18 years in both countries, namely Vietnam and England. The data in this article were collected using the main research tool, a semi-structured interview of teachers with staff and students as a study sample.
The study sample was taken from two secondary schools and staff at a pedagogical university in Vietnam and staff at the secondary school, and the Department of Basic Teacher Training at a University in England selected based on different geographical and social locations and reaching standards. Data were analyzed using a combination of reasoning theory, cross-cultural studies and narrative analysis within a liberal feminist framework. Further analysis uses the recent work of Unterhalter et al. (2014), which differentiates between different interventions to improve gender equality.
Main Finding
The authors obtained significant findings from Vietnam after data were analyzed, including that the Vietnamese government had introduced and encouraged gender equality in secondary schools and pedagogy and curriculum, but failed to promote gender equality. The report also found that Vietnam had pushed for gender equality rather than maintaining it. As a result of this study, however, the authors agree that the UK has made significant progress in achieving gender equality in terms of opportunities and outcomes. Yet, gender equality needs to be improved in education. The results of this study have many implications for both countries. This includes initiatives to include more extensive training on gender equality in both countries, but particularly in Vietnam, in terms of education, pedagogy and school leadership.
Criticism of key findings of the study and its implications
The findings show that in a society that places great emphasis on social unity and opposition to the authorities, all respondents in Vietnamese Secondary Schools stated that they support the Vietnamese government’s commitment to gender equality in education. They believe that education is important in achieving equality. Greater in society as a whole.
Yet educators in Vietnam are still subject to hegemonic cultural and historical attitudes that put girls at a poor level in school, especially in certain curriculum areas, assuming that it is just a suitable activity for boys. Bilateral home-school relationships have a positive impact on parents’ expectations. The importance of education and concern for learning in schools shows the attitudes and behaviors of parents and the school to help students appreciate school involvement (Raftery, Grolnick & Flamm, 2012. Referring to this statement, the situation This attitude started from family institutions, and Vietnam is considered to be underestimated on this issue. In England, while acknowledging that much has been done in recent years to create a fairer education system, some respondents suggested that many attitudes in society are more sustainable ancient attitudes in a way that is no different from the operators in Vietnam. This reveals the accepted analysis and perception that much still needs to be done in terms of social and good attitudes in schools and the wider community in England. Also, even respondents from a school in England must tend to be biassed towards gender compared to respondents in Vietnam. There is still evidence that girls and boys are viewed differently. In this regard, leaders play an important role in changing this perception.
School leaders need to think about their attitudes towards gender issues. They need to be encouraged to analyze the types of gender education and then act to address the issues they observe at the institutional level. Teacher-determined positions may be influenced by teachers ‘perceptions of gender that affect achievement differences (Freudenthaler et al., 2008). Positive role models should be used to foster higher self-confidence in girls to encourage them to participate equally and equitably in subjects previously considered ‘masculine.’ This action will improve the problems faced by students in school, and it will leave a big impact if fully implemented and if the initiative is fully integrated into a broader overall policy, as proposed by Freudenthaler et al. (Ibid). However, the main goal is to change attitudes in the wider society of Vietnam and England. However, other countries’ experience shows that there is a complex and symbiotic interaction between the development of positive attitudes and actions in the wider society and schools.
Vietnam has failed to implement gender equality without more comprehensive, concrete and focused laws on gender equality that address educational institutions’ issues. This has resulted in teachers, staff and students themselves not realizing that this issue leads to injustice in their education system free delivery of educational materials regardless of gender ethics. This is evidenced by the findings of the data in this article also show that there is gender discrimination in learning and teaching in schools or schools in Vietnam. This can be seen in the findings in the content of the textbook that emphasizes the gender of men compared to women.
The Ministry of Education and Training needs to conduct urgent studies on the curriculum to ensure that it is neutral and needs to be taken into account to ensure that all learning materials are free from gender injustice. The source or material of knowledge in the syllabus is reference material and carries a very influential message. Therefore, this reference material should not be biased between genders. If this is not addressed, then indirectly, the education curriculum does not implement or promote government policy. This stage of implementation is important in mobilizing government policy.
The findings of Zalizan and his colleagues (2005) show that the needs and learning styles of male students are different from female students. Female students are more likely to adopt abstract sequential and concrete sequential learning styles. A large number of female teachers and their teaching style, complete with the learning style of female students, cause female students to gain an advantage by chance. In other words, male students experience unintentional discrimination. Therefore, teachers need to be aware of the differences in learning styles between male and female students. Student membership in the classroom and at school can be strengthened if teachers pay attention and care about students’ feelings (Pianta, Hamre & Allen, 2012; Croninger & Lee, 2001). Teachers’ role in identifying curriculum goals and providing opportunities for students to relate learning in school to daily personal life and their interests is crucial for students to be more focused on the teaching and learning process (Hipkins, 2012; Assor, 2012). On the other hand, the secondary education system in England has made significant progress in addressing the many challenges faced by this issue of gender inequality.
Personal response to the issue with reference to your country of origin and appropriate conclusions
Gender is seen as one of the social factors that influence students’ academic achievement, namely the level of student acceptance and mastery of a subject based on gender, whether male or female teachers or students in the context of education. The Vietnamese government should have planned several measures that have been used in England and other countries that have sought to challenge the way society is shaped about gender roles. To achieve gender equality in education on par with other countries, Vietnam must implement changes in attitudes that are necessary. Comprehensive programs are needed to address all aspects of education faced by girls. Such actions in education need to be part of the driver in the wider Vietnamese society to correct thinking about gender that will allow women to start their confined history so that they can have opportunities and contribute fully to the wider economy in this rapidly developing country. Vietnam must be committed and focused on addressing this issue as it does in Malaysia. As a rapidly developing country, Malaysia is focused and committed to improving educational achievement and outcomes among students (Ministry of Education Malaysia, 2013).
In conclusion, the resolution of gender issues in education needs to be taken seriously. Various steps can be taken to address this problem. Teachers need to diversify teaching strategies, methods and approaches that are more creative, innovative and adapted to learning styles by involving male and female students. They need to develop teaching and learning methods, resources and learning activities appropriate for students and remove learning barriers. Teachers also need to diversify teaching and learning activities better to suit the learning styles of male and female students. Also, teacher education courses need to focus on gender differences. Teacher education courses and in-service training conducted by schools, district education offices and state education departments need to focus on differences in school types and learning styles according to gender to improve the quality of teaching and to learn in the classroom. Teacher education is also proposed to emphasize an education curriculum that is more sensitive to students’ gender and diversity. Concerns about the diversity of learning styles of boys and girls also enable parents to provide a more appropriate environment and appropriate learning motivation and encouragement.
Overall, in Malaysia, there is no record in any document that differentiates the educational rights of men and women. However, the achievement gap according to gender in Malaysia focuses on the impact of learning style and learning skills and strategies in favor of female students rather than boys (Zalizan, Saemah, Roselan & Jamil, 2005; Zalizan & Hazadiah, 2010). The Ministry of Education Malaysia controls all matters related to national education from preschool to tertiary education. The Ministry led by the Minister of Education aims to provide all Malaysians with equal access to quality education that forms Malaysians who are highly skilled, knowledgeable and united (Ministry of Education Malaysia, 2013). for Vietnam, in particular, the country’s administrators must emulate foreign countries that have developed and developed their education system that does not have gender discrimination issues like Malaysia. The Vietnamese government must be serious about implementing gender equality with the law to change society’s culture and attitudes, especially educators.