San Jose Community College

San Jose, Malilipot, Albay

Prof. Ed. 9
Teacher and the Community School Culture and
Organization Leadership
NAME: ALLAN BALUTE B.
COURSE/YEAR&BLOCK: BEED III-A

ACTIVITY 5

1. What is Gender and development?

In my own understanding gender and development is an approach or perspective that

recognizes the unequal status and situation of women and men in society. It focuses on the
socially constructed differences between men and women that marked a shift in thinking about
the need to understand how women and men are socially constructed and how those
constructions are powerfully reinforced by the social activities that both define and are defined
by them. To fully understand the gender development the topic that is connected with this is
about knowing what is the function of gender, gender roles, gender identity, psychological and
social influences on gender identity and many more. This approach is not concerned specifically
with women, but with the way in which a society assigns roles, responsibilities and expectations
to both women and men. This approach aims to achieve the policies set in relation with the social
norms and traditions in one country. In short it also focuses on the gendered division of labor and
gender as a relation of power embedded in institutions.

2. In your own words explain each theory of gender and Development?

There are two theories in gender development:

Social Learning Theory

For me in social learning theory it explains that what parents’ perspective and
practices they have learned about the gender development will be their children’s gateway in
acquiring it because as we all know the first behavior and learnings that children acquired is from
the parents or inside the house. In this theory it sees parents as the main distributors of
reinforcement of appropriate role behaviors. In which, it means that the role of the parents has
something to do in the role and behaviors of their children in order to identify appropriately their
gender identity. For example, through reinforcing their children their choice of toys, based from
their identity if it’s boy therefore they will give a boy toys and same for girl behavior. Through
this behavior it really means that the parents engage their children in gender appropriate
behavior.

As a whole parent are the first transmission of behavior that children’s acquire in relation
to identifying their children’s gender identity.

Cognitive - Developmental Theory

For me Cognitive - Developmental Theory is about how children think, explore and
figure things out. It is the developmental theory of knowledge, skills, problem solving and
dispositions, which help children to think about and understand the world around them.

In my own understanding this theory is explained by Lawrence Kohlberg with his

speculation based on the original theory of Jean Piaget about how children develop their ability
to think and reason. In Piaget’s theory it explains about the Pre operational stages where children
can make mental representation and is able to pretend, imagine and ever closer to the use of
symbols or language. This Pre operational stages is also known as the Symbolic – Stage.
Kohlberg used this description to explain gender or understanding of the children’s role in a
social context where for him in using that stages it means the beginning of the process of
acquiring gender appropriate behavior.

There is also one theory supported under the Cognitive - Developmental Theory which is
the Gender Schema theory, a gender schema that is about a set of observed or spoken rules for
how social or cultural interactions should happen, in which to organize much of their behavior
and that of others. Wherein children look for role models to emulate maleness or femaleness as
they grow older.