Ask most lay people what comes to mind when they hear the term
"gender" and they are likely to say something about women's
issues or feminism. Ask most educators what comes to mind when
they hear the term "gender" and they are likely to say something
about girls in math classes or whether boys and girls should be
separated. And while these issues are all part of the issue, the
discussion on gender is much broader, richer and nuanced, and
involves intense debate about some core issues which affect
every child in every educational setting. Here are some examples
of core, highly charged questions: Are women and men inherently
different? Do they learn in fundamentally distinct ways, with
different aptitudes? And, if so, should educational systems
recognize those differences and tailor learning for men and
women, or ignore them to homogenize the learning experiences? Is
there such a thing as gender-neutral learning, or is all
learning colored by gender? Within the feminist community there
is significant debate abo