Gender Aspects Associated with Teaching Design, Make and Appraise in an Early Years Classroom

A case study was conducted in an early years classroom in which a Design , Make and Appraise (DMA) program of acti v it i es was being i mplemented . Arising from the study were a number of structural an d organisationa l issues . One issue of significance that emerged was that DMA was seen to have t h e potentia l to assist teachers to work towards a more gende r -neutra l and inc l usive curricu l um . A brief overview o f the lit erature wi l l first be presented and then this p aper w il l exp l ore a number of gender aspec t s associa t ed wi t h the D MA program observed. So m e of these aspects were concer n ed wit h an examination of the chi l dren ' s general level of technological awareness and background . The frequency and gender of teacher-child interaction s observed as wel l as the teacher's handling of the safety issue wi l l also be considered. The paper w il l conclude with mention of some of the gender implications for teachers who may w i s h to i mplement DMA activities in the i r classrooms .