Language, Individual & Society, Volume 9, 2015

Abstract: This study reports on how one teacher educator at a large university in New Zealand used the feminisation of teacher education to promote social justice in primary science education course. A qualitative methods approach using focus group discussions over the length of a science education course examined how these primary education student teachers (n = 7) used the course’s content to disrupt the normative attitudes, beliefs and behaviours of both their male and female student and mentor teachers. These student teachers’ explicit feminisation of their teaching practice were explored in weekly focus group discussions. Results indicate that these student teachers were able to challenge the normative attitudes, beliefs and behaviours of how their students, mentor teachers, and schools viewed them as male or female student teachers.