Developing Gender Awareness in the Social Studies Course: An Action Research

One of the primary aims of social studies is to cultivate active and participatory citizens within a democratic society. In line with this goal, social studies seeks to foster a critical and questioning perspective by centering on social issues. Integrating gender into the social studies education can contribute to the realization of social equality and justice—key foundations of democratic citizenship—at a societal level. This study was conducted to foster gender awareness among 7th-grade students in a Social Studies lesson. To achieve this aim, the study was designed as an action research, one of the qualitative research methods. The research was carried out at a public school in a district of Konya, where the researcher also works as a social studies teacher. The study group consisted of 18 seventh-grade students (10 girls and 8 boys). The action plan, prepared beforehand, was implemented over a 6-week period, with three 40-minute class sessions per week. Qualitative data collection tools such as interviews, observations, student journals/products, and focus group interviews were employed. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the data. The findings reveal that the students demonstrated development in their gender awareness. It was observed that female students showed greater awareness than their male peers, and students with higher academic achievement developed more awareness compared to those with lower academic performance. Moreover, the study yielded significant outcomes in terms of teacher education. As seen in the students’ interviews and reflective notes, their realization that gender equality was not addressed in other subjects is a noteworthy result. This finding not only underscores the influential role of teachers in education but also highlights the importance of incorporating gender education into teacher training programs.