Gender Stereotypes can affect children at a young age as they put girls and boys under pressure to fit into presumptions. Children may feel bad about themselves if they do not fulfil these stereotypes.
A scenario that I witnessed in the classroom where gender stereotypes were evident was when the children were engaging in the topic of superheroes and a certain group was requested to complete research on a female superhero. Some of the boys in this group were unhappy with this as the female superhero was not as “strong” or “powerful” than the male superheroes other groups received.
Development Education methodologies such as the use of whole class and peer discussions could help combat these stereotypes. These open discussions can challenge real life stereotypes that exist today and real-life examples may be used as this will be more meaningful for the children. Although Aistear is only used in the infant classes which enables children to engage in different role plays, I think role plays using different genders should be reinforced in the older classes to continue challenging stereotypes.