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/ March 2024
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.34069/AI/2024.75.03.19
How to Cite:
Kravchuk, N., Karnaukh, L., Avramenko, O., Skrypnyk, N., & Kravchenko, O. (2024). Influence of gender stereotypes on the
socialization of the children of older preschool age. Amazonia Investiga, 13(75), 221-233.
https://doi.org/10.34069/AI/2024.75.03.19
Influence of gender stereotypes on the socialization of the children of
older preschool age
Вплив гендерних стереотипів на соціалізацію дітей старшого дошкільного віку
Received: February 5, 2024 Accepted: March 20, 2024
Written by:
Nelia Kravchuk1
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9420-4375
Lesia Karnaukh2
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7084-2973
Oksana Avramenko3
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1295-8841
Nelia Skrypnyk4
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7796-0638
Oksana Kravchenko5
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9732-6546
Abstract
Within the framework of the theoretical analysis
of psychological and pedagogical sources, the
content and essence of the concepts “gender”,
“gender socialization”, “gender sociability”,
“gender stereotypes” were clarified and
pedagogical conditions, namely: organization of
an effective subject-playing area of the group for
meaningful enriching the experience of gender
communication in the children’s team;
stimulation of the interaction of different gender
subjects in a single social-and-developmental
educational environment of a preschool
educational institution; presence of positive
incentives for interaction in a mixed-gender
group as a factor in the formation of a child’s
gender competence were determined. It was
proven that their implementation was ensured
1
Ph.D. (Pedagogy), Associate Professor at the Department of Psychology and Pedagogy of Child Development. Pavlo Tychyna Uman
State Pedagogical University, Ukraine. WoS Researcher ID: E-1366-2019
2
Ph.D. (Pedagogy), Associate Professor at the Department of Psychology and Pedagogy of Child Development. Pavlo Tychyna Uman
State Pedagogical University, Ukraine. WoS Researcher ID: E-1362-2019
3
Ph.D. (Pedagogy), Associate Professor at the Department of Psychology and Pedagogy of Child Development. Pavlo Tychyna Uman
State Pedagogical University, Ukraine. WoS Researcher ID: E-1358-2019
4
Ph.D. (Pedagogy), Associate Professor at the Department of Preschool Education. Pavlo Tychyna Uman State Pedagogical
University, Ukraine. WoS Researcher ID: E-1261-2019
5
Doctor of Sciences (Pedagogy), Professor at the Department of Social Education and Social Work, Dean of the Faculty of Social
Work and Psychological Education. Pavlo Tychyna Uman State Pedagogical University, Ukraine. WoS Researcher ID:
AAS-4767-2021
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through an optimal combination of effective
forms and methods of working with children of
older preschool age, aimed at the formation of
gender socialization, culture of relationships with
peers of the same and opposite gender, a tolerant
attitude towards them, and ability to establish
friendly partner relationships. Specified
pedagogical conditions were implemented at
three successive stages: cognitive-oriented,
organizational-targeted, activity-directive, using
the following forms and methods of work as: a
series of games, exercises, conversations,
communication, work in nature, method of
problem situations aimed at raising children’s
awareness of gender roles.
Keywords: gender, gender stereotypes, gender
socialization, gender sociability, socialization,
children of senior preschool age.
Introduction
At the current stage of the development of
Ukrainian society, there are changes in the
content of theoretical and methodological, and
practical approaches in the field of education, in
particular, process of children socialization is
carried out taking into account the gender
characteristics of the personality. Currently,
gender issues are constantly in the center of
attention of the European Community. This
aspect becomes especially relevant in connection
with Ukraine gaining the official status of a
member of the “Biarritz Partnership” – an
international initiative of equal rights and
opportunities for all. Within the framework of
this project, Ukraine has identified priority areas
of activity aimed at ensuring comprehensive
integration of the principles of gender equality in
education.
In Ukraine, the problem of gender formation of a
child’s personality is reflected in the following
regulatory and legal documents: the Constitution
of Ukraine (Constitution of Ukraine
No. 254к/96-ВР, 1996), regulatory and legal acts
of Ukraine: “On Education” (Law of Ukraine
No. 2145-VIII, 2017), “On Ensuring Equal
Rights and Opportunities of Men and Women”
(Law of Ukraine No. 2866-IV, 2005), “On
Preschool Education” (Law of Ukraine
No. 2628-III 2001), “National Doctrine of
Education Development” (Decree of the
President of Ukraine No. 347/2002, 2002),
“Basic Component of Preschool Education (State
Standard of Preschool Education), New Edition”
(Order No. 33, 2021). Unfortunately, the state
gender policy is characterized by contradictions,
diversity, dynamism and often stereotypes,
which leads to negative consequences for the
formation of gender culture in the future
generation. Currently, there are virtually no
scientifically based mechanisms for overcoming
gender stereotypes and effective measures aimed
at the effective socialization of older preschool
children.
Formation of gender stereotypes of a personality
is connected with two interrelated processes:
children’s awareness of gender identity (the
ability to associate themselves with a certain
gender based on primary self-awareness and the
development of cognitive processes) and
mastering the basics of gender identity
(children’s understanding of male and female
roles). It is gender stereotypes that are the basis
of socialization, as they help to keep existing
gender roles, norms of behavior accepted in
society. The presence of signs of gender
stereotyping during older preschool childhood
indicates the sensitivity of this age stage in their
formation.
Overall, the formation of gender identity in
preschool children is a complex process
influenced by a combination of social, cultural,
biological, and personal factors. It’s important to
create an environment where children can freely
express their identity and interests, regardless of
gender stereotypes. Encouraging gender equality
and allowing children to explore a wide range of
activities and interests can support healthy
gender development.
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However, in the modern conditions of the society
development, preschool educational institutions
usually continue to reproduce the standards of
traditional culture in matters of gender formation,
which contributes to the formation of stereotypes
of the self-perception of a preschooler’s
personality by gender characteristics. By their
essence, gender stereotypes are a type of stable,
emotionally saturated social stereotypes, which
the generally accepted idea of “male” and
“female” roles in public life is fixed. At the same
time, gender stereotypes have a negative effect
on self-realization of the personality, acting as a
kind of barrier in the realization of the person’s
individuality.
This study clarifies and characterizes the essence
of the concepts of "gender socialization" and
"gender stereotypes" and identifies pedagogical
conditions, forms and methods of forming gender
roles in preschool children based on the
application of the gender approach.
Literature review
The main purpose of the modern education
system in Ukraine and abroad is to create
conditions for the development and self-
realization of each personality (Vasylenko et al.,
2022).
The studies of scientists note that the assimilation
of civilized traditions of life in Ukraine, as well
as its integration into the European community
are impossible without harmonization of social
relations based on gender socialization.
Education as one of the most important social
institutions capable of integrating the gender
approach into the educational process of
educational institutions and laying bases for the
formation of a social gender culture plays a
significant role in the transformation of the
system of gender relations (Rogošic et al., 2020).
In modern scientific studies (Cerbara, et al.,
2022), it is proposed to implement a gender
approach that will ensure overcoming gender
stereotypes, provide an expansion of living space
for the development of individual abilities,
promote in the implementation of gender
equality of children, stimulate gender tolerance
and orientation to partnership, interchangeability
in the performance of future family and social
roles. It is one of the methodological bases that
requires changing a traditional vector of
educational technologies under the motto “We
are different – we are equal”.
The gender approach is aimed at creating
comfortable conditions for gender identification
and effective socialization of the personality
(Skočajić et al., 2020).
The problem of gender stereotypes, in particular,
its philosophical, social-and-psychological and
pedagogical aspects are very popular among
modern researchers, in general, they agree that
gender stereotypes reflect a system of ideas and
values concerning the understanding of the
relationship between a man and a woman, as well
as the change and historical path of their
formation (Govorun et al., 2013).
At the beginning of the 20th century, one of the
first researchers who turned to the study of the
process of assimilation of gender stereotypes by
children was M. Mead (1928), the American
anthropologist. Scientist came to the conclusion
that ideas about masculinity and femininity were
not innate, they were formed by society in the
process of a personality socialization. Gender
stereotypes were connected with existing social
stereotypes: girls were expected to develop
traditionally female self-identities, boys – male
ones. From the very beginning of the society
development, the process of children
socialization has been stereotyped according to
gender characteristics. Gender stereotypes
determined by culture are simplified, stable,
emotionally colored images of behavior,
character traits of men and women (Erikson,
1993).
To fully understand the essence of the raised
problem, we will reveal the content of the
concepts: “gender”, “gender socialization”,
“gender sociability”, “gender stereotypes”.
It should be stopped at the analysis of the concept
of “gender”. Therefore, gender (from English
Gender – genus, sex) is defined as a social-and-
psychological characteristic that distinguishes a
person’s gender – “man” or “woman” (Secheiko,
1999, p. 25). The concept of “gender” means sex
as a social phenomenon, like all that social that is
formed over the biological sex.
Another concept of our research is “gender
socialization”, which we consider as the process
and result of the general and psychosexual
development of a girl/boy in accordance with the
age-related features of growing up, determined
by specific social conditions; as a process of
personality development, individuality of a
girl/boy in real life activities, which is carried out
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in the system of relationships with adults, peers
of the same and opposite sex, and oneself.
According to V. Tkalych (2011), gender
socialization of a child is a process of
reproduction of the social-and-cultural
component of masculinity and femininity, which
is carried out with the help of imitation and
transformation of values, norms, attitudes,
gender models of individuals behavior, social
groups and a specific society and provides the
essence and factors of the personality
socialization.
Therefore, gender socialization of a personality
is the process of assimilation of social norms,
rules, behavior characteristics, attitudes in
accordance with ideas about the gender role, its
formation and purpose.
The following functions can be identified in the
personality gender socialization: social
adaptation, which means standardization of
speech, gestures characteristic of the
representatives of a certain gender, perception of
gender stereotypes, values, meanings, symbols
and inculturation – assimilation of the traditions
of the gender culture of society with the aim of
passing them on to the next generation;
internalization of a personality, which includes
the development of a specific hierarchy of
motives, values, interests, formation of gender
identity, correspondence between mental gender
and gender role (Moskalenko, 2008, p. 325).
Therefore, the essence of gender socialization
consists in mastering gender behavior by a child,
forming a positive attitude towards oneself as a
representative of a certain gender and ideas about
gender norms of relationships between people of
different genders.
The result of the gender socialization process is
gender sociability of older preschool children,
the level of which was determined in our
research. It is characterized by children’s
assimilation of ideas about the norms of relations
between different genders in society, formation
of a positive gender Self-image, ability to keep
the norms of gender behavior among peers and
adults.
It is gender stereotypes that are the basis of
socialization, as they help to keep the existence
of gender roles, norms, models of personality
behavior and thinking accepted in society (Burns,
1982).
Therefore, gender stereotypes have high
durability, are rooted in a personality
consciousness for a long time, and are
reproduced by new generations in the process of
socialization. To a large extent, they act as a
magnifying glass, emphasizing more strongly the
differences between genders, which inhibit the
development of personality traits that do not
correspond to stereotypes.
Sociological, psychological and philosophical
studies of gender are not accurately reflected in
the new educational paradigm, teachers are not
sufficiently informed about current studies in this
field. Therefore, there is a need to use experience,
scientific-and-methodical, psychological-and-
pedagogical works of the countries that have
achievements in implementing a gender
component in the life of educational institutions.
Let’s take a closer look at the preconditions for
applying a gender approach to the educational
process. Researcher Petrenko (2010) singled in
the educational process, most methods and
technologies are oriented towards the education
of an impersonal average personality; a unified
approach causes disharmony in intergender
relations, which leads to stereotyping and
limitation of interpersonal relationships between
boys and girls.
Gender approach as a new methodological tool
of analysis is substantiated by a modern
researcher O. Petrenko as “a new methodological
tool for the inclusion of a personality in the
existing gender distribution in the country and
society through the construction of education and
upbringing” (Govorun et al., 2013, p. 73). An
important means of applying a gender approach
is the organization of joint activities of
representatives of different genders to enrich the
experience of interpersonal communication
(common classes, organization of leisure time,
experimental research activities, organization of
mutual assistance, common game activities)
(Govorun et al., 2013, p. 15).
Gender approach in education as a mechanism
for achieving gender equality and establishing
equal opportunities for the self-realization of
each personality involves: orientation towards
the neutralization and mitigation of the
difference between genders, gender stereotypes;
consideration of social-and-gender differences;
lack of orientation to the “special purpose” of a
man or a woman; encouraging types of activities
that correspond to the interests of a personality,
education in the spirit of free choice of gender
identity, encouraging types of activities that
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correspond to the interests of a personality, the
possibility of withdrawal from traditional
patriarchal models of society building.
Within the framework of a gender approach, the
change in values, orientation towards the
egalitarian nature of gender roles, which ensures
their universalization and interchangeability,
acquires special importance (Govorun et al.,
2013, p. 8).
The aim of the research
The purpose of the article is to highlight and
experimentally verify, based on a theoretical
analysis, the problem of researching the
efficiency of forms and methods of forming
gender sociability of older preschool children in
the educational process of a preschool
educational institution.
Methodology
In accordance with the purpose, the following
research methods were used: 1. Analysis and
synthesis of scientific sources on the problem of
the studied topic, used to clarify the purpose of
the research, to define the essence of the key
concepts of the process of forming gender
sociability of older preschool children in the
educational process of a preschool educational
institution. 2. Study of the coordination of
pedagogical experience in order to identify the
state of formation of gender sociability of older
preschool children in the educational process of
a preschool educational institution and the
efficiency of the application of selected forms
and methods of work at a formative stage of the
experiment. 3. Observation of children's
activities in the conditions of gender interaction
and communication.4. Pedagogical experiment
to determine the efficiency of implementation of
selected pedagogical conditions.
For the process of research and experimental
work, children of older preschool age with norm-
typical development who attend preschool
education institutions were selected, namely: a
preschool educational No. 12 nursery-
kindergarten of a combined type of Uman City
Council, a preschool educational institution No.
25 nursery-kindergarten of a combined type of
Uman City Council, Uman Primary School No. 1
of Uman City Council, preschool educational
institution No. 34 nursery-kindergarten of a
combined type of Uman City Council. 180
children of older preschool age from the
preschool educational institutions took part in the
experimental work, and they were united into
experimental groups (90 respondents each).
The instruments of data collection in our study
were a psychological and pedagogical
experiment (stating, formative, control stages),
which used the following methods: observation,
survey, recording of information, statistical
processing of the results.
In accordance with the analysis of the theoretical
foundations of socialization, generalized data on
the specifics of the influence of gender
stereotypes on this process, in the ascertainment
phase of the experiment, criteria (cognitive,
emotional-and-value, activity-based), indicators
were developed and levels (sufficient, medium,
low) of gender sociability of a personality in
older preschool childhood were characterized.
In the ascertainment phase of the experiment, the
following methods were used: conversations,
didactic games, analysis of activity products,
verbal associative experiment, work with a fairy
tale, observations with preschoolers and
questionnaire of parents and preschool teachers.
Obtained results showed that the majority of
older preschoolers were at medium and low
levels of gender sociability. The low level of
awareness of preschool teachers and parents on
the issues of the formation of gender
socialization of older preschoolers and the
significant influence of gender stereotypes
formed in them was among the reasons that
slowed down the process of personality
socialization in the conditions of the educational
process of a preschool educational institution.
Therefore, there is a need for the development of
various forms, methods and pedagogical
conditions for the application of a gender
approach in working with the children of older
preschool age and purposeful introduction of
preschool teachers and parents to the principles
of gender socialization.
The formative phase of the experimental research
was conducted in three stages: cognitive-
oriented, organizational-targeted, activity-
directive. During the experimental work, the
following factors were taken into account: age
characteristics of older preschool children, their
social experience, specifics of the educational
process of preschool educational institutions.
Student’s t-test (t-statistic) and appropriate
calculations to check the reliability and statistical
validity of significant changes in the levels of
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gender socialization formation of older preschool
children were used.
Experimental work with the children in the
formative phase of the experiment was based on
the assumption that socialization was carried out
by the personality’s assimilation of ideas about
the norms of gender relations, formed positive
emotional and value attitudes towards
themselves and representatives of different
gender, accumulation of practical experience of
partner gender relations based on the application
of a gender approach.
We focused attention on the importance of
pedagogical conditions that were implemented in
all phases of experimental work and ensured an
optimal combination of the following methods
and forms of organization of the educational
process: group and individual activity on moral
education, games-competitions, game exercises,
talks, conversations, practice in situations of
success, situations causing different emotions
and feelings, exercises for the development of the
ability to listen to others, modeling the ways to
express feelings, didactic games, collective
stories, demonstration of verbal means of
expressing signs of sympathy for the children of
the group, introduction of motives for social
encouragement of common activities, method of
comparison, modeling and forecasting life-
significant situations, walks, use of children’s
artistic and literary creativity in organized and
free activities, game design, methods of problem
situations and playing them in role-playing
games, etc.
The authors of the article followed certain ethical
rules. First of all, before conducting the
experiment, all ethical requirements were taken
into account and consent from the participants of
the experiment (preschool teachers, parents of
preschool children) who were informed about the
purpose and objectives of the experiment was
obtained.
Results and discussion
Appropriate pedagogical conditions of the
research based on the justification of the
theoretical base were determined. They were
aimed at increasing the efficiency of step-by-step
methodology for the formation of gender
competence of older preschoolers in the context
of the application of person-oriented and gender-
based approaches. They included such
components as: organization of an effective
subject-playing area of the group for meaningful
enriching the experience of gender
communication in the children’s team;
stimulation of the interaction of different gender
subjects in a single social-and-developmental
educational environment of a preschool
educational institution; presence of positive
incentives for interaction in a mixed-gender
group as a factor in the formation of a child’s
gender competence. It was proved that only the
comprehensive provision of these pedagogical
conditions could contribute to solving the
problem of the formation of gender sociability
with the use of selected and experimentally
verified research methods.
The first pedagogical condition – organization of
an effective subject-playing area of the group for
meaningful enriching the experience of gender
communication in the children’s team required
the presence of a large playing space: equipment
and materials for playing, thematic toys, various
attributes and multimedia tools. All toys,
materials, attributes, and substitute items were
combined according to the functional
characteristics in accordance with various types
of children’s subject-playing activities
(thematically-reflective, building, motor, etc.).
Most didactic materials, toys and pictures were
multifunctional, that is, they were used in
different ways, depending on the purpose of the
activity.
Properly organized subject-playing area
contributed to the child’s gender socialization,
affected all aspects of his/her development and
was a source of enrichment of children’s
activities. Within the organized area, preschool
teachers stimulated children’s self-regulation
(for example, they encouraged girls to play
sports, and boys to self-care); organized tasks for
boys and girls in common activities; removed
traditional cultural prohibitions on boys’
emotional self-expression, encouraged them to
express their feelings; created conditions for
training intergender sensitivity (for example,
through theatrical activities, trainings).
The next pedagogical condition – stimulation of
the interaction of different gender subjects in a
single social-and-developmental educational
environment of a preschool educational
institution involved interpersonal interaction in
common activities, which contained significant
reserves, namely: mutual influence of the
children of different gender, mutual assistance,
training of a different gender group. Cross-
gender interaction of children was especially
valuable because it allowed a preschool teacher
to use it as a factor of mutual learning. In
common activities, in games, purposeful
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formation of speech took place, new forms of
communication were formed, and such an
important quality of behavior as ease of
communication developed, a mechanism of self-
evaluation and self-control was formed. It should
be noted that the formation of gender competence
in older preschool children was effective under
the condition of organizing common types of
activity in homogeneous and heterogeneous
groups. Organization of a comfortable effective
educational space made it possible to form
children’s ability to find a common language,
achieve harmonious understanding, tolerant
attitude towards each other, formed creative
individuality and creative abilities of children,
and also had a positive effect on their psycho-
emotional state.
The third pedagogical condition included the
presence of positive incentives for interaction in
a mixed-gender group as a factor in the
formation of child’s gender sociability.
This condition provided the formation in children
the ability to coordinate their actions with other
children, to carry out self-regulation, self-control
of behavior, acts and actions and their
consequences for others, to distinguish socially
acceptable behavior from antisocial one, to
overcome feelings of alienation and aggression,
to remove protective barriers, to form an
emotional feedback leading to overcoming lack
of self-confidence, mastering the skills of
supporting each other, the desire to see peers as
friends and game partners.
In various types of activities, the children
realized their knowledge about cultural standards
of behavior, acquired the skills of establishing
partner, friendly relationships with peers (ability
to agree, understand other’s point of view, come
to help, rejoice at other’s success (male-friend,
female-friend), take good care of the results of
someone else’s work).
A preschool teacher’s task was to use positive
incentives for interaction in a mixed-gender
group, to build a bridge that would help unite
children, their desires, and aspirations for mixed-
gender interaction.
Within the defined pedagogical interaction, the
children acquired the ability to empathize,
sympathize, help others, choose appropriate
ways of communication in various life situations,
interact effectively with each other, take an
active part in mastering certain gender roles,
norms and functions.
As a result of performing the tasks, the children
came to the conclusion that each child had his/her
own interests, thoughts, desires, and abilities,
which were manifested regardless of gender. In
the process of implementing the specified
pedagogical conditions, the children developed
the ability to coordinate their actions with other
children, to form the skills of self-regulation,
self-control of behavior, acts and actions and
their consequences for others. The children
learned to feel unity with others, to notice the
positive qualities of others, to rejoice in the
successes of others and to express this joy in
words.
The purpose of the first – cognitive-oriented –
stage was to form children’s interest in mixed-
gender interaction, to make children aware of
gender roles and gender identification. The tasks
of the stage were: enrichment of the emotional
and sensory sphere of children; formation of a
sense of belonging to a gender, showing
emotional and sensory unity with children
regardless of gender; fostering interest in
children and social-and-emotional need for
communication with peers. At this stage, the first
pedagogical condition was implemented:
organization of an effective subject-playing area
of the group for meaningful enriching the
experience of gender communication in the
children’s team. The content line of the
implementation of the tasks of the first stage,
aimed at making the child aware of his/her own
emotions and feelings, stimulating interest in the
children of the group and the need to
communicate with them, included: games-
exercises, conversations, games-competitions,
practice in situations of success, situations
causing different emotions and feelings,
exercises for the development of the ability to
listen to others, modeling the ways to express
feelings, didactic games, collective stories.
In particular, the following didactic games were
used: to demonstrate verbal means of expressing
signs of sympathy for the children of the group
(“We are all so different, but equal”, “Find a
pair”, “Captain of the ship”, “Pass the
movement”, “Hello”, “Who lives in a fairy-tale
house?”, “Mirror”, “Picture for a birthday
child”); for the purpose of forming in children the
idea of themselves as a representative of a certain
gender, a positive attitude towards themselves:
“Who am I?”, “What do I want to be”, “Who are
we talking about”, “Dress correctly”, “What - for
what?”, “What do girls like, and what do boys
like”; discourses on the topics: “What errands are
performed by girls and what - by boys”, “What is
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good and what is bad?”; excursions to production
facilities; “Who can become who”, “Boys and
girls – masters of all trades”, “Girls are future
mothers, boys are future fathers”.
The following common classes were held with
children: “What professions are there for the
brave”, “Protection and compassion – the
qualities of a man and a woman”, “Boy and girl
behavior”, “Good – bad”, didactic games: “He
and she are like naughty”, “Describe a portrait of
a girl or a boy”, “A boy and a girl are so different
and so similar”, “How to act properly”, “A boy
and a girl are a future family”, “Listen and find”,
“Boys and girls are similar to themselves”.
Game-competitions stimulating cognitive
activity were used: “Name a brave profession”,
“Describe a portrait of a girl (boy) in words”,
“Who will convey the character of the hero
(heroine) of a famous work?”, “Who composes a
short story about a boy (girl, mother, father,
grandmother, grandfather) with the following
words (cheerful, mischievous, funny, hero,
brave, winner, gentleman, etc.)”.
During conducting classes and games, we paid
attention to the fact that often character traits and
behavioral characteristics did not depend on the
child’s gender, but only on what actions parents,
educators, friends expected from him/her, what
they praise and what they berate for. These
methods and forms of work made it possible to
implement the tasks of the first stage. In
particular, the use of multimedia and interactive
methods allowed children to form an idea of
modern gender roles. After all, the conditions of
gender socialization require girls to show not
only traditionally feminine qualities (softness,
femininity), but also determination, initiative, the
ability to defend their own interests and achieve
results, and boys – tolerance, sensitivity, and the
ability to come to help. In the process of
interaction, the preschool teachers encouraged
the children to evaluate the features of the gender
behavior of the fairy tales and cartoons heroes
from the point of view of the use of gender
stereotypes.
The purpose of the second – organizational-
targeted – stage was the formation of children’s
abilities to build constructive gender relations
and harmonious relationships (to initiate help,
sympathy, emotional support, to do good useless
deeds). The tasks of this stage included:
formation of socially-oriented motives for the
common activities of children of different
gender; directing children to achieve positive
results in common activities; ability to establish
positive relationships between children of a
different gender group. During the second stage,
the second pedagogical condition was
implemented: stimulation of the interaction of
different gender subjects in a single social-and-
developmental educational environment of a
preschool educational institution. A number of
various methods and forms of work was the
substantial aspect of the implementation of the
tasks at this stage: game exercises,
developmental games, problem situations,
common collective creativity, errands,
entertainment, organization of children’s
practical experience, introduction of motives for
social encouragement of common activity, self-
service, work in nature, visual activities, sports
games, “rukhanky” (exercises) which
contributed to assimilation of gender behavior
and culture of relations with peers of the same
and opposite gender, tolerant attitude towards
them, ability to establish friendly partner
relations.
The following game situations: “Scene with toys
– a ready-made solution”, “Native, familiar,
stranger”, “Why did people come up with
rules?”, “We teach our friends that things we can
do well ourselves”, “Builder”, “Mosaic”,
“Broken phone” and others were among them.
Indirect methods of guidance (leading questions,
prompts, preliminary positive evaluations),
methods of setting up for success in achieving
positive results, elements of psychological
training, methods of organizing activities,
analysis of various types of situations that arose
spontaneously or were created by a preschool
teacher were also used.
In the course of role-playing games, game
situations like “My family”, “Airport”, “Moving
to a new flat”, “We are waiting for the guests”,
“Toy store”, “Children are sick”, “Birthday
celebration” and real life activities, children
implemented their knowledge about cultural
standards of behavior, acquired the skills of
establishing partner, friendly relationships with
peers (ability to agree, understand other’s point
of view, come to help, rejoice at other’s success
(male-friend, female-friend), take good care of
the results of someone else’s work).
The example of equality of requirements for girls
and boys was sports games and exercises. For
example, a preschool teacher could offer to play
“kozaky-rozbiinyky” (Cossacks-bandits), which
both boys and girls want to play, learning about
the world. Children were convinced that there
were no types of occupations or professions that
would be suitable only for the representatives of
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a certain gender. It is worth studying everything
that interests you regardless of gender. For
example, both boys and girls learned to make
“varenyky” or made bicycles. Children
assimilated gender behavior through learning
about moral norms of behavior among people.
Boys learned to help their parents, to acquire self-
care skills, to be sensitive; girls were taught to be
brave, independent, be good at technology.
Preschool teachers encouraged children to
develop universal human traits, such as
creativity, independence, confidence, courage,
sensitivity, which were valuable traits for
individuals of both genders during activities on
the development of speech and visual arts.
The third – activity-directive – stage was aimed
at the effective introduction of various forms of
interaction between preschoolers of different
genders in the process of common activities. The
tasks of this stage were: education of social
behavior in gender relations; mastering
constructive actions regulating common
activities; training in the ability to find effective
forms of cooperation between children in a multi-
gender team, development of skills to use moral
norms of behavior in accordance with their
individual interests, taking into account gender.
At this stage, the third pedagogical condition was
implemented: presence of positive incentives for
interaction in a mixed-gender group as a factor
in the formation of a child’s gender position. The
substantive aspect of the work at this stage
involved solving problem situations using the
following methods: preschool teacher’s
instruction, encouragement or approval, which
stimulated correct behavior of participants in the
acting-out situation, and methods: group and
individual classes, ethical discussions, exercises,
role-playing games, communication with
children on various topics, walks, the use of
fiction, children’s literary creativity, game
projecting of problem situations: “Bridge”,
“Stairs”, “Cloud”, game exercises “Candle”,
“Opposition branch”, “Compliments”, games
“Finish the picture”, “Guess”, “Our panel”,
“Glove”.
Organizing common games, in particular, with
family-related content: “We are waiting for the
guests”, “Family vacation outside the city”,
“Family holiday”, etc. and dramatization games
based on the plots of fairy tales, we created
situations in which preschoolers were able to
empathize with the experiences of the characters
and compare standards of moral behavior in the
fairy tale with his/her own behavior. In such
games, it was important to overcome the disunity
between boys’ and girls’ play groups, which
usually arose due to differences in their play
interests.
In our opinion, in organization of work on gender
socialization of preschool children, preschool
teachers and parents successfully supplemented
the area of self-regulation of the children (for
example, they encouraged girls to play sports,
and boys – to self-care); organized tasks for boys
and girls in common activities; removed
traditional cultural prohibitions on boys’
emotional self-expression, encouraged them to
express their feelings; created conditions for
training inter-gender sensitivity (for example,
through theatrical activities, trainings).
A special role for the development of gender
competence of older preschoolers was given to
common events for the pedagogical team of the
preschool educational institution, namely the
following events were held: lecture “Gender
stereotypes in society”; master class “Ways of
developing gender identity of senior
preschoolers”, “Introducing a gender approach
into the educational process of educational
institutions”, consultations on the formation of
the “Self-concept” of older preschoolers; for
parents: individual conversations, consultations,
parent meetings, during which educators
informed them about the results of identifying
children’s gender competence, informed about
the content, forms and methods that stimulated
the development of a child’s gender competence.
After the formative experiment, the final cuts
were evaluated and analyzed according to the
defined criteria and indicators of the control and
experimental groups. Quantitative indicators of
the experimental groups of older preschoolers
proved the positive dynamics of the levels of
their gender sociability. The difference in the
obtained results in the control and experimental
groups was significant and became a
consequence of the introduction of a gender
approach into the educational process of a
preschool educational institution, implemented
by preschool teachers and parents and the
developed methods and forms of socialization of
older preschool children, but not the influence of
random factors.
Experimental and control groups with the same
number of Ne = Nc = 90 took part in the pedagogical
experiment to check gender sociability of older
preschool children. According to the results of the
conducted research, it was found that 31.1% of
older preschoolers achieved a sufficient level of
gender sociability (Table 1).
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Table 1.
Indicators of the comparative experiment in the experimental group.
Levels
Start of the experiment
Final of the experiment
Dynamics of changes (+/–)
Sufficient level
10 persons (11.1%)
28 persons (31.1%)
+18 persons (+20.0%)
Medium level
44 persons (48.9%)
44 persons (48.9%)
–
Low level
36 persons (40.0%)
18 persons (20.0%)
–18 persons (–20.0%)
Source: Obtained by the authors.
The number of children with a medium level of
gender sociability increased to 48.9%. The
number of children with a low level of gender
sociability changed significantly (up to 20%). A
different situation was observed in the control
group (Table 2), in which only 14.5% reached a
sufficient level of gender sociability, a medium
level was in 52.2% of children. A low level of
gender sociability of 33.3% was recorded in a
significant number of children. In general, the
results of the experimental research confirmed
that the implementation of the proposed
pedagogical conditions, selected forms and
methods of working with the children of older
preschool age contributed to the formation of
gender sociability of children of older preschool
age. The justification for this conclusion was
obtained from the statistical analysis of the
sample given in Tables 1 and 2 using the t-
statistic, since the volumes of independent
samples Ne = Nc = 90 were more than 30 and,
therefore, the sample means were normally
distributed.
Table 2.
Indicators of the comparative experiment in the control group.
Levels
Start of the experiment
Final of the experiment
Dynamics of changes (+/–)
Sufficient level
9 persons (10.0%)
13 persons (14.5%)
+4 persons (+4.5%)
Medium level
45 persons (50.0%)
47 persons (52.2%)
+2 persons (+2.2%)
Low level
36 persons (40%)
30 persons (33.3%)
–6 persons (–6.7%)
Source: Obtained by the authors.
For the quantitative analysis of the state of
gender sociability levels in the children, each
level was referred to a certain (conditional)
rating: low – “1”, medium – “2”, high – “3”. For
each studied group, the average value of the
sociability level in this group was calculated
according to the specified three-point rating
system and the variance, serving as a measure of
the grouping of the experimental data around the
average value. Calculation was carried out
according to the formulas:
− average value of samples:
1 2 3
1 2 3
1 2 3 ,
c
n n n
xn n n
+ +
=
++
where
1 2 3
, , n n n
are the numbers of children of
the studied group referred to low, medium and
high levels of success;
− variance:
2 2 2
1 2 3
1 2 3
(1 ) (2 ) (3 )
c c c
x n x n x n
Dn n n
− + − + −
=
++
.
To find out whether the differences in the
average values of the levels in the experimental
and control groups before and after the formative
research and experimental work are significant or
random, the values of the t-statistic were
calculated:
,,
||
,
c e c c
ec
ec
xx
tDD
NN
−
=
+
where
,,
,
c e c c
xx
are the average values of the
levels in the experimental and control groups; De,
Dc – their corresponding variances.
Results of the calculations were given in Table 3.
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Table 3.
Indicators of the comparative experiment in the control and experimental groups.
)90 =
c
Ngroup ( Control
)90 =
e
Ngroup ( Experimental
Beginning cut
Final cut
Beginning cut
Final cut
Levels
indicators
i
n
%
i
n
%
i
n
%
i
n
%
Low
1
36
40.0%
30
33.33%
36
40.0%
18
20.0%
Medium
2
45
50.0%
47
52.22%
44
48.89%
44
48.9%
Sufficient
3
9
10.0%
13
14.44%
10
11.11%
28
31.11%
average value of the level
1.70
1.81
1.71
2.11
variance
0.410
0.442
0.428
0.499
t-statistic
ЕG,before-CG
t
= 0.115
after-CG,before
t
= 1.142
after-ЕG,before
t
= 3.943
EG,after-CG
t
= 4.091
Source: Obtained by the authors.
For a 99-percent probability of the significance
of the conclusions about the nature of the
differences in the average values of the studied
levels in the control and experimental groups (or
in each of the groups before and after the
experiment), the critical value of the t-statistic
tcr=2,5576. Accordingly, the differences of the
compared levels were considered random if
t < tcr, or significant if t > tcr. Analysis of Table 3
showed that the differences in the average values
of the levels of the control and experimental
groups before the beginning of the experiment
(1.70 and 1.71, respectively) were insignificant
(tCG-EG,before = 0.115 < tcr), which indicated the
equivalence of the compared groups. The final
cut (after conducting the experiment) showed
that the average value of the level in the control
group increased insignificantly (1.81 > 1.70;
tCG,before-after =1.142 < tcr), while in the
experimental group xc,e increased by 23.4%
(2.11 > 1.71), and this increase was not random
(tEG,before-after = 3,943 > tcr). This allowed us to
affirm the reliability of the conclusion regarding
the efficiency of the method of forming gender
sociability of older preschool children described
in the paper.
Conclusions
Analysis of the results of theoretical and
experimental research showed the prospects for
the implementation of the purpose and goals of
the research, the dynamics of the results of the
efficiency of the used forms and methods of
forming gender sociability of the children of
older preschool age in the educational process of
a preschool educational institution.
In the conditions of the research, appropriate
pedagogical conditions (organization of an
effective subject-playing area of the group for
meaningful enriching the experience of gender
communication in the children’s team;
stimulation of the interaction of different gender
subjects in a single social-and-developmental
educational environment of a preschool
educational institution; presence of positive
incentives for interaction in a mixed-gender
group as a factor in the formation of a child’s
gender competence) were determined. It was
proven that only the comprehensive provision of
these pedagogical conditions could contribute to
solving the problem of the formation of gender
sociability of older preschoolers.
Based on the results of the ascertainment
experiment, it was found that the majority of
respondents were at the medium (48.9% – EG,
50% – CG) and low (40% – EG, 40% – CG)
levels of gender sociability, only 9.1% and 10%
(EG and CG, respectively) reached a sufficient
level, which testified about the low level of
knowledge of the preschool teachers and parents
on the issues of the formation of gender
sociability of older preschoolers.
According to the results of the comparative
analysis, it was found that after the formative
experiment in the experimental group, 31.1% of
older preschoolers achieved a sufficient level of
gender sociability. The number of children with
a medium level of gender sociability increased to
48.9%. The number of children with a low level
of gender sociability changed significantly (up to
20%), which showed positive dynamics in the
achieved level in formation of gender sociability.
A different situation was observed in the control
group, in which only 14.5% of children reached
a sufficient level of gender sociability, a medium
level was in 52.2% of respondents. A low level
of gender sociability of 33.3% was recorded in a
significant number of children.
Results of the conducted research confirmed the
originality, efficiency and possibility of
232
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implementing proposed forms and methods in
working with the children of older preschool age
on the basis of a gender approach and purposeful
information of preschool teachers and parents
with the principles of gender socialization.
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