Gender Equity in Early Childhood Education

Socio-Cognitive Theory and Gender Identity Formation

This theory represents a particular view of how gender-related behavior is acquired and maintained, based on contemporary social learning theory. A cornerstone of this theory is that children learn through the modeling of others. Children, and specifically girls, are capable of learning gender-typed behaviors through the observation of same-sex models. Bussey and Bandura (1999) asserted that children learn under what conditions modeled behaviors and attitudes should be adopted, such as when parents instruct their child to behave in a more gender-egalitarian manner, but model highly gender-typed behaviors. By this, it is clear that gender identities and roles are created and maintained via social influences (such as parents, teachers, and teachers). ECCE is avenue to disseminate and shape gender norms and expectations, therefore impacting gender equity through the development of gender identity.

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