Gender and Teacher–Student Interaction

Teacher–student interaction refers to verbal exchanges between teachers and students during classroom instruction. Research studies suggest that interactive teaching is an effective instructional strategy that can enhance academic achievement. This finding raises fascinating questions, such as whether all students prefer this interactive style, whether all students benefit equally, and whether all students enjoy equal access to the teacher's attention. Research findings suggest that the answer to all of these questions may very well be no. For example, studies indicate that students sitting in the same classroom and being taught by the same teacher often experience significantly different educational environments.

One of the reasons for these different micro-educational climates is teacher–student interaction, and these interaction patterns are often influenced by a student's gender. Studies analyzing teacher–student interactions ...