"Teachers need to understand that there is always more to the story – stuff you don’t know. As such, we owe it to our students and to those around us to see them as deep and real. ...All of us want to be taken at face value and not as representatives of a group we might align with."
— Dr. Allyson Jule, Dean of Education
Dr. Allyson Jule views the classroom as a “space made sacred by meaningful encounter and respectful challenge.” As an educator and scholar, she believes that all students seek the same things: to be seen, to be understood, and to be cared for.
Dr. Jule is the Dean of Education at TWU. She is currently the Chair of the Association of the B.C. Deans of Education, which connects to the B.C. Teachers Council. She is past President of Canada's Women's and Gender Studies et Recherches Féministe. Dr. Jule completed her PhD in London, England and is a Research Fellow at the University of Oxford's International Gender Studies Centre (at Lady Margaret Hall). She is on the editorial board of Gender and Education, Women and Language Journal, and the Contemporary Journal of Religion.
Dr. Jule is the author of 10 books, including: Gender, Participation and Silence in the Language Classroom: Sh-shushing the Girls (2004), A Beginner's Guide to Language and Gender (2018), and Speaking Up: Gender and Language (2019). Most recently, she edited The Compassionate Educator: Understanding Social Issues in Canadian School in 2019.
In 2020, Dr. Jule, together with Dr. Adrienne Castellon, published their research for think tank Cardus investigating how Canadian Christian schools pursue their commitment to social justice as an expression of their religious beliefs.
Dr. Jule’s main area of research is gender and education — in particular, the area of gender and language use in the classroom. She developed and created both the Gender Studies minor at Trinity Western and Gender in Education, the only undergraduate course of its kind in Canada. Dr. Jule won TWU’s Davis Distinguished Teaching Award in 2011 and was named one of Canada’s top 10 university professors for 2016. She was awarded the prestigious 3M Teaching Fellowship for excellence in university teaching and leadership, the only time a TWU professor has earned the Fellowship.
During Women’s History Month at TWU, we seek to hear from experts across campus about the impact of women in history and society. Here below, we ask Dr. Jule about how language and discourse shapes gender.
1. Hi Dr. Jule, why do you think it is important for teachers to be thoughtful around their use of language as it relates to gender?
What we say makes a huge difference to the lives of others. Language can be limiting or liberating. Teachers have an amazing privilege of influencing young people to reach for their full potential. As such, careful and thoughtful use of language matters!
2. As you train up teachers, what are some common “ah ha” moments that you have seen in your classroom, when it comes to the topic of language and gender?
We try to use the word "educate" rather than "train" because we see the development of teacher as embedded in deep learning. We want all teachers to be life-long learners. No teacher stays the same; instead, they develop and grow through their experiences in the classroom. The ah-ha moments come when students engage with research that unwraps some common stereotypes of gender in education. Girls don’t talk more than boys in class, for example; more boys do this. Girls may be succeeding academically but this doesn’t equate to more success throughout life. Many women opt out of high power careers that rather average-attaining men seek out. Our society sees girls as studious while boys disengage due to ‘feminized’ classrooms. But these tendencies do not follow after the school years are over.
3. During Women’s History Month, what do you wish to affirm for your students (who are future teachers), and for society in general?
I wish to affirm that the human person is complex, contradictory and confusing. Teachers need to understand that there is always more to the story – stuff you don’t know. As such, we owe it to our students and to those around us to see them as deep and real. Stereotyping is sloppy; all of us want to be taken at face value and not as representatives of a group we might align with.
About Trinity Western University
Founded in 1962, Trinity Western University is Canada’s premier Christian liberal arts university dedicated to equipping students to establish meaningful connections between career, life, and the needs of the world. It is a fully accredited research institution offering liberal arts and sciences, as well as professional schools in business, nursing, education, human kinetics, graduate studies, and arts, media, and culture. It has five campuses and locations: Langley, Richmond-Lansdowne, Richmond-Minoru, Ottawa, and Bellingham, WA. TWU emphasizes academic excellence, research, and student engagement in a vital faith community committed to forming leaders to have a transformational impact on culture. Learn more at www.twu.ca or follow us on Twitter @TrinityWestern, on Facebook and LinkedIn.
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