**6. What did you learn about socialization from this activity? Give specific examples to support your answer**

Since, as discussed at the beginning of this chapter, most introductory level undergraduate students assume that gender differences are based wholly or mainly on biological factors, I am often curious to see how this IBF activity influences perceptions and expands their knowledge about socialization. To gauge individual students' understanding, I ask students to complete this question individually.

Based on responses from the students, the effect of this IBF activity on their perception about socialization is always very clear. In general, students are able to make connections between toys and clothing and socialization. For instance, a student states *"What I learned is that girls and boys are taught from an early age how to interact, what to do…etc., all dealing with socialization. Girls learn from toys and easy bake ovens to be good homemakers. Guys learn to like sports and outdoor activities…"* Another student states "*I learned that children learn how to assume the role of male or female from toys and clothes. For example, a girl playing in a toy house with appliances learns to assume the role of the typical female by taking care of the house. On the other hand, a boy playing with cars and superheroes learns to be strong and confident"*. The idea that children's clothing and toys influence who they will be in the future is a thought that came cross clearly in the students' comments. For instance, another student commented that *"from this group exercise, I learned that the toys children play with when they are little could lead to their occupation when they are grown…*". This comment is referring to the concept of anticipatory socialization which occurs when people take on the values and standards of groups that they aspire to join, to ease their entry into the group. Clearly, these children are involved in anticipatory socialization through the toys and clothing as they learn the norms and role expectations they will be required to evince when they are older.

Other students recognized the societal influence on socialization. For instance, one student stated that *"Society has a major effect on how boys and girls become masculine and feminine"*. Another student stated that they learned that *"society has a big impact on how different males and females have to be…"*. This is important, considering the naturalistic conceptualizations of what it means to be a human being, that many undergraduate students come to college with. The acknowledgement that society plays a major role in what it means to be feminine or masculine reflects a major shift in perceptions.

Still, other students acknowledge the fact that socialization starts early in the life of human beings. For instance, one student states that they have learned that "*Socialization starts at an early age…"*. Another student states that "*from this group exercise, I have learned that socialization starts with childhood influences from clothes and toys…".*

### **7. Discussion**

The direct comments from students suggest that students did not only understand how children learn to "do gender", but also comprehended how gender and socialization work in real world. During semesters that I have not assigned a final exam in the Introductory to Sociology class, I have assigned a final reflection paper. Part of this assessment requires students to identify two activities we have done through this class which have left a lasting impression in their mind. The Gender Study is one of the activities that students identify as leaving a lasting impression in their mind. Considering that the final reflection paper comes at the very end of a 16-week semester, yet the topic of socialization is usually discussed around the third week of classes, the fact that students are able to identify the Gender Study activity at the end of the semester shows how an active learning activity such as this inquiry-based fieldwork can create a "lived experience" which is critical for knowledge retention. The fact that this activity provides students with real-world experience with a classroom subject matter greatly helps to reify the concept of gender socialization in the minds of the students, to fostering long-term learning, improve knowledge retention, and increase student engagement. To extend Ghomal [29], with inquiry-based fieldwork, students are engaged in the learning process and are making sense of the world around them. Clearly, the students in the Gender Study are making sense of the world of children's toys and clothes in ways that would not have been possible through the use of a traditional lecture.

A value of an Inquiry-based fieldwork activity such as the Gender Study is also that students are not just students, but also researchers. They are creating their own knowledge by making observations and engaging in deductive thinking to reflect on or analyze the findings. Being able to reason from the children's toys and clothing to differences in men's and women's occupations and to gender roles is a classic example of deductive thinking and critical thinking that should be the intended goal of any meaningful education.

Beyond inculcating research skills, this inquiry-based fieldwork also improves student engagement, promotes teamwork, and caters to different students' learning styles. This method has been described as "an alternate approach to pedagogy which is more socially equitable, which recognizes that there are differences in backgrounds, preparation, and knowledge among students, and capitalizes on individual and diverse opinions" [30]. What Summerlee is pointing out here is the fact that the lecture method of teaching targets a certain group of students, while leaving behind those students have different learning styles. In the classroom, one way in which this becomes manifest is that student participation increases greatly during the week when we do this activity. Even students who are usually more reticent to speak in class "find their voice".

In spite of its high success, careful planning is critical to the success of fieldwork. Instructors planning to use this pedagogy should pay careful attention to the four major stages required in planning, including 1) pre-fieldwork stage, 2) the fieldwork stage, 3) the post-fieldwork stage, and 4) the evaluation stage. Since Section 5 of this chapter provides details that correspond to these stages of preparation, I will only provide additional thoughts relating to the pre-fieldwork stage.

The pre-fieldwork stage is where background research and reconnaissance of the field site become important. Among things to consider in this stage would be riskassessment to ensure student safety. The alignment of the learning objectives to the syllabus goals is crucial. This is also the stage for constructing the guiding questions which can either be teacher-generated or student-generated. Since in my class, students go to the fieldwork at their individual times, there is no need to try to coordinate a common time for the visit. Since the observation is supposed to be unobtrusive, I have not found a need to reach out to the store to seek permission for the visit. However, other instructors may wish to seek permission from the store management to enable students to freely make notes without fear. Still, the instructor should also be prepared for the likelihood that the store management will decline, especially if the taking of notes is

*Inquiry-Based Fieldwork as Pedagogy for Exploring the World of Gendered Toys and Children's… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.101487*

misconstrued for something else. In my class, I remind students to be careful to take the notes surreptitiously and be ready to politely explain to any store associates or management if asked. Students also know to comply with any requests to not take any notes at the store if the store management opposes notetaking, for whatever reason. In that case, I encourage students to record their observations as soon as they exit the store(s).

### **8. Conclusion**

Field based pedagogy is common in fields such as earth science, ecology, environmental science, archeology, geology, geography, biology, and other natural sciences, where students work "in the field" to observe and collect materials needed for learning. However, this pedagogy is not very well developed or utilized in the social sciences and other disciplines where much of the learning occurs in a classroom, laboratory, library, or computer room. As this chapter has demonstrated, inquiry-based fieldwork incorporates several aspects of active learning pedagogy which has been associated with effective teaching and learning. While this chapter understands that there is a place for a good and interactive lecture in dissemination of learning, inquiry-based teaching and learning ranks higher than traditional lecture in terms of its effectiveness as a method of instruction.

### **Conflict of interest**

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

## **Appendix**

SOCY 101: INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY GENDER STUDY WORKSHEET Due in class on Tuesday, October 22

Instructions: Print and fill out both Part I and Part II of this worksheet to record your observations when you visit a children's clothing and toy department store to observe what the store is selling for the different sexes. Create appropriate spaces in between the questions as you need to adequately address the questions.

Your name\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ Name of the store(s) you observed\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ PART I: CLOTHES Can you tell which clothes are for girls versus boys? If 'yes' how? Pay particular attention to and describe:

a.the items of clothing offered for:

BOYS: GIRLS:

b.the fabrics/clothing textures used for:

BOYS: GIRLS: c.the patterns/decorations used for:

BOYS: GIRLS:

d.any other differences between clothes for,

BOYS: GIRLS:

Are there any gender-neutral clothes (in other words, clothes that appear to be for both boys and girls)?

Describe them:

PART II: TOYS. Can you tell which toys are for girls versus boys? If 'yes' how? Pay particular attention to and describe…

a.the kinds of toys offered:

BOYS: GIRLS:

b.the colors, designs (etc.) of toys meant for:

BOYS: GIRLS:

c. any other differences between toys for:

BOYS: GIRLS:

Are there any gender-neutral toys (in other words, toys that appear to be intended for both boys and girls)?

Describe them:
