The Effectiveness of a Training Program based on the Strategies of Critical Thinking and Its Impact on Stereotypical Thinking on Social Gender Roles for Children in the Primary Stage

Abstract

The current research aimed to investigate a training program based on critical thinking strategies and its impact on stereotypical thinking of gendered social roles among second-grade children in the primary stage. The research sample consisted of (60) male and female children, whose ages ranged between (8-9 years) of the same social and economic level, and they were randomly divided into two control and experimental groups, each of which consisted of (31) females and (29) males, and the training program was applied. The experimental group, with the aim of changing their stereotypical thinking about their social and gender roles, for a period of two and a half months, with (18) training sessions. The results of the research revealed that there are statistically significant differences between the mean scores of the children of the experimental group in the pre/post measurement on the gender social roles awareness scale in favor of the post measurement, and there are statistically significant differences between the average scores of the experimental and control groups on the dimensions of the gender social roles scale in favor of the experimental group, and there are Differences between the average scores of males on the scale of gender social roles in the third dimension (the right to professional choices), the fourth dimension (daily practices) and the fifth dimension (sports activities) are higher than the average scores of females, and the average scores were equal between males and females in the first dimension (the right to play) , the second dimension (the right to dress and appearance), the sixth dimension (cultural activities) and the seventh dimension (social practices), which indicates a lower degree of stereotyped thinking of gender social roles for males more than females in general. And there are statistically significant differences in the mean scores of the children of the experimental group in the pre, post and follow-up measurements on the awareness of gender social roles scale in favor of the follow-up measurement. Which indicates the effectiveness of the training program in changing the stereotypical thinking of gender social roles among the research sample, and in the light of these results, the current research provides a training program that can be used by teachers, families, and those in charge of caring for children in order to improve the way children think and move away from stereotypical thinking, in addition to providing them with Many skills that make them more socially and emotionally adaptive in line with changes in society.