There are several pieces of research from developed countries like England, Australia or Canada and some developing countries, which recommend strategies to gain improvements in providing gender issues knowledge for students in ITT. Recommendations can be reviewed in three themes; they are the modules of gender equality in ITT, the content and knowledge about gender equality and the pedagogy in ITT environment.
2.5.4.1 Modules of gender equality in ITT
From the study in Mozambique, researchers suggest having modules that focus on gender equality for ITT programmes (Aikman, Unterhalter and Challender, 2005: 53). The researcher agrees with this recommendation to give more concentration on modules of gender equality because from the review above we can see that the time and content of subjects for gender issues are not enough to give students the insightful awareness and knowledge of gender equality, which are very essential for them when teaching. A work based on Israeli ITT provision shows that the modules or courses in gender issues should be compulsory for all teacher students so that they can attain more in-depth knowledge (Tatar and Emmanuel, 2001: 223) rather than making them optional since it could lead to fewer choices on modules about gender equality. DeLuca analyses the process of ITT in Canada, the USA and the UK, which reveals that ITT programmes involves on-campus work and field-based experiences and ways to improve the inclusivity through ITT structures such as coursework, field-based experience and pedagogies (Hollins and Guzman, 2005 cited in DeLuca, 2012: 553). Through coursework, the concepts of inclusivity can be addressed both by embedding such notions across all ITT courses (Darling-Hammond, 2002 and Irvine, 2003 cited in DeLuca, 2012: 553) and creating explicit courses besides the core courses (Little and Barlett, 2010 cited in DeLuca, 2012: 553). The solution of embedding gender into the curriculum has similar implication to the recommendation of Tatar and Emmanuel (2001) at providing gender equality knowledge for all trainee teachers regardless of what majors they are pursuing. Nevertheless, it can encounter the obstacle that Skelton (2007) has pointed out previously that due to the short
duration and lack of concentration, trainee teachers may not have in-depth knowledge on gender issues.
Separating gender equality is a practical method to help students concentrate on the subjects but if it is elective, students may not choose it. Therefore, a combination between the infused and separated approach would ensure that all trainee teachers are provided with inclusive issues and could enable those who are interested in the issues to have more specialised study (Kosnik and Beck, 2009 cited in DeLuca, 2012: 553). In DeLuca’s research (2012: 561), it shows that the coursework on gender equality has more advocates, particularly in the compulsory critical issues in education (seven hours) and social justice module (21 hours). They consist of lectures and seminars; however, they still get the critiques of short duration (DeLuca, 2012: 561). Thus, even in what appears to be best practice in relation to gender equality, the time constraints seem severe.
To sum up, there seems to be no doubt that there should be modules or courses about gender equality in ITT programmes (Aikman, Unterhalter and Challender, 2005: 53). The researcher posits that a good solution would be to embed gender issues across the curriculum for ITT and there should be one or more explicit modules on gender equality which are compulsory for trainee teachers.
2.5.4.2 Knowledge and pedagogies in providing gender equality for trainee teachers
In their research in Mozambique, Aikman, Unterhalter and Challender (2005: 47) show that the historical and geographical contexts have the major influence on gender issues in assisting or preventing the agenda for gender equality to develop. So, one of the attentions in the knowledge for ITT about gender issues should be the proper awareness about gender in the context of the country. It could be useful to have this attention because due to the different social-historical and geographical contexts, gender issues can be very different between countries. It is also suggested to accumulate the knowledge about gender-equitable pedagogies in schools and ITT programmes so that trainee teachers and lecturers can learn from the knowledge that they have been provided as well as the experience that they have had from their own teaching practice (Aikman, Unterhalter and Challender, 2005: 50). Turning back to the work of DeLuca (2012), it shows that there are five approaches to pedagogies, which could enhance the inclusivity in ITT. Pedagogies are important in ITT because ‘in teacher education, the way you teach is the message’ (Russell, 1997 cited in
DeLuca, 2012: 566), thus revealing the importance that modelling inclusivity should be reflected through the interactions and teaching (DeLuca, 2012).
We may see this as a crucial element in reflection on teaching because if lecturers do not practice what they teach trainee students, the knowledge that she or he has transferred can become worthless. Another pedagogical approach, which the researcher finds very valuable, is to learn through the environment (DeLuca, 2012: 562) within which staff should actively create inclusive learning environment and reflect it in all activities. This supports the work of Poole and Isaacs (1993: 275) in Australia that trainee teachers cannot be expected to stop reproducing patriarchal beliefs if they are taught in an environment that reproduces patriarchy. The third approach is critical self-reflection and class dialogue (DeLuca, 2012: 563). Critical self-reflection is said to be ‘an initial strategy to begin group discussions linked to inclusivity’, so is the class dialogue (DeLuca, 2012: 563). In the previous section about teaching pedagogies at schools, which strives to ensure gender equality in education group work was seen as important and here it is the connection between the self-reflection with such pedagogy that becomes the key to success. Nonetheless, we must note that there would be challenges in engaging in sensitive or difficult conversations because students may have different compassion and viewpoints (DeLuca, 2012). These approaches are applauded by the researcher since she shares an appreciation about focusing on reflection during teaching and classroom interactions. There are two other approaches recommended in the research, such as to increase diversity within the learning context and to learn through art (DeLuca, 2012) but this is not practical in the context of Vietnam since the learning context and art are not addressed in Vietnamese high schools (indeed art is not a subject) and thus there is no department or modules relating to art in universities of pedagogies in Vietnam.