There is a need for the deconstruction of negative representations of masculinity within classrooms, according to lecturer Dennis Gill.
Gill, who lectures at the University of Guyana’s Tain, Berbice campus, made the argument at the university’s Symposium on Boys’ Education last Friday, when he presented on the “Misconstructions, Deconstructions and Reconstructions in Masculinity: Implications for the curriculum of male students.” His presentation was centred on the works of writer Earl Lovelace and, as he put it, was an “interplay of masculinity formation, representation and the curriculum.”
“If we are dealing with masculinity and if we are dealing with representations of [masculinity], then we need to ask ourselves: Can we address the curriculum for boys without first addressing the question of what is masculinity? Since, essentially, what we are concerned with isn’t so much our boys knowing good Standard English, Literature, History, etc., but we are concerned about the persons they become. Holistic persons,” Gill told the audience at the Arthur Chung Convention Centre.
