The indirect effect of children's gender on early childhood educators' mathematical talk

The purpose of this study is to examine how teachers might engage in mathematical talk differently with boys and girls within an early childhood classroom setting; therefore, possibly building and maintaining the stereotype of mathematics as a male domain. Utilizing a multi-model approach, results suggests minimal differences in the extent in which teachers in this study engaged in mathematical talk with girls and boys in class. However, any noted differences in mathematical talk and questions seem dependent upon the classroom contexts (i.e., whole-class, small group, and center time). Implications and future research will be discussed.