Co-education : essential in the development of early childhood education. The case of evolutionary psychology

Abstract

Higher Education must lead to the necessary cognitive change in the structure and organization of the process of socialization of boys and girls, with the double objective of guaranteeing equal opportunities that the school must offer and, also, improve teaching quality. Co-education is presented as an essential model to accomplish it. This requires, mainly, methodic integration in the educational system of the transference of the importance and value of women in the world, and the diverse relationships that can exist between men and women. An essential element in co-education is language. Hence, we have chosen to adopt in a systematic and assessable way the use of nonsexist language in the speeches and written tests of the subject educative psychology from 0 to 3 years’ old that is taught in the first course of early childhood education through the first four-month period. The methodology implemented is to integrate a coeducational strategy, such as the use of non-sexist language, in research design in action. The results show an increase in the use of non-sexist language as well as greater awareness and internalization, by our student body, of the importance of co-education in general and the use of non-sexist language in particular.