Scottish nurseries told not to say 'boys and girls' and use inclusive pronouns like 'they'

Nurseries in Scotland are being asked by the early years watchdog to greet children with the phrase 'hello everyone' instead of 'hello girls and boys' and use inclusive pronouns such as 'they' or 'them'. Should they ditch the term 'boys and girls' for inclusive pronouns? Give your view by voting now in our poll

Princess outfits frowned upon by watchdog. Credit: gpointstudio/ Shutterstock

Scotland’s care watchdog, the Care Inspectorate, has issued new guidance for nurseries, in partnership with the gender equality organisation Zero Tolerance Scotland.

'Use more inclusive pronouns'

The guidance 'Gender, Equal Play in Early Learning and Childcare' recommends nurseries ‘use more inclusive pronouns' by using ‘they’ or ‘them’ or ‘theirs’ instead of ‘she’ or ‘him’ or ‘hers’.’

Nursery staff are asked to try greeting the children with ‘hello everyone’ or ‘children’ instead of ‘hello boys and girls’. Terms like 'mankind' and 'man-made' must also be ditched in favour of words like ‘humanity’ and ‘manufactured’.

Early years staff are also asked to encourage 'children who are willing, to re-tell nursery rhymes or fairy tales in a more gender equal manner.’

The guidance states: ‘The words we use to communicate influence how we think and act. Think about whether what you say to the children reinforces gender stereotypes, and if so, use more neutral and inclusive language. This will support their understanding that everyone can do or like anything, regardless of gender.’

'Never too early to question what is seen as normal'

Batman, Superman and princesses like Disney’s Elsa have fallen out of favour with Scotland’s care watchdog the Care Inspectorate, which has issued new guidance for nurseries.

In an effort to avoid ‘gender stereotyping’ which can influence a child’s future work choices, the Care Inspectorate’s 64-page guidance document states: ‘It is never too early to question what is seen as ‘normal’ or what is traditionally expected of boys and girls in our society.

‘Ensure dressing up and role play props offer variety and are not limited to costumes that may be aimed specifically at boys or girls.

‘Consider moving from providing ready-made superhero or princess costumes to providing a variety of general clothes that children can use creatively to dress up.’

Superhero costumes like Spiderman discouraged. Credit: VM.Shpilka / Shutterstock

The Care Inspectorate is also urging early years workforce to use the same words of flattery for girls and boys and ‘tell boys it’s ok to be scared, upset or emotional’ and ‘tell girls it’s ok to get angry and to express this in a healthy way’.

Bright Horizons@Gogarburn is a workplace nursery based at the Royal Bank of Scotland’s Gogarburn campus in Edinburgh. Nursery manager Susan Killen said: “Some time ago it was decided to encourage both genders in developing their skills, specifically in the role play area.

“It was agreed to offer material that could be used in a multifaceted way; material that could be utilised for anything from an astronaut to a cook, from a princess to a fairy, from a baby to a tiger, and to encourage both genders to use the role play area giving a greater choice.

“It was believed that not only would this inspire children to use their imaginations and support language but most importantly children would not be guided in any specific gender orientation and could make independent choices about what they wanted to be.”

The Corstorphine Nursery is a private nursery in Edinburgh. Nursery manager Janet McDonald said: “Children begin to understand that different non-gendered activities can be fun. If children join the nursery and haven’t been used to playing like this, or their home environment is enforcing stereotypes, we work to ensure this doesn’t limit them at nursery."

At Pitteuchar East Nursery Centre in Fife, a staff member described the impact on her of watching a girl trying to climb a climbing frame, and repeatedly tripping on her long skirt.

Since then, the nursery induction programme has included a reference to the importance of appropriate clothing. Parents are reminded of the need to dress the children, so they can explore all areas of the centre. Children shouldn’t be dressed in restrictive or ‘special’ clothes, rather clothes they can climb in, get muddy in etc.’

Headteacher, Jennifer Knussen said: “I recommend taking small steps. Small changes can have a big impact. Take your team with you. Everyone needs to be involved and engaged to have positive impact. You need to be mindful that everyone may be at different stages with work like this.”

What nursery staff are being asked to consider

• What are some of my own biases, values and belief systems in relation to gender?

• How might these gender values / beliefs influence the way I interact with children? Do I engage differently with boys and girls?

• How can I model a positive attitude to gender equality in my everyday activities, actions and conversations with children? What am I already doing?

• How can I promote and strengthen gender equality in my practice?

• When considering if something is a gendered stereotype try asking would this be the same for either gender? Why is it like that? - is it only like that because it always has been? Is that fair? - does it strike you as equal and similar? Or the opposite?

The Care Inspectorate has stated its guidance to nursery staff is aimed to ‘act as a stimulus for further thought, and to assist care services in supporting and promoting gender equal play in early learning and childcare settings’.

The new guidance comes as the Scottish Government's gender reform act makes its way through Holyrood, in a bid to give trans people a chance to legally change their gender without the need of a medical certificate.

Vote now in poll

daynurseries.co.uk has launched a public poll to gather your views. Should nurseries ditch words 'boys' and 'girls' and use inclusive pronouns like 'they', 'them' or 'theirs'? Vote now in the poll