Early childhood educators speak differently to boys compared to girls in toddler classrooms, University of Queensland research has found.
Honours student in Psychology, Elizabeth Brook , led a study analysing 182 interactions between educators and toddler groups during playtime at early childhood education and care centres across Queensland.
"We found the gender mix of the group of children influenced the kinds of words early childhood educators used to speak with them," Ms Brook said.
"We focused on 'mental state talk,' which refers to thoughts, feelings, desires and perceptions, and plays a vital role in children's social, emotional and cognitive growth.
"We observed more words about seeing and noticing, such as 'look' or 'hear' when educators interacted with groups that had more boys.
"In contrast, 'desire' words such as 'want' or 'need' were used more often when interacting with groups with more girls."
Ms Brook said the findings suggest everyday language may expose children to different kinds of developmental opportunities.
"Words about wanting and needing help children understand goals and intentions, which are important for social and emotional development," she said.
"Words about seeing and noticing tend to support attention and awareness."
Senior researcher Dr Aisling Mulvihill from UQ's Queensland Brain Institute said the study raises questions about how everyday language may shape developmental opportunities for boys' social and emotional development.
"National early development data has shown boys are almost twice as socially and emotionally vulnerable as girls, by the time they enter school," Dr Mulvihill said.
"What we don't know is to what extent this vulnerability is shaped by how society engages with boys and girls differently."
The researchers said similar gender-related language patterns have been observed in parent-child interactions at home, but this study shows they also occur in early education settings, where many children spend a significant amount of time.
Dr Mulvihill emphasised that the research should not be interpreted as criticism of educators, who play an important role in supporting children's development.
"The research was observational rather than explanatory, meaning this study tells us what is happening, not why it is happening," she said.
"This pattern of talking differently with boys and girls is very common across everyday environments."
The researchers said further work was needed to understand whether exposing all children to mental state language would influence social and emotional development over time.
Read the research in the journal Social Development.
