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Adapting curriculum for gender inclusion
- 1. Promoting the involvement of women in non-traditional training An introduction to Gender considerations in curriculum development Gina Bennett for COTR International
- 2. Why involve women? Add brainstorming ideas here Gina Bennett for COTR International
- 3. Brainstorming session: What factors limit women’s participation in training? Add brainstorming ideas here Gina Bennett for COTR International
- 4. Equality vs. Equity What’s the difference in these 2 terms? Gina Bennett for COTR International
- 5. Designing curriculum to better involve women Gina Bennett for COTR International Content Learner Audience Learning Environment
- 6. Accommodation for children Questions to be answered during the Learner Analysis: ● how is childcare organized? Will women watch each other’s children? Will an older child be left behind? ● Can children come to training sessions? How is childcare managed in such situations? ● Is breastfeeding acceptable in public? In mixed gender meetings? Gina Bennett for COTR International
- 7. Brainstorming session! How can training sessions be made more ‘family friendly’? Gina Bennett for COTR International
- 8. Training and women’s timetables ● how will women travel to training? Can they travel alone? Is it safe? ● what other responsibilities constrain women’s timetables? Chores? Sending children off to school? Carrying for others? ● what if the woman must miss a session (sick child, etc.)? Gina Bennett for COTR International
- 9. Training and domestic power structures ● Who decides whether or not the woman will participate in a training event? ● What constrains whether or not the woman can implement what she has learned in the home? ● If study or homework is required will the woman be given time to do this? ● Even if the tuition is free, there may be other costs involved in training. If so, how will she pay? Gina Bennett for COTR International
- 10. Literacy and schooling ● What is the participation rate of women in primary schooling? In secondary schooling? ● Do women have ample opportunities to maintain literacy and numeracy after they leave school? ● Are women’s academic achievements respected? Gina Bennett for COTR International
- 11. Brainstorming session: Ethical issues What cultural factors affect training? To what extent should cultural factors be respected? When should cultural limitations be ‘stretched’? Should women (or men) be trained for vocations which adversely affect their health? Gina Bennett for COTR International
- 12. Selecting appropriate trainers What topics (if any) are not appropriate for a man to teach a woman? What topics (if any) are not appropriate for a woman to teach a man? Are some topics ‘forbidden’ in mixed-gender classes? Gina Bennett for COTR International
- 13. Mixed gender classes ‘Couples training’ has many benefits: ● household members can learn from one another and support each other’s learning (“synergistic” effect) ● couples can work collaboratively in technical activities and engage in joint decision- making. Gina Bennett for COTR International
- 14. Adapting content for gender inclusion • Check pronoun usage. Is the student always referred to as “he” or as “she”? • Check the images used in the content. Do images include both sexes when portraying learning events or workers? • When women are included in illustrations, are they always shown as the “worker”, never the “supervisor” or “expert”? Gina Bennett for COTR International
- 15. Content and delivery • Does the content or the classroom delivery favour male- oriented language? • Does the instructor or trainer have preconceived ideas about what a woman should do or can learn? • Does the training assume a lot of unstated background knowledge (e.g. mechanical information that many women won’t know)? Gina Bennett for COTR International
- 16. What about men? Can you think of examples in which men’s educational needs are not adequately met, in curriculum designed primarily for women? Gina Bennett for COTR International
- 17. This is only the beginning! Comprehensive Gender Planning for program change involves 5 steps: 1. Gender awareness 2. Gender analysis 3. Gender strategy development 4. Targetted gender activities 5. Monitoring the gender-related project Gina Bennett for COTR International
Editor's Notes
- When doing a Learner Analysis for non-traditional training involving groups of women, additional factors must be considered. Children & childcare are of course major factors.
- How can the needs of women & their dependent children be met? Very young babies? Toddlers? Pre-schoolers? School-age children? Consider children’s needs for food, rest, playspaces, things to do, toileting, etc.
- Don’t forget that curriculum development also involves a thorough look at the learning environment, including the location & timing of the training. What about women’s responsibilities at home? If a woman is undertaking training that involves extensive study or homework outside of class hours… should both men & women share household work?
- This could be an interesting discussion!
- Use baseline data if you have it.… can the group pull some numbers to inform us about question #1 above? How do women in rural communities practice literacy & numeracy when school is finished? Is a woman respected for being “smart”?
- These questions may need to be rephrased. But hopefully with the previous discussion in this session some cultural viewpoints will be expressed & these can be examined. For example: do some participants believe that ‘a woman’s place is in the home’? That a woman’s ‘highest calling’ is to have babies & raise children? Do religious beliefs about the ‘proper’ role of women in society affect educational choices?
- UN says the need is to: “develop gender-sensitive curricula for educational programmes at all levels and take concrete measures to ensure that educational materials portray women and men, youth, girls and boys in positive and non-stereotypical roles, particularly in the teaching of scientific and technological subjects, in order to address the root causes of segregation in working life” Participants may point out, for example, that “all miners are men, so why portray images as if women are also doing this work”? This is a good opportunity to remind them of the difference between equality & equity. While it may be true that most miners are men, we want our curriculum to not necessarily just REFLECT the status quo but to EVOLVE the status quo to a different, preferred state. And most non-traditional education is attempting to alter the status quo.
- In this presentation, we have touched mostly on the first 2 steps, with a few ideas about altering curriculum to target gender issues. If you would like more advanced workshops about gender planning, let us know & we will try to include in future training.