Gender awareness, classroom diversity and inclusive education

This course aims at enabling teachers and community leaders to gain a gender perspective, detect and be aware of the inequalities that exist between men and women in different societies in order to promote inclusive education. The participants will learn how gender norms are formed and perpetuated and how they impact people and create unequal opportunities that can lead to gender-based violence. In addition, this course seeks and explains alternative strategies such as gender mainstreaming and the history and evolution of the feminist movement.

This training course is also aimed to be inclusive, so it will adapt to welcome those educators and community leaders who cannot follow the rhythm of ordinary classes and need an extra support, due to some physical, sensory or cognitive impairment. After studying each individual case, specific technical and methodological adaptations can be offered, when possible. The purpose is to give those with more difficulties and learning disadvantages the same opportunities to learn new concepts and develop new skills so they can become references in their communities and therefore lead to social change.

OBJECTIVES

  • Understand how gender norms create inequalities.
  • Raise gender awareness among educators of diverse profiles as a means of fighting against multiple discrimination.
  • Understand the different types of gender discrimination by generating empathy and debate among educators with diverse profiles.
  • Break stereotypes by training leaders with inclusive profiles.
  • Make educators with disabilities more visible in society.
  • Empower educators with disabilities as leaders of social change.
  • Encourage a multiplying effect by using group dynamics that can be reproduced elsewhere.

TARGET AUDIENCE

Participants with and without disabilities:

  • Teachers and adult educators
  • Teachers trainers
  • Inspectors, school leaders and other school staff
  • Community leaders
  • Women in charge of groups
  • Women with disabilities or those who work with them.
  • Any professionals interested to learn about gender balance, diversity, tolerance and social inclusion.

TRAINING ACTIVITIES

DAY 1: Inequalities in culture

  • Course summary
  • Group dynamic: Introductions and expectations
  • Group dynamic: The story of John and Joanna
  • Brainstorming: Differences between men and women / sex and gender
  • Group activity: Soup of labels (gender stereotypes and roles)
  • Debate: Gender socialization: Where do we learn to be men and women?
  • Group activity: Analyzing sexism in publicity, songs and stories for children
  • Group activity: Sexism in language: Examples and alternatives

 DAY 2: In search of the same opportunities at work

  • Activity: Choice of studies and professions
  • Text analysis: “The world upside down”
  • Activity: Differences between “men’s jobs” and “women’s jobs” (the sexual division of work)
  • Conclusions: Productive work versus Reproductive work
  • Analyzing the labor market: examples of vertical and horizontal segregation
  • Group debate: Means of improvement.

 DAY 3: An unequal use of time and spaces

  • Activity: 24 hours for a man and a woman
  • Conciliation and other strategies
  • Activity + debate: How to conciliate family, personal and work life?
  • Agents involved

DAY 4: Gender based violence and discrimination

  • The concept of Patriarchy
  • Activity: Structural violence against women
  • Examples of direct and indirect discrimination
  • Debate: Multiple discrimination: women of social minorities
  • Brainstorming: Types of gender based violence
  • Case study: Women with disabilities: Specific problems and proposals.

 DAY 5 The feminist movement. Evaluation and closing

  • Debate: The role of women in recent history
  • Activity: Who is who? (Unknown women)
  • Waves of the feminist movement
  • Open discussion on possible future collaborations and planning follow up activities
  • Summary of key learning points
  • Final course evaluation and feedback
  • Validation of learning outcomes and handling certificates
  • Cultural activity or guided visit (optional)

METHODOLOGY

As we expect to have a group with a great diversity (with participants with and without special needs) the teaching methodology aims to adapt personally to each participant. This will be achieved thanks to a previous diagnosis of the specific needs and difficulties they may have, so that additional technical and pedagogical support can be added for them, together with a continuous communication during the course to provide feedback.

Each topic aims to provide solid theoretical concepts, supported mainly by practical group work with dynamics to encourage the exchange of ideas and personal experiences through enriching debates.

Our standard methodology is based on active learning and it is highly participative and practical. Our focus is on showing the participants how the learners’ motivation increases when they become the actors of their own learning because the teacher takes the role of facilitator or learning guide. Thus, the participants get the chance to experience on themselves the benefits of the active learning methodology at the same time as learning how to apply it in their classroom.

Energizers, games and group dynamics are foreseen daily in order to ensure a positive energy and a cooperative learning climate in the group.

Group reflections and daily brief feedback sessions are planned to help adapting the learning programme to the specific needs of the participants.

We organize optional social and cultural activities in order to give the participants the opportunity to get to know the Canarian and Spanish culture as well as to do some professional networking and exchange good practices.

CERTIFICATION AND VALIDATION OF LEARNING OUTCOMES

  • Certificates of attendance, including a description of the training content
  • Support with the Europass mobility certificates– to be issued by the applicant’s National Agency

Upon request, we also provide educational centers with additional documents that are required to certify the presence to the course and the competences learned.