Balancing the Scales: Approaching gender issues in Education Erasmus Project

Project Title

Balancing the Scales: Approaching gender
issues in Education

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : School Exchange Partnerships

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2019

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Gender equality / equal opportunities; Early School Leaving / combating failure in education; Inclusion – equity

Project Summary

It has become clear that the gender gap in education is growing. Although there has been a big push to engage girls in STEM subjects and sports in order to involve them in all aspects of their education, there are less programmes set up for boys who are becoming increasingly disengaged in their learning. As such, boys are more likely to drop out of school early or choose more undesirable behaviours in the classroom which can lead to exclusion – 80% of all school exclusions are male. This then leads to girls out performing boys in exams yet there still exists inequalities in the workplace where men are more likely to achieve higher salaried, senior roles. The objective of this project is to increase awareness and knowledge on gender related issues in school as well as the importance of gender equality in identifying different learner’s needs. There are four schools participating in the project, carefully chosen based upon their specific characteristics and circumstances and with the same needs, and each of those schools will involve between 5 and 6 pupils, of both genders, between the ages of 15 and 18 on each LTT. The project will then be rolled out and disseminated to pupils across a number of age ranges. Project activities will be varied and will be carried out in school and during LTT’s and a tight cooperation between students and teachers will be established. The activities on the LTT’s will involve workshops, presentations, debates for staff and students as well as out of school activities which are designed to help pupils to take part in activities which they may not otherwise have thought about and, for teachers, to help them identify gender specific needs in education. A questionnaire which will be carried out connected to each LTT will evaluate to what extent all short term objectives are being met. An assessment tool will also be used as a guideline to adjustments/improvements during the project and to help assess whether we have met our long term objectives. By the end of the project, pupils will have worked in international groups to create a website which can be used as a self-help tool. The URL will be shared amongst the communities of each partner school. Staff will also be required to complete a final project in the form of a manual to be shared with their colleagues. This will discuss the issue of lack of engagement amongst boys and will highlight, through case studies and observations, pedagogical techniques which can then be transferred to the classroom. When planning the project, the teachers all agreed that it was important to have a long term objective as there was no ”quick fix” to breaking down gender barriers in our schools. Therefore, through education and awareness of the issues followed by dissemination in our schools and communities, the long term aim is to re-engage boys in their education, therefore cutting down on poor behavioural choices and early school leaving. At the same time, we aim to raise awareness of the issues surrounding gender inequalities, in school and beyond, making for a more equal future workforce and to provide a starting point for other schools, associations, etc. to investigate gender equality and promote it. During the development of this project, the project team will focus on different subtopics during each LTT and will involve an additional target group connected to the subtopic. Starting from exploring students’ own reality and environment as well as the evolution of opinions over time (involving parents, grandparents), students will turn to investigating the job market versus education (involving employers and experts + more teachers), regarding to what extent they favour male/female competences. In the second year on the project the emphasis will be on gender stereotypes in general, but especially in early childhood (involving teachers in primary schools and early childhood caretakers). For the final LTT, we focus on gender related problems in our schools and ways to deal with it, turning back to the initial motivation for our project and to the concrete class practice, using the results and information gathered during previous project activities, since, during every LTT previously mentioned, there will also be activities specially designed to identify students’ preferences in didactical/pedagogical methods and how these can be used in teaching. In between the short term exchanges with students, the project team will organise a joint staff meeting, providing teachers involved the opportunity to gain a better insight into the matter and to discuss project topics with experts. This way, the project will follow a path where participants start with being informed, made aware and increase their knowledge to lead to concrete results and possible solutions, in the meantime offering a starting point for further activities and measures in the schools and beyond.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 112238 Eur

Project Coordinator

Levenmouth Academy & Country: UK

Project Partners

• Istituto Liceo Parzanese
• ÓSCAR ROMEROCOLLEGE 2 (ORC2)
• Enver Kurtepeli Anadolu Lisesi