Addressing Gender Equality in Schools Erasmus Project

Project Title

Addressing Gender Equality in Schools

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 : Strategic Partnerships for school education

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2019

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Gender equality / equal opportunities; Pedagogy and didactics

Project Summary

This project will support teachers with the training and resources they need to engage children in creating safe spaces for dialogue around gender inequalities and gender discrimination. It will directly reach 400 teachers across the UK, Hungary, Sweden and Italy, and create external coaches to support schools. These teachers will facilitate ‘Gender Agenda’ projects with over 12,000 pupils. The results of this project will be shared with 150 teacher training institutions and 2000 trainee teachers, and more broadly contribute to improved classroom management. The project will be delivered in five phases.

Phases 1 and 2 will focus on training in Addressing Gender Equality in Schools ‘AGES’, and using drama to support personal and institutional change. The main focus of this training will be Philosophy for Children and Open spaces for dialogue and enquiry as a technique for supporting teachers to facilitate dialogic enquiry, followed by Forum Theatre to explore behaviour and social change. The progression is so teacher feel confident in at first creating the spaces to identify needs of change in a national context. Then creating an environment using theatre to rehearse scenarios of oppression, discrimination and inequality and equipping teachers and pupils with skills to address these issues in the wider world. These trainings will be attended by all partners, and will also involve them sharing their teaching experiences and approaches to engaging disengaged learners.

Phases 3 and 4 involve these partners delivering cascade training to 100 teachers in each of countries. This will then allow teachers to work with their pupils on projects called ‘Gender Agenda’. These projects will take either a local or global issue, and engage learners through dialogue and drama.

The ‘Addressing Gender Equality in Schools ‘AGES’ projects will be showcased in a Review and Teacher’s Guide. This will be the subject of the dissemination phase – the project’s fifth and final phase. This phase is crucial as it will share the learning of teachers in schools, with trainees who will become the teachers of tomorrow. Each partner will work closely with providers of Initial Teacher Training to disseminate the Review to over 2000 trainees. This partnership is key to the sustainability of the project, as partners and universities will seek ways of embedding dialogue techniques into teacher training.

The activities will result in teachers having increased skills to teach critical thinking, and an understanding of to create safe spaces to address gender inequality and gender discrimination. Pupils will become more critical, caring, creative and co-operative in their learning, as teachers introduce aspects of the Philosophy for Children and OSDE approach. Trainee teachers will become aware of the need for critical thinking and have access to a relevant Teacher Guide resource. Partners will have increased their capacity to train others, and developed networks to share their learning.

This chain of activities and results will support children to engage in their learning and with the wider world around them, in positive and thoughtful ways. It will give them the thought processes and language to challenge their situation and take a fuller role as global citizens.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 152419 Eur

Project Coordinator

Liverpool World Centre & Country: UK

Project Partners

• OXFAM ITALIA ONLUS
• The Studio
• Östra skolan
• ANTHROPOLIS ANTROPOLOGIAI KOZHASZNU EGYESULET
• The Cavendish High Academy