MAINSTREAMING TOOLS — ACTIVITIES

The Role of Educators mainstreaming gender

Author: Association of Human Rights Educators
Xavier Baró • xavierbaro@aheadedu.org
Issues addressed Discrimination, Inequality, Prejudice
Complexity 2
Group size From 10 to 25 participants
Estimated duration 90 minutes
Objectives To promote the reflection among educators about the implications of gender mainstreaming in daily live; To raise awareness on the challenges of supporting gender equality and to develop competences (knowledge, skills and attitudes) of defence of human dignity in our communities.
Related thematic chapters The Role of Educators mainstreaming gender
The Role of Educators mainstreaming gender

Preparations

In the handout are attached some examples of real cases that may serve as inspiration, nevertheless it is strongly encouraged that the facilitators consider real cases that they have personally experienced in their personal practice and daily live, and not only in the frames of the educational settings. Consider the group personal cases and be aware that participants may have some personal hard experiences that you may need to handle. Be ready.

Instructions

Step 1 — 10 minutes
Introduction to the exercise. Creation of subgroups 3-4 participants each.
Step 2 — 5 minutes
Each group received a couple of situations. Each situation is shared between two groups. For instance Group A takes situations 1 and 2, Group B takes situations 2 and 3,...
Step 3 — 20 minutes
Time for groups to attentively read the situations and agree on what would be the best strategy to deal with them
Step 4 — 20 minutes
Presentation of the results: Group A reads Situation 1. When possible the facilitator should project the text of the Situation 1 to everybody in the group to visualise it. Then the group explain how they decided to deal with this situation. Following their presentation, the second group that had the same situation will share their solution. Finally the floor is open for the rest of the groups to question and expose their opinion. That's the space for visualising different approaches and challenge each other. Allow time for discussion. Once the main arguments are exposed we close this situation and the next group proceed with Situation 2, repeating the same process.
Step 5 — 20 minutes
After completing the discussion on the situation, allocate time for debriefing the exercise. The following guiding questions may be used and adapted according to the results of the discussion.

Debriefing

Start asking about the feelings that the different presented situations raised. Do they feel these situations could arise in reality? And in their personal reality? How able are we to address inequality, discrimination in our close circle of friends, family and work. Are there any guidelines that can be used? (you can write them in a flipchart as future reference)

Tested outcomes

The method has been developed and tested on the training course titled “Boys don't cry...? Mainstreaming Gender in Youth Work” implemented by the Trajectorya in 2013.

A set of statements was created for the course and the outcomes where very useful as departing point of controversial issues related to gender mainstreaming.

Tips for facilitation

It is important to use as much as possible real cases based on personal experiences as you may have to answer several concrete questioning from participants when working in potential solutions. The exercise is though as a reflection on the difficulties that educators may encounter in supporting gender equality in their communities and close circle of friends, family... Facilitators should encourage participants to speak up on defence of human dignity and gender equality. Be aware that this may prove challenging for many participants.

Potential follow-up

Are there any outcomes or recommendations that you may extract from the exercise to be used in your close circle, organisation, community,... Consult or create guidelines that may help you to face similar cases.

Needed resources

Handout with the chosen situations to be discussed by each group.

Sources

Trajectorya

Appendix

Click to view and download the appendix file for this activity.

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