Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
Culture Documents
UNIVERSITY
DATE
AUTHORS
Name 1
Name 2
Name 3
Name 4
Name 5
PROMOTING EQUITY AND EQUALITY 2
Abstract
that is working to increase access to education for children in Uganda and Zambia and plans to
was developed in 2005 and now has 21 schools in Uganda and 2 in Zambia, all of which serve
children from poor socioeconomic regions (PEAS, 2012). One of the challenges the organization
faces is how to address the gap in achievement between girls and boys. Though there may be
many reasons for this gap, the NGO representative, Libby Hills, asked for assistance in
research on this topic and focused on three major themes: communication, classroom
PROMOTING EQUITY AND EQUALITY 3
environment and dynamics, and instructional strategies. We developed a presentation for PEAS
school leaders at the George Secondary School to use in staff development sessions to increase
teacher awareness of gender bias and offer strategies for creating a gender responsive
schools that are affordable, sustainable, and ultimately governed by local, Zambian faculty
(PEAS, 2012). PEAS secondary schools are located in areas of great need, especially rural areas,
and were founded as a result of the Millennium Development Goals. The United Nations MDGs
have promoted the establishment of thousands of new and low-cost primary schools across sub-
Saharan Africa with great success, but with this success comes the immediate need for secondary
schools, without which the education of children, particularly girls, would end at age twelve. To
meet this urgent need, PEAS has built and is operating twenty-six schools, mostly in Uganda,
with over 10,000 students (PEAS, 2012). With charitable donations from the U.K., government
subsidies from Zambia, and a sustainability action plan in place, PEAS seeks to provide low-cost,
high-quality education to African students, help enable the schools to become independent
within two years, and ensure that students become responsible, well-rounded citizens who can
make informed decisions about vital issues such as health, vocational education, politics, and the
Several factors may contribute to the achievement gap between girls and boys in
education. Major issues involve cultural and socioeconomic barriers, which would require a
broad, yet concerted effort in order to change the norms of the society. In coordination with our
NGO, we opted to tackle a more specific issue that related to teachers at the George Secondary
School to promote gender equality and equity in education. The central research focus for this
5. How can school leaders at George Secondary School promote a policy of gender
this research. The following sections provide an overview of our specific areas of research.
PROMOTING EQUITY AND EQUALITY 5
Communication.
gender responsive teaching. We began by introducing the topic of language, and defined it as a
examined the socially constructed nature of gender, explained how it differs from sex, and how it
is deeply embedded in language systems throughout the world. We had participants explore the
implications of this through two group activities: (1) identifying examples of verbal and non-
verbal gendered language, and (2) updating English verbiage to form more gender-neutral
between boys and girls. For instance, boys appreciate opposition in discussion, while girls seek
consensus. The literature encourages elaboration when girls default to using qualifiers or rising
intonation (Mlama, Dioum, Makoye, Murage, Wagah & Washika, 2005). Finally, we wrapped this
portion of the presentation with practical considerations for the GSS teaching faculty and staff,
such as developing a simple awareness towards the following: gender bias, conditioned
responses according to sex, and an attempt to incorporate inclusive language to acknowledge the
presence and value of girls in their classrooms (IREX, 2014). We also stressed the importance of
teacher belief in academic performance as a major contributing factor in their overall success.
French writer Simone de Beauvoir famously called women the second sex, which is
precisely the attitude that progressive, gender responsive educators must not condone or
awareness of inherent gender bias, and we highlighted several different areas that would help
encourage a paradigm shift for faculty members, students, and even the community. For
instance, it is essential that the teachers create a learning environment and foster teacher-student
relationships that value gender equity, for example, valuing the girls interests as much as the
boys. In addition, teachers must seek to ground more abstract concepts (such as in mathematics
and science) in practical, authentic, everyday experiences with which girls are familiar (Pollina,
1995). Finally, teachers and other school leaders should feature and emphasize dynamic,
pioneering female role models in Africa who have dedicated their lives to empowering other
African women and girls. To evaluate the classroom environment, we included a classroom
checklist for school leaders (i.e., the professional development facilitator) to photocopy and
distribute that describes several specific areas for teachers to examine when it comes to
implementing a girl-friendly classroom, such as the following: Being openly questioning and
critical of teaching and learning materials (such as textbooks) which do not include or reflect
girls interests and which portray women and girls in menial roles (INEE, 2005). In conclusion,
gender responsive educators will improve the quality of education at GSS and the academic
Instructional Strategies.
Teachers should consider their approach for lesson planning and implementation in
constructing a gender responsive environment. Specific teaching strategies that are proven to be
best practices can solicit participation from all students in a classroom and engage all learners in
ways that are unique to them. To avoid gender bias and encourage participation from both
PROMOTING EQUITY AND EQUALITY 7
genders equally, teachers may need to re-think how they craft an introduction to a lesson, use
scaffolding, vary the types of learning tasks, and structure questioning strategies (IREX, 2014).
Lemov (2012) provides several teaching techniques such as the hook, cold call, wait time, and
checks for understanding that are concrete and applicable methods for improving student
engagement and learning. Effective teachers reflect upon how they currently plan and
implement lessons and instructional strategies to engage all learners and to set goals for honing
their craft to make learning relevant and meaningful to the students (Henes, 1994).
occasional basis which last approximately one and a half hours each. The School Leadership
Team (SLT) typically previews and approves content before implementation. For this particular
project the NGO sought research support from Team 4 of the CAEP JHU course in the area of
Little had been done on this topic with regards to professional development, and
participants were likely unaware of their bias. Ms. Hills expressed excitement around the idea
of promoting awareness and change in the school around the issue. She hoped it would also
prompt dialogue in the local community where there also exists a clear need for reform.
more perspective and a deeper understanding of the situation. Due to the rural location of GSS
the families are traditional, and there are many young pregnancies. Six were recorded just this
last year. Thus, girls in the village tended towards early marriages. Moreover, the value of
PROMOTING EQUITY AND EQUALITY 8
education is not well-understood. Absenteeism due to personal and sexual relationships, a lack
of sensitivity at home regarding the needs of girls, poor employment prospects for women, and
presentation on gender responsive teaching. (L. Hills, personal communication, March 18, 2014)
Issues in girls education such as equity and access are vast and present world-wide.
IREX (2014) states, 53 percent of the worlds out-of-school children are girls and two-thirds of
the illiterate people in the world are women (p. 8). Common factors affecting gender equality
in education include poverty, political instability, cultural attitudes toward women and gender
and lack of public support (IREX, 2014). A study conducted by VSO Cameroon and FAWE
(2013) of primary and secondary schools in Cameroon revealed that males greatly outnumbered
females in the teaching profession, female teachers often faced sexual harassment and other
barriers in their profession, and that many were not familiar with the concepts of gender
responsiveness and gender sensitivity. In examining this issue from the economic perspective,
The Girl Effect Factsheet (2012) indicates that closing the unemployment gap between females and
males may yield a 1.2% GDP increase in a single year, and that an extra year of secondary
In order to better understand our global and regional contexts, Libby Hills and the
research provided the team with some startling statistics and confidential data as part of a PEAS
Demographic Survey Analysis Report in 2013 on GSS. For instance, only 27.7% of mothers of
rural GSS pupils complete secondary school, compared to 70% in other developed areas (L.
PROMOTING EQUITY AND EQUALITY 9
Hills, personal communication, April 4, 2014). At one of two nearby universities there are 5700
students, and a mere 1500 of them are female. Meanwhile, 99% of students in the "secretarial
In consideration of the global and local issues surrounding equality and equity in girls
education, our primary focus to assist PEAS school leaders was to provide a training resource
for teachers with regards to genders responsive teaching. The Forum for African Women
Educationalists (FAWE) (2006) defines gender responsive pedagogy as teaching and learning
processes which pay attention to the specific learning needs of girls and boys and calls for
teaching, classroom management and performance evaluation (p. 4). Teachers are critical to
shaping the classroom environment, so increasing their awareness of gender bias, stereotypes
and issues that prevent equality is necessary for meaningful change to take place.
One of the greatest challenges facing the team was how to construct a culturally
Change (TOC). To this end team members agreed in partnership with Libby Hills to include
African and Zambian anecdotes, insert video footage of stories from girls to humanize their
experiences where appropriate, and cite credible research sources to increase stakeholder buy-
in. For example, noting that educational equity is a priority of the Zambian government, or
incorporating strong female role models with a media presence such as First Lady of Zambia,
Dr. Christine Kaseba-Sata, the First Lady of the USA, Michelle Obama, and Zambian author Dr.
Dambisa Moyo (Dead Aid: Why Aid Is Not Working and How There is Another Way for Africa, 2009).
PROMOTING EQUITY AND EQUALITY 10
Libby Hills suggested avoiding patronizing commentary, imposing Western ideas, and
recommended attempting to strike a balance between oversimplification and too much technical
In order to reach our audience Team 4 agreed to emphasize economic incentives for
Zambia to increase and improve education for girls, correlate lower education levels with
statistically higher poverty levels, and simply promote awareness as a "first step" in the right
direction towards educating the GSS faculty and staff on gender-related issues pertaining to
girls in education.
Our TOC starts with the desired impact of improving services and systems as well as the
social conditions of the school organization for the benefit of female students. Corresponding
in teaching for GSS. Our identified audiences are school leaders and teachers. Primary inputs
include the discussion of policy development and adoption for gender responsive pedagogy
teaching techniques and communication. Through the presentation, activities and discussion
prompts, school leaders will encourage dialogue and increase awareness of gender equality and
equity in education.
responsive teaching methodologies as a team to the SLT at GSS, change attitudes and beliefs of
classroom practices to support equity in education. The final benchmark was to cause the target
PROMOTING EQUITY AND EQUALITY 11
audience to consider the urgency and complexity of teaching girls and gender equity in
classrooms.
PROMOTING EQUITY AND EQUALITY 12
Figure 1. Overview of Advocacy Progress Planner and TOC. This figure illustrates the
The primary goal for the NGO was to address the achievement gap between girls and
boys at the George Secondary School. As we spoke with the NGO representative, it became clear
that there are many variables that could be contributing factors to the achievement gap and
inhibit the girls success in school. Issues within the control of the school include the way in
which teachers approach education, structure of lessons and curriculum, and opportunities for
supporting female students who lack background knowledge or basic skills in certain subject
areas. Greater societal issues that may be beyond the control of school leaders include
employment opportunities for female students after graduation, familial obligations of female
students, and the sociocultural environment of Zambia with regards to the status of women.
While the sociocultural issues may fall outside the scope of this research, it is important to
consider how these challenges may affect the lives of the students and the approach educators
take in supporting girls education. By improving the quality of education offered and
enhancing engagement strategies for female students, the school organization can play a
powerful role in shaping the students futures and have a positive impact on the surrounding
communities.
to improve the school environment and develop the teachers professional practice. In
identifying strategies to address school curriculum, teaching and pedagogical issues, we offer
the following areas for consideration: policy definition, professional development, research,
student support, and community outreach. The following table summarizes the recommended
PROMOTING EQUITY AND EQUALITY 14
Research Consider the use of Time for creating and Opportunity for school
school climate distributing surveys and leaders to seek feedback
surveys to analyzing the data; and student insight;
consistently collect Determining what Students feel empowered to
data and feedback action to take after provide feedback in a safe
from students with survey data is collected environment to help
regards to how they and analyzed; improve the school; School
perceive classroom Developing a systematic leaders enabled to identify
participation and approach to annual or trends in perceptions and
gender equity bi-annual surveys for interventions if surveys are
school climate utilized consistently
throughout the year
Community Consider formation Time and resources Potential for GSS to get
Outreach of community needed to establish more support from local
partnerships partnerships with local community; Girls may
between the school entities; Building build work skills and
and local business, rapport with local connections for future
agricultural, entities so that they are employment; Students may
educational or other willing to have students gain real-world experience
potential visit or serve in to enhance their learning
stakeholders in internship-type through meaningful,
supporting the scenarios hands-on application
students education
and providing them
with real-world
experiences.
Table 1. Strategies, Interventions, Challenges and Opportunities for GSS. This table provides a
Our research for the NGO focused on the second strategy, professional development for
teachers. We provided a PowerPoint with supplemental handouts for school leaders to utilize in
a presentation on gender responsive teaching. Changing attitudes and perceptions toward girls
education may be difficult depending upon the backgrounds and beliefs of the staff, but starting
with a professional development session to introduce teachers to the topic should increase
awareness and help teachers to integrate best practices into their instructional strategies.
Perspective
Name 1: This case study presented a great challenge for our team to expand our knowledge and
PROMOTING EQUITY AND EQUALITY 16
skills in research. Coordinating efforts with an NGO on another continent posed some
challenges in terms of communication, but each of us successfully made contact with Ms. Hills.
Danielle led the way in establishing email contact, I conducted the first meeting with Ms. Hills
via Skype, and Nate and Danielle conducted the second Skype interview. Together we
collaborated through email, Google Docs, and Skype to develop the research and divide the
tasks for the case study. I contributed templates to organize our presentation, paper and meeting
notes, and several resources for broad research on gender-responsiveness in education. Danielle
and Nate were able to provide additional details we needed through their second interview with
Ms. Hills, which steered our research for the final presentation. In coordinating the themes of
Name 2: I really believe that each of us contributed equally. We divided all the areas of the
project from the research to the Voicethread, and we tried to capitalize on our individual
strengths and interests. For example, Erin incorporated SmartArt to adapt the APP, I learned
how to use Tubechop to include video clips, and Nate designed colorful, effective slides for great
visuals. We met all of our deadlines, we worked hard, and we created a thought-provoking,
multimedia presentation for Zambian teachers in a short amount of time, all the while navigating
Name 3: This is a strong team. We work very well together, and I believe came to enjoy our
PROMOTING EQUITY AND EQUALITY 17
weekly planning sessions over Skype, via texting and Google Docs for this project. Erin and
Danielle were very accommodating team members, especially given my production week
schedule at the beginning of this process for which I am very grateful. I really appreciated their
help getting the ball rolling on this case study. We initially assigned Danielle as our leader, but
due to technical reasons and scheduling some of those duties ended up being shared. Danielle
was instrumental in setting up and and handling communications with our NGO. Also, her
mobilizing efforts early on were fantastic. Erins gifts to our team were consolidating information
and then providing scaffolding, and keeping everyone on schedule. There always seemed to be
an outline or a template waiting for the team which made all of our lives simpler. She deserves
credit for the reference list too. My specific contributions on this project were primarily
identifying research and handling the communications portion of the PowerPoint, and then all of
the other duties which we distributed equitably amongst the three of us. It is my opinion that a
large part of our overall success as a team this semester had to do with the manageability of
References
PROMOTING EQUITY AND EQUALITY 18
ActionAid USA. (2013). TEGINT Toolkit: Working with Teachers. Retrieved from
http://www.actionaidusa.org/sites/files/actionaid/book_three_-
_working_with_teachers.pdf
Alber, R. (2014). Six scaffolding strategies to use with your students. Edutopia. Retrieved from
http://www.edutopia.org/blog/scaffolding-lessons-six-strategies-rebecca-alber
Aspen Institute. (2013). Advocacy Planning and Evaluation Program (APEP). Washington, D.C.:
Author. Retrieved fromhttp://planning.continuousprogress.org/
Association for the Development of Education in Africa. (2006). Gender Responsive Pedagogy.
FAWE. Retrieved from http://www.adeanet.org/adeaPortal/adea/biennial-
2006/doc/document/B5_2_fawe_en.pdf
Athill, C., & Jha, J. (2009). The gender-responsive school: An action guide. London, UK:
Commonwealth Secretariat.
Center for Civic Partnerships. (2013). Theory of change. Sacramento, CA: Author. Retrieved
from http://www.civicpartnerships.org/---!theory-of-change/c6i2#!theory-of-
change/c6i2
Henes, R. (1994). Creating gender equity in your teaching. University of California Davis.
Retrieved from http://wrrc.ucdavis.edu/files/misc/genderequity.pdf
INEE. (2012). EiE Training Module 16 - Gender Responsive Education. Retrieved from
http://www.ineesite.org/uploads/files/resources/1.Gender_Facilitators_Guide_Final_.
pdf
Mednick, F. (2013). Girls Education and the Millennium Development Goals. Baltimore MD: Johns
Hopkins University.
Mednick, F., Pape, S. J., Eith, C., Abras, C., Sandmel, K. (2013). A Theory of Change. Baltimore,
MD: Johns Hopkins University.
Mlama, P., Dioum, M., Makoye, H., Murage, L., Wagah, M., & Washika, R. (2005). Gender
PROMOTING EQUITY AND EQUALITY 19
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. (1979). Convention on the
elimination of all forms of discrimination against women(CEDAW). New York: United Nations
General Assembly. Retrieved
from http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/ProfessionalInterest/cedaw.pdf
Pollina, Ann. (1995). Gender balance: Lessons from girls in science and mathematics.
5Educational Leadership, 53 (1).
The Girl Effect. (2012). The Girl Effect Fact Sheet. Retrieved from
http://www.girleffect.org/explore/taking-the-girl-effect-to-scale/deck-assets-the-
world-for-girls
The World Bank. (2012). World Development Report 2012: Gender Equality and Development.
[PDF] Retrieved from
http://econ.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/EXTDEC/EXTRESEARCH/EXTWD
RS/EXTWDR2012/0,,contentMDK:22999750~pagePK:64167689~piPK:64167673~theSite
PK:7778063,00.html
United Nations. (2010). Resources for speakers on global issues: Millennium development goals. New
York: United Nations General Assembly. Retrieved
from http://www.un.org/en/globalissues/briefingpapers/mdgs/stories.shtml
VSO International. (2013). Actions and interactions: Gender equality in teaching and education
management in Cameroon - Summary report. Retrieved from
http://www.vsointernational.org/Images/vso-cameroon-actions-and-interactions-
summary_tcm76-39134.pdf