Exploring the impact of the Visionaria for Schools programme on gender norms held by students and teachers

• In Event: Roundtable Session (Monday II)
  In Refereed Round-Table Session: The ALIGN Platform panel: shifting gender norms through education

Proposal

The Visionaria for Schools (VfS) program empowers secondary school teachers to facilitate agency-based empowerment, leadership, and design-thinking experiences that activate the visions of young students in sustainable development efforts. Currently piloted in 12 secondary schools located in the highland Anta province of Cusco, Peru, the program supports teachers with capacity building workshops, peer networking events and virtual groups, frequent personalized coaching sessions, and student project assistance by local Visionaria coaches and education specialists. Through the training and support of 20 teachers, the program is reaching over 600 students for the school year ending December, 2018.

The goal of VfS is to provide every secondary school student the opportunity to engage with the community development challenges they care most about. In the process, students develop a greater personal awareness, self-esteem, social connections, and higher-order thinking skills – all critical components of strengthening a young person’s sense of personal agency (empowerment), leadership capacity, and ability to influence their surroundings. The included Visionaria curriculum is aligned with the recently updated Peruvian national learning objectives, and can be integrated into regular civics and social studies course areas. It includes several new dynamic pedagogical strategies for teachers to know their students better.

The VfS Network monitors the personal development of both educators and their students participating in the program through pre- and post-surveys, coaching documentation, and student work samples throughout the year. For educators, the program is also concerned with educators’ own attitudes and perceived level of support, and capacity to adapt lessons to students’ needs.

The VfS program includes lessons to examine gender norms and question limiting self-imposed beliefs that may be influenced by these norms. This is because, to effectively engage young people in sustainable development efforts, gender norms cannot be ignored. In 2018 the ALIGN Fund sponsored a research project focused on the VfS program, “Projecting Futures: Perspectives of Teachers and Students”. This project enabled the local Visionaria team and outside researchers to explore the gender norms held by teachers and students in the region. Specifically, through pre- and post- surveys, focus group discussions, and Photovoice activities the research sought an in-depth understanding how gender norms influence male and female students’ a) post-secondary school aspirations, b) expected behaviors within the classroom and c) "important life decisions" for young people. By including participating and non-participating teachers and students from the province, the project also sought to explore whether and how the VfS program, particularly lessons examining gender norms, affects beliefs and practices by project participants.


Though findings are expected for December 2018, initial impressions from the Photovoice process carried out with control groups point to a context where the presence of traditional gender norms remains strong. Post secondary school opportunities for girls are limited by their “need to be protected” whilst for boys it is their “lack of discipline and capacity to be studious”. More generally, the process of engaging with these concepts for the research appears to have been beneficial in itself, as it provided both teachers and students an opportunity to question their beliefs. Thus, at a first glance, possibly the biggest value of the VfS in supporting norm change, is the sustained encouragement to engage in processes of reflection, questioning and the learning of new and more equitable concepts.

Authors

• Melissa Wong Oviedo, M&E Consultant Visionaria Network

• Paul Spurzem, Executive Director Visionaria Network