Promising Approaches in Gender Transformative Education

Group Submission Type: Formal Panel Session

Proposal

In 1992, 60 million girls were out of school. To address this, development efforts focused on closing gender gaps in enrollment, completion, and, more recently, learning. In just two decades that number was cut in half and gender gaps in enrollment have dramatically decreased as well. In most countries they have disappeared.

Yet even as girls reach and even surpass boys on these educational measures (GEM Report, 2020), women and girls remain markedly behind when it comes to labor force participation, income, leadership, legal rights, etc. and are still disproportionately affected by gender-based violence and discrimination (UN Women, 2022).

Zeroing in on gender gaps in education has allowed us to tend to them, but it has also focused attention on the symptoms without fully attending to the root causes of gender inequality in education (Kabeer, 2005; Author2, 2021). Meanwhile, school systems continue to reinforce harmful gender norms, stereotypes, and even violence through curricula, pedagogy, classroom practices, peer influence, etc. (Author2, 2022; UNESCO, 2022). Global research estimates that, annually, at least 20% of all students worldwide (approximately 246 million children) experience gender-based violence in or on the way to schools; and that girls and students of other marginalized genders are at greater risk (UNESCO & Author2, 2016; Plan International, 2013).

Schools play an important role in gender socialization for young children (Stromquist, 2007; Francis & Skelton, 2001). As is, school systems tend to function as sites of social reproduction: transferring the same problematic gendered attitudes and norms that underpin the patriarchal functioning of larger society. But schools have transformative potential as well. (Author2, 2021; Friere, 1970).

Increasingly, education stakeholders who seek to address gender inequality in schools are examining how schools can be used to empower students with skills and knowledge to challenge and change harmful gender norms and power imbalances. This approach has been gaining momentum as Gender Transformative Education, or GTE for short.

In tandem with school-based approaches, gender transformative parenting programs are also gaining traction. These programs capitalize on two important insights. First, that children learn gender norms in the early years, while their brains are most plastic. Children usually have a sense of gender identity by the age of three and by the time they reach primary school entry age, they are imitating gender roles and behaviors. Second, that the transition to parenthood is a fundamental shift in identity that opens new parents up to reconsidering other components of their identity as well. Therefore, if new parents are supported to recognize and challenge gender norms they can shape their young children’s concepts of gender norms to be less rigid.

This session will explore the power of pushing beyond parity in education outcomes, towards pursuing gender transformation through education for parents and school children alike. We will look at the potential of these approaches to address the root causes of gender inequality in schools and broader society. Panelists will offer diverse examples of how education (within school systems as well as through non-formal avenues) can be harnessed to support critical thinking around gender and power, and how this, in turn, can spark gendered social change.


Research presented by the panelists will include, in brief, the following (more details on each distinct research project is included in the abstracts):

(1) Mixed-methods analysis of a whole-school intervention to reduce violence against children, including sexual violence, in 500 Ugandan Secondary Schools.

(2) Consolidated applied research evidence from 9 different programs aiming to shift harmful gender beliefs and norms among students and education stakeholders across 10 Global South countries. This work was implemented by a coalition of 25 organizations working to end gender stereotyping in schools.

(3) Formative research from an ongoing randomized control study of a gender transformative comprehensive sexuality education curriculum designed to shift gender attitudes, reduce use of violence, and increase positive sexual behavior in youth of all gender identities in Washington D.C.

(4) Rigorous and policy relevant evidence analyzing an intervention to teach early adolescent students about gender and power, which is being scaled directly into school systems of two Indian states.

Sub Unit

• Gender Justice SIG

Chair

• Dana Schmidt, Echidna Giving

Individual Presentations

• Promoting positive gender norms and preventing violence against children in schools in Uganda: Lessons from practice - Devin Faris, RAISING VOICES

• Integrating gender transformative approaches into comprehensive sexuality education in the US: Preliminary findings from an RCT in Washington DC - Rachel Katz, Equimundo

• Gender transformative education systems : Pathway to a gender-equitable world - Sunita Menon, Breakthrough Trust

Discussant

• Erin Ganju, Echidna Giving