Scaling Gender-Responsive Education Models to transform schools into safe, inclusive spaces for all learners – Insights from GPE KIX Synthesis Report

• In Event: Empowering Minds, Protecting Futures: Scaling Gender-Inclusive and Safeguarding Innovations

Proposal

This paper draws on a synthesis of six gender-focused research projects supported by the Global Partnership for Education’s Knowledge and Innovation Exchange (GPE KIX) between 2020 and 2024. Conducted across more than 20 countries, these applied research projects aimed to develop, test, and scale gender-responsive education models that improve access, quality, learning environments and outcomes for girls and marginalized learners. The synthesis offers valuable insights into the strategies used to scale these models, the challenges encountered, and the recommendations for future efforts.

Each project assessed a range of gender-responsive models to expand and strengthen knowledge of their characteristics and implementation quality, while addressing knowledge gaps about how to scale them effectively. These models included strategies to dismantle gender biases and stereotypes and shift power dynamics in education. They also featured gender and inclusive pedagogies (GIP), which are teacher training programs focused on recognizing student diversity, fostering inclusive school cultures, and implementing inclusive teaching and assessment practices. Other models included networked improvement communities (NICs) that build school leaders’ capacity to address gender and disability inclusion, and the FAWE Gender-Responsive School Model, which integrates gender-responsive pedagogy, school management, infrastructure, STEM programs for girls, and empowerment training through Tuseme clubs. Projects also explored school-related gender-based violence (SRGBV) prevention practices and the Learner Guide program, a youth-led mentorship initiative that supports girls’ self-development and foundational learning.

To scale these models, projects employed four key pathways: policy, program, methodology, and behavior/skills/practice. For example, in Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, the Scaling a Youth-Led Social Support and Mentorship Program project established national scaling advisory committees composed of government officials, educators, and civil society actors. These committees conducted school visits, gathered feedback, and shifted the conversation from whether the program should be scaled to how it could be scaled. In Haiti, Honduras, and Nicaragua, the Strategies to Prevent SRGBV project combined vertical scaling—working with ministries to influence policy and infrastructure—with horizontal scaling, empowering communities to implement prevention strategies through participatory action research.

Despite promising results, projects faced several challenges. These included limited and unsustainable financing, weak or unclear policy environments, low stakeholder engagement, entrenched gender norms, and insufficient data on gender and inclusion—particularly around sensitive issues like SRGBV. Institutional hierarchies and competing priorities among government stakeholders also hindered consistent engagement.
To address these barriers, the synthesis recommends aligning scaling efforts with national education policies and plans, engaging stakeholders early and continuously, tailoring strategies to country-specific contexts, and strengthening capacity across all levels of the education system. It also calls for the development of a conceptual framework to guide the scaling of gender-responsive education models.

This synthesis contributes to the global dialogue on education’s role in promoting gender equality, inclusion, and peace. It provides practical insights for policymakers, practitioners, and researchers seeking to scale innovations that transform schools into safe, inclusive spaces for all learners.

Author

• Laurence UWERA, IDRC