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Gender stereotypes can have a profound effect on children and the earlier we can start to challenge and debunk engrained societal misconceptions around gender roles the better. I agree too, when your teaching career has been exclusively in a single sex school it is difficult to fully assess how problematic the issue is. However, what you’ve outlined about your own experience on placement are real-life examples of engrained societal stereotyping around gender. The challenge irrespective of the stereotyping context is that many of the children sitting in front of us already identify certain characteristics and roles as belonging only to boys or girls and it takes time and perseverance to alter these.
Hi Seamus
Thanks for outlining your teaching experience with your class and team selection and while it is positive to hear such incidents are less prevalent in your classroom in recent years, there still appears to be some way to go. This is understandable as breaking down deeply engrained societal stereotypes is always going to take time. As you’ve mooted, highlighting the success of both woman and men is a powerful methodology and particularly in recent times with unparalleled success in athletics, you won’t be short of Irish women and men to praise.
The three actions you’ve outlined here are practical, achievable, promote active learning and will ensure the students are fully engaged. Combatting climate change is all about the locality and as you reference prioritising the way people travel to school is an important step and not just because of the impact on greenhouse emissions but also providing additional opportunities for exercise which is a really important part of children’s health and wellbeing. Developing the school garden is another important initiative and develops a strong sense of ownership among the students body whist improving the overall appearance of the schools grounds and enhancing biodiversity.
Hi Nicole,
I agree, that in Dublin there’s a lot of support available to refugees and asylum seekers but as the usual arrival point, the need is greater and has these organisations working at full capacity. Considering some of the recent experiences across the country, I think a key focus for all organisations and indeed schools has to be on the positives of migration, debunking from the start commonly held societal suspicions often attached to migrants, refugees and asylum seekers before the narrative has the chance to turn negative due to misinformation. As you outline schools have a important role in this ensuring access to education and supports are inclusive. Also continually, celebrating difference through school activities like cultural exchange events as you suggest. It all helps to build a sense of togetherness and community.
Hi Christine,
As you may be aware the TeachNet Project and Microsoft have had a long history of collaboration and since DreamSpace opened in 2018 we have worked closely with the Team providing blended learning courses to primary teachers, in fact we had two days out there last week on their STEM Starters course and will be back in August (12&13th) for a Game Based Learning Course and the hybrid Computational Thinking course. The SDG themed coding projects you’ve detailed are another example of the great work they’re and its culminating showcase event in DreamSpace is an event I try to attend annually. The ingenuity of the projects on show are always impressive.
Hi Miriam,
I agree exploring education opportunities and access would be an excellent topic for your 5th class to explore. Education like so many things can be taken for granted and highlighting some of the extreme disparities will certainly provide food for thought and maybe a degree of appreciation for how fortunate they are. Thanks too for sharing a comprehensive list of activities you plan to undertake with your class. Another poignant approach to explore educational inequality closer to home is to remind them of the two unprecedented lockdowns recently lived through which highlighted education inequality. Whilst learning continued remotely it was inhibitive and unsocial and once the initial novelty wore off the reality of the have access to face-to-face teaching and learning was evident to all.
Hi Alexine,
As an island country there’s has been a historical disconnect from global goings on. However, as you’ve mooted to embrace Development Education we need to highlight global issues and develop global citizenship. From what you’ve outlined here, your school is already very progressive with the underlying ethos, celebrating difference and getting the students involved in the locality with cleanups and recycling projects. All of these things help students become responsible and aware global citizens. The challenge is, to get them active in this role and interested in making the world a better place and that’s what Development Education is all about, developing understanding and empathy. Your school seems very much up to that challenge.
Hi Ciara,
It’s refreshing to hear the practical steps you’ve taken in your school to combat engrained societal stereotypes. Both the gender neutral toys and toilets in the junior end are both important changes that combat preconceived biases from an early age. More of the same practical steps I think is the way to go. I can also understand how not having a school uniform creates it’s own challenges here as there will always be huge pressure to conform among boys and girls.
Hi Laura,
Lot’s of good suggestions there and I particularly like the idea of organising field trips so the children can see first hand the damage being done by climate change in the locality and this should then dovetail nicely with the in-school initiatives you’ve outlined as you will certainly have buy-in from the students. Ownership of the process is key here. The outside classroom and garden too are really practical and engaging ideas. Worth exploring here would be arranging a visit from a Heritage Specialist through the Heritage in Schools programme. You can find a list of specialist near you at Search for a Specialist | Heritage in Schools
Hi Mary and welcome to the course.
I agree, children make unconscious assumptions based on gender and it is remarkable just how early children start to internalise such assumptions so the sooner we can start to question such notions the better. Your anecdote about the Robotics project is a case in point Even before children begin school they already have preconceptions, identifying certain characteristics and roles as belonging only to boys or girls because of gender preconceptions engrained in our society. We need to think outside the box and use teaching approaches that encourage pupils to debate, challenge and question existing beliefs and intervene as you did when we see gender stereotyping at play in our classrooms.
Hi Catherine,
The ‘Living conditions’ lesson which is showcased in this module is particularly powerful and really highlights inequality in a way that resonates with students. I was lucky to be in Eimear’s class the day it was filmed and was really taken the impact it had on students and indeed how engaged they were, the candid discussions were really interesting. This, I think was down to the focus on active learning throughout, as you mooted the musical chairs activity to highlight inequality in particular was really effective.
Hi Grace,
That’s a comprehensive action plan for your school, the Green School’s Committee will be busy next academic year and agree you should start with the simple things like switching off lights and using more efficient lighting. Particularly commendable is your drive for sustainable transportation, car pooling, cycling and walking to school. Again very achievable and impactful.
Hi Oliver,
I like the your idea of students creating their own quizzes, reverse engineering the assessment process and this kind of thinking outside the box is required in our classrooms as technology becomes more and more ubiquitous. I’m reminded of another teacher I spoke with recently, who had (Despite a lot of skepticism in school) had started using AI image creation tools for literacy but instead of the student’s creating the images, a series of pre-created images were shared and the students were tasked with matching the prompts that generated them and then suggesting their own prompts that would achieve better results…
Hi Orla,
What you’ve outlined here about the adverse effects of climate change in your locality are worryingly reflected across the country from other experiences shared on this forum. The reality is uncharacteristic and/or extreme weather conditions are now common place in Ireland and globally.
The actions you’ve outlined here are practical and achievable. The procurement of polly tunnels is a novel one and will certainly give you much greater scope for homegrown produce. The school’s Green Team is going great work too, around composting and recycling and interesting to hear that from their research, the teachers are doing less well then the students. BTW, we are always learning, I didn’t realise either that wet paper cannot be recycled…
Hi Grace,
I agree, Immersive Reader can be an immensely powerful tool for promoting greater accessibility to text for students who have difficulties with reading and language but again as you suggested when used appropriately and not as a ‘one-size-fits-all’ solution or panacea for all literacy challenges our students encounter. However, what it does do is enable all text to be accessible to all students, particularly EAL students, and those with visual impairments and dyslexia as mooted. Functionality like the ability to adjust text size and spacing, break words into syllables and the talk to text features provide a scaffold for these students and as a result directly improves student confidence and increases their opportunities to work independently.
In addition to Immersive Reader, Dictate is a great tool in MS 365, particularly for students who struggle with keyboard input.