Gender inequality is a major concern for early 21st century society, and promoting gender equality is a priority as a fundamental human right, as an element in tackling gender-based violence as well as being a factor in economic growth, prosperity and competitiveness. This strategic partnership sees the education sector as a key area regarding gender equality. Indeed, one of the conclusions on ‘the elimination and prevention of all forms of violence against women and girls’ by The UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) was that educational and teaching materials should be developed ‘in order to modify the social and cultural patterns of conduct of men and women of all ages, to eliminate prejudices and to promote and build informed decision-making, communication and risk reduction skills for the development of respectful relationships based on gender equality and human rights’ (CSW57a, 2013). Gender inequality is an issue in the school environment. In the UK the End Violence Against Women YouGov Poll (2010) of 788 16 – 18 year olds revealed that nearly 1 in 3 girls experienced unwanted sexual touching at school. This and other studies highlight the extent to which gendered power relations saturate young people’s lives and the existence of deeply rooted notions that girls’ and young women’s bodies are somehow the property of boys and young men. Working to change the school environment will respond to a current need. The objective of this project is to support a whole-school approach to challenging the ‘hidden curriculum’ that is restricting life choices and fuelling sexual harassment. Research shows that Charter Marks used to develop whole-school approaches help to ensure momentum and sustain change, and schools find this approach useful where issues are complex and need support from the whole school community, such as for gender equality. Members of our strategic partnership have created, tried and tested Gender Equality Charter Mark (GECM) tools for three EU countries as part of a previous EU funded project. The GECM includes benchmarks for all areas of school life: leadership, curriculum, physical environment, attitudes and relationships and the wider community. The main objective of this project is to expand the use of the GECM tool across Europe by producing 6 new national charter marks from a Europe-wide GECM template. This project will create handbooks on how to implement the charter mark in primary and secondary school settings. These handbooks will include case studies and support materials such as curriculum ideas and classroom resources. Teacher professional development and initial teacher education modules on gender equality will be adapted to different countries. ‘Train the Trainer’ modules will be created and delivered in all partner countries and a host found for the Europe-wide GECM template. The methodology used will be for three ‘expert’ partner organisations within the strategic partnership with expertise in creating the original GECMs to support 6 ‘new’ partner organisations to adapt the Europe-wide GECM template in creating country-specific GECMs and accreditation procedures. The process of implementing the GECM is as important as the criteria for gaining accreditation and therefore the methodology will include creating and delivering ‘Training the Trainer’ modules in each country, to enable professionals to support schools in implementing the GECM, i.e. setting out the GECM’s main learning targets so the school can create a short term and long term vision for achieving the criteria. Five workstreams will guide the strategic partnership to fulfil the aims of this project. The intended results of this project will be national Gender Equality Charter Marks and accreditation processes available in nine European countries for schools teaching ages between 3 and 18 years. The envisaged impact of this will be that at least 135 schools (17,340 pupils and 460 teachers) across Europe sign up to take on the GECM from September 2021 and will have a robust tool to guide them in enhancing gender equality in their school. The expected long-term impact of this project is that the accreditation tools produced will be used by schools for many years to come. They will help them change their environment by enabling a school to measure progress in tackling the effects that gender stereotyping has on pupils, in relation to both subject (and career) choices, and as a root cause of sexual harassment and gender-based violence in schools and wider society. It is presumed that the long-term effects of this project on school pupils (the main target group) will be that cohorts of pupils from GECM schools will not make career choices based on stereotyping, hence producing more equal societies, with better gender balance across employment sectors, and an enlightened view on gender-based violence.
Gender inequality is a major concern for early 21st century society. Socially and culturally, we are at a point where gender issues are becoming ever more prominent in social life, both in their potential harm to individuals and society, but also in the need for innovative approaches and solutions. This strategic partnership sees the education sector as a key area regarding gender equality. There is a ‘hidden curriculum’ that is restricting life choices and fuelling sexual harassment. Working to change the school environment will respond to the current need. Research shows that Charter Marks used to develop whole-school approaches help to ensure momentum and sustain change, and schools find this approach useful where issues are complex and need support from the whole school community. Members of our strategic partnership have previously created, tried and tested Gender Equality Charter Mark (GECM) tools for secondary schools for three EU countries as part of a previous EU funded project. This GECM is a ‘whole-school approach’ to equip schools to build environments that enable children to critically engage with and make sense of a range of complex issues associated with gender equality. The GECM enables a school to show measurable change and progress in five key areas of school life: leadership, curriculum, physical environment, attitudes and relationships, and the wider community. The project’s main objective was to expand the use of the GECM tool across Europe. Three ‘expert’ partner organisations within the strategic partnership with expertise in creating the original GECMs supported six ‘new’ partner organisations to adapt the Europe-wide GECM template to create country-specific GECMs and accreditation procedures. Once produced, the GECM tool was introduced to teachers, school leaders and educators in each project country, through training sessions and workshops, building momentum for schools to begin the longer term process of whole-school change regarding gender inequality. At the conclusion of this project there are country specific Gender Equality Charter Mark tools and accreditation processes fit for purpose, for schools of all ages from 3 – 18 year olds, for Austria, Croatia, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Slovakia, UK, and a Europe-wide GECM template for other countries to work with. The tools are located here: https://genderequalityinschools.org. There is a country-specific handbook for how to implement the GECM and a handbook of gender equality support materials. The project has also produced: Country specific Teacher Professional Development modules (IO5), in total delivered to 438 teachers. Country specific Initial Teacher Education modules (IO6), in total delivered to 763 trainee students. Country specific Train the Trainer modules to be used to ensure individual representatives (Trainers) have the knowledge and skills to be able to introduce the GECMs to schools and support a school individually in their journey to achieving the Gender Equality Charter Mark. Over 1500 schools have been made aware of and interacted with the GECM tools. This will have had some short term and perceived longer term benefits to school pupils in anywhere between one class per school (e.g. 45,000) and whole schools (over 800,000) through changing approaches to school leadership, the curriculum, physical environment, and the attitudes and relationships of both the students, staff and wider community in relation to gender equality issues. The Gender Equality in Schools website encourages schools and teachers across Europe to share good practice of how the GECM can be instilled effectively. We are encouraging the formation of a network of GECM schools across international borders that can provide substantial and lasting change due to the way that the GECM is integrated into school policy and ethos. As a result of this we hope to foster and encourage positive change in the approach to gender equality, and develop a culture where children engage their critical thinking skills to understand, question and challenge gender inequality and violence.