UNIT 8: Introduction
UNIT 8: Gender
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Key Words/ Phrases
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Definition
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Bias
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Believing that some people, ideas or things are better than others, and treating the others unfairly.
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Exclusion
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Not allowing someone to participate and have equal access to opportunities.
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| Gender responsive | Making a deliberate effort to support equal participation of all girls and boys and to share the learning resources and opportunities fairly and equally. |
| Segregation | Separating one group of people from another group. |
| Stereotype | The unfair belief that all people or things with a particular characteristic are the same. |
| Transmit | Send out; communicate. |
Introduction
This unit looks at Gender in the classroom and the need for gender responsive teaching. It encourages teachers to pay attention to the classroom environment and to analyse how to ensure that all our activities and actions, the language we use, the teaching and learning materials we use – especially the visual images – are gender-balanced. The way the teacher behaves and the expectations the teacher has of her students, must also be gender-sensitive and without bias.
This unit covers how gender links to the Competence Based Curriculum, and describes some strategies for encouraging gender-related discussions in the classroom and ways in which the teacher can be more inclusive of gender, avoiding gender stereotypes.
How this unit links to the Competence Based Curriculum
It is an objective of the Government of Rwanda for the Education Sector “to contribute to the promotion of a culture of peace and to emphasise both national and universal values of justice, peace, tolerance, respect for human rights, gender equality, solidarity and democracy; and to eliminate all causes and obstacles which can lead to disparity in education be it by gender, disability, geographical or social group”.
The Competence Based Curriculum (CBC) “aims to improve the outcome of quality teaching by enabling girls and boys to exploit their full potential and talents without any discrimination or prejudice”.
Gender equality is a cross-cutting issue of the CBC and included in all subjects so that the vision of the National Gender Policy and Girls’ Education - “to set the Rwandan society free from all forms of gender-based discrimination and to see both men and women participate fully and benefit equitably” - can become reality.
In addition, MINEDUC directs that textbooks and other teaching materials must not include content with traditional stereotypes (either in words or images) of men and women, so that learners’ destinies are not influenced by their gender. The CBC also requires teachers to assess their teaching and assessment strategies so that learners are able to achieve their full potential, regardless of their gender.