English for gender equality in classrooms

By Shefali Kulkarni

Before the class begins…

An IELTS class in progress…

Challengesfor the

teacher ?

Teachers from Srilanka and India say that they face the following challenges -

• Women/Girls with low confidence• Women/Girls not convinced they deserve the same

opportunities as the men/boys in their family• Turn-taking

• Men not open to feedback from women peers and trainers• Men unwilling to participate in house-keeping activities

• Parents willing to spend more on male child’s education• Parents anxious that they may not find a suitable partner for

an educated girl child.

Strategies?

How can we handle these challenges in class?

Reflect on your own classes

Please fill this questionnaire from

Equal Opportunity and Diversity: The Handbook for Teachers of English

(page 89)

http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/transform/books/

Whole class seating arrangements

• Who decides where your students sit? You or your students?

• If your students decide, how do they organize themselves?

• If you, how do you decide who sits where?

SeatingWhen students seat themselves -

When the teacher seats them -

If mixed groups or pairs, who does most of the following -

Skill Girls/Women Boys/Men

Speaking

Listening

Note-taking and collating

Presenting back to the group

Skills results -

0 5 10 15 20 25

Speaking

Listening

Note-taking and collating

Presenting back to the group

Females

Males

Reflection

• Was the questionnaire useful as a reflection tool?

• Would you use it to plan further lessons?

Listen to this poem …

http://www.pitara.com/talespin/poems/online.asp?story=104

Questions -

1.Guess the name of the poem.

2. If we rename the street, what do you think we should call it?

3.What kind of neighbourhood do you think the author dislikes?

Using Role-Plays in class to create Awareness of Gender Equality.

Passenger objects to woman piloting plane

• New Delhi – A Mumbai bound flight (IndiGo 6E 179) was delayed by more than one and a half hours first due to fog and then by a passenger Pramod Ambalekar, who refused to fly on a plane piloted by a woman. He relented only after he was told that he would be taken off the plane.

(‘The Hindu’ Saturday Feb 26, 2011)

Role play Cards

• Card 1 : You are the passenger. You refuse to fly because the plane is piloted by a woman.

• Card 2 : You are a crew member. You are trying to convince the passenger to fly and resort to threatening the passenger.

• Card3 : You are a co-passenger who intervenes because you feel you can convince the passenger without threatening him/her.

Reflection

• Can you do this activity in your class?

• What could be the advantages of doing this activity in class?

• What challenges would you face?

Movie – Band, Baaja Baraat

Clip – Scene 7

Definition - Heterosexism

Heterosexism is typically defined as the

process by which an individual assumes that

everyone is, or should be, heterosexual.

From Youth Safe.net, 2008

Role play cards -

• Card 1 : You are the employer who wants to employ only male candidates for the job.

• Card 2: You are the lady candidate who is arguing that she is capable of doing the job well.

• Card 3: You are the lady candidate’s friend who intervenes to convince the employer to employ her without using heterosexist language.

Reflection

• Can you do this activity in your class?

• What could be the advantages of doing this activity in class?

• What challenges would you face?

Questions?

• Thank you!shefali.kulkarni@gmail.com