Article Name : Promoting Gender sensitization through activity based curriculum BY PURVA JAIN

https://thepolicytimes.com/promoting-gender-sensitization-through-activity-based-curriculum/

The National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) has made an attempt by incorporating a gender study course in a teacher training module that requires engagement with gender perspectives whether in understanding the development of children and adolescents or in understanding issues of society, culture, equity, and diversity

Activity-based curriculum on gender studies
It is necessary to incorporate dialogues, exercises, and conversations to sensitize gender equality during children’s formative years. Activities like organizing women-centric movie screenings and school plays, painting walls, and boards with pictures and biographies of women leaders will reinforce the positive notion of women’s empowerment.
Teachers are powerful agents of social change. A teacher’s correct perception of the right teaching method is important in students’ disposition to critical thinking. Hence pre- and in-service teachers’ training and capacity building for gender studies will equip them ineffective teaching methodology and counseling on contemporary issues related to gender equality. It is important for the teacher to have an understanding of what perceptions of masculinity and femininity are children bringing to school by observing them in the classroom and the playground. It is the role of school to convey a positive image of gender roles by undertaking initiatives, strategies, and projects on gender equality.
Linkages
There is a need for teachers, NGOs, and community-based organizations to work in collaboration with schools and local communities to sensitize on gender-related issues. Hosting events on Women’s Day and organizing empowerment forums that entail guidance for both girls and boys at the school level on reproductive health, career, life skills, and training on self-defense will also help in raising awareness. NGOs perform a very important gap-filling role. Hence, linking the school with local NGOs can provide an impetus for the successful implementation of the curriculum at the school level. The effects of all these activities will not stay limited to school-going students, but will also lead spill-over effects for communities. Apart from this, the National Council of Education and Research Training (NCERT) can involve NGOs working in education and rural areas to design an effective curriculum on gender studies.
Gender-sensitive modules to train teachers, incorporating an activity-based curriculum on gender studies and establishing linkages with community and NGOs, will help students battle stereotypes against women from a young age. Children are influenced by their surroundings. To ensure retention, it is necessary to ingrain the notion of gender equality among children from childhood. A school is a good place for a positive mind-set change in the entire generation of boys and girls.
(Purva is Research Associate, Development Research and Policy Initiatives at S M Sehgal Foundation) Sehgal Foundation holds Special Consultative Status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), which enables it to share its work in relation to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with a global audience