Module 4: Ending GBV in Schools: Curriculum and Instruction

Reading: Engaging Teachers to Create Safe Gender Responsive Learning Environments

Importance of engaging teachers to address Safe Gender Responsive Learning Environments

▪ Teachers have a critical role to play in fostering a safe and gender-responsive environment for
students within schools; the social norms of society about violence, gender roles and unequal
power dynamics about men and women and girls and boys are often present in the classroom.
▪ Teachers are and often have the potential to be change agents and champions against school
violence in their schools and communities. They are generally not perpetrators of violence but
operate within a complex system with several stress factors such as:
o unsupportive school leadership and administrators
o pressures to deliver curricula alongside other administrative duties
o limited scope for professional development and growth
o separation from family and friends in rural posts
▪ A range of strategies are needed to equip teachers to use positive discipline and create
nurturing, participatory and gender-equitable classroom environments.
▪ Studies have found that teachers often uphold prevailing social norms and gender inequality
and use violence against boys and girls.
▪ Abusive behaviours may take place even when there are school policies and national laws that
prohibit them.
▪ Education systems and teacher training establishments do not necessarily equip teachers to
challenge these norms or have mechanisms that support teachers and educators who witness
or experience discrimination, violence, and abuse.
▪ In the conversation about school violence, it is easy to view teachers as perpetrators or merely
as vehicles for delivering behaviour change curricula to students.
▪ Moving beyond this perspective makes it possible to promote teachers’ capacity to be mentors,
role models, and more effective teachers, while enabling them to recognize gender violence in
their own lives.
Equipping teachers to create gender- responsive and safer learning environments

▪ Reflective processes that allow teachers to consider their own views and experiences of
violence includes:
o Working with teachers on addressing sensitive topics such as gender-based violence
has shown that teachers’ self-reflection is a critical component.
o Facilitating opportunities for teachers to examine their attitudes and values about
violence and gender is important.
o Providing a safe space in which teachers can feel comfortable to deal with their own
biases and experiences of violence serve as a protective measure.
▪ Building empathy and teachers’ confidence includes:
o Asking teachers to think about the impact that beating or verbal abuse might have on
a child can help them develop empathy towards students.
o Conducting exercises where teachers consider scenarios that involve a child
experiencing violence allow teachers to view the event from a child’s perspective and
have a greater impact on shifting attitudes.
o Building teachers’ empathy towards their students and encouraging them to identify
with the skills and self-image that they value can strengthen teachers’ confidence to try
innovative methods in the classroom.
▪ Enabling peer learning and building networks of peer educators
o A peer learning approach allows a pool of facilitators or teachers to share and learn
from each other.
o An UNICEF Togo led initiative, where a group of teachers went through a process of
learning child-centred, participatory teaching methods, came together at regular
intervals to share, and learn from each other about their classroom practices.
o Focusing on children and participatory classroom practices led to reduced rates of
violent discipline and shifted power dynamics between teachers and students.
o Building teacher networks within a country can address the shortage of local trainers
to implement new methodologies, by drawing on already-trained teachers to mentor
their peers.
▪ Challenges
o Teachers may feel vulnerable raising issues that challenge existing gender norms and
patriarchal practices in the community and may face resistance or retaliation.
o Changing the way teachers see themselves and their role as educators does not happen
quickly- it takes time and specialized support.
o Resources may be limited such as funding, skilled trainers and learning materials to build
the capacity of teachers to address school-related gender-based violence (SRGV).
o Consultative processes for reaching agreement and developing tools such as a Code of
Conduct requires an investment of time and commitment from all stakeholders.
o Without appropriate incident response mechanisms to support victims in schools, teachers
may not feel they are equipped to deal with students concerns about SRGBV.
▪ Recommendations
o Integrate topics topics related to SRGBV in pre- and in-service teacher training to
empower teachers with a range of skills and the capacity to address SRGBV.
o Work with teachers’ unions and other stakeholders to revise codes of conduct to address
SRGBV and promote these as a key tool to support teachers’ professionalism and practice.
o Ensure teachers are trained on how to manage incidents in a confidential, survivor-
centered way and appropriate reporting and response mechanisms are in place in the
school with strong connections to community-based child protection mechanisms.
o Enable teachers to use curriculum-based approaches within school-wide efforts to
promote a gender-responsive, respectful, and non-violent classroom environment.
 o Ensure teachers are supported and do not feel vulnerable by engaging a range of
stakeholders including school management, communities and other stakeholder groups.
o Build a community of teachers who can support and share new classroom methods and
practices, and challenges in addressing SRGBV in their schools.
Reading: Shifting harmful gender norms through curricular approaches

▪ Gender norms refer to beliefs, behaviour, and practices that define what it means to be a man,
woman, girl, or boy in a community or society.
▪ Norms are dictated by a person’s social status and income, ethnicity or race, disability status
and gender identity.
▪ Norms often create boundaries and expectations around what girls and boys should wear, how
they should behave, their education, the kind of work they can do, and whether and whom to
marry.
▪ Harmful gender and social norms are recognized to be key to driving and sustaining gender-
based violence.
▪ Institutions such as schools, the family, religious institutions, and informal social groups also
play a role in reinforcing norms and power structures and can keep gender discrimination and
violence hidden.
▪ Teachers may inadvertently reinforce gender norms through the content that they teach and
the way that they interact with male and female students.
▪ Gender norms have a strong influence on the kind of bullying that is experienced and
perpetrated both between peers and between teachers and students.
▪ Schools can be a site in which gender norms may be reinforced and where gender-based
violence can occur. Schools are also a strategic site in which to actively promote a gender-
responsive, respectful, and non-violent culture.
▪ Curricula are an important component of the educational process that can engage young
people in discussion and reflection about their roles in society and help them develop positive
gender attitudes and norms.
▪ Curricular interventions also provide the opportunity to develop positive perceptions of
gender, reflect on what it means to be masculine, feminine, or non-binary (not exclusively
masculine or feminine), and increase understanding and acceptance of sexual and gender
diversity.
▪ A growing body of evidence suggests that well-designed and delivered curricular interventions
can help shift harmful social and gender norms, promote gender equality, and reduce rates of
GBV and other forms of anti-social behaviour.
▪ Work with local experts to adapt curriculum content and delivery to the local context.
▪ Ongoing training and mentoring of facilitators who deliver the curriculum are essential.
Challenges
▪ Curriculum-based discussions about unequal gender norms with students within the school
environment can empower them to challenge these at home and in the community.
 ▪ Shifting gender norms is difficult and time-consuming and often also requires a wider shift in
discourse across the country.
▪ Teachers can find it difficult to integrate new content due to pressure to complete the required
syllabus or due to large class sizes and lack of materials.
▪ Teachers and facilitators may have also experienced gender-based violence themselves and
may require support to be able to deliver violence prevention curricula without experiencing
secondary trauma.
▪ Using a range of participatory methodologies that make curriculum-based interventions
effective requires certain skills and capacity.
▪ Measuring shifts in norms can be challenging because it requires time and investment in the
process of capacity development, mentoring and curriculum delivery.
Recommendations

▪ Embed curricular interventions as part of broader whole school efforts.

▪ Work with the curricula department within the ministry of education to identify entry points
to deliver content on SRGBV (for example, lessons on guidance and counselling, values
education, reproductive health etc.).
▪ Invest in workshops for teachers and school staff to foster a common understanding of social
and gender norms that perpetuate SRGBV and develop teachers’ skills and capacity to lead
discussions about norms with students.
▪ Facilitate extra-curricular activities such as girls’ and boys’ clubs and school-community events
as forums to introduce messages on gender norms, social cohesion and respectful
relationships, which complement school-based efforts.
▪ Invest in working with teachers’ social and emotional needs and ways to address these.
▪ Monitor the implementation of curriculum-based programmes.
Reading: Prevention: Curriculum, Teaching and Learning

▪ Prevention is a guiding strategy of every action from developing policy frameworks to working
with families.
▪ Specific strategies aimed at preventing SRGBV include curriculum approaches to preventing
violence and promoting gender equality; training education staff to give them the tools to
prevent and respond to SRGBV; safe spaces where co-curricular interventions can be a useful
entry point for addressing SRGBV.
▪ The curriculum is a crucial component of any educational process. It addresses questions such
as what students of different ages should learn and be able to do, why, how, and how well
(UNESCO-IBE, 2015).
▪ Curriculum approaches are important, as education that encourages young people to question,
negotiate and challenge violence; gender discrimination is critical for preventing SRGBV and
young people need to recognize elements of violence and abuse to protect themselves and
others from harm.
▪ There are several curriculum approaches that can be used to prevent SRGBV:
o Planning- time to support and plan for the new curriculum; design activities
consistent with available resources; involve experts in designing the curricula
content to address children and young people’s attitudes towards social and gender
norms and stereotypes about SRGBV; review the current evidence base and other
curricula that have been evaluated.
o Content- ensure curriculum and materials are age-appropriate; promote positive and
broader definitions of masculinities, and work with men and boys; emphasize
consent and communication; include a broad focus on changing gender norms and
behaviours and promoting positive models of forming relationships; include
information on all forms of SRGBV; address personal values and perceptions of
family and peer norms around sexual behaviour, health and rights; include
information on SRGBV laws and linkages to SRGBV reporting, referral and
support mechanisms.
o Delivery- use participatory teaching methods that actively involve students and help
them internalize and integrate information; develop community-integrated
approaches to tackle wider social norms and raise awareness of SRGBV; select
capable and motivated educators to implement the curriculum and provide quality
training to enable them to adopt more participatory and empowering teaching
methodologies for use with sexuality education and life skills curricula.
o Review- pilot test the curriculum and obtain ongoing feedback from the students
and provide ongoing management, supervision, and oversight.
▪ There are several curriculum entry points for children of all school-going ages to prevent
violence and promote gender equality:
o Comprehensive sexuality education
o Life skills education
o Civics education and targeted approaches on managing aggression
o Developing bystander skills
o Forming healthy relationships
o Protection from bullying
▪ Bystander approaches involves learning and practising appropriate and safe bystander skills,
how to identify, speak out about or seek to engage others in responding to violence.
▪ Protection of children from violence, exploitation and abuse while using information and
communication technology can equip young people with the skills necessary to deal with
online harassment, bullying, violence and abuse.
▪ Perpetrators may use cyberspace or the school grounds to perpetuate violence and abuse, these
incidents of SRGBV or often recorded or photographed and shared online. This can be
addressed using strategies such as student-led anti-bullying strategies, parent workshops and
specific curricula.
 ▪ Peace and civics education involves learning about the principles of peace, equality, tolerance,
and social cohesion to prevent SRGBV by teaching others to embrace differences through
gender lens and teaching strategies to reduce violence.
Reading: Safe Spaces and Co-Curricular Activities
▪ A safe space is a group or place where young people feel physically and emotionally secure
(Brady, 2005).
▪ Co-curricular or extra-curricular refers to activities and learning experiences that complement
what students are learning in school but are separate from the academic curriculum.
▪ School-based clubs and other types of safe spaces can be a useful entry point for addressing
SRGBV.
▪ Most interventions have engaged girls separately from boys to give both boys and girls their
own space to speak freely, gain confidence and improve their knowledge, attitudes, and
practices in managing violence and inequality.
▪ In a safe space, young people feel free to openly express themselves in a confidential
environment, and to ask sensitive questions without fear of judgement.
▪ Safe spaces need to be carefully designed and planned with a specific purpose in mind.
▪ Co-curricular activities often focus on building assets and creating safe spaces.
▪ Steps to create safe spaces:
o identify a space that is physically and emotionally safe,
o hold meetings regularly, and
o create leadership opportunities.
▪ How to use co-curricular activities to address SRGBV:
o Strengthen linkages with the school and wider community.
o Mentors and coaches can assist with shaping students’ attitudes and behaviours.
o Clubs for boys as well as girls.
o Curricula that combine life skills with other activities.