We asked for the importance of a sustainable integration of the gender perspective in education. The webinar provided answers both from abroad and from Belgium itself.

 

The guest speakers from Hungary and the Czech Republic spoke about their research in the three participating countries (Austria, the Czech Republic and Hungary) of the Towards Gender Sensitive Education project. They investigated policy material to find evidence of political goodwill. It goes without saying that conservative and populist parties are no gender lovers. This affects education in different ways. But teachers and pupils/students also need to sharpen their gender awareness. Curricula show far too little non-stereotypical roles and diversity. Within the frame of the project, the researchers developed videomaterial and a manual for teacher trainers to offer them ways of gender-sensitive teaching even in the current challenging times.

 

The Belgian speakers from the field and civil organizations told us more about their initiatives with which they try to cope with a general gender blindness within school culture and school practice. Collaboration and networking are indispensable. They all want the bottom-up experience to be completed by a top-down policy support. The key competences in Flanders need to be more gender specific. All non university higher education actors ask for institutionalized collaboration, as well as research into curricula and accessible instruments. 

 

The webinar closed with the need for resilience of pupils and students. They have to be prepared to deal with structural inequalities. In order to do so, a gender sensitive education (combined with an intersectional approach) is what they need!