Fair Play at schools 2019-2022

An Erasmus + project with Estonia and the Czech Republic

Starting in 2019, KUN together with Genderove informacni centrum NORA (Czech Republic) and the Eesti Naisteühenduste Ümarlaua Sihtasutus (Estonia) were granted Erasmus + funding to work on gender-sensitive education in schools. 

The project aims to focus on the gender segregation in education and what effects can be found on a societal level. Representing three European countries with differing demographics, geographies, histories and current gender roles, the project partners will be offering their own insights while encouraging those taking the course to reflect on their own experiences, biases, privileges and possibilities. 

The project addresses the issue of gender in education. It aims at enhancing teachers’ sensitivity to gender issues. In this way, it will contribute to more inclusive classroom environments where girls and boys can develop their competencies in a safe and welcoming atmosphere without the pressure of restrictive gender stereotypes.
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Gender differences are often taken for granted in a school environment, but gender stereotypes have a strong influence on the achievement of children, and if teachers are not sensitive to issues related to gender, the school environment can reinforce sexist patterns in children’s everyday lives. The goal of this project is to help teachers be reflective on the existing gender order and gender stereotypes in society and their own biases, and act against this order. It is a very important component of the teachers’ competencies.

For more information, see the Czech partner's website, mainly in English (opens in a new window).

Most recent events:

November 2021:

After a long hiatus on international travel, the project group was finally able to meet up in Tallinn in Estonia November 16th-19th. We finalised Intellectual Output 1 (IO1) on gender-sensitive education in kindergartens, which is the Norwegian main product of the project, and made great progress on the Estonian IO2 on schools. We also made plans for the Czech IO3 which will be in webinar form and cover topics of interest for teachers working in high school.
 
The project events planned for 2022 include a workshop in Prague, where we hope to celebrate International Women’s Day on March 8th with the Norwegian Embassy. The study tour to Norway has been rescheduled for June 2022 and will be held in conjunction with the Norwegian dissemination event, before a final dissemination event in Brussels in August.

The project group visiting the Estonian Women’s Studies and Resource Centre at Tallinn University. Photo by Ülle Papp.

May 2020: Covid-19 and changes to the project progress plan

Due to the Covic-19 closedown in Europe starting mid-March, the planned joint staff training event, to take place in Steinkjer March 16th to 20th, was cancelled on very short notice. We have tentatively re-scheduled the event for March 2021. 

The project group meeting in Tallinn planned for late June has similarly been cancelled and tentatively re-scheduled for October 2020. Work on the Intellectual Outputs will proceed as planned, with consultations on digital platforms.

Project kick-off meeting in Brno, October 2019

In October 2019, the 6 core members of the project team met up in Brno in the Czech Republic. The purpose of the kick-off meeting was  to get to know each other's work better, to confirm the project timeline, to plan the joint staff training event in Norway in March 2020 and discuss how to approach the very different systems in our respective countries. 

The project meeting was also the starting point of intellectual output 1 (IO1), with Norway as lead author. This is a 2-day, 16-module course for kindergarten staff on gender-sensitive education. It includes both gender and diversity theory and practical modules focusing on filming kindergarten practice and interaction with a view to gender equality and allowing children to express their true selves.