Possibly, gender violence is one of the most serious evils that exists in Spain. Today, November 25, an attempt is made to make society aware that violence should not even exist. In this way, both parents and educational centers should work together and side by side to avoid and prevent aggressive situations, of rejection and discrimination towards students and promote education in equality between boys and girls.
The classrooms are a very useful space for keep away any type of violence and harassment from students, to teach students that everyone has the same opportunities, that no one is better than others for being male or female and that everyone deserves the same respect without any distinction (culture, gender, special educational needs ...)
But how can gender-based violence be prevented in the classroom? What can schools and teachers do? I have come up with some very simple ideas to carry out in class and that do not generate a high degree of effort.
Teacher training in educational centers
I always say that teacher training does not end with the teaching career or the competitive examinations. The training of teachers practically continues until their professional career ends. Know and know how to apply guidelines and tools to prevent gender violence and conflict resolution among the students themselves it is fundamental in the classroom. In this way, educational centers should offer workshops, conferences and courses to teachers to find out what to do if there is any type of aggressive, violent or harassment scene in the classes.
If schools do not take charge of this training (as it is on many occasions), the internet offers many free educational resources (documentation, courses, books, guides) to be able to start active, autonomous and independent learning. Do not forget that it is about knowing tools and dynamics to prevent rejection, discrimination and violence among students.
Teacher attitude towards students in the classroom
Maybe it seems silly or something very obvious. But the attitude of the teachers towards the students is key to avoid situations of gender violence in the classes. If the teacher treats all students in the same way, understands everyone the same and values them without making any kind of distinctions, students will be learning firsthand that gender rejection, discrimination, and intolerance get nowhere.
In this section we can also talk of the language teachers use: in their classes they could use the feminine more and refer to the concepts with generic words such as childhood instead of children, family instead of parents. This way it will go eliminating sexism from the classrooms and promote gender equality.
Another thing that teachers can do is spend ten minutes of their classes talking about a female character who has been important in history and for society. This will convey that women can have the same talents of men and dedicate themselves to the same things as them. We are talking about fostering a positive and equal attitude that always begins with teachers.
Apply cooperative learning
Cooperative learning is an active methodology that encourages teamwork among students. A team that has to be made up of boys and girls in equal parts. In this way, the group of students help each other and work together to achieve the objectives that the teacher has proposed in the task. In addition, cooperative learning It is highly recommended to promote empathy and solidarity among students.
Didactic units on the prevention of gender violence
The didactic units are very useful to carry out and develop specific activities (in this case related to gender violence). In these activities students have to be the protagonists. For example: they can each read a paragraph from a story or a book chosen by the teachers that have stories of values and friendship. You can represent short plays or situations in which there is some type of violence, discrimination or rejection and then debate with the students ...
Here is a video that I particularly liked and that if as an educational center you have the opportunity to develop something like this, it would be highly recommended for students. This is a campaign that was carried out in 2013 by students to prevent gender violence: "Not a kiss forcibly." Remember that even if there is a day indicated on the calendar, The prevention of any type of violence must be worked on throughout the school year.
Prevention of gender violence through sport
Sport is a great activity to eliminate any type of violence from the classroom and give the same opportunities to all students. Through sport they are encouraged very important values such as: diversity, solidarity, empathy, respect, tolerance, cooperation, diversity and a lot of positive attitude is generated. Sport, in this case, within physical education, could help to ward off situations of rejection and gender discrimination.
Take into account emotional education in the classroom
Emotional education is key to avoiding any situation of violence in the classrooms. If students can express their emotions freely and without being judged, The class climate will improve, the tension caused by some conflicts will decrease and above all, they will be aware of how others feel and will know their emotions. In this way, they can reduce scenes of rejection, discrimination and intolerance.
Meetings with parents of students
Obviously, not everything is the task of schools and teachers. Not all the work has to be done by them. As I said at the beginning, teachers and parents have to collaborate and cooperate together to ensure that situations of gender violence occur in the classrooms and at home. The informative and orientation meetings sThey are very useful and recommended for families to know and apply guidelines to eliminate any case of violence. In this way, committed, sensitive, caring, tolerant and empathetic children / young people will be being formed.
In this section we can also include the teamwork of the educational center with the AMPs. We talk about activities, campaigns and talks (information on sexuality, affectivity, relationships between adolescents if they are, limits and basic rights of each person) to students to achieve remove stereotypes that directly lead to a possible onset of gender violence.
What do you think of the ideas that can be developed in the classrooms to prevent gender violence? Which ones would you incorporate? Do you do any activity in class or at home to avoid and eliminate situations of rejection and gender discrimination?
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