Goals
Brief description of the issue
A strong endorsement of gender stereotypes is associated with higher school dropout rates, for boys as well as for girls. We learn those stereotypes from a very young age, therefore they have to be broken down even at the elementary level if we want to give students all the chances they need to succeed in school. To do this, concrete activities aiming at deconstructing gender stereotypes can be very helpful and spark interesting discussion with your group.
The Teaching Tolerance website has put together a variety of classroom resources in many social justice domains and on multiple topics. The mission of this organization is “to help teachers and schools educate children and youth to be active participants in a diverse democracy” by providing them free resources.
This lesson plan, Gender Separate Dialogue Groups, according to the website, “helps students to explore various aspects of gender, discussing such questions as these: How do girls and boys see themselves? How might boys and girls be judged or seen by others? What are gender stereotypes? What might gender stereotypes teach kids?”
Access the full lesson plan by clicking on this link.