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AWARENESS OF WOMEN’S ROLES IN THE PROFESSIONAL FIELD AROUND A
PLURICULTURAL CONTEXT
Name of author
: Christine FARRUGIA
E-mail address
: christinefarrugia@yahoo.com
Institution and country
: Giovanni Curmi, Higher Secondary School, Malta
Target audience
¦
Pre-service teachers
o
Secondary teachers / Enseignants du secondaire
In-service teachers
o
Secondary teachers/ Enseignants du secondaire
¦
Itineraries
¦
Identity exploration
Exploring attitudes towards languages and cultures
¦
Abstract
:
Since the inhabitants of Malta live on a very small island, they are quite traditional in their
attitude towards the roles of men and women in society. This project’s aim is to prove how
rooted people from different countries are to sexual prejudice especially with regards to jobs.
From research done for this project, it was very obvious that such discrimination is not present
only in Malta just because it is a small country, but even in bigger European countries. So the
activities would like us to think about what we, as educators, can do to change such an attitude
in the classroom environment.
Rationale
In this activity, divided in 7 worksheets which should take a minimum of 8 hours, I tried to
focus my attention on women’s roles in society around a pluricultural environment. My aim is
to point out certain differences which might be interesting to discover when comparing
countries of the Mediterranean, Europe and Northern Africa. I have chosen this particular
geographical setting mainly because the island of Malta, being at the centre of the
Mediterranean, is “sandwiched” between two apparently contrasting ways of thought, adopts
both systems and it would be interesting to see which are the variables influencing the other
countries participating in the LEA project.
Another aim is to prove that, although on paper, in the 21
st
. century, women ought to have
reached the same status as men, in real life this is somewhat a myth. I believe that teacher
training in this field is a must because teachers are the educators of tomorrow’s citizens and so
can be seen as a turning point that can generate change. The fact that this activity created so
much interest in the participating members of LEA proved that this lack of balance between
men’s and women’s roles is sadly still felt in ALL countries, even those that seem to be more
avant-garde than others.
The activity aims for trainees to develop from an interpersonal to an intrapersonal dimension.
That is why the worksheets establish a crescendo that peaks on a very global outlook. The first
worksheet helps the teachers look at themselves as opposed to their family members hence
serving as a generation to generation focus. As the worksheets develop, so does the trainee that
starts thinking about his / her society, we embark on a trip in memory lane as we remember the
teachers who have influenced our life and gradually one starts understanding better this
discrimination against women and how teachers could have the potential to fight this.
Worksheet 4 helps teachers to consider the national scenario analyzing ways of thinking in each
country and pondering on how to create awareness against sexual discrimination that can be
enhanced by the study of various job advertisements in different countries. That is how
participants will understand their own concerns on jobs and cultures in the comparison of
systems across other cultures and social contexts.
The climax is reached when reading excerpts from Council of Europe documents about the
insistence on equal rights to everybody without sexual, racial, religious or social discrimination.
And it is in the last worksheet, when the participants have to present their own poster with a
powerful slogan that they show how much they have assimilated during this teacher training.
In this way, both pre-service and in-service participants will be able to apply themselves such an
activity in their own classroom environment, both in the formation of young pupils as well as in
adult education, in order to instill a better way of thinking in tomorrow’s world.
Personal and social dimensions / dimension individuelle et sociale
·
Observing the cultural diversity of contexts and individuals;
·
Observing how educators can influence the attitudes of learners towards languages, those
who speak them and their culture, as well as their motivation and curiosity towards them;
·
Recognizing the cultural complexity of individual and collective identities;
·
Enhancing the role of languages and cultures in building societies that are fairer, more
supportive and more democratic;
·
Enhancing each individual’s language and culture by considering language and culture as a
means of human development (aimed at social inclusion and as a preparation for exercising
their citizenship);
·
Recognizing the political character of the measures adopted with regard to languages and
cultures;
·
Combating exclusion and linguistic and cultural discrimination while embracing the
opportunities of a life together in society;
·
Having a global vision of the exercise of one’s profession (professionalism) as consisting of
different dimensions
Professional dimensions / dimension professionelle
·
Being aware of the need for a new linguistic and cultural education capable of promoting
plurilingualism and pluriculturalism;
·
Knowing and defending the reasons for an education favourable to the development of
plurilingual and pluricultural competence;
·
Observing, analysing and making use of – in didactic terms – the diversity that exists in
one’s teaching environment (individual and collective repertoires);
·
Creating synergetic effects between the teaching of different languages and cultures by co-
operating with the teachers of other languages and other subjects.
Grouping:
(individual) /
(pair work) /
(group work) /
(whole class)
Worksheet 1
Timing: 60’
From a personal to a social dimension
In pairs, discuss and compare the jobs of your grandmother, your mother and
your own. Do you all have the same level of education? Do you feel you made
certain progress compared to them?
Mentally, try to imagine the following persons and write a very brief
description of each:
a) SECRETARY : ______________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________
b) CARPENTER : ______________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________
c) SOLDIER : _________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________
d) BABY-SITTER : ______________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________
e) ENGINEER : ________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________
f) TEACHER : _________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________
Finally, try to elaborate a table discussing in a very large group, for each of the
persons listed above, how many have imagined a Male or a Female for each
particular job. Two or three persons could be asked to read their very brief
description.
With a partner, list the pros and cons of being a Male or a Female for each of
the said jobs.
Example:
SECRETARY
PROS
CONS
MALE
FEMALE
MALE
FEMALE
What did this activity help you understand about your teaching career?
Think of this quote from the
Declaration on the elimination of discrimination against women
proclaimed by General Assembly resolution 2263 (XXII) of 7 November 1967:
Discrimination against women is incompatible with human dignity and with the welfare of the
family and of society, prevents their participation, on equal terms with men, in the political,
social, economic and cultural life of their countries and is an obstacle to the full development
of the potentialities of women in the service of their countries and of humanity.
Worksheet 2
Timing: 60’
Social stereotypes
In pairs, discuss the photos. Who are these people? Can you write a paragraph
describing their social life and the job you think they do?
Read the text
“PREJUDICED BY APPEARANCE” and check how close you were to the
conclusions you had previously done. Did you guess their job? If not, did you
at least come close? Why don’t people believe them when they say what they
do for a living???
PREJUDICED BY APPEARANCE
Most of the time, we judge people by their physical appearance. When we meet someone
walking next to us in a street, just with one look, we calculate his age, if this person is
married, notice his colouring, decide if we find him or her attractive. But why does this
happen? Why are we often prejudiced by the appearance of others? Read the experiences of
these three people and check if most people are prejudiced or not.
DAVID JONES, 27
Most of the people I meet find it hard to believe that I work as a secretary because they say
that I don’t look like one! Usually they are blonde sexy young women or ladies around 50
years old with spectacles, not black young men! People expect black people to have lots of
kids, to be in a gospel choir or to sing reggae. But I love my job. Actually, my boss is a
woman! And all my friends have a lot to say about that …
CHU LING, 32
Many are very surprised when I tell them I work as a hairdresser in a posh salon in London.
Most people from Asia usually work in Chinese restaurants or as cleaners in hotels. But I have
been a hairdresser for over 10 years, first in Taiwan, then in London. I work in a salon whose
clients are usually pop stars and actresses and I really enjoy it.
LARA CLARKE, 24
Almost everyone raises his eyebrows when I say I am a vet and thinks I am incapable of doing
the job properly. Usually a vet is a middle-aged man in a white coat with smart glasses. I’m
female, although I know I look like a male! I have had my nose pierced and I dye my hair. I
haven’t got a boyfriend and work for long hours. So I don’t have much time for social life and
haven’t been to a nightclub or a pub in ages.
In a large group, discuss what you have learnt from this activity and what
relevance you think this has to your teaching profession. Do you think society
is still rooted to social stereotypes? Which countries do you think are the most
avant-garde in the professional field? What is your country doing to this
regard?
Consider the following statement:
Discrimination against women, denying or limiting as it does their equality of rights with men,
is fundamentally unjust and constitutes an offence against human dignity.
Worksheet 3
Timing: 60’
Gender issues in the field of education
In pairs, discuss your favourite teacher. Tell your partner why this person
influenced you so much. How come you still remember this teacher after so
many years? Do you appreciate this teacher especially for the teaching
methods or for the personality? Do you feel this teacher had a paternal /
maternal instinct towards the class?
In a large group, discuss how many have imagined a favourite teacher who was
a woman. In each respective country, teachers at different levels (Pre-School,
Primary, Secondary, High School, University) are usually men or women?
Does it make a difference whether you are considering teachers of languages or
science subjects?
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