Summary
A two-year vocational guidance project for elementary school teachers in Linz
Implementing organization
JKU Linz - Department for Equality, Equitable Opportunities and Diversity /Contact
Dr. Margit Waid, margit.waid@jku.at
Mag. Sandra Nuspl, MBA, sandra.nuspl@jku.at
Implemented/introduced
Project run by Johannes Kepler University Linz, June 2011 - July 2013
Relation to gender equality targets
Development Plan 2013-2018: Long term thinking is required if women are to be inspired to consider careers in science and technology. By actively engaging the professional profile of male and female academics across the entire course of education, gender-specific awareness in particular is to be expanded further. In order to draw attention to science from an early age, measures related to the transfer of knowledge focusing on children of various ages, have been designed and implemented in cooperation with external organizations more extensively since 2009.
The objective(s) of the tool
Expansion of job perspectives for girls of primary-school age; enhancing self-confidence and promoting positive self-assessment of girls’ technical skills
Description of the tool
Inspiring and preparing girls and boys – in a targeted manner and already at an early stage – for a life with science, technology and research characterized by equality, requires initiatives such as “MiT”. By training teachers and sensitizing them to the issue, contents and goals can be skillfully implemented and communicated in schools. During the course of the project, the following measure were realized: creating role-awareness and role-understanding amongst teachers, providing them with tools to structure teaching gender-consciously, acquainting them with practical “tools of the trade” for teaching technical and scientific content in the basic science courses taught in elementary school, integrating existing resources and teaching materials, such as the TechnikBox ((www.technikbox.at). The TechnikBox contains the necessary materials for more than 100 visually appealing work incentives and ideas for experiments, covering contents of all four levels of primary school and conforming to the Austrian curriculum), connecting with other projects.
How the tool works, practical experience
Teachers received valuable impulses and suggestions for their current and future teaching work from the events and workshops organized within the framework, helping them to expand their awareness of role stereotypes and clichés. Many positive developments could be observed in the participating school classes, especially among the girls. Full of interest and motivation, the girls began working increasingly independently, demanding that gender-neutral language be used and that scientific and technical content be incorporated in the classroom. A joint event with the participating teachers and their school classes at the Johannes Kepler University represented the fitting finale for the project.
Attachments
Further information upon request