When it comes to gender equality, many of our young men have a reflex reaction: reluctance to discuss this topic for fear of saying the wrong thing.
But as the new Keeping Children Safe in Education guidance is introduced, it’s more important than ever to actively engage them with gender equality issues.
So how can we construct a narrative that gets young men on board, giving them the necessary language and resilience to engage in these important and challenging conversations?
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I work at a boys’ school in the North West of England and recently led a whole-school project to understand young men’s attitudes towards learning about women in history.
We collected data from over 800 students aged 11-18, and students took part in a series of pastoral lessons in which they were shown resources highlighting women in history, drawing inspiration from the @OnThisDayShe project. Looking at the exclusion of women from recorded history and discussing the reasons behind this led to productive follow-up discussions on gender equality more widely.
Before these lessons, students completed a survey: they were asked to share their feelings about taking part in the lessons, what they thought they would cover and whether they could identify one woman who had a big impact - positive or negative - in history.
As could be expected, a full range of views was expressed. Many students were positively engaged and frequently referred to the excitement of learning about a topic that isn’t often visible in everyday society: “I don’t know much about famous figures who were female”, “I am interested because I want to learn and understand why women have been treated differently”.
Other students felt less at ease, while a small minority expressed attitudes that we would seek to challenge. Many told us that they wanted to engage but are often discouraged, for fear of saying the wrong thing.
Our research, therefore, shows that, as educators, we must find a way to have these challenging conversations in such a way that boys feel empowered to engage.
Engaging boys in lessons about gender equality
Lessons on gender equality bring with them certain expectations and preconceptions, both from teachers’ and pupils’ perspectives. It is vital that young men don’t feel blamed or alienated when starting these conversations. So how can we do this? Here’s what we learned.
- Build trust
This is all about building trust and facilitating a two-way dialogue. We must really listen to what young men have to say. They need to feel safe and respected, which will then allow them to open up, be vulnerable and consider different perspectives. At school, we have found that giving them the opportunity to be part of the debate and to have their voices heard, be that in pastoral lessons or writing in a student magazine, is the first step towards positive engagement.
- Model inclusive language
Many young men share concerns about how they will be perceived if they speak up in favour of feminism or condemn a sexist comment. Young people want to fit in, and challenging inequality can be intimidating. As a school, we are actively working to support our students to get past this fear, by modelling inclusive language and behaviour. Dedicating time to discussion, such as the “On This Day She” lessons, and empowering students to speak up in favour of equality, forms a key part of our pastoral curriculum.
- Introduce the concept of intersectionality
The national narrative on gender equality often refers, and rightly so, to the privileges of masculinity. In the same conversations, it is vital to listen to young men about how the patriarchy and conventional masculinities affect them, too. At school, we are working to introduce students to the concept of intersectionality. Giving them an understanding of different biases and structural factors is key in helping them to understand the barriers to progress faced by different individuals.
We know that there is more work to do to positively engage students with gender equality issues. The “On This Day She” lessons have provided us with a fantastic platform upon which to build moving forward.
As a profession, we have a delicate balance to strike: we must be committed to promoting gender equality, while also ensuring that young men don’t feel alienated and unprepared to join in the conversation. To make meaningful progress, they must be positively engaged in the debate - this, in turn, will help to further the equality agenda for women and girls. We must help young men to build the emotional resilience to have challenging conversations and give them the space to develop the necessary language to analyse these issues.
The next question we need to ask, as a profession, is how do we engage with young men to help them shift from a position of “I feel blamed” to “what can I do to help?”
Katharine Roddy is a secondary teacher at Bolton School Boys’ Division
