SDG 5 Gender Equality

       

Goal 5  Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls 

While the emphasis with this goal is to ensure girls and women have as much opportunity to succeed as boys and men, at the age of the students I teach it is still important for boys to see and learn what is okay for them.
 

              

The boys I teach need to know that it is okay for them to play with dolls, that it is okay for the girls to play with trucks, that they can wear pink, go to ballet lessons and sing. The preschool teachers often come in search of read-alouds that address gender issues, so in the library we have made sure we have books that they can use. We sometimes also need to assure parents that there are not books for boys and books for girls!

So when choosing books from the list here, think about what it is you want to discuss. Many of the biographical books on the previous list (SDG 4) would be appropriate here as well. Perhaps read a book that promotes discussion of gender and stereotypes and then read a biography of a woman who was not confined by stereotypes, such as Margaret Knight, Madame Curie, Ada Lovelace, Katherine Johnson, Emmaline Pankhurst, Elizabeth Blackwell, Mary Fanning or Greta Thunberg and discuss what she needed to do to be successful at what she did.

I love I'm a Girl! by Yasmeen Ismail.

Here's the blurb:

The girl in this book likes to win, she likes to be spontaneous, fast and strong, and because she also likes to dress in t-shirt and shorts, she is forever getting mistaken for a boy. And when she meets a boy who likes wearing princess dresses and playing dolls, they both quickly discover that they share interests that are wide and varied.

I am a Girl! is a wonderful celebration of being who we are and not being pigeon-holed or restricted by gender stereotypes.

Every parent should read Want to Play Trucks?  by Ann Stott and Bob Graham because it is not the children who struggle with gender types but one of the mothers.

Here's the blurb:

Jack and Alex meet almost every morning in the sandbox at the playground. Jack likes trucks - big ones. Alex likes dolls - pink ones, with sparkles. And tutus. But Jack doesn't want to play dolls, and Alex doesn't want to play trucks. Luckily for Jack and Alex, the day is saved with a little bit of compromise and the easy acceptance that characterises true friendship... What about dolls who drive trucks? 

Then read about an exemplary female role model such as Greta or highlight a place where girls do not go to school such as is the case in Nasreen's Secret School by Jeanette Winter.  I have read this to Year 2 classes and stopped at the part where it says the girls were not allowed to go to school, and then separated the students into boys and girls. The boys were asked to discuss what they thought it would be like to have no girls in the class. The girls were asked to discuss what they thought it would be like to stay home from school every day. Very interesting discussion pursues. 

However if your school hasn't a large collection of picture book biographies, you have a K to 6 library or you are wondering which book to purchase, read Walking to Water by Susan Hughes and Nicole Miles because it covers gender and SDG 6 Clean Water.

Here is the blurb:

In this inspiring story of individual activism, a boy recognizes gender inequality when his sister must stop attending school --- and decides to do something about it. Victor is very close to his twin sister, Linesi. But now that they have turned eight years old, she no longer goes to school with him. Instead, Linesi, like the other older girls in their community, walks to the river to get water five times a day, to give their mother more time for farming. Victor knows this is the way it has always been. But he has begun learning about equality at school, and his teacher has asked the class to consider whether boys and girls are treated equally. Though he never thought about it before, Victor realizes they're not. And it's not fair to his sister. So Victor comes up with a plan to help. 

Don't forget it is International Women's Day on 8th March, and a  great time to put together a book display in your library that encourages students to think about female achievements.

There are three things to do in the booklet:

Before reading:

Ask: Can you think of a time when boys and girls are treated differently?

The book we read was...

I think boys and girls should ...