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 ...

1st May National Banana Day

Yesterday at school we made a wonderful display of books that feature bananas on their covers. We did this because we seem to have some new 'banana' books. The children are beginning to come back to school so it felt good to put together a display.

Then this morning my husband made banana bread and I thought about bananas again. When I looked online to see when it was Banana Day I saw that here in Australia it is National Banana Day today and that the farmers have issued a baking challenge to see who makes the best banana bread.

So I have made a Pinterest page with books that feature bananas. It includes these four new books:

• The Day the Banana Went Bad by Michelle Robinson and Tom Knight

• One Banana, Two Bananas by Charlotte and Adam Guillain and Sam Lloyd

• Iguanas Love Bananas by Jennie and Chris Cladingbee and Jeff Crowther

• Would You Like a Banana by Yasmin Ismail

8th March International Women's Day

We always celebrate this day in our library and I have written about it on this blog several times before, but given the diatribe this week about children's picture books that was on a popular website I follow, I feel the need to recommend some picture books with female main characters that are certainly worth meeting. The posts were going on and on about how all the characters in the picture books for very young children, even if they were animals, were male, 'even the Gruffalo!' While I agree that, that may well be the case, and that 'he' is used more than 'she' in books, there is so much more available to children today than there used to be. The popularity of the series Little People Big Dreams by Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara  proves that books about girls can be popular. They are among the most popular books borrowed from our Prep school library and many of the children have some copies of their own. Kate Pankhurst's Great Women series is also popular.

We keep popular series in boxes because Preschoolers want to be able to find their friends quickly. Most of the series do have male main characters, but there is Maisy and Angelina Ballerina (both mice),  Miffy, Eloise, Fancy Nancy and Pinkalicious and these are more popular than say, Pete the Cat; Splat the Cat; Scaredy Squirrel  and Grug.

For stand alone, any of these picture books have girls as the main character and are well worth searching out in your library. Happy International Women's Day!

• One Word From Sophia by Jim Averback and Yasmeen Ismail (See Nothing! and I'm a Girl! by Yasmeen Ismail)











• Pearl Power  by Mel Elliott (There are now three books about Pearl)













• Izzy Gizmo  by Pip Jones and Sara Ogilvie (There are now two books about Izzy)













• Dear Girl  by Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Paris Rosenthal (See Amy's Uni the Unicorn books as well for a strong female main character)

• Where's Jamela? by Niki Daly (the five stories about Jamela who lives with her mother and grandmother give readers a very positive view of what women are capable of)

11th October International Day of the Girl

It is school holidays here, but I wish it was a school day because today is International Day of the Girl and my students and parents who are wealthy and educated still seem to need to be convinced at times that there is a gender gap. I have mothers saying to me, "Please don't let my boy borrow a pink book"; "Please don't let my girl borrow anymore building books"; "Do you have books that are boys' books?"; " My daughter loves Princess in Black,  what pink princess books could I borrow for her?"

This is in a country where women are more highly educated than men at the moment, but fewer of them are in leadership roles. This is at a coeducational school where the students have amazing opportunities and choices.

I am constantly putting together displays to counteract intrenched views. The library has an amazing collection of picture book biographies and picture books that feature girls and science, but today I would have put together a small display of books that encourage girls to be themselves, befitting this year's theme - GirlForce: Unscripted and Unstoppable.

                      

I give every baby girl born to friends, a copy of Global Baby's Girls  and  a copy of one of Dream Big  by Joyce Wan or Baby Feminists  by Libby Babbott-Klein.













The display in the library would include these books:

      

Go girls!

8th March I'm a Girl

Happy International Women's Day. I have had big success with the staff, parents and students today. So many of the books in my 'Inspiring Women' Display were loaned and one of the kindergarten teachers read I'm a Girl by Yasmeen Ismail to her class.

This is such a good book for today. It challenges gender roles and stereotypes. The 'girl' in the story is an aardvark, Yasmeen says, not a donkey. She dresses in shorts and a t-shirt. She likes to win.  The text says

I'm supposed to be made of sugar and spice 
and all things nice.
But I'm sweet and sour
and not a little flower.

I'm a girl! I'm a girl! I'm a girl!

and it celebrates difference, perfect for today and sending girls and boys the right message, we are who we are and we are not restricted by gender stereotypes. We should celebrate our strengths and our individuality.

If you haven't seen the book take a peek  here at the trailer.