A cross section of those in Warri Training held on the 17th December, 2024 at DICI Resource Centre, Warri, Delta State
By Ejiro Nesisa
Civil Society Action Coalition on Education for All (CSACEFA), implementing the Education Out Loud Project of Global Partnership on Education (GPE) with funding support from OXFAM Denmark, organized a Gender Responsive Pedagogy Teacher Training (GRPTT) for selected teachers in Delta State. The programme which took place on Friday 13th December 2024 and Tuesday 17th December 2024 respectively was held at AFRODEP Training Centre, Asaba the state capital and Development Initiative for Community Impact (DICI) Resource Centre, Warri
During the training in Warri, the Master Trainer, Dr. Rachel Misan Ruppee said there is need for teachers in the state in whatever levels of education: pre-Primary, Primary, Secondary or Higher institution to be gender responsive within and outside the classroom settings.
Her words: “Teachers, should be gender responsive in planning lessons and delivering lessons in the classrooms because the use of stereotype language can discourage and affect the choice of career of the students we teach”.
Dr. Ruppee said, both genders (male and female) should be treated with equity in the classrooms by teachers. According to her, teachers should be gender sensitive in selecting and the use of examples in the classrooms when teaching the students. She said, teachers can promote gender equality by being a role model, by demonstrating fairness, avoiding reinforcement of gender stereotype, celebrate the female and male gender, create classroom environment to encourage all students equally in class participation, teachers should challenge bad behavior and language among students, support the students that feels marginalized among others.
Her words: “Teachers should be role model by demonstrating fairness and equality in the school system – they should not be biased: they should treat both genders equally”.She therefore charged teachers to collaborate with their colleagues to share strategies that would be of benefit for the promotion of knowledge in the school system.
On her part, the Chairman,Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) and Head Teacher in Ojojo Primary School, Warri in South Local Government Area, Comrade Omagbemi Gladys said, the programme is meant to train the teachers to perform excellently in their teaching career. According to her, teachers are molder of behavior in the society and as such, they need training to enable them impact the right values on the children for the society to be good for all.
Not left is one of the teachers in Nana Model College, Mr. Victor S-Beecroft. He said, the programme became necessary because of the way some students are being discriminated against in the school system by teachers. According to him, all students whether male or female should be treated equally by teachers in the school and their parents at home. He said, in choosing in a career, parents should not dictate for their children but they should be given free hand to choose their careers.
His words: “No child should be discriminated against, all children whether male or female should be treated equally by both teachers at school and their parents at home. Again, parents should not choose a career for their children but can only guide them because, areas the parents may think the child would do well, may be against the children’s ability and choice”.
In the same vein, during the training in Asaba, the Master Trainer, Amb. Augusta Keneboh said teachers should be gender sensitive in planning and delivering their lessons, and use of gender sensitive language adding, they should not be promoting gender stereotype when communicating and interacting with learners at school as that (use of stereotype language) can affect the learner’s, personality development, careers choices and aspirations.
Basically,according to the Master Trainers, the objective of the training programme was to understand the difference between sex and gender, identify societal gender roles and stereotypes, analyze the impact of gender on education and learner’s experiences, and to equip teachers with the knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary to create a gender-responsive learning environment.
As designed, the training covered: introduction to Gender Responsive Pedagogy, Understanding Gender and its Implications on Teaching and Learning, Designing and Delivering Gender-Responsive Lesson Plans and Creating a Supportive and Inclusive Learning Environment.
According to the Master Trainers, the training programme is aimed at several outcomes which include: improved understanding of gender concepts and their implications on teaching and learning, enhanced skills in designing and delivering gender-responsive lesson plans and promoting a culture of gender equality and inclusivity in schools.
According to the organizers, the training is expected to have positive impact on the learning environment which includes improved learning outcomes for both girls and boys, reduced gender-based violence and discrimination in schools and Increased participation and engagement of girls in education.
Based on the training, the next step will be to step down training as the training of the trainers will be carried out by the teachers trained in their various schools to reach more teachers and schools in Delta State; reflection circle- platform to provide support and sharing of experiences, success stories will be established for the trained teachers to effectively implement gender-responsive pedagogy in their classrooms, monitor and evaluate the impact of the training on the learning environment and students’ outcomes by the Master Trainers. The highlight of the training which was rounded off in Asaba and Warri was questions and answers sessions.
Photos of Warri Training held on the 17th December 2024 at DICI Resource Centre, Warri
Photos of Asaba Training held on the 13th December 2024 facilitated by Master Trainer, Amb.Augusta Keneboh