19th October 2012 9:00
By Blue Tutors
A new French Education policy has said that gender inequality needs to be tacked directly from the time when children attend nursery school. The French minister for women’s rights, Najat Vallaud-Belkacem, has piloted a scheme in 2 nursery schools which is designed to combat gender stereotyping at an early age. The project comes after observations that children are influenced at a very young age by adults’ perceptions and representations, especially their parents, teachers, and the media.
The nursery has attempted to combat gender stereotypes by having many gender neutral toys, and encouraging boys and girls to play with toys usually associated with the opposite sex. The school also employs men and women to take equal roles in typically gendered activities such as baking and craftwork. Staff members are also very aware of the need to ensure that their own behaviour does not encourage gender stereotypes.
The scheme is part of a broader initiative which sees a similar approach being targeted at secondary schools, with a view to combating gender discrimination and violence against women. It is widely thought by sociologists that such an approach can have a significant and positive impact on levels of respect between the sexes, and on pupil’s educational attainment. However, the scheme requires full-scale backing from teachers and parents in order to be fully implemented.