There is a gender imbalance in the number of pupils in the UK studying sciences and languages. The Gender Action programme, an initiative created by the Institute of Physics, and supported by King's College London, UCL Institute of Education, and the University Council of Modern Languages, seeks to change this by encouraging a whole-school approach to challenging stereotypes. As part of King's commitment to the scheme, academics have launched a King's Innovation undergraduate course, also called Gender Action, which teaches students how to think critically about gender, the sciences and languages, and create resources that can be shared in schools.
This module is open to any student at King’s in their second or third year. Since October 2020, the first cohort of students have been working with schools to create an action plan for their 7-week project. Because of the pandemic, many of these projects have moved online. Students are creating resources such as videos and lesson plans, but we are short of partner schools to review these materials.
Module convenors are looking for early years and primary school teachers to review and give feedback on the resources these students are creating, and if possible, to use them and collect data. The action plans created by the students have been designed to positively impact either staff, students or parents by increasing understanding of the importance of gender equity in educational and home settings and how to talk with and educate very young people about gender equity (particularly in relation to subjects, activities and careers).
If you would be interested in reviewing or using these resources please do not hesitate to get in touch with Lecturer in Chemical Education, helen.coulshed@kcl.ac.uk. Student action plans have been peer reviewed, they are currently creating resources and projects are finishing in mid-march 2021.