You are an educator

As educators, you have the ability to positively influence the boys and young men you teach.  Promoting gender equality and teaching the young boys in your school about healthy equal relationships helps you create healthier and safer schools and communities.

Tips

Reach out to the boys and young men around you and be a positive role model.  Here’s how:

Promote gender equality in your school.

The social well-being of boys includes gaining the capacity to develop healthy and equal relationships with girls and boys, women and men, friends, family and colleagues alike.  Accordingly, one of your responsibilities is to provide your students with the means and the tools to develop relationships that are based on respect and equality. 

Remember and commemorate important dates.

Organize school-wide and/or classroom-based activities to give boys the opportunity to observe or participate in the International Women’s Day (March 8), the International Day Against Homophobia (May 17), Women’s History Month (October), the United Nations’ International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women (November 25), and Canada’s National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women (December 6).   Visit the website of the White Ribbon Campaign to learn how to start a campaign at your school. 

Foster leadership in male students and colleagues.

Invite your male students and colleagues to convene a committee to plan and organize school and community-based activities to raise awareness about gender equality and violence against women.  Model gender equality by inviting female students and colleagues to join the committee and work alongside with you to raise awareness about healthy equal relationships.  Actions can speak louder than words.

Teach boys the language of equality.

Provide boys with opportunities to learn and practice gender equal language to help counter demeaning messages promoted through popular culture where women and girls are often objectified, and images of masculinity are distorted.  Include in your lessons opportunities to learn about accessible, positive, and equal language that boys can use in relating to girls and other boys.  Develop a gender equality glossary and organize discussions about healthy equal relationships. 

Challenge sexism, homophobia, and degrading language.

Boys are exposed on a daily basis to many examples of sexist behaviour, homophobia, and objectification of women.  Culture is a powerful tool in reinforcing gender stereotypes both for women and men.  Recognize the impact of the media, video games, and popular culture on boys and as such share a new healthier view of masculinity, one that models respect and equality towards women, girls, and other men.  Not speaking up contributes to the silence around these issues, and helps to normalize gender inequality and homophobia. 

Identify and reach out to allies.

Addressing issues of violence and promoting healthy relationships can be hard work and the more support you have from the people around you the easier and more effective your efforts will be.  Connect with other teachers; teacher union; principal; equity committees; parents; school board; and superintendent to help you reinforce and promote the message you’re sending to the young people you’re trying to support. 

Engage in life long learning.

Strengthen your knowledge, capacity and skills in promoting gender equality.  Take advantage of professional development programs offered through your equity department, teacher’s union, or school board.  Invite a local community organization to provide training to a group of teachers or administrators in your school.  Consider programs that address the role that men and boys can play in promoting gender equality.

Consider your reaction to gender inequities in the workplace.

Your drive to be an exemplary role model sometimes can lead you to feel guilty when you don’t immediately respond to a situation that challenges your values and beliefs.  If a person’s safety has been compromised or a serious policy has been breached, act immediately.  Otherwise, give yourself time to reflect upon the situation and consider presenting it as a case for collective learning later on.  That way you are not singling out a particular colleague or student and you may use the opportunity to reach out to an even greater group of people. 

Promote gender equality as a man’s issue.

Most violence committed against women is by men.  While the majority of men do not condone it, they often do not speak out or make their feelings publicly known.  As a result, a culture of silence is created around gender inequality and men’s violence against women.  Men need to speak up and reach out to their peers and younger boys to help create a society that values healthy equal relationships.  Violence against women is a real concern for all of us.

Develop ground rules and promote equality values.

Address difficult situations of gender inequality by referring back to the values, principles, and ground rules you developed at the beginning of the school year.  Invite students to provide input into the ground rules and identify consequences.  Ensure that those rules establish clear principles and expectations to promote healthy equal relationships among students and colleagues.  Review them on an ongoing basis to ensure they are fresh in everyone’s minds.    

Create safe spaces to talk about personal experiences of gender inequality.

Promote empathy among boys by creating safe spaces for girls and boys to share personal experiences of violence and inequality.  Provide opportunities for youth who have witnessed or experienced the impact of violence to talk about their feelings.  Help create a trusting environment, allow students to participate in open respectful dialogue, and teach them about the importance of empathy in creating healthy relationships. 

You may not have all the answers.

It’s okay to acknowledge that you don’t know all the answers, that you are not an expert in this topic, and freely admit when you make a mistake.  Let your students know that you will look for the right information, and will get back to them later on.   Check the links and resources sections of our campaign for additional information, or talk with others.  Acknowledging your feelings and weaknesses is a way to demonstrate how to act constructively in building healthy and equal relationships, and it will reduce the pressure on boys to be “perfect” all the time.

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