Greshma Momaya and Angelica Celinska discuss gender equality in early childhood classrooms and settings. Greshma shares practice from her school in India, providing examples and tips on how to ensure we not only promote gender equality, but also notice when we unknowingly might place or communicate gender bias. They discuss a gender neutral curriculum, challenging your own deep rooted, subconscious gender biases and much more.

Episode break down:

00:00 - Greshma's 'why' 02:37 - Children's understanding of gender roles 08:34 - Gender stereotypical story characters 10:00 - An overfocus on physical appearance 12:10 - A gender neutral curriculum 14:54 - Educators checking in on their own gender bias 17:57 - Addressing behaviour inconsistently 21:25 - Are we living up to our values and beliefs? 22:40 - Professional challenge and creating safe spaces 24:21 - Representing diverse family structures 28:05 - Aligning the curriculum with children's direct experiences 31:00 - 'Give children global boots with local roots' - Sugata Mitra 32:50 - Working with resource companies and book publishers 34:50 - Challenging traditional language 36:50 - The current context in India 38:30 - Respecting families' choices and preferences 41:15 - Famous and historical figures being more gender equal 43:55 - Setting boundaries and systems to promote gender equality 45:40 - 3 steps in checking your own gender bias

For more episodes visit The Voice of Early Childhood website: https://www.thevoiceofearlychildhood.com

Gender equality in early childhood 53:02 Share

The Voice of Early Childhood

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Gender equality in early childhood