The following curriculum ideas have been developed or gathered by the Independent School Gender Project for use in work with students, faculty and parents around gender issues. Many are generic ideas in the public domain. We hope that you find them useful in your work in schools. We would welcome submission of other ideas and may post them on this site. To submit ideas, please contact: ellie@humandevelopmentinstitute.org

CURRICULUM IDEAS FOR PARENTS

Each of the following activities could be the focus of a meeting during Parents’ Weekend or an evening meeting of the Parents’ Council)

Time: 1 hour for each exercise followed by discussion

Goal: To establish a partnership between educators and parents. To encourage parents, as adults, to explore their parenting styles, and to encourage them to be more proactive in setting limits and teaching values to their children.

Fishbowl Exercise

Parents listen as kids talk about the challenges of being an adolescent right now.

Kids listen as parents talk about the challenges of being a parent right now.

After both groups have been both inside and outside the fishbowl, the facilitators lead a discussion about the issues.

Polarity Exercise

Develop statements that have 4 possible reactions and people go to different corners depending on their stand.

Example:

When my child asks permission to go to a party at the home of people I don’t know I would:

  1. Call the parents of the party child to check out the situation and be certain that the parents will be present and that alcohol and drugs will not be available.
  2. Believe that I can trust my child is telling me the truth and ask no questions.
  3. Call my child’s advisor to make the decision.
  4. Say no. Not give permission

Educating Parents about Reality (two hours)

Present statistical information or show a film like "The Lost Children of Rockdale County" about kid’s behavior today followed by small group discussions.

Panel of the "experts"

Deans, counselors, advisors, etc. speak about the current issues facing adolescents. Following short presentations, parents ask anonymous questions on index cards which the moderator reads one by one (choosing carefully) for the panel to answer.

 

CURRICULUM IDEAS FOR STUDENTS

 

"Ears, Lips, Dice"

Submitted by:

Kate Collins, Tabor Academy

Category:

Communication / Listening to Ideas

Goal:

To encourage free thinking and speaking on difficult topics and patient listening to others’ ideas.

Time:

45 minutes to 1 hour

Lesson:

Small Group (10 – 12)

 

Have students choose a card. On the card will be drawings of ears or lips. There is only one lip card, so only one person will get the ‘lips’ card.

 

Toss the "dice" and have the person with the lips card (who is the only one who is allowed to speak) talk until he or she is finished, without any questions or interruptions from others. He or she says whatever comes to mind about the topic on the dice (see below). Others listen without reaction – and only respond after a set period of time (3 – 5 minutes)

 

This activity is followed by discussion about how it feels to listen, to be heard, and to talk about difficult topics

Homework:

None

Equipment:

Timer

 

Ear cards and lip card (Index cards with lips or ears drawn on them)

 

 Dice (cube with whatever topics you wish to discuss drawn on the sides of it – i.e. power, sex, rape, harassment, etc.)

 

"Having the Pie You Want"

Category:

Self-esteem

Submitted by:

Megan Lytle, Proctor Academy

Goal:

Establishing better self-esteem through identifying roles in life.

Homework/Prep:

None Needed (we could come up with some poems or short reading to do)

Time:

45 minutes

 

15/20 min. activity

 

25/30 min. discussion

Lesson:

Smaller group (8 – 10) is preferred.

 

Students make a list of all the different roles they play in their lives (daughter, friend, student, athlete, etc.). Then the student makes a pie graph of how much time they spend fulfilling each role. The next step has the students examining the chart and determining what roles are missing from their previous list. They then construct a second pie chart incorporating the first and second list. A discussion follows about how to make changes that gets them from Chart A to Chart B.

Materials:

Paper, writing tools, examples of pie charts….

Wrap Up:

Everyone has a moment to reflect on the exercise and reaching the ideal.

 

"The Implications of being Feminine or Masculine"

Submitted by:

Sarah Baxter, Shattuck-Saint Mary’s School

Category:

Gender Awareness

Goals:

Visualize what it would be like to be the opposite sex

 
Explore aspects of being feminine or masculine
 
Promote awareness of advantages and disadvantages of being male or female

Homework / Prep:

Opposite Sex Visualization (see below)

Time:

45 minutes

Lesson:

Read the Opposite Sex Visualization and walk them back through their life year by year, eventually getting to the point of their birth where they are to imagine they have been born the opposite sex.

 

Have a student or students read or perform Wake Up As A Girl Rap

 

Have students share and compile a list on the board of what the changes are.

 

Use this as an introductory exercise to creative writing about the topic, either alone or in small groups.

 

Read aloud, share, make copies to read, etc.

 

Discuss.

Wrap-up:

Talk about what the experience was like of imagining being the opposite sex.

 CURRICULUM IDEAS FOR FACULTY

Food for Thought

Time: 5 minutes at the beginning of each faculty meeting

At the beginning of each faculty meeting, do a very short role-play presenting an issue of concern and either demonstrate appropriate responses, or ask faculty how they might handle the situation.

Summer Reading

Time: depends on how fast they read!

Everyone on the faculty reads the same book during the summer and the first faculty meeting is devoted to discussing the issues in small groups. A variation may be to have the author speak, followed by discussion.

On-going Informal Discussion Group / Dinner

At the beginning of the year, a schedule is published of the issues to be discussed at each meeting. Reading materials are provided in preparation and the discussion addresses the issues. (Possible topics: eating disorders, adolescent development, adjustment, sexuality, middle-aged kids, setting limits, private lives for adults, etc.)

Women’s Discussion Group

Have a monthly book group meeting of women faculty and staff, students, and interested mothers to talk about women’s issues. Suggestion: Girls Seen and Heard, 52 Life Lessons for our Daughters, from the Ms Foundation for Women.

Student / Faculty Discussion Groups

Three times per year, students and faculty gather in small groups to talk about important issues.

Examples: 1. Love, Marriage and Relationships, 2. Adult / Teenage Communication. 3. Community Living.

Faculty Student Fishbowls

Students and faculty gather to listen to each other speak about issues of importance in the community