Stereotype-Free, Choose Your Career Freely. Activities for Elementary School Projects - Kolářová, Jitka; Babanová, Anna; Hausenblasová, Jitka; Krobová, Tereza; Smetáčková, Irena (Gender Studies, o. p. s, 2014)
Dear readers, we are presenting you with a methodology "cookbook" which you can use to organize career counselling projects which promote equal opportunities for girls and boys. The goal of this publication is to broaden the range of jobs and education programmes girls and boys consider as their potential career options. We hope to liberate the imagination of young people from the constraints of the traditional division of jobs into jobs for men and jobs for women. The idea that everybody deserves opportunities to put their unique talents to use and to dream freely and without regard to stereotypes about men's and women's social roles is fundamental to this book. Studies on decision-making among Czech students show that rather than evaluating their skills and abilities, girls and boys tend to use gender stereotypes to help them choose their future careers (see Jarkovská et al. 2010, Smetáčková 2006, 2007).
To reverse this trend, a two-pronged strategy is needed; we have to strengthen career guidance as well as build awareness about the power of gender stereotypes. Better career choices will not only improve the opportunities of girls and boys for self-realization; well considered career choices will also bring employers truly competent workers. With this publication we hope to promote critical thinking and to help people understand how gender stereotypes affect us. Stereotypes can play a positive role in the society - they organize the world for easier orientation. However, we should use them consciously so that we can actually decide whether we want to act according to their dictate or not. We see education as a process of broadening our horizons and learning about the important questions we face in today's world (such as the issue of the position of men and women in today's Europe). At the same time, education should always provide space for students to discover their own ways.
To meet this goal, our book includes activities to help students reflect on gender stereotypes and to defend their own perspectives. In other words, we seek to facilitate equality between women and men. Our book corresponds with current government strategies and ministerial policy documents (Government Priorities and Procedures to Promote Equality between Women and Men, Ministry of Education Priorities and Procedures to Promote Equal Opportunities for Men and Women). The materials in this book are aimed at elementary school teachers although they can also be used at secondary schools, children's clubs and other educational institutions for children and youth. Activity descriptions are supplemented by arguments clarifying the fundamental connections between work, career and gender stereotypes.
Most of the activities have been field-tested in seminars with real students and have been adjusted for teachers with different backgrounds so that they could use the activities regardless of knowledge of gender studies. We hope that our ideas will help to make your school projects more encouraging for students to see their careers free of gender stereotypes, useful and inspiring. We are interested in hearing from you!
Keywords: Gender Studies; School education; Educational Psychology; Methodology and research technology; Social development; Human Resources in Economy; Sociology of Education