The impact of any learning material goes far beyond its subject matter and pedagogical objectives. Everything included, from the choice of language, to the imagery, to the text and front covers, has the potential to reinforce stereotypes unintentionally. This can shape a learner¡¯s sense of self and others around them and affect how they feel and behave in a social setting.
A wealth of evidence suggests that early gender bias influences future inequality. It can affect career aspirations, influence the choice of school subjects and ultimately contribute to gender disparity as children grow into adults.?This is a challenge for all sectors and industries across society. Guidelines have been developed for ÃÛÌÒapp to ensure that our materials are gender equal and showcase positive female role models.
The guidelines are broken down into three different areas surrounding gender equality:
The guidelines help to ensure that women are represented equally to men in our learning and teaching materials. This includes ensuring that women's representation does not reinforce negative stereotypes. For example, content that shows women as single parents can also present them as single parents and workers. The idea is to .
Another common example is with regards to science materials.
Often, when students are asked to describe a famous scientist, they describe a character similar to Albert Einstein with white hair and a white coat. Female scientists are often overlooked in this respect, and historically, they have not been given as much attention as their male counterparts.
This type of unconscious bias is something the guidelines aim to help change. Our goal is to represent both women and men from various backgrounds across all subjects. For example, some content shows women in traditionally male roles, such as pilots, engineers and soldiers. The objective is to highlight that .
Another issue is the objectification of women. Often, women are presented as not having agency or purpose, and too much focus is placed on their appearance, rather than their intentions, behavior and aspirations. The new guidelines set out to change this.
Our language is gendered and therefore steeped in stereotyping. We aim to promote the use of terminology that is non-gendered. For example, using ¡®police officer¡¯, ¡®firefighter¡¯ and ¡®maintenance worker¡¯ instead of ¡®policeman¡¯, ¡®fireman¡¯ and ¡®handyman¡¯. Although this is a small change, it contributes to removing the unconscious bias surrounding jobs and professions.
Adjectives can also play a role in perpetuating gender inequality. We often associate particular adjectives with genders. For example, words like ¡®hysterical¡¯, ¡®shrill¡¯, or ¡®frumpy¡¯ are typically used for women. Whereas men can be described as ¡®assertive¡¯, women are more likely to be seen as ¡®bossy¡¯.
Furthermore, parallel language is something that needs to be looked at. Words like ¡®girls and boys¡¯ can be replaced with ¡®students¡¯. In this way, the guidelines are here to ensure that there is no gendering within materials. This will influence gender equality among our users.
Another key issue involved in the material is the referencing of third-party content. For example, stories based on classic fairy tales are often used to represent certain points, and these typically show the strong male hero saving the weak female damsel in distress.
Although these are stories that our society has grown up with, they could be more helpful in offering a gender-balanced view of society. ÃÛÌÒapp¡¯s guidelines are in place to ensure that students see women and men as equals throughout the materials.
To help fight against gender inequality, teachers can think about incorporating more female stories and role models into their lessons. For example, rather than simply focusing on Issac Newton or Albert Einstein in science class.
At a management level, schools can be more aware of what materials they are choosing to bring in, assessing whether the content is balanced, before accepting it. These simple actions can help our learners grow up with a more balanced view of gender.
English is one of the most widely-spoken languages in the world, but how much do you know about the language? Here are 11 facts about English?that you might not know.
Students all over the globe learn English for many reasons. Some of these motivations may come from the students themselves ¨C perhaps they are learning because they are travelling to an English-speaking area, or they want to be able to converse with English-speaking friends and colleagues. Other reasons for learning could include meeting school requirements, studying abroad, or progressing their careers.
As well as different reasons to learn English, there are also different goals. Many students are still focused on becoming fluent in English, and we are seeing an increase in people who want to learn the language for specific reasons. For example, immersing themselves in a particular culture or simply being able to order from a menu while travelling abroad.
Teachers are focusing on these personal needs to help students achieve their actual goals. It¡¯s likely you¡¯ve already spoken to your students about why they want to learn English. Understanding this is important as different motivations can influence a student¡¯s attitude towards learning the language ¨C and it may be necessary for you to adapt your teaching strategies for different groups of learners.
Let¡¯s meet some different groups of students, learn a little more about their motivations and explore whether different motivations alter how students learn English. You may recognise some of these learners in your classes.
These students are learning English for pleasure or personal reasons. It might be because of travel, social or family reasons or perhaps because a better grasp of English might assist them with their careers. There are also adult learners who could be learning English as an immigration requirement.
For example, 23-year-old Alice decided to learn English so she could meet people and have more meaningful interactions with her English-speaking neighbours. She says: ¡°I was very shy and not very confident in speaking to people, but learning English helped me connect with others and meet new people. I have changed a lot.¡±
A motivation like Alice¡¯s requires strong teacher support and peer motivation woven into structured learning. Alice can set her goals and with the GSE Learning Objectives map out what she needs to do to achieve them. Teacher encouragement and personal support ¨C and easy access to digital coursework, a social community of others all learning English, and small classes that emphasise conversation ¨C keep people like Alice engaged and motivated to achieve her language goals. ¡°I cannot do it without them¡±, she says.
These learners are typically in a more formal type of English programme and are learning the language to achieve specific career milestones, such as a promotion. Their employer might even be paying for their learning or they might be reimbursed for the cost of their lessons.
Vincenzo is 33 and works as a Product Manager in Milan for an international organization with offices around the world. He says: ¡°I asked to take English classes as part of my professional development. My company chose an English provider and gave me a choice of group or one-to-one classes. I chose one-to-one classes as I¡¯m easily distracted.¡±
Professional learners like Vincenzo succeed using a blended learning model of learning in class and at home that they can tailor around their lives. They have a strong motivation to succeed ¨C that¡¯s why learning at home works for them ¨C but step-by-step progress provided by the GSE Learning Objectives is also important to keep this motivation alive. ¡°I met with my teacher once a week where we would work on mistakes I would make while speaking English. He would also give me extra practice materials, like interesting games and videos to listen to in my own time, to help me really get a better understanding of the language,¡± Vincenzo says.
Learning English is a requirement for many school programmes and students will continue this at college or university. Many of these students will be learning English with a formal course that offers practice tests for high-stakes exams.
Seventeen-year-old Subra is from Malaysia and learns English at school. Some of her family live in Australia and she is considering studying abroad to attend a University that specializes in health care. When she was young, she learned in a traditional classroom backed with tests that helped her see how she was progressing. Now she uses technology, such as her Android Huawei phone to practise her English but still needs the validation of regular testing to know she is on track.
Subra?says: ¡°I am used to studying for tests as I prepared hard for exams to get into middle school and senior school, which was totally determined by test results.¡±
Academic learners like Subra need to see demonstrable results to help them stay motivated and guide them to the level of English they need to achieve to get the required score on high-stakes tests. With the clear GSE Learning Objectives and a placement test, academic learners can map out where they are right now and where they need to be in order to reach their academic goals. These learners need encouragement and validation of their progress from their teachers to help keep them on track.
Understanding student motivations will help you teach to their specific needs, thus helping them to stay focused and motivated in achieving their goals.
Kirsty Murray taught English for a year at a coll¨¨ge (the French equivalent of a secondary school) in Villers-Cotter¨ºts: a town in the north of France known for being the birthplace of Alexandre Dumas. She taught mixed-ability groups of 11- to 16-year-olds, with classes ranging in size from 10 to 35 students. Here, she shares the five lessons she learned from the experience.
