A whole-school community educational approach to challenging societal issues such as gender stereotyping, gender-based bullying and gender-based violence is fundamental. Empowering children, teachers, parents and the wider community to challenge attitudes and behaviours that undermine gender equality enables societal change. Bronfenbrenner (1979) highlights in his ecological systems theory, how every person lives within a microsystem inside a mesosystem embedded in an exosystem, all of which are part of the macrosystem. Each system has reciprocal effects and influences on each other (Bronfenbrenner 1979). This perspective recognises that sometimes the wellbeing of individuals is hindered by wider social, economic, or cultural factors and that conversely sometimes one’s own behaviour, choices or goals may harm the collective wellbeing at both a local and global level. In addition, it reminds us that our personal wellbeing and that of our local community is connected to the wider world and is built upon values of justice, equality, solidarity and respect for differences in an interconnected world. Bronfenbrenner’s (1979) model demonstrates that to be human is to be relational and wellbeing is always realised in a community (NCCA 2021).

Schools play a pivotal role in developing children’s relational skills and their understanding and appreciation of sharing, fairness, mutual respect and cooperation. Undeniably, they help formulate “…the foundational values and competencies that are the building blocks towards the understanding of concepts such as justice, democracy and human rights” (UNESCO and UNODC 2019). Teachers, along with the family unit, play a formative role in shaping children’s attitudes and behaviours. Consequently, education has a key role in nurturing future generations who are not only critical thinkers, but also informed, empowered and prepared to build peaceful, just and inclusive societies (UNESCO and UNODC 2019). Through quality education programmes and initiatives, children, with the support of parents and community members, can practise actively shaping a society in which everyone can live peaceful, just, safe and fulfilled lives. Informing and enlisting the support of family members is especially important when tackling sensitive issue such as gender-based bullying and gender-based violence. (UNESCO and UNODC 2019).

While there have been many efforts to promote gender equality, including legislative and policy changes, school-based educational initiatives like the Gender Equality Matters (GEM) programme can play a positive and enduring role. The GEM project ran from 2018-2021, was funded by the EU and was a collaboration between 5 EU partners: DCU, KMOP Social Action and Innovation Centre, Fondazione Mondo Digitale, the University of Murcia Group of Research in Educational Technology, and the European School Heads Association. The primary aim of GEM is to raise awareness, build confidence, and enhance capacity levels among children, parents and teachers to tackle gender stereotyping, gender-based bullying and gender-based violence. Through adopting an equality and human rights based approach, GEM participants become positive change-makers in their whole-school communities and wider society.

Bullying and violence prevention through curriculum and classroom resources have the potential to engage young people, their parents, and their teachers in sensitive topics such as gender stereotyping, gender-based bullying, and GBV. The GEM participatory and transformative methodologies equip children with essential life-skills such as decision-making, managing and regulating feelings, and developing empathy for others. GEM classroom materials and training modules provide opportunities to educate and challenge current knowledge and capacity levels. By positioning the GEM materials within existing curriculum and school policy, it provides teachers with a means to tackle bullying topics in a safe and age appropriate manner. Undeniably, government support further enhances the possibilities of school curriculum, classroom resources and teacher training to instil change, to inspire and to empower at a national and global level.

A mixed methods data collection approach was adopted comprising of both quantitative and qualitative tools. These included pre/post questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, focus groups, visual cues, and lesson/training evaluations. The research tools aimed to evaluate participants’ attitudinal and behaviour changes pre and post participation in the GEM programme. The key target groups were children, parents and teachers. Training modules were designed specifically for whole-school staff, teachers, trainers and parents. These modules were developed for both online and face-to-face delivery and included participatory, experiential and transformative approaches. A Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) made up of four modules was also developed. Post-training evaluations were completed by course participants for quality assurance. The GEM classroom materials were also evaluated by the both the participating teachers and the pupils themselves through written lesson evaluations, semi-structured interviews and focus groups. Data was analysed through use of SPSS and comparisons were drawn from each partner country to evaluate the overall impact of the GEM programme. Edits were made to the classroom materials based on participant feedback. Prior to data collection ethical clearance was acquired and procedures followed.

Across partner countries, over 1500 children, 650 teachers and 300 parents were involved in the initial pilot. Data findings indicate that children reported a significantly better understanding of gender equality relevant terminology and increased confidence levels were they to be a victim of, or witness to, gender stereotyping, gender-based bullying and GBV. GEM enabled children to devise their own original ideas regarding the topics under investigation, while their related feelings of empathy and concern for such phenomena grew. Moreover, the GEM material helped teachers to initiate classroom and school discussions and activities on gender topics that most had not approached prior to participation in the training. Quantitative findings detail the wealth of teaching activities and methods employed by teachers to carry out GEM lessons and highlight, that the programme not only fostered professional development, but also stimulated self-reflection and introspection. Both the quantitative and qualitative GEM data suggest, stereotypes, bullying and violence are phenomena deep-rooted in society and entwined in all aspects of daily life. Hence, related attitudinal changes cannot occur overnight. However, the GEM programme was successful in its approach as the training led to both attitudinal and behavioural changes e.g. increased confidence levels reported post-intervention by parents and teachers in terms of handling children/students as victims, perpetrators and bystanders in incidences of gender stereotyping, gender-based bullying and violence. The project outputs include classroom materials, training modules, a school self-evaluation tool and a MOOC. GEM encourages whole-school communities and wider society to reflect on their own behaviours and attitudes and the role that they can play in shifting the narrative around gender equality. It positively promotes the active involvement and voices of children, their parents, teachers and principals: the key players who have the power and ability to make societal change a lived reality for future generations.

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