Namibia: Gender Toolkit for Educators

Emily Brown, head of the department of journalism at the Polytechnic of Namibia (PON) is creating a gender toolkit for educators, commissioned by the UNESCO office in Windhoek. In order to devise this toolkit, Brown conducted a gender-awareness survey.   The educators surveyed were teachers at Namibia’s high schools and colleges, trainers at the Institute for Educational Development, and Journalism educators at the PON and University of Namibia.

119 interviews were conducted in Windhoek, Okahandja and Rehoboth comprising:   Schools = 17; Colleges = 6; Institutes = 1; and Universities = 3

Some findings include:

• Awareness regarding the word ‘gender’ is high, and the 100% ‘yes’ response suggests that it is a frequently encountered word.
• While all respondents were aware of the word ‘gender’, this awareness did not translate into understanding.   More than 60% of respondents indicated that the word means ‘sex’ À“ that is, as pertaining to male or female.   Since only a third of the respondents understood the meaning of the word, it is evident that a need for further education on gender is necessary amongst educators.   Unless the foundation in terms of knowledge regarding gender is strong, related concepts might also be misconstrued.   This reflects the need not only for information on gender but also continuous training on gender.
• According to Brown’s findings, ‘gender’ isn’t a talking point.   Since the questionnaire was disseminated to educators, it means that the majority do not address or discuss gender during the development of curricula or study material.
• More than half of the educators surveyed have access to material on gender.   This is a positive finding.   However, there is the need for information to translate into education.   Unless the information available is specific and relevant to the educators’ work, sporadic exposure to gender-related content would not have the desired effect.   Formal training through regular workshops or short courses, accompanied by support material, would be the desired scenario.

This research is unique in that it is rare to get a sense of what informs the gender toolkit, but with these survey findings available the process is more transparent.