During February and March of 2010, Johanka, the Youth Worker from SWICN Youth service, facilitated a Gender Awareness Workshop here at the Computer Clubhouse.
It was open to older members from 14 years up as the concepts explored might have been too complex for younger members. Some of the older members had already graduated from the Adobe Youth Voices Programme and they’re had the experience of working as a part of a larger group. Three girls and five boys took part.
The workshop used interactive learning methods aiming at giving young people a 'taste' of gender theory and related issues. Participants took part in role play, mobile debates, quizzes, creating collages, videos and presentations. The young people of the Clubhouse enthusiastically explored gender roles, gender stereotypes, gender bias and analysed how the media portray both genders.
The young people reported afterwards that it changed their point of view about gender issues. They also said that it made them think about relationships and view them in a different light. One important construct they learned was that gender is what you choose to be while sex is what you are born with.
Many of the members took a great interest in the issues raised and saw the whole debate in a new perspective. This experience gave them new skills and ideas with which to put their acquired knowledge into practice in their everyday lives. One excellent example of this is an animation one of the members, Aoife made using Pivot Animator software. Aoife’s video shows the stereotypes prevalent in our society making a strong point that career choices shouldn’t be restricted by one’s gender.
So, all in all, this was a successful workshop in which activity enhanced learning led by Johanka proved a valuable resource for the young people involved.
