Overview How The Material Can Be Used ]
The material is intended, in the first instance, for principals and school staffs involved or interested in gender equity reform. It is intended to provide for schools at different stages of involvement. It is also intended to provide for the possibility of different layers of data collection, including simple, easy-to-collect information on particular issues, as well as ways of collecting more sensitive or in-depth data.
In general terms, the material can be used by schools to:
More specifically, the materials are intended to be used by schools to:
Accessing the document
During the evolution of this project there was much discussion about how readers might best access the materials presented here. A feature of the project is the multiple ways that the data from the study have been explored and, as a consequence, the different ways in which they are presented here.
What is presented in the Case Studies, for example, are easy-to-access, examples of action in a range of schools. The studies map the chronology of events in each school and provide overviews of whole school approaches to gender equity reform. The section on Data gathering Strategies is similarly focused on practical examples of what schools did. In contrast, what is presented in Interpretive Frameworks is a more reflective essay on the different ways the data have been interpreted. Similarly, Whose Knowledge? and The Little Things that Educate You in Gender are also essay-based and together with the section on interpretive frameworks provide critical background reading to the practicalities of the other two major sections of the document.
While the document does have its own order, it is envisaged that readers will access it in a way which best suits their needs. Some will read from beginning to end, others may go straight to the examples of school action. Whichever approach is taken, readers are urged to use the more reflective sections to inform their own approaches to gender and the way they are currently gathering and interpreting data.
It is intended that the materials be used as a working guide. Recommendations for individual teachers and/or schools are made at the end of each section. In addition, the final section This Study ... and Beyond provides a link between this study, Gender Equity: A Framework for Australian Schools, the Gender and School Education. report and school practice.