Teaching the history of International Women’s Day is critical; without the background of where we’ve been and how far we’ve come, pupils are less likely to understand the importance of gender equality. Women's rights fact files and info sheets are great for giving pupils a background to gender equality, without overwhelming younger years with a complete history of events.
As we touched on in our article about making the KS1 & KS2 history curriculum more engaging, one of the best ways to make history captivating is to talk about individuals who were instrumental in revolutionising women’s rights. In our Year 2 History Lesson pack, we cover two women who have made significant contributions to the rights of women, Malala Yousafazi and Emmeline Pankhurst.
This lesson plan can prove particularly useful when covering the history of the day because we cover one of the suffragettes (meaning you can cover how the suffragettes won British women the vote) and a woman who advocated for female education rights and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her work as recently as 2014. These two eras help children connect with history while rooting the importance of this work in the here and now.
You can introduce your pupils to women living now and doing incredible things and celebrate their achievements. While Beyonce could certainly have a place on the list (and is a good excuse to play some music in the classroom), try to find women your pupils may not have heard of.
Here are some women to consider:
There is a multitude of brilliant women to choose from and you might be able to find an example that relates to your school's locality.
Celebrating the women in our lives is an important aspect of International Women’s Day. There are a number of activities you can do in the classroom to help pupils honour and appreciate the women who have made a positive impact on their lives. Here are a few ideas:
Gender stereotypes can be a more difficult topic to broach, but you can have constructive conversations by looking at areas where gender stereotypes still exist. For example, you can get children to compare “jobs for men vs jobs for women” and “sports for men vs sports for women.” Through this activity, you can ask pupils to look at areas where they’re already developing a bias and look at it critically.
Having an International Women’s Day assembly at primary school is a great way to start the day and lay the groundwork for the lessons and activities they’ll take part in throughout the day. While having a guest speaker from the local community can be a great way to root gender issues in current times, or talk about issues conquered in the past, taking a collective look at notable women is a powerful way to get children into a mindset of appreciation. We have a slideshow of great men and women in science that can be easily adapted for this purpose.
The Queen’s passing last year will be a recent memory in pupils’ minds, so talking about the life and work of The Queen is an ideal topic for International Women’s Day. While The Queen never publicly embraced feminism, she did have some strong feminist moments and had a central role to play in how the British public (and people around the world) perceived women. For years 5 and 6, our presentation on The Queen as a Political Figure is a great resource.
Celebrating International Women’s Day is an excellent way to educate pupils about the importance of gender equality and, most importantly, celebrate all of the incredible women that help to make their lives what they are. From their mothers, grandmothers, and teachers to celebrities, scientists, and activists, learning why they should have so much appreciation for women will help them be agents for change. By implementing the tips and activities we’ve discussed, we can create a supportive and inclusive environment that values and celebrates women.
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