Policy Paper 03 | Challenges of teacher training: promoting pedagogy with a gender equality perspective in Central America and the Caribbean.

This working document was prepared within the framework of the Community of Practice on Gender Equality Perspective in Public Education. which was developed between 2022 and 2023 under the coordination of the Knowledge and Innovation Exchange Center for Latin America and the Caribbean (KIX LAC).

Initially, the document addresses the problem of gender gaps, inequalities and violence in the education systems of Latin America and the Caribbean, highlighting the role of teachers as mediators in addressing these issues. Gender disparities in access to and permanence in the educational system, gender biases in the curriculum, inequalities and teachers’ attitudes towards boys, girls and adolescents are some of the areas in which these inequalities and gender violence are reproduced in the educational systems of the region.

Secondly, some background information is presented and public policy is analyzed, reflecting on the articulation between the space where knowledge is generated and shared, the classroom and the teacher, emphasizing that the school and the school environment are privileged places for teaching and learning processes, and that teachers play a key role in the regulation of these spaces. The importance of teacher training with a gender perspective is also discussed, presenting some strategies that could contribute to this perspective, such as critical reflection on teaching practices, the inclusion of contents and methodologies with a gender perspective in the curriculum, and the promotion of inclusive and non-discriminatory pedagogical practices in the school environment and in peer relations. Subsequently, some teacher training initiatives with a gender perspective are identified in the countries belonging to KIX LAC: Dominica, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua, Saint Lucia and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

There is a need for regulatory frameworks in the region that promote the inclusion of the gender perspective in education and provide for teacher training in this area. Finally, conclusions are presented and some recommendations are shared, pointing out the need for policies and strategies that promote teacher training in gender perspective, as well as the importance of this training being comprehensive and transversal. It is also recommended the implementation of programs and projects that promote gender equality in education and the need to have educational resources and materials that adequately address this issue. Finally, the importance of involving the entire educational community in the construction of more inclusive and egalitarian educational systems is emphasized.