A year to sweep sexism out of schools

In this uplifting story, five primary schools in the London Borough of Camden conducted a pilot program to see whether sex equality education would make a difference to kids’ attitudes.

It did – and not just kids’ attitudes. Teachers, too, found themselves taking a closer look at their own behaviours. They were better able to identify when they, or a colleague, used stereotyping language. The head teacher is now considering gender-blind recruitment.

Among the kids, friendships between boys and girls improved. Their ideas about what sort of jobs are appropriate for each gender expanded dramatically.

For me it’s the perfect example of a small, well considered, intervention that was piloted for real in the right place with visible results. With the program being rolled out to 13 more schools this year, hopefully this is something we’ll see not just in the UK, but elsewhere in the world very soon.