Four ways to better educate girls inside and outside the classroom

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International Day of the Girl is today and a reminder how an open education is critical to the empowerment of women worldwide. In the western world, we often take universal public education for granted. In many parts of the world, however, millions of girls do not attend school and are denied an education.

The recent story of schoolgirl Malala Yousafza from Pakistan, now living in Birmingham, UK, has become a lightening rod for the rights of women and girls worldwide to be educated. Yousafza's world was one of learning. She had dreams and was hungry for knowledge. However, the region of the world where she lived was volatile and subject to political unrest. Girls' schools and girls' education were victims of the Taliban. Yousafza became an outspoken advocate for girls to receive an education and she soon became a target. One day she was gunned down and nearly killed on her way to school by the Taliban.

While Yousafza's story highlights the importance of education for girls, it should also highlight the importance of the availability and accessibility to an open education for girls worldwide. Organizations, such as the UN and The Girl Effect, have argued that girls who get an education are one of the most powerful forces for change in the world. Worldwide, girls who are educated make significant contributions to their families in terms of income, health, and the upbringing of their future children. PBS Newshour has compiled resources for teaching girls' empowerment in the developing world, but perhaps the most significant outcomes for girls who gain an education are less tangible or subject to quantifiable measurements.

What would an open education allow a schoolgirl like Malala Yousafza to accomplish with her life? Math videos from Khan Academy might allow her to advance her mathematical skills in ways that might otherwise not be doable. She might also access various open books or other reading material that would otherwise remain inaccessible and unavailable to her. And the list of open educational opportunities go on and on

While Pakistan Open Source has many ongoing projects and has been making some strides in education rights, there remains a severe educational crisis in Pakistan. The Pakistani government spends barely more than 2% on education; more than half of the schoolchildren between the ages of 6-16 cannot write or read. Yet this is same country where Benazir Bhutto was elected to be Pakistan's first female prime minister and had educational opportunities more openly available and accessible to her being the daughter of a prime minister and having wealth; as a result she was able to pursue higher education at Harvard University and at Oxford, which was fundamental to her participation in national and world politics.

When countries (and families such as Bhutto's) invest in education and, in particular the education of girls, the results are profound. Poverty is reduced. Infant mortality rates decrease. Health outcomes increase. The economy grows. And, as previously mentioned, there's also the outcomes that are less tangible or subject to quantifiable measurements: a girl's voice and concepts of self. Women gain greater representation and empowerment as a result.

Overall, women receive higher returns on their educational investment. Such an educational investment continues once a mother has a child. In many parts of the world, a mother's education is usually more significant than a father's in helping the educational attainment of her children. A girl who has learned how to read, write, and do arithmetic will more often pass on these skills to her children and help further reduce the cycle of poverty. A girl who knows how to do arithmetic can better handle cash transactions and a budget.

Universal education with open source is key in helping to reduce gender disparities in schooling. Even in the US, gender disparities continue. Despite the contributions women have made to the nation, women are often underrepresented in many fields or offices, for instance, or even invisible. Organizations, such as Equal Visibility Everywhere, are seeking to rectify the underrepresentation of women both in the physical world and in the virtual, such as with Google's doodle banners, which rarely feature women. 

How can we help create open educational opportunities for girls both inside and outside a classroom? 

  1. Find and encourage the use of open educational resources (OERs). Girls, for instance, could play educational scavenger hunts where they look to find those missing women who made significant contributions in terms of the arts, sciences, and so forth. Many libraries, museums, and archives have digitized or in the process of digitizing their collections. There are many instances where information about women, such in the field of architecture or engineering, may be more openly available and accessible online than in printed textbooks. But there's also plenty of books, videos, games, and other ways for girls to learn online with open source.
  2. Encourage the use of OERs as a way for girls to express themselves. There's plenty of ways to empower themselves with the nonverbal communication and the written or spoken word online.
  3. Find role models or mentors for girls. Many of the links in this article may help and provide some guidance. Malala Yousafza is a born leader and role model for girls worldwide.
  4. Find support groups and social networks who empower girls with education.

Most significantly, it is critical for all children, including toddlers and preschoolers, to learn about strong females who take a leadership role either from print, online and OERs, and/or storytelling.

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Carolyn Fox is an educator, librarian, historian, and an un/homeschooling mother. She lives in Massachusetts with her UK husband and son.

4 Comments

Flan,

Your observation is correct, in that the recommendations apply to all children irrespective of gender.

This is curiously the same (anecdotal) conclusion from a recent widely disseminated post [1] on how to encourage women to participate in a hackathon at Carnegie Mellon University. The conclusion was that, when changes were made to make the hackathon better for women, the event became better for *everyone*.

Making education better for girls, makes it better for all children.

It is interesting to see how difficult it is to encourage better education for girls, without appearing sexist. The implication of this article is not that girls have any intrinsic challenges to succeed in education, but that out-of-the-box thinking is required to, as you put it, compensate for the restrictions that certain cultures and societies impose on girls education.

It is not as simple as assuming that these cultures are less intelligent. That's an easy way out. The reality is more complex and therefore the call for action should be more thoughtful. As Carolyn points out, this is not going to be solved with a silver bullet, but by the progressive adoption of a diversity of practices and tools.

An excellent example on these initiatives is the Grace Hopper conference [2].

Role models and support networks are an integral part of such efforts.

[1] https://plus.google.com/100523810376335283165/posts/NJKcmsB99Aa
[2] http://gracehopper.org/2013

Thanks Luis. Well said!

Education is a right that from which girls are usually deprived, especially, in Asian countries, wherein social set up is still predominantly male biased. Females are only considered to be meant for home making and raising kids.

This article gave me some way to be a part of this highly desired change, but I still need a lot of guidance on this issue.

I have been doing this on solo basis, by visiting such areas on weekends and giving classes to girls, but the propensity among parents to send their girls to such classes is very low.

Though, I am trying my best, still it seems just way too difficult.

Anyways, trying is the best that I can do.

Thanks, this is inspiring. You try. I try. We try to do what we can. Please consider writing about what you do or how you are tackling the subject. I'd love to hear and many others would too. The more we share, the more we learn and grow.

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