Abstract:

Gender and gender equality issues have always been and still are one of the topical issues having a significant impact on the current and future development of the country. Gender issues can be discussed in relation to a lot of topics since we actively encounter them at all stages of public life. Where is the basis for views on gender equality and the role of women? What is gender, what do teachers need to know about the topic to communicate it properly to students? Who or what influences the formation of attitudes? Do national, cultural, traditional, and religious views address gender-sensitive issues, and do they, in turn, influence the formation of human consciousness? What is the role of the education system and institutions such as school, kindergarten, vocational school, university? To determine the answers to these questions, we conducted a research on the topic: the teachers’ attitude towards the gender issues in the Georgian education system. The younger generation needs to be informed about these concepts since the school period. Gender is important as it teaches children the rules of cooperation and respect for one sex towards the other. We consider that these elements should be included in the elementary grades, and in the following age groups, it should be more widespread. Special guidelines on gender equality are also needed. The aim of the research is to study the attitudes of teachers in Georgian schools towards gender equality, with special emphasis on increasing the participation of schoolgirls in public life.

We conducted the research in Batumi Shota Rustaveli State University and Batumi general education schools. We applied both quantitative and qualitative research methods: focus groups, telephone interviews and online survey. The research period covered the years 2019 - 2020. Up to 80 primary, basic and secondary, technical, humanitarian and biological, as well as civic education teachers participated in the research.

The results of the survey have revealed that a large proportion of respondents do not perceive gender inequality as a stereotypical approach and do not consider it a hindrance to women's advancement. The transmission of traditional views to future generations is not perceived by them as gender inequality and a precondition for women’s oppression. It was revealed that teachers are mainly in favour of the traditional distribution of gender roles in society; it is necessary to work on raising the awareness of teachers; providing standard knowledge/information on gender equality to teachers, planning and conducting training courses/seminars on teachers’ participation; encourage teachers' practical research on gender issues by the school administration; internal school and extracurricular activities aimed at addressing and solving existing problems, establishing and strengthening positive attitudes towards gender equality; prepare courses and textbooks for teacher training or retraining programs; provide teachers with access to gender research results or statistics related to the education process - prepare special textbooks including data of modern research; organize discussions among teachers.

Keywords:

Gender, equality, school, stereotypes, awareness.