Krystin Bernecker

150967700
EM 202
March 18, 2018
EM 202 Assignment: Gender Roles – Social Justice

Activity Name: Transforming Occupations

Target Age Range: 8-10 years old

Intended Learning outcomes: To learn about how society constructs norms among career
options and how this often produces a divide among males and females in the work force. This
divide consists of an opportunity within careers as well as progression of career choice. Children
will also learn how gender norms lead to one having a different perspective of their self and that
it is possible to get together and break down norms.

Resources Required: Paper, crayons, or pencil crayons, whiteboard or anything that will display
the pictures, media examples of adults in careers (TV show examples, magazines,
advertisements, etc)

Process: The activity will start with the teacher showing their students how careers are shown in
the media. The teacher will discuss the context surrounding gender and how certain careers are
often portrayed with either a male or a female. In order to keep class engagement, the teacher
will ask the students questions about what they have noticed in regard to the job and if the
employee was either male or female. At the end of the discussion the students will be asked to
draw a career of their choice, but with two individuals being both male and female to show
gender equality.

Maximize Children’s Engagement: When introducing the activity by starting with the media
displays children will be engaged with the content. Also, by having the children draw a picture of
two adults in a career they will be thoroughly engaged with the content. It will allow for them to
express their creativity and play around with the content by drawing. Ultimately, they have no
limits when it comes to drawing as long as it is a chosen career consisting of both genders.
Students will be able to picture and gain an understanding on how they will have the power over
overcome these stereotypes and proceed to engage with any career of their choice.

Steps to Follow:
1. Come up with specific gender segregated careers
2. Look through the media and find examples of female and male dominated careers
3. Gather together a variety of examples, such as, TV shows, magazines, advertisements and
even career flyers. These examples can either be images, hard copies, or even video clips
4. Discuss the gender that associated with each career and allow for students to ask
questions
5. Talk to the students about gender stereotypes and how they come to affect an individual’s
career choice
6. Distribute paper and a drawing utensil for students to be able to draw their own pictures
 7. Allow for the students to choose a career, but make sure they draw both a male and a
female in the occupation
8. Have a discussion with the students about them having the power to change gender
stereotypes and work against them.

Conclusion
After this activity, I want the students to remember that regardless of their gender, they
are able to do anything or be anything they want to. I want students to realize that they can create
change on how society perceives gender because they do play a role in it. Questions I want them
to think about are the reasons why people still abide gender norms when it comes to deciding a
career. I also want them to think about ways in which we can go against gender roles in society.
Another question I want them to think about is how gender has impacted them and how they
think it will impact them in the future.

Differentiation
One thing to think about when it comes to language or special needs is that not all
students will understand the career they are given. However, that can be resolved. By working
with that student in particular, the teacher or student helper can describe and give more
information on the career or even demonstrate it to them in their own language. Because they are
working on a drawing there is no need for them to get the exact definition and to know
everything about the career. The point of the activity is for them to have fun drawing and allow
for them to picture both genders being able to work the same career.

Reflection on this activity:

I chose this activity because gender plays a major role in an individual’s life. Often the
decisions one makes, from clothing to a career might be based upon their gender. From a young
age children are presented with gender roles that they might not even be aware of. Often while
growing my peers and I were constantly asked what we wanted to be when we grew up. If a girl
were to say she wanted to be a firefighter or if a boy would say they wanted to be a nurse they
were often made fun of. “That is a boy job, or girls can’t do that” were often phrases an
individual could hear.
Due to this, I believe that children need to be presented with content that we perceive
gender roles as something to abide to because society has demonstrated it to us. Society
constructs how we view our gender and it is important that individuals are aware of this. By
demonstrating to children at an age in which they are aware of career choice and the difference
of genders, they will learn that these roles can reflect the structure of society. However, by
showing them that anyone is truly able to pick a career despite their gender can allow for them to
realize they can have the power to go against gender stereotypes. It is important for children to
be aware of this at a young age because they can then acknowledge the choices they make and
how their gender has influenced them.
Within the modern era gender is becoming quite diverse. Children should be aware of the
difference of genders and how they are perceived. Children are also presented with constant
stimuli about the positions a female or male “should” hold. This is shown to them through the
media, such a television shows and the professions in them.
 Children are the future of our generation. The types of gender in certain professions will
be a reflection of them. By teaching children from a younger age how society constructs things
for us they will understand how things are perceived. It will also allow for them to try to work
against these roles and demonstrate that professions are not gender based. Overall, this activity
would show them gender roles in the work place and that they have the power to go against
them.