Offering Gender Equity Workshops in COVID time

Challenges

How to carry out a Gender Equity Workshop with high school students (in-person and remotely)

Background

For the 2019 school-focused project, CUSB and (a software company that signed a four-year sponsorship to CUSB) agreed to Balsamiq invest in a project dedicated to high-school classes. The goal was to work closely with students and teachers - using the basics of the discipline as the starting point for an educational activity.

These sessions are an example of how the relationship between CUSB and the Bologna schools' management goes beyond the supply of ultimate frisbee lessons. Spirit of the Game, and its implicit nature of inclusivity, is key in order to distinguish the offer of an ultimate frisbee club from the other sports This case study is the example of a positive loop of growth: CUSB invests a lot of energy in the educational . activities and in fostering an inclusive community, and because of that also strengthens the relationship with the PE teachers and the students. The stronger this connection based on educational goals, the more players we can recruit, and the more we can expand the local community… and keep advancing the culture of inclusivity and respect.

During the prolonged COVID-19 lockdown, the Italian PE teachers had to face the challenge of teaching remotely. Many of the teachers who had organized the GE sessions in 2019 reached out to CUSB to ask if it was possible to hold them remotely. This specific project demonstrates how the CUSB is considered as an educational peer by the local high schools' management schools.

Case Study

General Information about the project

The project was part of the CUSB recruiting programme in Bologna's high schools. Therefore, CUSB provided both Ultimate Frisbee training and Gender Equity workshops.

The project was funded by the sponsorship granted by Balsamiq

Roles

Head of the project
Creator of the workshop (Maya Mileck from Eurostars)
Heads of the CUSB recruiting programme in high schools
Social Media Manager
CUSB coaches: moderators of the workshops

In the end, eight workshops have been organized, one of them remotely during pandemic time

Preliminary training

The workshop has been designed by Maya Mileck and it was part of the Eurostar Clinic Programme, the CUSB organizers reviewed and adapted the original format and made sure it was
appropriate for the high school students
All the coaches involved have been trained through three hours of training held by Maya Mileck
Six female coaches and three male coaches have been involved. The idea was to provide two moderators with different gender for each workshop

In-Person Workshop

Structure of the Gender Equity Workshop

Key goals of the session:

To create a safe space within the focus groups, where everyone feels comfortable
The XXX is "There is no right answer to gender equity. … It's a mess "
Show new ways of communication to deal with conflicts
To work on some fundamental concepts:
Encourage everyone to think about what GE is
Identify the barriers for women in sports and gender-related issues and differences
Reflect on three types of solutions: individual solutions (what you could do starting from tomorrow), as a class/group of friends, or suggestions for their professors and coaches (if they play sports).

Ultimate Frisbee Game

After the workshop the students played a mixed game with the rule of passing the disc only to the opposite gender, trying to apply the output of the previous activity.

Outcomes:

Most of the students have responded in a very positive way. They were able have a constructive dialogue with one another and identify some of the conflicts that related to gender equity that affected their groups

The workshop provided interesting insights also on the relationship between students and professors' way of teaching Physical Education The workshop has been a fundamental moment of dialogue and confront also between coaches

See a recap of the experience here: Summer 2019 Update: Hacking Gender Equity | Balsamiq

Remote Workshop

Practical organisation

The structure of the workshop was the same, except of the final game (intro, split in groups, one, brainstorming and two, sharing) The preliminary explanation of the workshop was combined with a powerpoint presentation

The groups were decided in advance with the professor

The online rooms were prepared in advance, considering one moderator each room

The moderators shared their screen, taking notes off the students brainstorming on a PowerPoint