As a privileged means of socialization, the school's mission is to promote equal opportunities and educate for the values of pluralism and gender equality. The introduction of a gender perspective in educational policies is a fundamental tool to fight gender inequalities. This chapter aims to present a theoretical-methodological proposal for the development of a massive open online course (MOOC) addressed to those interested in learning and studying about gender inequalities and women's empowerment. The MOOC will introduce inspiring examples of feminine resistance and resilience from Portugal and Brazil, showing women who have fought for the rights and policies for gender equality, against gender biases, and building women's citizenship in and through education. The integration of MOOCs as an educational tool raises questions and challenges both in the didactic-pedagogical forum and about institutional policies.
TopIntroduction
Gender equality is a human rights issue, and a condition of social justice and is a necessary and fundamental requirement for development and peace. Gender equality requires that, in a society, all people enjoy equal access to education, health, job and career opportunities, income, and have equal rights and obligations in all areas.
Given the inequalities and significant asymmetries that persist, the promotion of equality involves the empowerment of women and the awareness of the whole society. The introduction of a gender perspective in educational policies is a fundamental tool to fight gender inequalities. The level of education of a woman strongly determines her family's standard of living. Women, especially in developing countries, play a central role in the survival and economy of the family, both as providers and as managers of the family's life and resources (Dias, 2018).
The success of public policies and measures to support or strengthen the promotion of gender equality, focusing on the condition of women, must consider all spheres of society and their implementation at the institutional level, with supporting actions and adequate funding.
Institutional policies are the general guidelines and ethical principles that guide the actions of an institution and its components to be carried out according to the rules established for the achievement of its mission. Institutional policies serve as a parameter for developing the institution's strategic planning and should not be an end in itself but a starting point for new institutional strategies to be implemented. Such planning must use modern tools and be based on active methodologies in accordance with the interests of the internal and external school community.
The school also considered a training institution not only of academic knowledge but also of social and cultural, in a holistic perspective of growing to learn to be and to do and offering training and requalification of skills directed to women, has a fundamental role in combating the previously mentioned inequalities (Arnot, 2020).
Thus, concerning women's education and qualification, some relevant focuses can be highlighted, which point to their empowerment and the elimination of gender inequalities, such as: (1) ensuring equal access to education; (2) eliminate illiteracy among women; (3) increase women's access to vocational training, science and technology, and continuing education; (4) develop non-discriminatory education and training; (5) allocate sufficient resources for the implementation and monitoring of educational reforms; and (6) promote lifelong education and training.
As a privileged means of socialization, the school's mission is to promote equal opportunities and educate for the values of pluralism and gender equality. It is imperative to develop an effort for the elimination of gender discrimination and, consequently, of intimacy relations marked by inequality and violence, constituting an essential part of education for human rights, for the respect of individual rights and freedoms in the perspective of building citizenship for all (Silva, 2017).
School is one of the main agents of socialization; it is where children and young people spend most of their time, and it is where relationships, skills, norms, and social values are developed. Besides being an organism with educational responsibilities, the role of the school goes far beyond educating for knowledge; it is an agent of change capable of enabling children and young people to be active and supportive citizens in the exercise of full citizenship.
Educating for citizenship leads to the deepening of themes such as gender equality. It is necessary to raise awareness for students' participation in the change in the world to make it fairer and for the partnership between genders to be a core exercise of citizenship in privileged contexts of interaction such as schools (Banks, 2008). In this respect, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015, Goal 5, established to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls. It is essential to encourage more women in leadership positions, to help change social and gender norms - and act as models for students.
There are currently means and policies that serve as an incentive for effective practices and promoters of gender equality in education, but there is a certain lack of intention to realize and in their urgency to be applied. The concern about the existence and ratification of legislation referring to gender equality in schools does not seem to be the same regarding the effective application of these same guidelines in practice.