Gender Security and Education for All - Essay Example

?Gender Security and Education for All Lecturer: Research methods used in your gender analysis and rationale for their use Descriptive research in this case was used to describe the features or behaviors of the population in a systematic and precise fashion. Survey research employed questionnaires to collect and collated information regarding gender attitude attitudes, beliefs, individual feelings, existing behaviors in education and employment since 1970. Longitudinal survey design was used and involved a single sample of respondents who were men and women on more than one occasion between 1970 and 2007. The demographic research patterns showed placement of gender in education and employment. To gather data, secondary sources like books, articles and magazines were sought to give documented information regarding the number of women and men in employment. These sources are credible and more reliable allowing greater credibility of the exercise. The presentation of data was in the form of frequency percentages showing the proportion of women and men in a period ranging from 1970 to 2007. The frequency data represented in percentages makes it clear and easier to understand. Correlation measures like Pearson product that enables one to relate independent variables of modernity and career choice in early years. Correlations provide a measure of establishing the relationship between the variables. Research methods in community development and contexts Data collection methods and analysis are significant in the contemporary world in reiterating the influence of pure and social science in solving human problems. In community development, the methods signify a way data is used in understanding and exploring feminist opinions and beliefs. The methods are used in participatory monitoring and evaluation where they help assess the progress of objectives and their transformation into goals. Some methods in data collection also double as monitoring and evaluation tools, which determine relations between men and women in a polarized patriarchal society. These include focus group discussions, observation, interviews and questionnaires. These help the stakeholders to receive and gain knowledge on the status and progress of project work being undertaken at the community level. They are tools that assist in decision making among the project employees and sponsors. Research methods are undoubtedly the epitome of modern science. They are used to make inferences in academic research towards building the body of knowledge through proposition of theories. Action oriented research is intended to solve real problems affecting human life. The methods may involve assessing the problem and monitoring through observation so as to get appropriate and quick solutions. In market research, research methods helps to collect data concerning customer service, perception of consumers towards a new product and also to analyze their behavior. Human resource departments regularly use the methods to obtain employee information regarding motivation, work environment and promotions. In the nut shell, research methods are applied in every fiend of active science. The use of community development strategies, consultation and facilitation methods used in project work Mass mobilization involves influencing the masses of males to consider the change in attitudes, values and beliefs concerning early childhood education. The strategy is best implemented through the mass media where electronic, print and social networking sites like face book play a prominent role. Social action is the behavior of the influential institutions to change the social phenomenon of the people. The government can resolve to provide more incentives for those men willing to join the early childhood career. Citizen participation is critical in ownership and sustainability of the efforts to bring men on board. The participatory role of men is essential in ownership and sustainability of the change required. Public advocacy also helps to develop confidence in men regarding early childhood careers. The people involved are consulted and their knowledge sought. Advocacy can be in the way of media, seminars, workshops and conferences. Reports are developed to show the trend of men pacing up with the women gender. Such workshops facilitate through offering of focus group discussions and lesson regarding the themes discussed. The outcomes will be assessed to see whether the strategy is working or having some impact on the target group. Some facilitators and models who have written and practiced as early childhood practitioners can challenge the audience to the advantage so taking this noble career. The experiences of learners show the level of interaction the community development strategies used. Consultation with key partners will help to evaluate the outcomes and compare the impacts with causes. Moreover, men and women need to participate and get actively involved in the planning, development and implementation of strategies to include both gender in development of early childhood careers. This area was initially touted as a woman sphere, but men through interventions are changing their perceptions. Consultations were informed by the usefulness, and the role the stakeholders played in group facilitation. Relevance, purpose and usefulness of the learning resource (Face book page) design and use in project work The face book page outlines the significance of communicating outcomes and reaching the target group. It is also another forum to obtain feedback and opinions of the target population especially men regarding the messages they need to receive. Face book as a networking site can be utilized both on and offline. Users have many friends in their network which they may not have come into contact though coming from the same neighborhood. The page behaves as face-to-face contact with communities believing in early childhood transitions and lowering the extremist opinions of feminist and male chauvinists. The page will catalyze the neighborhood through cooperation and social action. The team can post an early childhood campaign on the page so as to inspire men to join in one removing stereotypes of certain professions like early childhood. The people will be inspired to crossover and embrace the role of social media as a tool of social change. The online communities are easily reached through the well designed gender programs for social dynamics. The participants are told of how face book changes people’s perceptions on gender roles, as well as a forum for training men to embrace new and less challenging fields as earlier thought. The page provides a safe environment to mobilize people, who have little knowledge about early childhood careers, as well as reaching those who are tolerant and proactive to new challenges. The speed of communication is exceptionally high with many people feeling direct consequences of face book. Many will explore ways of communicating online through the institution-run web pages to elicit reaction to the activities focusing on Early Childhood interventions. Participation in responding to issues in the face book has a direct consequence on the outcomes of early childhood interventions. The objective of the face book page is to increase the sense of belonging and consolidation role. The usefulness of the page is that participants engage in online platforms that encourage the culture of communicating with other community members. Logging into the face book page for about an hour develops the habit of participants communicating with the neighbors. Though discussing many issues in the face book page will leave many offline communities, it still attracts the attention of the online communities who influence the former. Social networks and online forums by aid of face book are a significant tool in community development and offers diverse tools. Consultation process in the design and planning of the learning resource Consultation with various individuals and organizations was done to involve and obtain the views regarding the early childhood careers. The department of education was consulted on the standards and regulations regarding early child hood education. The teachers and students were consulted to obtain views of how male teachers can inspire and motivate young learners just as female teachers. These are internal stakeholders who are significant in shaping the outcomes of this career. The design process also included comments from the community including parents and sponsors of early childhood education. They have their space, which can be integrated with statistical analysis so as to capture relevant data. By consulting with web developers, care was taken to secure e-mail account and passwords of those intending to make contributions to the web page. One must register for the face book page to become a member. The page was also tested to show how the features will create a lasting impression on the online users. The web developer entrusted an individual within the group to monitor and manage communications and feedback from the group. Consultation process helped the helped to boost the credibility of using the learning resource. Learning Facilitation The learning exercise in the form of focus group discussion assisted the participants to bond, interact and discuss issues pertaining early childhood. I mobilized for resources and skills to be provided in time. Two workshops and a seminar were facilitated by the lead consultant who is an expert in childhood education from the department of education. The seminar involved presenting themes and challenges women face when teaching young boys and girls. Various examples and success stories were given to compare the recent change in perception and attitudes among men. Visuals effects were mounted to project the presentation for all the participants to get engaged. Writing materials and video materials were provided where participants compared various experiences of men in the topical issue. The learning exercise was participatory, and most members were taken through a presentation and later asked questions. I asked group members to engage principal facilitators in asking questions. The answers were given after every three questions. The participants included graduate teachers who took early childhood majors in the universities. Communication and feedback were taken into consideration where the responses to opinion questions were given in rank scale. The opinions were scaled from “not effective” to “extremely effective” meaning that the feedback and quality of the group discussion and conference presentation was satisfactory. The notebooks provided were later exchanged for the participants to compare notes and evaluate the uptake of discussion by the target audience. Planning and facilitation of Collective Decision Making Planning and facilitation was a success as many participants mainly graduate students. The facilitator ensured that there was a common vision created by defining roles in the decision process that were not defined. Caution was taken to create and map a decision path with clear and measurable expectations. Effective and efficient commitment and leadership was instilled from the organizational and facilitator level. These were experienced by many individuals who had high regard for the facilitator. The facilitator ensured the essential leadership and commitment qualities were required for successful management decision process through clear definition of group needs. Sufficient resources were allocated for the decision process. Besides, boundaries were set for the decision through involvement and empowerment of the right stakeholders. The group finalized with defining participant roles and responsibilities. A significant step in the decision process was to develop models to measure success of early childhood facilitation exercise. With clear evaluation criteria, it was easy to create a decision process that is remarkably objective and enable credible outcomes of the decision process. The most crucial in targeting the graduate teacher community was to collect meaningful and reliable data. Education department and primary school operate and develop by managing decision processes that demand data or information. The data collected is for real use in the decision making. The most conspicuous impact is the true cost and resource impacts of collecting appropriate and sufficient information. All the alternatives were created, and evaluated before a selection was made. There was no difficulty in the way facilitators and my group featured. The evaluation effort was conducted in a structured and logical style. The integrity of the chosen alternative or resolution rested on the authenticity of the evaluation process employed. Two tools were used that helped my group to evaluate alternatives, and they found it easy to facilitate. These were decision matrices and cost-benefit analyses prioritization. Collective decision making process demonstrated how well the decisions were made and implemented. It showed how effective the implementation faired. An implementation plan was devised and enabled the group to move from a planning stage to the implementation stage. The link between targeted actions to each goal had been created. The group was cautious to identify barriers, formulate performance interventions, and involve project management issues to succeed. References list  Adams, M., Bell, L.A and Griffin P, 1997, Teaching for Diversity and Social Justice. New York: Routledge. Butler, J, I990, Gender trouble: feminism and the subversion of identity. New York; London: Routledge  Dore, E, 1997, Gender Politics in Latin America: Debates in Theory and Practice,New York: Monthly Review Press. Edwards, T, 2004, Cultures of masculinity textbook. 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