For the first time, Daraja teachers engaged in their own version of W.I.S.H….and called it T.I.S.H (Teachers of Integrity, Strength and Hope)! They participated in a Privilege Walk with the results highlighting how much gender has affected the teachers in their own life paths.
Teachers were asked to participate in a Privilege Walk. Each person was asked questions surrounding themes of patriarchy, access to resources, and expectations related to gender that required participants to either step forward or backward, depending on how they would answer the question.
Examples of the Privilege Walk: Teachers were asked to take a step backward if they have ever been denied access to education because of their gender, take a step backward if they have ever had to worry about getting married at a young age, and take a step forward if they have finished college. By the end of the activity, all the male participants stood at the front of the room. The women in the middle and in the back.
“The privilege walk humbles you,” said Victoria, Vice-Principal. “It makes you look at yourself as a survivor.”
Understanding how gender affected their own lives helped further the urgency of the teachers to create an equitable world.
“By knowing about oppression and gender inequality, you as teachers can continue to take this concept one step further and get the students to envision an alternative and more just society and brainstorm ways of making this happen,” explained T.I.S.H host and Daraja intern Tehsin.
The theme of gender inequality, and the solutions to conquer this reality, are a major aspect of Daraja’s educational model. Through partnerships with leading female-led community groups such as GROOTS, weekly WISH classes, and school-wide community service requirements, students and teachers have been working actively to find and implement solutions on the local and national level to this complex issue.
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