Author P. Lavin

This programme is the result of the response of the Association of Teacher Education in Europe (ATEE, 1987) to a 1985 Resolution by the EC Council of Ministers for Education that an action programme be implemented in EC countries to ensure equal opportunities in education for boys and girls. An essential part of the proposed EC action programme was the question and pedagogics of equal opportunity in teachers” initial and in-service training. It was felt that there was a need to raise teachers” awareness of gender-related issues. Accordingly, Guidelines for Action were prepared by the ATEE and presented to the Commission of the European Communities. Project proposals were invited from teacher education institutions and organizations in all EC countries. Projects were to be jointly funded by the Commission and by the Ministries in member states. Relevance: The part of this paper that describes Gash’s project is explicitly a constructivist intervention project designed to help children develop their constructions of gender. While the other studies mentioned are not explicitly constructivist, their intention was to raise awareness in relation to gender equity in Ireland at that time.

Key words: Equal opportunities, constructions of gender, schooling, sexism