Women’s Legacy: Our Cultural Heritage for Equity, the European Erasmus+ project of educational innovation led by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports of the Valencian Regional Government, has expanded to the Balearic Islands at the hands of Instituto para la Convivencia y el Éxito Escolar (Convivèxit). A collaboration agreement has been signed with the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training of the Balearic Regional Government, aiming to work together in the inclusion of women in the school curriculum.
Convivèxit will use its own channels (educational network and website) to disseminate the five, coeducation-based, intellectual outputs created by the Women’s Legacy team. These products are a database with activities, instructions and information on women and their contributions; as well as three catalogues of works and excerpts by women in music, literature and art. They are all available online and free of charge to teachers and the general public.
Besides, Women’s Legacy STEM training course will be available to secondary school teachers in the Balearic Islands. This course aims to update the school curriculum by including women scientists and their contributions, thus transforming and broadening the concept of science and, most importantly, giving teachers tools to apply this concept in the classroom. It is an online, 30-hour course designed by professionals in Mathematics, Biology and Geology, Physics, Chemistry, Technology and Computer Science in the Women’s Legacy team.
“Over 240 people in 32 teams have been working since 2020 in these five intellectual outputs. They have been conceived as educational intervention toolsto re-establish women’s contributions in different academic fields, and to complete the contents traditionally taught in schools”, Ana López-Navajas, Women’s Legacy coordinator, explains.
In order to make it easier to implement in educational centres, the project is to be launched in the Balearic Islands next April. From then on, seminars will be organised in educational centres for teachers to learn how to operate the database and the catalogues created by Women’s Legacy, how to use the activities in the classroom, and how to create others using the methodology promoted by this educational innovation initiative.
ABOUT WOMEN’S LEGACY
Women’s Legacy, the Erasmus+ KA201 European project of educational innovation, started in 2020 aiming to include contributions by women in history, culture and science into the school curriculum. One of the most important features of its line of work is that it is transferable to other languages and educational systems.
Women’s Legacy has been developed by nine partners from Spain, Italy, Lithuania and Scotland, including Education Services at Glasgow City Council, the biggest city in Scotland; Universitat de València and Vilniaus Universitetas; or El Legado de las Mujeres, a Spanish association to make women visible in secondary education contents. Many teachers in the project are members of this association.
The remaining four partners are Escuela Sindical de Formación Melchor Botella de la Intersindical Valenciana; IAL Nazionale (Innovazione Apprendimento Lavoro), the biggest network of social companies working in vocational training and ongoing education in Italy; and two secondary schools: IES Benicalap in València and IIS Luigi Einaudi in Italy.
Besides, over 130 institutions have joined the project, with a highlight on educational centres, city councils, and educational and/or cultural organisations. Women’s Legacy is still open to new incorporations to contribute to the study and the creation of materials and their dissemination, so that they can be a tool for transformation towards equality in the classroom.
