Properly applied, the Gender Equity LENS e-learning module from Canadian Women & Sport will help to create the conditions for all women and girls to participate, lead, and ultimately stay in sport by providing sport leaders with both foundational concepts to build understanding and also practical models to bring a gender lens to the decisions they make in sport. (bonus for individuals – two NCCP professional development points!)
Trainings like these are a vital first step to affecting change. But, to properly apply this and many other online training opportunities, it’s important to EAT your learning: Extend, Apply, and Transform to make the most of your online learning and engage in meaningful and lasting learning opportunities.
Extend:
Seek additional learning opportunities to build off existing knowledge.
- List what you are curious to know more about on the topics of gender equity and inclusion. Then seek resources to support further learning using a medium that appeals to you (e.g., podcasts, Twitter, webinars, etc.).
- Make connections. Gender equity, diversity, inclusion and intersectionality are interconnected topics, with vast subject matter that is always evolving. Create a chart of the intersecting relationships between the terms and find resources to learn more.
- Transfer your knowledge to others. Deliver a presentation to colleagues, friends or family or create an infographic about what you learned.
Apply:
Provide your brain with opportunities to retrieve information and then apply it.
- Find studies or news articles related to gender equity, diversity and inclusion and brainstorm additional discussion points based on your learning.
- Form a small group to formalize and discuss personal reflections.
- Engage in storytelling. Share your learning with a colleague, friend, or family in the form of a story with a start, middle, and end. 1
- Take action by applying your new knowledge to implement changes at work, at home, and in your community.
Transform:
Analyze your own perspective in order to consider and embrace other perspectives and worldviews.
- Connect to your emotions by reflecting on your own experiences or empathizing with the experiences of others.2 List your emotions as you reflect and think about how they can guide you in your experiences moving forward.
- Consider power and position. Question who makes decisions and why and disrupt the narrative by challenging accepted norms and suggesting a different way.
- Engage in critical self-reflection and challenge your assumptions and biases. For true growth and behaviour change to occur, you must consider your own values and beliefs to understand how they inform thoughts and actions towards others.3
It is important to keep in mind that meaningful learning does not happen in a simple, linear process. It is an adventure that can be challenging and even uncomfortable at times and often includes a period of “unlearning”. This is when authentic learning occurs so we encourage you to embrace the journey and get started!
About the author: Tricia Zakaria is completing her Master of Education at the University of New Brunswick with a focus on Instructional Design and a specialization in Adult Education. She is the Director, Programs & Education at Physical and Health Education Canada (PHE Canada) and has been working in the non-profit sector developing national education programs for over a decade.
1 Dirksen, J. (2016). Design for How People Learn (2nd ed.). New Riders.
2 Knowles, M. S., Holton, E. F., & Swanson, R. A. (1998). The Adult Learner: The Definitive Classic in Adult Education and Human Resource Development. Houston: Gulf PublishingCompany.
3 Mezirow, J. (2003). Transformative learning as discourse. Journal of Transformative Education, 1(1), 58-63. doi:10.1177/1541344603252172