Gender Responsive Pedagogy (GRP) for Technical and Vocational Education Secondary School Student Teachers: A Case of a Polytechnic in the Midlands Province of Zimbabwe

Abstract

Gender Responsive Pedagogy (GRP) calls for teachers to take an all-encompassing gender approach in their process of lesson planning, classroom management, and performance evaluation. Teachers are central to the teaching and learning process, hence their understanding and awareness of gender responsiveness is key to effective participation of girls and boys in the learning process. The paper sought to assess the level of awareness and the extent to which the Technical and Vocational Education secondary school teachers implement GRP in their teaching and learning process during Teaching Practice (TP). Stratified random sampling and purposive sampling techniques were used to select Technical and Vocational Education secondary school student teachers and their trainers. Structured questionnaires, interviews and observations were used to collect data. Findings revealed that the curriculum for Technical and Vocational Education secondary school teachers covered gender studies in general. However, some of the student teachers and the trainers were not familiar with the concept of GRP. The student teachers scarcely embraced GRP in their teaching and learning process. The study recommends that there is need for revamping the Curriculum for Technical and Vocational Education secondary school student teachers so that specific GRP issues are integrated into the curriculum. There is also need for an intensive GRP training for Technical and Vocational Education secondary school trainers and student teachers in order for them to acquire skills for making teaching and learning process responsive to the specific needs of girls and boys.