International Conference CARING MASCULINITIES IN EARLY EDUCATION
On the 30th of November 2022 was held the international conference in the premises of the European Institute for Gender Equality in Vilnius, Lithuania.
The international conference was an opportunity to present the project’s findings, results and outputs, namely the analysis of the status quo in early childhood education in the participating countries, the materials and trainings for educational workers aimed at promoting the change in gender stereotypes as well as the recommendations for action to promote caring masculinities in the participating countries. The event gathered more than 100 participants in a hybrid event.
Presentations:
1. “Caring Masculinities & Boyhood”, presented by Elli Scambor (Institute for Masculinity Research & Gender Studies, Austria)
2. “Why is it necessary to talk about caring masculinities in early childhood education?”, presented by Daniel Holtermann (Dissens – Institut für Bildung und Forschung (Institute for Education and Research), Germany
3.“Caring masculinities in early childhood education – Insights from the ECaRoM transnational report”, presented by Ziva Humer (Peace Institute, Slovenia) and Erika Bernacchi (Istituto degli Innocenti, Italy)
4.“Achievements of ECaRoM: materials and self-learning platform”, presented by Roza Dimova (Centre of Women’s Studies and Policies, Bulgaria)
5. Keynote Presentation: “Why is it necessary to focus on Caring Masculinities from the very beginning onwards?”, presented by Gary Barker (Equimundo Center for Masculinities and Social Justice, United States of America)
Project partners presented their materials for work with children on an exhibition, where participants had the chance to discuss with them how materials can be used in ECECs and primary school teachers’ and educators’ every day practice and how some materials may be adapted for different national contexts.
In the afternoon session participants had the possibility to listen to the live panel discussion on cooperation between stakeholders: How to promote caring masculinities in early education and primary schools, moderated by Erika Bernacchi (Istituto degli Innocenti, Italy) and with contributions from:
- Romeo Bissutti (MEN Männergesundheitszentrum (Men’s Health Centre), Austria
- Elisabeth Zistler (Austrian Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Research)
- Ernesto Vasquez Del Aguila (Assistant Professor in Social Justice, Director of Teaching and Learning, School of Social Policy, Social Work and Social Justice, University College Dublin, Ireland)
- Vilana Pilinkaitė Sotirovič (Lithuanian Centre for Social Sciences, Lithuania)
- Benedikt Treschnitzer (Austrian Federal Ministry of Social Affairs, Health, Care and Consumer Protection)
- Daniel Holtermann (Dissens – Institut für Bildung und Forschung (Institute for Education and Research), Germany
For those who are interested in the vivid discussions and lessons learned of the conference, please see the full video recording: