Teacher Education and Gender Equality in Greece: A case study

In the sociology of education, a great debate on the issue of gender has been created. Nowadays, educating teachers about gender equality (GE) is a matter of sustainable development especially after the COVID-19 pandemic. The special living conditions of the global social confinement as a measure to eradicate the virus disclosed a worrying outbreakof domestic and gender-based violence in all social categories. After the pandemic, the educational community has been engaged in GE and gender issues with the development of schools’ action plans as reflected in relevant studies in Greece and all over the world. The present study attempts to examine the teachers’ self-efficacy and needs concerning their training for a sustainable GE practice. The importance of the study originates from the necessity to highlight the teachers’ attitudes towards the issues of GE as Greece ranks last in the European Union on the GE Index. For this research, the tool, a validated questionnaire of teacher efficacy for GE practice is administered to secondary education teachers in Greece. Teachers are asked to assess their confidence in gender knowledge, skills, and awareness. The findings of the research showed that the majority of the teachers express their moderate perceptions, great concern, and need for training in developing practices on GE issues at school. However, there are findings that show that patriarchal values are firm in pedagogical practices. This study will create awareness of the necessity of integrating practices of GE in teacher training and education and give the initiative for further studies on the local or national level concerning the attitudes towards GE in education. Integrating GE in the national curricula through suitable teacher interventions could bridge gender inequalities and lead to a more balanced living for future generations.