Kids Go to High School

The «Kids Go Höhere Schulen» project focuses on gender-neutral educational and career choices. Educators are made aware of reflective gender education, while students learn about regional training opportunities and make decisions based on their interests and talents rather than stereotypes. Workshops, buddy programs, and action days promote interaction and exchange, supported by practical materials and a roadmap for implementing the project.

The goal of the «Kids Go Höhere Schulen» project is to highlight and facilitate a new culture of gender-neutral educational choices and, subsequently, career choices. If you look at class photos from various vocational high schools today, you’ll still notice a tendency toward traditional school choices based on gender. The project aims to break down these gender barriers and foster a culture where educational and career choices are based on interest and talent. The benefit for everyone involved is clear: boys and girls pursue training programs that suit them, schools attract interested students, and, as a result, businesses gain ambitious employees.

The target audience consists of practicing educators as well as elementary and high school students. The goals are to raise teachers’ awareness of reflective gender education and gender equality, to help students learn about educational opportunities in the region, and to enable them to make educational decisions free from gender role stereotypes.

To this end, teachers will first be informed and made aware of the topic in a workshop, and upper secondary school students will be trained as mentors. Action days will then be prepared, and the elementary school students will arrive. The program lasts 5 teaching units over 1 day for the elementary school students and a total of 10 teaching units spread over 2 days for the high school students. On the activity days, high school students will set up stations at the school, which the elementary school students will visit.

The downloadable materials include a schedule for conducting the project days, templates for planning the activity stations, the Federal Ministry’s policy statement on gender-reflective education and gender equality, and tips for gender-reflective career guidance in schools.

Using the GECKO platform, the competency model outlines the skills that students can acquire as part of the project.