Gender+Roles+in+the+Workplace

From an early age, children see gender stereotypes in the workplace. Many kids think only a man can be a president, or a fireman, or a doctor, an engineer or a scientist. Many kids think only women can be teachers, stay at home parents, nurses, or an artist. But in reality, kids need to understand that their options are open depending on how hard they work towards their dreams. Luckily, this day and age has changed a little more than in the past. Many women are choosing careers in business, law, and medicine. These fields were typically male-dominated.

One of my goals as a teacher and role model to my students is to encourage them to follow their dreams. Just because they are a girl or a boy doesn't limit their options for their future.

To stress this idea, I made a puppet show with socks to model a similar situation. In this situation, a girl is a doctor and a male is a surgeon. A child begins asking questions related to gender and occupation. These conversations lead the young girl to follow dreams of becoming a firefighter, a job she thought was only for males.

I did this puppet show during my undergraduate years at the University of Georgia. The movie of the puppet show is too large to upload on this document, but I attached the script so that you can view it. I would like you to look over the script so that you, too can receive its message. I encourage you to help your child find a passion and stick to it regardless of a gender stereotype.

The kids really enjoyed watching this video. It made them laugh but also at the same time I could see them thinking about the message, which was my full intention.