All in a day's work

Year level: Upper primary Learning outcome Students will investigate the work done by men and women to explore the influences of gender Draw (or collect photos) of people doing various common tasks - cooking a meal, cleaning a house, driving a car, painting a house, gardening etc. Display the pictures grouped according to activity. Record the numbers of men and women depicted doing each activity. Discuss: (in gender-based groups then in mixed groups) What, if any, patterns emerge about the work done by women and the work done by men? What, if anything, surprises you about the number of men and women doing each task? Why might the work done by women and men differ? Do you think the collection is a good representation of the work done by women and men? If not, how could you improve this collection? Create a simple survey of the work done by men and women in your community Include the training and skills needed, hours, pay, how valuable the work is and status attributed to people who do this work. Undertake your survey with at least four people (try to include males and females of differing ages and from differing cultures). Collate the data from the surveys as a whole class. Make some generalisations about the nature of the work done by men and work done by women. Debate: 'Women and men should do different work.' Assessment task Write a summary statement about the influence of gender on the types of work done by women and men with an example to support it.