We are on the way to Equality

Introduction of Taiwan Gender Equity Education Association, TGEEA

Taiwan Gender Equity Education Association, TGEEA, is founded on November 16, 2002. Our members include： (1) teachers from elementary schools to high schools who are interested in and devoted to gender equity education; (2) college and university professors who do researches on gender studies or teach women/gender courses; (3) other adults and college students who support gender equity education issues.

The goals of TGEEA are as follows： (1) To offer training courses and design workshops to all-level teachers (2) To develop a network to support teachers devoted to gender equity education (3) To create teaching materials and pedagogy on gender equity education (4) To build up international networks to share and exchange experiences on gender equity education

International Networking Experiences of TGEEA In the summer, 2003, we organized a visit trip to Sweden for two weeks. We visited many institutions in Gothenburg and Stockholm, including the Swedish Secretariat for Gender Research, the Women's History Collections, Kvinnofolkhogskolan (Women’s folk high school in Goteborg), Men's Crisis Center, RFSU (Swedish Sexuality Education Association), Youth Clinic, Equal Opportunities Ombudsman, RFSL(an NGO promoting Gay and Lesbian rights in Sweden), Women’s Forum (a Women’s NGO doing international projects and networking), etc. In 2004, four members of our association attended the 28th Triennial Conference of IFUW (International Federation of University Women) in Perth, Australia. Our chairperson, Su, Chien-ling, presented a paper on the ideas and contents of Gender Equity Education Law in Taiwan. Another board member, Lin, Yu-Chen, also presented a paper on gay and lesbian education in a high school classroom in Taiwan. During the conference, we also shared experiences with other participants from different countries and learned a lot from all the discussion and workshops. In this coming summer, 2005, we are planning to have a visit to Canada. We plan to visit institutions in Vancouver and Toronto to learn Canadian experiences in women’s/gender studies, gender education, multi-culture education, etc.

Historical Background and Development of Gender Equity Education in Taiwan In Taiwan, the promotion of gender equity education starts in late 1980’s mainly by women’s groups and feminist scholars. In 1997, almost 10 years later, the Ministry of Education of Taiwan founds the Committee of Gender Equity Education. Gender equity education has been taken as an educational policy of the government and widely implemented since then. The five directions covered are (1) teaching materials and pedagogy; (2) teacher’s training; (3) researches; (4) campus safety; (5) social and parental education. In June 2004, Gender Equity Education Law was passed.