• Girls' Day School Trust logo

Girls' Education: Teaching Strategies That Develop Confidence, Resilience and Collaboration

How can teachers help close the gender gap? Get guidance on helping girls achieve their potential with this free online course.

14,095 enrolled on this course

Girls working with a teacher
  • Duration

    4 weeks
  • Weekly study

    4 hours

The behaviours that the education system rewards – studying, careful preparation, patient climbing from one level to the next – seem to give women an advantage academically. Yet in the world of work, people hire and promote based on character as much as on formal qualifications.

Through examining what should be experienced by young women in the classroom this course aims to start a conversation between teachers about how to best help girls succeed in the classroom and beyond, as well as offering authoritative advice, guidance and practical solutions.

Understand the factors that affect girls at school

Before exploring teaching strategies that work in the classroom, we will first examine the significant factors that influence girls’ learning experiences. In particular we’ll look at the strategies that develop character in a way that supports academic success in school and professional success after school. We will also examine and discuss the factors that can inhibit girls reaching their full potential in school and in their future careers.

Get guidance on helping girls achieve their potential

This course will give you practical steps to enhance the quality of learning for girls; after all, how pupils learn is as important as what they learn. We will examine different aspects of pedagogy that are ‘girl-friendly’ according to research and experience, and that also develop and promote character traits such as independence, resilience, collaborative working, problem solving and confidence.

These approaches include: collaborative learning, challenge and problem solving, and ways of developing social interaction. You’ll then work on evaluating the impact of such approaches in your own school and identify any issues you might face.

Learn from the GDST

The GDST (Girls’ Day School Trust) is the leading group of independent girls’ schools in the UK, with nearly 4,000 staff, and 20,000 students between the ages of three and 18. Founded in 1872, the GDST has a long history of pioneering innovation in the education of girls - in fact this course coincides with a research project going on within our schools, and much of the course has been created using this cutting edge research.

What topics will you cover?

  • Collaborative learning
  • Challenge in learning
  • Promoting talk for learning
  • Partnerships for learning

Learning on this course

On every step of the course you can meet other learners, share your ideas and join in with active discussions in the comments.

What will you achieve?

By the end of the course, you‘ll be able to...

  • Discuss the need for effective pedagogies for girls and identify factors that can limit girls reaching their full potential
  • Develop a rationale and criteria for effective collaborative learning in order to maximise effectiveness and engagement in girls' learning
  • Explore strategies used to develop and sustain Growth Mindset
  • Evaluate school-based strategies that can help girls build confidence and respond positively to learning challenges
  • Identify practical in-school opportunities to develop talk for life and consider the need to develop a cognitive vocabulary in girls
  • Explore the range and nature of partnerships that enable learning
  • Reflect on, analyse and understand the implications of the course for your own practice

Who is the course for?

This course has been created for those who shape the learning experiences of girls in schools - this might mean teachers, middle and senior leaders in schools, school governors and parents.

Who will you learn with?

As a former teacher and senior leader in schools, I am now the Assistant Director of Education at the Girls’ Day School Trust.

Who developed the course?

Girls' Day School Trust

The GDST (Girls’ Day School Trust) is the leading group of independent girls’ schools in the UK, with nearly 4,000 staff, 20,000 students aged between three and 18 and a network of 70,000 alumnae.

Learning on FutureLearn

Your learning, your rules

  • Courses are split into weeks, activities, and steps to help you keep track of your learning
  • Learn through a mix of bite-sized videos, long- and short-form articles, audio, and practical activities
  • Stay motivated by using the Progress page to keep track of your step completion and assessment scores

Join a global classroom

  • Experience the power of social learning, and get inspired by an international network of learners
  • Share ideas with your peers and course educators on every step of the course
  • Join the conversation by reading, @ing, liking, bookmarking, and replying to comments from others

Map your progress

  • As you work through the course, use notifications and the Progress page to guide your learning
  • Whenever you’re ready, mark each step as complete, you’re in control
  • Complete 90% of course steps and all of the assessments to earn your certificate

Want to know more about learning on FutureLearn? Using FutureLearn

Do you know someone who'd love this course? Tell them about it...

You can use the hashtag #FLgirlsed to talk about this course on social media.