Giulia Cecchettin Foundation and University of Florence

First national course to educate on gender equality from childhood. Applications until 8 March

A free and accredited course aimed at pre-school and primary school teachers to deconstruct gender stereotypes and promote a culture of non-violence

by School Editorial

2 March 2026

3' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

3' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

Education for gender equality is still an open challenge in Italian schools. For this reason, the Giulia Cecchettin Foundation, together with the FORLILPSI Department of the University of Florence, is launching the free course "Educating for gender equality, right from childhood", aimed at preschool and primary school teachers. The aim is to provide concrete tools to recognise and deconstruct gender stereotypes in educational contexts, intervening at the age when the first representations of self and others are formed.

The Project

The project, implemented in pilot form in Tuscany, Veneto and Apulia, will officially start on 21 March with an inaugural conference in Florence, designed to accompany the teaching staff involved in the experimentation. According to the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE), Italia is still below the European average in gender equality policies: the Gender Equality Index 2023 assigns our country a score of 68.2 out of 100. At the same time, UNESCO emphasises that intervening as early as kindergarten and primary school is decisive in countering the early transmission of stereotypes and fostering fairer relations. In this framework, the Italian school has a central role to play: guaranteeing teachers a solid and knowledgeable training on the issues of gender equality, education for respect and non-violence to build a future society that is more inclusive and free of all forms of violence.

Starting with primary teachers

"Intervening early is crucial: we are still working too late on gender issues, when stereotypes and social expectations are already entrenched," says the project's scientific head Irene Biemmi, professor of Gender Pedagogy at the University of Florence and member of the Scientific Committee of the Giulia Cecchettin Foundation. "This is why we chose to start with the teachers and preschool and primary school teachers. It is there that imaginaries, words and the first ideas about what 'belongs' to boys and girls are formed. Educating for full citizenship, freedom and respect does not mean talking about violence to young children, but building the cultural premises so that that violence is no longer generated. If violence is a cultural product - as decades of studies show - then it is in the culture, and therefore also in the school, that we must intervene'.

Concrete training course

The course "Educating for gender equality, from childhood onwards" translates these principles into a concrete training pathway: an online programme, free of charge and accredited in accordance with Law 170/2016. The training is divided into 4 modules for a total of 60 hours, including video lectures, self-study and intermediate and final verifications. The teaching activities will take place between May and October 2026, at the end of which the teachers will receive a certificate valid for compulsory professional development.

Candidates until 8 March

Applications may be submitted until 8 March 2026 exclusively by filling in the appropriate online form. Applications will be accepted in chronological order of arrival, subject to availability of places for each of the regions involved.The videolessons are curated by and members of the Scientific Committee of the Giulia Cecchettin Foundation, together with other experts from the pedagogical, sociological, psychological and linguistic fields.

The course contents address some key issues in education today. The first module introduces the essential vocabulary related to gender, stereotypes, prejudice and discrimination, with an in-depth look at the construction of masculinity and the cultural conditioning that influences girls and boys. The second module explores gender pedagogy and education on affectivity and sexuality, with a focus on stereotypes present in school knowledge and textbooks. The third module offers operational tools for working on language, educational materials and representation models in cultural products for children. The last module addresses the topic of gender-based violence, defining its different forms and clarifying the school's role in prevention, with a specific focus on male awareness and current cultural changes.

Two-year research

The project "Educating for gender equality, right from childhood" will be accompanied by a two-year research conducted by the University of Florence, which will analyse the gender awareness of the teaching staff, the training needs and the skills developed during the course. The results will be collected in a report that will be presented publicly in 2028, with the aim of offering up-to-date data useful for orienting future educational policies.
In November 2026, the training course will also conclude with a final conference during which an initial assessment of the experimentation will be illustrated.
The event will also represent a space for comparing and enhancing the experiences gained in the classrooms: teachers and schools will be able to share activities, educational practices and didactic proposals already experimented to promote, right from primary school, a culture of equality and respect.