Girls First

The GDST has partnered with FutureLearn to create a MOOC that aims to teach and inspire those involved in girls education.

The Girls Day School Trust has launched its highly successful ‘Educating Girls’ online course for the second time.

The GDST has worked with the digital social-learning platform FutureLearn, to create the MOOC ‘Educating Girls: Teaching Approaches to Helping Girls Thrive’. It is the only school organisation to partner with FutureLearn. Over the last three years, its courses have reached 20,000 learners in more than 150 countries. The first run of ‘Educating Girls’ in 2019 saw nearly 2,500 registered users, half of those were teachers in the developing world.

As experts in girls’ education, the GDST recognises that girls and boys learn differently for a variety of reasons. In this course, educators learn practical ways to enhance the quality of learning for girls by examining different aspects of teaching that are ‘girl-friendly’ according to research and experience.

The course is aimed at educators who want to learn to help young women thrive through their teaching approach as well as supporting girls’ academic success in school and professional success beyond the school gates. The course aims to start a conversation between teachers about the teaching approaches that best help girls succeed in school and beyond.

Cathy Walter, Assistant Director of Education at the GDST, who leads the course, said: “In partnering with FutureLearn, whose purpose is to ‘transform access to education’, we have been able to further one of our strategic aims to ‘reach as many girls as possible’. We are really proud and excited to be connecting educators across the globe to discuss and share approaches to how we can educate girls to ensure they thrive and learn without limits.”