Education inequalities can start from early childhood, including exclusion from community and educational spaces, insufficient provision of care and education programs, and discrimination against girls. To address these issues in Guatemala and Honduras, this project is generating evidence on how to adapt and scale a proven innovative pedagogical model of gender inclusive care and education for early childhood, with active community participation and collaboration with local educational organizations. Using a systemic approach, the model aligns curriculum development, appropriate pedagogies for young children, training and support for teachers, and community engagement.  

The project aims to mobilize new knowledge on factors that encourage, make possible, or impede the scaling up of the pedagogical innovation, as well as its integration in public policies for early childhood education. The project also seeks to strengthen the capacities of teachers, educators, community leaders, families, and authorities, so that they have the tools to sustain and scale the application of the gender inclusive model in diverse contexts.  By using Participatory Action Research, the project embeds co-creation at all stages of the research process. It aims to create a gender inclusive curriculum for early childhood education, and pedagogical support tools for teachers and other stakeholders.