This enquiry-based learning toolkit designed by Flow India focuses on middle school civics themes of invisible work, labour, gender roles, law and social justice. 

The term ‘social reproduction’ can be taken to include the following: biological reproduction; unpaid production in the home (both goods and services); social provisioning (by this we mean voluntary work directed at meeting needs in the community); the reproduction of culture and ideology; and the provision of sexual, emotional and affective services (such as are required to maintain family and intimate relationships). These labours help sustain the household, community, economy and society. Women typically perform these labours, regardless of their position in society and the resources they can muster to manage the pressures and rewards associated with social reproduction. 

A Time to Care: An Enquiry on Gendered Labour and Social Justice is a first-of-its-kind educational toolkit developed by Flow India to communicate the project’s research to diverse audiences. Designed for educators, this toolkit outlines a bespoke project for middle school students (grades 7 and 8) that introduces the gendered division of labour and critically examines how it can be disrupted to produce a more egalitarian division of reproductive labour at the level of the household. It thus aims to transform deeply held ideas about gendered norms on household labour at a young age. Alongside this sensitisation, students are also trained on how to conduct qualitative empirical research, synthesize their findings and express them in a creative format. 

The inspiration for creating and distributing this toolkit stems from the National Education Policy 2020, which emphasizes the importance of real-world, inquiry-based, and discovery-based learning. The policy emphasizes on experiential learning to foster essential skills such as research, evaluation, analysis, collaboration, and communication. This is increasingly relevant for disciplines like civics that are on the margins of young people’s school experience. 

This toolkit comprises of: 

• A comprehensive lesson plan 
• Corresponding student worksheets and empirical research templates 
• Student self-evaluation and educator reflection forms  

Find the complete toolkit below:

A Time to Care: An Enquiry on Gendered Labour and Social Justice