Moving beyond stereotypes from early childhood: the Be.St model pilot scheme gets under way in primary schools

Between January and June, the first phase of the training pathway under Be.St – Beyond Stereotypes, came to a close: the initiative coordinated by Fondazione PuntoSud to promote equal education and counter gender stereotypes from the earliest years of schooling. The project, which runs for three years in total (2025–2028), was selected by the social enterprise Con i Bambini (CIB) under the Fund to Combat Child Educational Poverty. This first phase actively and directly involved two pilot schools: the Sottocorno Comprehensive Institute in Milan, in the Rogoredo district, and the Balilla-Imbriani Comprehensive Institute in Bari, in the Madonnella district.

Teaching staff engagement was particularly strong, with around 40 teachers taking part in an intensive cycle of nine training sessions. Rather than a conventional classroom exercise, participants engaged in a genuine workshop of collective reflection, questioning and reworking their everyday teaching and educational practice.

One key finding to emerge clearly over these months concerns the very nature of Be.St: it is not a one-off package of interventions, nor an additional subject to be added to the school curriculum, but a global, systemic model of application. The aim is to act on the educational environment as a whole, to bring about lasting change in behaviour and relationships. Through nine guiding principles, Be.St provides schools with criteria and practical tools to shape every dimension of school life: from institutional communication with families to the choice of textbooks and the management of recreational spaces.

The training offered to teachers was grounded in scientific evidence and socio-economic analysis of how gender bias takes shape. Research shows that at age five, boys and girls tend to associate the idea of “brilliance” or “genius” with their own gender in equal measure; however, between the ages of 6 and 7 there is already a marked drop in girls’ perception of themselves, as they begin to attribute these qualities predominantly to boys. This early conditioning affects self-esteem and casts a long shadow, helping to explain the lower presence of women in STEM pathways, the gender pay gap, and the persistent barriers to reaching leadership roles.

To dismantle these automatic patterns, the pathway focused first on the performativity of language (Principle 2), reflecting on how language shapes reality and working to move beyond the generic masculine in order to give proper weight to feminine terms for professions and positions of responsibility. Alongside this, teachers explored rebalancing teaching content (Principle 3), critically examining school textbooks to restore due space to women’s historical and scientific contributions, and to propose logic problems detached from traditional gender roles.

Particular attention was also given to care as a universal skill (Principle 8), moving past the idea that nurturing and emotional listening are the preserve of girls alone, and involving boys too in looking after shared spaces and in mutual empathy. This was paired with a reflection on the gendered conditioning of play (Principle 4), working to give schools inclusive play spaces free from the rigidities of gender binarism.

The Be.St model starts from the premise that schools cannot act alone, but must work in partnership with the whole educating community. Dialogue with families (Principle 5) is structured to be open and inclusive, valuing the diversity of family experiences and sharing practical choices — such as care in the selection of school materials — aimed at avoiding stereotypes. On the organisational side, ongoing teacher training (Principle 7) is built directly into the School Training Plan approved by the Teaching Staff Board, supported by self-training tools and the Be.St platform. Finally, openness to local partnerships (Principle 9) makes it possible to enrich teaching through collaboration with organisations and associations specialising in areas such as storytelling, play and emotional education.

The work carried out in the pilot schools, Sottocorno in Milan and Balilla-Imbriani in Bari, has laid solid foundations for the rest of the three-year project. The strong participation of teachers confirms how important it is to give the school system concrete tools to help children grow up free from conditioning, grounded in respect and in the full realisation of their own aspirations.

To find out more about participatory models, visit the website: puntosud.org/participatory-models