Celebrate Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day with New Lessons About Malala and the Suffragettes

For International Women’s Day and Women’s History month, we want to help you inspire girls to change the world, whether they aspire to be engineers, artists, programmers, designers, world leaders, or anything that ignites their passion! To celebrate, we’re releasing new lessons for our Good Trouble: Lessons in Social Justice world about two activists who’ve had an enormous impact on women’s education and their place in society.

In these lessons by Felisa Ford, Dr. Natasha Rachell, and Ken Shelton, students travel alongside US Congressman and Civil Rights leader John Lewis to the worlds of Malala, a powerful advocate for girls’ education in Pakistan, and Emmeline Pankhurst, a leader in the Victorian Suffragette movement that helped secure the vote for women. To make sure as many students as possible can draw inspiration from these two mighty changemakers, the Good Trouble world is available as a login-free demo for Minecraft: Education Edition for students on Windows, Mac, iPad, and Chromebook until the end of March. If your learners are Bedrock players, the world is also free to download through the Education Collection in the Minecraft Marketplace.

If you’d like to see these worlds in action and connect with the community, we’re hosting a Lesson Jam on March 18 at 9:00 AM PT featuring members of the Minecraft team. We’ll be walking through the lessons and chatting with Global Minecraft Mentors and our team members who share a passion for making sure every girl has access to education. Register for the free webinar here.

MALALA: ONE GIRL AMONG MANY

In this lesson, students join Malala Yousafzai to learn about her quest to ensure accessible education for girls all across the globe. Learners will explore the context of Malala’s struggle for education in Pakistan and why equity in education is so vital to a fair and just society. Then they’ll flex their creativity as they help Malala build a school for local girls!

How does education vary for girls in different parts of the world? How does a lack of education affect girls, their communities, and society as a whole? How has Malala been instrumental in bringing about change to oppressive systems? Students can reflect on these questions and more as they work through the activities.

GOOD TROUBLE: WOMEN’S SUFFRAGE

Travel back in time to meet Emmeline Pankhurst in Victorian Britain and learn all about her fight for women’s voting rights. In a time when women were disenfranchised from the political process, courageous activists like Pankhurst took the fight to the streets, eventually winning their right to a say in the way they were governed. Students will explore Victorian England and help Pankhurst get the word out to eight women who need to know that their time to vote has come.

They’ll ask important questions about gender and politics. Which women were included and excluded in the voting rights won by Women’s Suffrage? Why was it so difficult for women to win the vote? Why are equitable voting rights important? Learners will be able to apply these reflections to their own political contexts and situations.

Both of these lessons provide ample opportunities for in-game activities, external research, and personal reflection. Students present what they’ve learned and share their voices using Flipgrid and their written communication skills. Through collaboration, creativity, sharing, and personal reflection, we hope that discovering these amazing women’s stories will inspire your learners to become changemakers and champions of education and equality for girls and women all over the world!

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Don’t forget to sign up for the March 18 webinar and join educators worldwide for our Lesson Jam. Things kick off at 9:00 AM PT. If you’re just setting out on your Minecraft: Education Edition journey, get started here!