I.

Unit of Competency : Work with Others

II. Module Title : Observing Gender Sensitivity in the Workplace
III. Activity Title : Choosing the Sex of Your Child
IV. Learning Objectives :

At the end of this activity, the trainees will be able to:

1. Become aware of personal preferences and assumptions about female
and male; and
2. Examine how true and deep-rooted these assumptions are.
V. Methodology
 Group activity: Poster-making
 Plenary
 Interactive Lecture

VI. Materials: manila paper, pentel pens/pencils, masking tape, colour

VII. Timeframe: 1.5 hours
VIII. Processing the Learning Activity
A. Analysis
What to Do (Activity) What to Say (Narrative)

Flash the first slide of the Powerpoint presentation. (Introduction)

This is another activity which you all will surely

enjoy. This activity is entitled “Choosing the
Sex of Your Child” which aims to bring-out
your preferences and assumptions about
female and male and to examine how true and
deep-rooted these assumptions are.

Reflect on this story:

“A couple is struggling to
conceive a child. They go to a
seer (manghuhula) who tells
them they will have a child, but
only after they have decided
which sex they want it to be.”
Divide the participants into groups composed of
two people only. Tell each group that they will play
the role of husband and wife and they are to
decide and arrive at a consensus on the sex of
their first-born child. Each group will draw a
picture of their first-born child and list down the
reasons for choosing the sex of their child.

Note: This activity is good for a small group of 20

participants. But if the group is more than 20,
divide them into 7 groups. Each group will assign
which will play as the husband and wife and the
rest can act as in-laws and other relative
members.
Reporters are given 5-10 mins. to present the
group’s output. Process the responses of each
group using the guide questions

Guide questions for processing after the

activity:

1. How did you come-up with a unified

answer?
2. How did you resolve the
conflict/differences? What about the
influence coming from the in-laws and
other relative members?
3. How many decided to have a male child?
What were the most common reasons for
choosing the sex of the child? female
child? Is it better to have a boy or girl?
4. Why is there a preference for boy or girl?
Where is it coming from? (Possible
answers: tradition, practicality, more
opportunities)

(NOTE: Facilitator should try to draw out

expectations of society from male/boy and
female/girl)
To synthesize the various inputs from the
participants, use the abstraction/synthesis
questions shown below.

After the participative analysis, you can now draw

a general conclusion by referring to the key
learning points presented below. You may want to
highlight the substantive realizations of the
participants.

In order to deepen the realization and learning of

the trainees, give out Application activity shown
below.

B. Abstraction/Synthesis
1. What did we learn from the activities?
2. How did you feel doing the activity?
3. What did you appreciate from the activities?
4. How will you apply your new learning/s to your life?

C. Key Learning Points (Summary)

• This activity has showed to us that society, community and the family looks at
female and male differently. In most cases, there is a preference for a boy or
 male child. This raises the issue of family planning as the husband and wife
continue to have children in order to have a boy/male child. It also raises the
succession (family name) and inheritance issues differences between male
and female.

• On the other hand, preferences for female child emerge out of the need to
help lessen household work and assist in taking care of younger siblings.

• Gender biases emerge even in the choice of children. Preferences for male or
female impacts negatively or positively on the individual as they are treated
differently at an early age.

• In the Filipino family context, the boys are given preferential treatment (e.g.
they are not required to do household chores, males are given first option for
educational opportunities, etc) while, girls are expected to help their mothers
in the household chores. Moreover, in some families, girls are not likely to be
sent to school as the family felt that they will just get married anyway.

D. Application

The facilitator will distribute the worksheet to the trainees. They are to reflect on the
given questions and accomplish the worksheet within 15 mins.
Name: _________________________ Date:___________
Training Program:______________________________

Worksheet No. 1

a) When you were still young, what things/characteristics associated with

being a boy/male and girl/female did you enjoy?

Things/characteristics Things/characteristics
associated with being a associated with being a
Boy/male girl/female

b) Given the chance, would you choose to be a boy/male or girl/female?

Reasons for choosing a Reasons for choosing a

boy/male girl/female
 Trainee’s Handout

Comic strip name: The Brilliant Mind of Edison Lee

Cartoonist Name: John Hambrock

Comic strip name: Hagar the Horrible

Cartoonist Name: Chris Browne

Comic strip name: Family Tree

Cartoonist Name: Signe Wilkinson