The Advocate Educator's Handbook (eBook)

Creating Schools Where Transgender and Non-Binary Students Thrive

Vanessa Ford, Rebecca Kling (Autoren)

eBook Download: EPUB

2024
John Wiley & Sons (Verlag)
978-1-394-17803-2 (ISBN)

Infos

A critical guide on creating inclusive classrooms for transgender students

Including a foreword from Dr. Peggy Brookins, President of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, The Advocate Educator's Handbook offers a tested framework for educators to use in their journeys to create inclusive classrooms for transgender and non-binary students. Centered on a framework of four principles - educate, affirm, include, and disrupt - this book provides a new way of thinking about inclusivity in the classroom, as well as practical ways to foster students' sense of belonging. The authors bring rich understanding to the topic - Kling as a transgender educator & advocate, Ford as a teacher & parent of a transgender child, and both authors being educators themselves. You'll also read stories from transgender and non-binary students, teachers, researchers, parents, and more, providing unique and important perspectives. 

Inside the book, you'll find tools that you can start using on day one of being in the classroom. You'll also find model policies for teachers, schools administrators, and public policymakers, so you can begin the important work of advocating for and with trans and non-binary students. By engaging with trans youth and allies, we can build inclusivity in and beyond the classroom.

• Understand what it means to be transgender or non-binary and learn about the experiences of trans youth
• Learn how to support trans and non-binary students with dozens of firsthand accounts from experts serving the communities
• Find resources you can use as an educator in your journey toward inclusivity in education

• Recognize and respond to anti-trans policies and laws targeting trans students 

• Identify important actions unique to your situation with personal reflection questions and scenarios

This book was created especially for K-12 educators, administrators, and others looking to enact change and create safe spaces for transgender and non-binary youth. From daily life in the classroom to policy at the highest levels, The Advocate Educator's Handbook will help educators & their community work toward meaningful change.

Vanessa Ford (she/her) is an award-winning educator and author. Her children's book, Calvin, won the 2022 Lambda Literary Award for Best Children's Book. Ford was a classroom teacher for 14 years in DC Public Schools and her advocacy has been featured in the New York Times, Washington Post, Boston Globe, Newsweek and NPR. She was a founding member of The Human Rights Campaign's Parents for Transgender Equality Council and sat for two years on the board of the National Center for Transgender Equality. She lives with her husband and two children, one of whom is trans, near Boston. Learn more about Vanessa's work at www.jrandvanessaford.com.

Rebecca Kling (she/her) is an educator, organizer, storyteller, and advocate for social change. Kling served as the community storytelling advocate and director of education programming at the National Center for Transgender Rights, as well as on the leadership team of Harbor Camps, a sleepaway summer camp for trans and non-binary youth. She is also the co-founder of Better World Collaborative, a social impact consulting firm working to combat the recent flood of anti-trans legislation. She lives in Chicago with her two cats. Learn about Rebecca's work at www.rebeccakling.com and www.bwcollab.com.

Inhalt

Foreword xv

Author Bios xvii

Introduction 1

Using This Book 1

Focusing on Trans and Non-Binary Students 3

Becoming an Advocate Educator 10

Putting It into Practice 14

Part I Setting the Stage 19

Chapter 1 Background Information 21

A Brief History of Trans Identity 22

(Some of) The Many Ways to Be Trans 26

How Many Trans Students Are There? 27

Putting It into Practice 32

Chapter 2 Glossary of Terms and Definitions 37

Putting It into Practice 52

Chapter 3 Supporting Diverse Student Bodies 57

Race and Racism 58

Physical Disabilities 60

Neurodiversity 63

Economic Class 68

Family Structure and Dynamics 69

Putting It into Practice 70

Part II The Four Core Principles 75

Chapter 4 Educate 77

Determining Who to Train 78

Determining What to Teach 82

Determining Who Will Teach 89

Challenges Facing School Staff 91

Putting It into Practice 95

Chapter 5 Affirm 99

Affirming Policies and Legislation 101

Affirming Practices 117

Putting It into Practice 124

Chapter 6 Include 131

Windows and Mirrors 133

Inclusive Education Communities 136

Creating Inclusive Classrooms and Curricula 141

Creating Inclusive Extracurricular Activities 161

Putting It into Practice 166

Chapter 7 Disrupt 173

Responding to Students 174

Responding to Parents and Community Members 175

Responding to Anti-Trans Laws and Policies 180

Considering Legal Action 186

Advocating with Trans Students and Student Voices 186

Evaluating Your Comfort with Taking Risks 194

Taking Care of Yourself 196

Putting It into Practice 197

Conclusion 201

Afterword--Vanessa Ford 205

Afterword--Rebecca Kling 209

Acknowledgments 213

Appendix 1 Additional Resources 217

Books 217

Videos and Documentaries 218

Scholarly Articles, Research, and Data 218

Resources Intended Specifically for Educators 220

Sample Curriculum Resources 222

Courses and Professional Development for Educators 223

Model Policies, Assessments, and Guidelines for Schools and Districts 224

Real Policies and Guidelines for Schools and Districts 224

Professional Association Policy Positions and Best Practices 225

Other Government Docs and Resources 226

Resources for Students 227

Appendix 2 Professional Development Provider Options 229

A Queer Endeavor 229

Better World Collaborative 230

Glsen 231

The Human Rights Campaign's Welcoming Schools Program 232

Stonewall National Education Project (SNEP) Symposium 233

The Trevor Project 234

YES Institute 235

Appendix 3 Guidance Template for Classroom Libraries 237

Index 239

Textauszug

Introduction

“Our role [as educators] is to try to meet young people where they are and to be relevant so that when we say things, or we set up a classroom, it’s actually something young people opt into with their minds and their hearts, so they are willing to say, ‘I’ll learn something from you.’”

—Bex Mui (she/her), Director of Stonewall National Education Project

THIS BOOK is intended for anyone who helps shape the educational experiences of transgender and non‐binary youth. (For a glossary of the terms and definitions used throughout this book—including transgender, non‐binary, gender binary, and more—see Chapter 2.) You may be a classroom teacher, a school administrator, a policymaker, the parent of a trans student, or simply someone who wants to create safer, more inclusive, and more affirming classroom environments. You may even be trans yourself!

Using This Book

How ever you have arrived here, we encourage you to use this book in whatever way makes the most sense to you. For those at the beginning of their allyship journey, it may make sense to read the book in order from cover to cover. For folks with a little more knowledge, feel free to skip around, jump right to a particular section, or identify the potential obstacles to equality that exist in your school community and go from there. At the end of each chapter, you'll find thoughts on addressing real‐world challenges and questions for personal reflection. And while these can be helpful for individual learners, we also hope they can provide some focus and structure for book groups or community learning.

With that in mind, we hope you'll use the resources in this book not only to educate yourself but to educate your peers and colleagues as well. We'd like to think that the adults in your school community want all students to learn, grow, and thrive, but it's critical to dig into whether or not those goals are actually being achieved. Melinda Mangin (she/her)—author of Transgender Students in Elementary School and a professor in the Department of Education Theory, Policy, and Administration in the Graduate School of Education at Rutgers University—put it this way: “Most educators are well intentioned, want to do better, and aren't trying to cause harm. That said, the best of intentions doesn't mean you aren't creating harm.”

But you don't need to go it alone! We believe that if you are looking to better support trans and non‐binary students, others in your school community are looking to do so as well (they just might not be very public about it). It's possible that your school or district already has resources, policies, or best practices on working with trans and non‐binary students. For example, Booker Marshall (they/he), the LGBTQ+ and Sexual Health Program Manager with Chicago Public Schools, cites “the demand from schools” as the primary reason for the growth of the Chicago Public Schools resources and professional development for creating LGBTQ+ supportive environments.

Even if you have not yet found allies in your community, you don't have to go it alone because you have the advice and encouragement of everyone we consulted over the course of writing this book. We conducted more than 50 interviews, speaking with educators, advocates, and researchers as well as trans youth and their families. Those interviews all took place in late 2022 and early 2023, mostly via Zoom. Quotes from those conversations can be found throughout these pages.

And while the data, organizations, and policy conversations mentioned in this book are U.S.‐focused, the best practices for working with trans and non‐binary students are broadly applicable. Likewise, if the resources you want don't yet exist in your school or district, you may be the perfect person to get the ball rolling by hosting a book group, sharing excerpts with colleagues and peers, or simply bringing a new perspective to your existing work.

We also know that advocating for trans and non‐binary rights can be emotionally draining. That's why we spoke with trans students about what brings them joy and what gives them hope for the future. We'll be sprinkling those throughout the book as well as some trans joy thoughts and resources we've seen elsewhere. In the Conclusion, we also have thoughts about hope for the future from trans students.

Trans Joy

The best thing [about being trans or non‐binary] is being able to express who I am and not having to be limited by the gender binary. I feel complete and amazing!

—Emma (she/her), 14

Finally, while this book is mainly intended for adults, we always recommend that you work with trans and non‐binary students, rather than simply assuming you (as the adult) know what issues are the most important to them.

Focusing on Trans and Non‐Binary Students

Every student deserves a learning environment in which they can thrive as their full, authentic selves. So then, some might ask, why should we focus specifically on how to support trans and non‐binary students? There are a few ways to answer this question.

Trans and Non‐Binary Students Need Support

Simply put, trans and non‐binary students face challenges that their cis peers do not. The Trevor Project's 2021 National Survey on LGBTQ Youth Mental Health found that:

• More than 3 in 4 trans and non‐binary youth reported symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder in the past two weeks.
• More than 2 in 3 trans and non‐binary youth reported symptoms of major depressive disorder in the past two weeks.
• More than half of trans and non‐binary youth had seriously considered suicide in the past year.1

The Trevor Project also found that affirmation and support can be life‐saving. Respecting the names and pronouns of trans and non‐binary youth, and allowing them to change legal documents is associated with lower rates of attempted suicide.2 Here's how Keygan Miller (they/them), Public Training Manager at the Trevor Project, put it:

Students are spending a third of their day or more in schools. And so if a young person is LGBTQ, the impact on their daily life of an affirming space is hugely shaped by [their] school, especially if they don't have an affirming home life; school might be the only space for that. And we know from our research that when LGBTQ students can have access to affirming schools—and trans students have support from their teachers and peers—they have lower rates of attempting suicide, they have less mental health issues, etc.

In fact, if you look at affirming spaces—schools, home, community, etc.—schools actually have one of the highest connections to lowering those rates, when [the school is] affirming. So that's a big deal. And we also know from our national survey research that when young people learn about LGBTQ people and issues in school, we also see significantly lower odds of a suicide attempt by our LGBTQ students. So just by learning LGBTQ history, or learning about an LGBTQ person, that can lower those [suicide] rates.

Schools then become this twofold space: What are we learning about, how are we growing in our understanding of our community? But also, where can I find that safe and affirming space? You have to be addressing both of those pieces. And doing that is going to increase [student] mental health and lower suicidality.

Ultimately, increased visibility of trans people across the United States has resulted in both greater support and greater pushback. One 2022 survey found that, paradoxically, more and more people in the United States favor protecting transgender people from the abstract idea of “discrimination,” but also that more and more people believe gender is solely determined by someone's sex at birth.3 (See the Glossary of Terms and Definitions in Chapter 2 for more on what that “sex assigned at birth” means, and why this survey presents something of a paradox for trans people.) Trans and non‐binary students need focused attention to ensure that vague or generalized ideas of support are translated into actual policy and practice.

Logan Casey (he/him), Senior Policy Researcher & Advisor for the Movement Advancement Project (MAP), told us about the double‐edged sword of visibility:

While knowing a trans person doesn't magically fix everything, it does—for a lot of people—really help begin a journey of changing hearts and minds. But it's a double‐edged sword: growing visibility is good because it helps us as trans people find each other, and not having to grow up the way I did, for example, with not knowing any trans person, or even what a trans person was, other than these really awful caricatures in the media that often ended in violent ways. There are some good things about that growing visibility, what it means for us as a trans community, and being able to find and see and connect to each other.

But with growing visibility, we're now seeing increased attention in the political sphere, targeting trans people and our rights to access basic things like housing, medical care, all kinds of things. So not purely a good trend. But definitely, there are good parts of it.

We are in a particularly critical moment for trans...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 24.1.2024
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Sozialwissenschaften ► Pädagogik ► Bildungstheorie
• Schlagworte: Bildungswesen • classroom inclusivity • Education • K-12 • K-12 / Lehren u. Lernen • K-12 transgender • K-12 trans policy • LGBTQ Students • nonbinary students • nonbinary youth • Teaching & Learning (K-12) • teaching trans kids • Transgender • transgender kids • transgender students • transgender teens • Transgender youth • trans students
• ISBN-10: 1-394-17803-4 / 1394178034
• ISBN-13: 978-1-394-17803-2 / 9781394178032