Many teachers, administrators, and practitioners are working hard to create gender inclusive elementary schools. A good friend recently gave a talk at a medical conference about gender affirming practices. I think I like that language even better. How can we create gender affirming classrooms?
How can we create classrooms where students who are nonbinary or questioning can feel affirmed, where students who haven’t thought as much about gender can be allies for their peers? How can we make sure that all of our LGBTQ students are affirmed? Today I’ll be sharing five ways I strive to build a gender affirming classroom community.
Affirm & Honor Pronouns from the Get-Go.
Whenever you introduce yourself at the start of the year, introduce your own pronouns to normalize the idea. This is also a chance to gauge your new students and their understanding of gender. Gender identity is much more straight-forward to most of our kids, they don’t have nearly as much socialization around gender norms as we do. You may ask your students “does anyone know what I mean by my pronouns?” For older kids, you may ask if anyone would like to share why they think it is important to share pronouns. Make sure that from that moment on, anytime anyone is introduced in the classroom, whether students introducing themselves in a circle, your introduction of another teacher, or even guest speakers, that pronouns are included. Keep a note for yourself on your class list to ensure you use the right pronouns in the future.
Celebrate and Center Queer Heroes in your classroom.
Just as we mention Cesar Chavez, Martin Luther King and Katherine Johnson in our quest for inclusive elementary classrooms, we must recognize Harvey Milk and Donna P. Marshall. Keeping biographies of these figures in your classroom library is great, but let’s be honest, biography isn’t the most popular genre to begin with. To effectively celebrate queer heroes in the classroom, we need to weave them into our instruction. Rather than assigning a reading worksheet on Dragonflies, assign student practice with informational text skills with reading comprehension about Queer Activists.
Ensure representation in books.
Once again, we know the biography section of your classroom library is less popular. Make sure there are books in your fiction books with queer protagonists and characters, preferably written by queer authors as well. Melissa (previously published as George) and Zenobia July are great starts. HRC has wonderful book lists to help you build your library.
While you may not have time in your read-aloud schedule for one of these chapters books, picture books are a great way to establish an affirming, inclusive classroom. My favorite is Red by Michael Hall. Download a free SEL activity to accompany Red to use in your classroom. If your school library doesn’t have the book, your local library will, but this book is so wonderful you’ll probably want your own copy.
Talk about families with inclusive language
Replace “mom and dad” with “caregivers;”Instead of talking about “ask your mom or dad,” tell students to ask their caregivers. This is supportive of students being raised by foster parents, grandparents, or other caring adults as well. It is important for students who may have nonbinary or queer parents, but also for all students to be affirmed that there are many paths to being a parent for their own lives.
Name gender norms when you see them
In math class, I’d often catch myself assigning a gender to the subject of a math problem based on their name, and I would admit to my kids that I should’t. This didn’t just show them that mistakes are ok, but gave us a chance to talk about how society enforces a binary. In social studies, make sure to note the gender norms in some societies or points in time in history. It’s also important to note that some groups in history; Native Hawaiians, many other Native American groups; did not enforce gender norms in the same ways.
As thoughtful educators continue to adjust, hopefully all students can feel safe and empowered in gender affirming classroom communities.
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