Today I attended the GLBT Safe Schools session on the topic: "Issues of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in Schools." I have been to three of these sessions before put on by different leaders. However, I particularly enjoyed this one because of the panel present. At the beginning of the session we had a man discuss all the labeling of LGBT. He asked if anyone had any questions about these terms before we got started with the panel of speakers. Only a few questions were asked and then we got right into the panelists. Each panelist brought something different to the discussion. One was a former teacher in New York where she had many students in her classroom that came from lesiban/gay parents. Another was a lesbien women who works for MSU resource center and leads discussion group on issues of identity and sexual orientation. The third was a man who talked about having a lesbien daughter along with a granddaughter who has two moms and her struggle in school. Finally, the last panelist was an MSU student who said he was homosexual in the education school studying music.
Although all the panelists brought a lot of useful and thought proking information to us tonight, I feel like I got the most from the first panelist who used to teach in NY schools. I came to this session because I want to make sure that if I have a situation in my classroom where a student of mine comes from a family where they have two mommys or two daddy's or are even struggling with sexual orientation themselves, I would know how to handle it. This teacher shared with us that in our classroom we have to make sure that we always have to be careful how we advertise Mother's Day or Father's Day and how we should call it "A female who is important in our lives" or "A male who is important in our lives" just to make sure that every student would have something to write about. I also enjoyed how she talked about how every teacher's primary responsibiliy are their students and no matter what you believe in you have to make sure that child feels safe and comfortable learning in your classroom. She told us that teachers make a bigger deal over what could happen if we address it rather than thinking about all the little small things that a child will have to go through if we don't address it. We need to put our students first. She concluded with saying that teaching is powerful. That really made me think about the impact I will make on many students in the next few years as I start my student teaching and into my carreer. I need to be ready for anything.
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2 comments:
This is very informative and thought provoking. I hadn't really thought about having a child in my classroom from a gay/lesbian home until recently. The idea about the Mother's Day and Father's Day activities is something that never crossed my mind, but very valuable to know. I also agree that although my personal beliefs may be conflicting, the most important thing about my future classroom is to make sure that each child can feel comfortable there. I want to accommodate to everyone, not just those that come from backgrounds like my own or follow my own personal beliefs.
Teaching is powerful!!! You brought up key points addressed and I am glad to see you are truly thinking about how you will handle these issues. Society has a major impact on how many teachers deal with this topic that often pressure teachers to go against what they think is best for children - because often parents views of what is best for their child may not align with our own ideas as teachers - it is tough! Keep thinking about this.
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