Education Priorities
I did my best to organize my priorities as an educator. These are some various skills that I would want to pass on to students, and their interrelationships.
Please let me know if you think of anything important I left out. What do you wish you'd learned in elementary school? What would have helped you academically, socially, &/or emotionally?
Education Priorities
Most of the things I wish I'd learned in Elementary school probably weren't comprehensible at those ages... but knowing that gender isn't a binary and that it's okay to be different from what people expect of me would have been nice to know.
Probably not the school's job but it's certainly the right time in life.
Also: talking to people directly. So many now can't communicate in person for one reason or another and it hinders their social progress.
Education Priorities
Yeah, learning some of the subtleties of gender would have been nice to know. From working at the library, I know there are a number of really lovely picture books that go into gender diversity in a kid-friendly way. I'm also fairly certain there are age-appropriate lessons on gender diversity and trans folks that exist and *could* be implemented. My school is relatively progressive, but I don't think this is currently part of the curriculum. (cont)
Education Priorities
As for your second point, YES, absolutely. Direct communication is SO important and learning it at that age is great. The school does a good job of teaching/reinforcing that, at all levels. But I would definitely incorporate it into my social learning/emotional learning curriculum when I become a teacher myself. :D
Education Priorities
just jumping in before I forget to say this...
My daughter's kindergarten teacher outed me to the entire class of kiddos without my awareness or permission... and it kinda bothered me initially. Thankfully, none of the kids cared and neither did the parents. I had expected concerns but it actually brought some parents to talk to me more.
Some of the kids had questions but they were all friendly.
Kids handle things so well sometimes.
Education Priorities
Ugh. That was not OK of that teacher to out you, but I'm glad it led to an education opportunity for the kids and they handled it well. Kids are often less biased and more reasonable than adults when it comes to these things.
Mostly I just don't want to worry with upset parents, until I get a better feel for the campus culture.
I chatted with a friend of mine this past weekend who used to work in education, and is a trans guy. His experiences were +
Education Priorities
I was worried that parents would get upset because parents, as a whole, do tend to be slightly more conservative than single people. I was glad it worked out well but it was a big chance that I would not likely take.
Still, once it was done and the kids were fine... I guess there was no taking it back, and glad none of the parents handled it poorly.
(part 1 of 2)
Education Priorities
(part 2 of 2)
I've only ever encountered one parent who rejected me and didn't want me around their kid, and it was only because they didn't want to answer the kid's questions.
This person's kid did not attend the same school as my daughter and the incident wasn't related to that teacher. This parent was just a b**** that I thought was my friend. She hadn't minded me until her kid found out I was trans, and then she started being a jerk.
Lost opportunities...sad
Education Priorities
That sucks. :( That's really awful but I'm glad you only had problems with one parent. Parents can be really awful about projecting their issues onto their kid's lives. Not cool.
Really though, I'm glad that overall you've fared well.
Education Priorities
@ThatDamnCat
Currently we do diversity training with the kids when the need arises. For example, we had the parents of my kid with down syndrome give a presentation to the class. I bet we would do something similar if we had a gender nonconforming kid or teacher, but I can't say for certain.
I've considered coming out to staff & talking about my NB-ness with the kids, but I'm still new and trying not to rock the boat just yet.
(cont aghhh words)