Trans Pedagogy

Questions to Consider

• How does trans pedagogy seek to deconstruct dominant ideas of gender & gender binary?
• Where might trans pedagogy be useful in your practice / pedagogy?

As teachers, are we teach[ing] children a script about which kinds of genders and bodies are normal and which are not.[?]" (Keenan, 540, question mine)

These are my kiddos.

Throughout this entire week of reading and putting together how I *think* this presentation should look, I have been reminded of my children, one of which, is a "gender bender" (Keenan, 541). She will be 13 in December and I have learned more from this child than anything from any textbook. My approach has been through the lens of being her parent AND her teacher / guidance counsellor

Far right, if you weren't sure :)

Ava, 15; Cara, 10; Sarah, 13

"Schools were not designed to support queer and trans people who defy imposed identity categorization. Schools were designed to sort people by gender through record keeping, facilities (like bathrooms), and activities (like sports). This is not a problem unique to schools. It is a reflection of a society that was not designed to support queer and trans people." (Keenan, 545)

Considering Sarah...

Bathrooms. Sarah has always been private. Currently, we have 2 bathrooms in our school of 200+ kids that are for anyone. While this is an ok start, she wishes there were more specifically in the middle and high school wings.

Locker rooms. They're ok. Still split between male and female, but space to go and change *more* privately. These two areas are a big issue for bullying - Imagine being a student who would choose neither side for changing in.

Teaching Materials. What are we using, and choosing, in our classrooms to create a WHOLE class lesson that is relevant to all learners?

A few notes

• I have kept returning to my kids. One, the "gender bender", and the other two, staunch allies
• I'm an active lover of kids and verbalize it for them. Adults can feel emotion but don't often verbalize it. Think about those moments you wished you had heard something out loud. Say the good and the love out loud.

The world needs the Sarah's to willingly do the 'constant work' (Keenan, 546)

Kean's Conclusion (pg. 277)

• Recognize the UNENDINGLY creative ways in which people understand their own gender within different spaces and contexts
• Emphasize the role of social institutions in administrating gender... especially in education
• Lift up trans people as creators of valuable knowledge

Continued...

• provide some educational tools that might be useful in developing educational practice, policy, and praxis that moves us toward gender justice.

"It shifts the register from a stable ontology of gendered being to an active, collaborative, and ever-shifting ontology of becoming." (Malatino, 409)

Andrea's Conclusions

• Hold the space (proverbial and physical) for those kiddos who need the support and safety
• Get out of the way when they don't :)
• Question your own assumptions all the while being willing to watch and learn from these incredible humans. If you're willing, they will make you better.

Conclusions continued...

• Find better resources. Create if necessary. Lead. All classroom tones begin with you. Tones are powerful.

"The world has enough jerks, the quota is filled. Let's be better." (Carson Family Mantra, 2016-ish)

Resources for classrooms and teacher education:
www.egale.ca
www.ok2BMe.ca

https://ok2bme.ca/resources/parents-educators/resources-for-schools-and-cla...

End Note

• Sarah was happy to share. She always is.