Safe Spaces and GLSEN
Vaccaro, August, and Kennedy argue that in order for teachers to create classrooms that are safe for LGBT youth, they must publicly commit to creating classroom climates of inclusivity and respect with the cooperation of all students. In order for a teacher to create an inclusive and safe classroom, they need to ensure their curriculum includes the perspectives, experiences, and history of LGBT people, and they must ensure that the communication inside their classroom walls validates the LGBT experience.
Talking points:
1. “Without the deliberate creation of an inclusive atmosphere, however, what happens inside the classroom walls reproduces the prejudices that exist outside these walls: straightness and gender conformity are assumed; LGBT identity is deviant.”
This is more of the same sentiment that we have gotten from other readings: following the status quo is only teaching kids that prejudice against minority groups is okay so we can’t just follow the status quo or we will perpetuate the ideals expressed by the dominant culture.
2. “She suggests that to make up for the years of invisibility, classrooms should over-represent the experiences of those who have been excluded or erased from history.”
This is really interesting, and I hadn’t thought about representation with an affirmative action vibe, but it makes sense.
3. “In the end it seems that the best way to deal with students’ complaints that [LGBT] materials are just ‘too much’ is to integrate more of it into our courses.”
At first, I was like, ‘wait, what? The students said it was too much so he added more?’ But it makes total sense, and I can actually see how that has impacted me. I remember when I first started TFA I thought they were so liberal and “extra” because we had to talk about race and identity constantly, but now it just feels normal.
4. “Good intentions are not enough; trying to see all students as the same is not enough. Being fair-minded is not enough.”
This again, but it is so so so so true. “It is not our intentions that matter, but our impact that matters.” I remember the first time I heard that quote in institute as it applied to my identity as a white, cis-gendered female educator. When I talk about race in my genetics unit and explain that genetically we are 99.9% identical and that race is a social construct and all that, it does not matter that my intent is good and pure and all I want is for students to understand that genetically we are not different. It matters how my students receive that information. How does me saying race is a social construct make them feel? I may not be trying to be colorblind or erase their identity, but if I am not careful how I explain what I want to teach then I will be interpreted as being colorblind and erasing their identities. I need to explicitly include a discussion about how a social construct is different than not existing, and that race does exist and that it largely impacts people’s (including my students) lives. If I can’t get that final message across, then I will have done more harm than good, even if my intentions were good.
Vaccaro, August, and Kennedy argue that in order for teachers to create classrooms that are safe for LGBT youth, they must publicly commit to creating classroom climates of inclusivity and respect with the cooperation of all students. In order for a teacher to create an inclusive and safe classroom, they need to ensure their curriculum includes the perspectives, experiences, and history of LGBT people, and they must ensure that the communication inside their classroom walls validates the LGBT experience.
Talking points:
1. “Without the deliberate creation of an inclusive atmosphere, however, what happens inside the classroom walls reproduces the prejudices that exist outside these walls: straightness and gender conformity are assumed; LGBT identity is deviant.”
This is more of the same sentiment that we have gotten from other readings: following the status quo is only teaching kids that prejudice against minority groups is okay so we can’t just follow the status quo or we will perpetuate the ideals expressed by the dominant culture.
2. “She suggests that to make up for the years of invisibility, classrooms should over-represent the experiences of those who have been excluded or erased from history.”
This is really interesting, and I hadn’t thought about representation with an affirmative action vibe, but it makes sense.
3. “In the end it seems that the best way to deal with students’ complaints that [LGBT] materials are just ‘too much’ is to integrate more of it into our courses.”
At first, I was like, ‘wait, what? The students said it was too much so he added more?’ But it makes total sense, and I can actually see how that has impacted me. I remember when I first started TFA I thought they were so liberal and “extra” because we had to talk about race and identity constantly, but now it just feels normal.
4. “Good intentions are not enough; trying to see all students as the same is not enough. Being fair-minded is not enough.”
This again, but it is so so so so true. “It is not our intentions that matter, but our impact that matters.” I remember the first time I heard that quote in institute as it applied to my identity as a white, cis-gendered female educator. When I talk about race in my genetics unit and explain that genetically we are 99.9% identical and that race is a social construct and all that, it does not matter that my intent is good and pure and all I want is for students to understand that genetically we are not different. It matters how my students receive that information. How does me saying race is a social construct make them feel? I may not be trying to be colorblind or erase their identity, but if I am not careful how I explain what I want to teach then I will be interpreted as being colorblind and erasing their identities. I need to explicitly include a discussion about how a social construct is different than not existing, and that race does exist and that it largely impacts people’s (including my students) lives. If I can’t get that final message across, then I will have done more harm than good, even if my intentions were good.
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