Story: When the kids go to gym the get in two lines: a boys line and a girls line. There was this one time when a boy wasn't really paying attention and he drifted into the girls line. The kids who noticed made a big deal out of it and laughed at him. He looked really embarrassed and strongly asserted that it was a mistake.
Connection to Authors
1) August- This reading talked about how we need to normalize being LGBT among children and make school a safe and inclusive place for everyone regardless of their gender identity or sexual orientation. In this situation the kids unintentionally could alienate a fellow classmate who might not fit into the gender binary or whose looks do not conform with the stereotypes of their gender.
2) Christensen- This reading talks about the stereotypes that children are bombarded with by the media that shape their beliefs or views on different groups of people. This story clearly shows that they have clear images about what a girl is and what a boy is and their laughter indicated to me that they think that there is something inherently undesirable about breaking stereotypes or perhaps being a girl.
3)Johnson- Johnson talked about how important it is to explicitly talk about issues with children which is in line with August and Christensen's beliefs. In this specific situation it would have been beneficial to the students if we had time to explore why they laughed and to talk to them about gender.
Hi Sam,
ReplyDeleteI really like how you have set up your blog with a story / moment and then you connect with different authors to this story. I see the author connections you are making very clearly.
It sounds like gender acceptance and the concept of gender fluidity is not being taught -- and gender dichotomy is being enforced by both the students (in teasing someone in the "wrong line" and also the institutional expectation of boys and girls lines. Could you say a bit more about this?
I would also like to hear your imagination/thoughts about how to shift to being a more inclusive space. You begin thinking about this at the end, but there are teachable moments (as in this case) and also institutional changes (as in alternatives to having gender specific lines).
Nice thinking here, I want to hear a bit more!