RI Law and Policies, Queer our School, & Woke Read Aloud: They, She, He Easy ABC

 Author: The Editors of Rethinking and Woke Kindergarden 

These readings and videos were very insightful regarding queer practices in the school systems. For the Woke Read Aloud video I was fond of the children's book that the woman was speaking about. What stood out to me was the gender identity of a certain individual could contradict their gender orientation. For example, a person wearing a dress, having long hair, and wearing pink could identify as a male. Introducing this topic to little children can make it easier to understand that these differences are okay. Additionally, through education we can break down stereotypes that marginalize the queer community. This video reminded me of an Instagram reel I came across while doom scrolling. An educator showed pictures of different cartoon T.V. and anime characters asking the children to identify their gender. Specifically he showed students Piglet and Tweety on the classroom television. They said that the two characters were females, and the teacher corrected this accusation. One of the characters' gender even identified as non-binary. After, he described the term misgendering and the necessary steps to take in the future. These two videos heavily resonated with me because I want to be the kind of teacher that will teach kindness at an earlier age. In educational psychology class we are learning about Bandura’s Social Learning Theories. We as humans learn from observation and behavior outcomes we watch in society. If we can build a healthy and safe learning community in early stages we can set that standard for a child for the rest of their lives. According to the RI Law and Policies and the Woke Read Aloud there are real concerns on how parents will react to education and coming children with gender differences. Deeply, this makes me disappointed and angry in a variety of ways. Through communication and education we can end the silence to challenges and segregation that the queer community faces. I believe that teachers should be professionally developed in these areas so they can spread kindness where hatred is prominent in the school system.  In the Queer studies article, they mentioned integration LGBTQ+ relevant topics into the curriculum. In my opinion, it is a brilliant opportunity to get to recognize queer situations, while continuing to learn about typical history. 

Comment: In Florida, there is a whole law dedicated to the restriction of LGBTQ+ education unless deemed “age appropriate.” It makes me upset that the RI Law and Policies need to restrain using the preferred pronouns to a parent because there are so many that will not accept it. I believe that they look down upon it because of the negative stigma and the lack of education they receive. Also, there are so many parents worried about how society will look at them knowing their child is not straight or the gender they were assigned at birth. A solution to this issue could be offering education services about queer studies in the community.

Comment: There is one more comment I would like to add pertaining to the Queering Our Schools reading. Sasha’s father says a beautiful quote that includes: “if he had seen Sasha’s skirt as an expression of another kid’s unique beautiful self…I would not be writing this now.” This touched my heart because instead of hating on an unfamiliarity in a human, we can find the beauty in the freedom of their self expression.