week 10: students, sex, gender identity, gender expression, and sexual orientation

Question 1

What are the 6 topics in this week?

Answer 1

1. Gender terminology
2. Law, Policy, and Gender Diversity in Schools
3. Supporting Transgender and Gender Diverse Students in Schools: Educators Response
4. Transgender and Gender Diverse Students in Schools
5. International Policies and Laws on Gender Equity
6. Women and Education: The Right to Substantive Equality

Question 2

What is Identity?

Answer 2

Identity is how you, in your head, experience and define your gender, based on how much you align or dont align with what you understand the options for gender to be.

Question 3

What is expression?

Answer 3

Expression is how you present gender through your actions, clothing, and demeanor, to name a few, and how those presentations are viewed based on social expectations

Question 4

What is attraction?

Answer 4

Attraction is how you find yourself feeling down or not drawn to some other people, in sexual, romantic, and/or other ways that are often categorized within gender.

Question 5

What is sex?

Answer 5

Sex is the physical traits that youre bron with or develop that we thin kof as “sex characteristics” as well as the sex you are assigned at birth.

Question 6

What are the 4 terms outlined by the Thames Valley District School Board Guidelines for the Accommodation of Gender Divers and Trans Students and Staff?

Answer 6

1. Assigned Biological Sex: The biological classification of people as male and/or female.
2. Sexual Orientation: A person’s affection and sexual attraction to other persons. [This] is independent of one’s gender identity.
3. Gender Identity: Linked to an individual’s intrinsic sense of self and their sense of being female, male, and female combination of both, or neither regardless of their assigned biological sex.
4. Gender Expression: Refers to the way an individual expresses their gender identity (e.g. dress, hair, act, speak etc…)

Question 7

What is the accepting schools act?

Answer 7

“The Accepting Schools Act … sets out requirements for all school boards to provide safe, inclusive, and accepting learning environments in which every student can succeed” (Ontario Ministry of Education, 2014, 9).

Question 8

Law and Policy outlined by the Accepting Schools Act?

Answer 8

Accepting Schools Act, 2012, Bill 13 Chapter 5: An Act to amend the Education Act with respect to bullying and other matters Equity and Inclusive Education “29.1 require boards to develop and implement an equity and inclusive education policy.” “3. (1) (a. 1) promote a positive school climate that is inclusive and accepting of al pupils, including pupils of any. … sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression.”

Question 9

Law and policy outlined by the Equity and Inclusive Education policy no. 2022?

Answer 9

Equity and Inclusive Education Policy No.: 2022 PPM No. 119 - Developing and Implementing Equity and Inclusive Education Policies in Ontario Schools “The Thames Valley District School Board will not tolerate discrimination or any expression of discrimination by members of our school communities.”

Question 10

What did the study from an Ontario-wide survey of educators find on transgender and gender diverse students in schools? (Martino)

Answer 10

1. Policies - “More than one quarter (28%) of educators whop participated in the study indicated little or no awareness of transgender and gender diverse inclusive policies in schools” (Martino et al., 2022, 13). 2. 2. Understanding Trans Inclusion and Gender Diversity - “better understanding of terms is associated with greater comfort discussing these issues with students” Martino et al., 2022, 14).
2. Training - “75% of respondents had received little or no explicit training … about transgender and gender diverse people. … most respondents (79%) indicated that self-education was their primary source of training” (Martino et al, 2022, 15).
3. Resources - “Invited speakers (93%) and picture books (90%) were identified as the most helpful resources” (Martino et al., 2022, 16).
4. Additional Supports - “Educators need professional development, resources, and a shift in school culture” (Martino et al., 2022, 17).

Question 11

Where do expereinces of oppresion stem from for 2SLGBTQIA youth? According to Greensmith and Davies, 2018.

Answer 11

“Experiences of oppression for 2SLGBTQIA* youth typically result from a schooling environment … that continually normalizes and reproduces heterosexism[;] … the cultural logic that presumes heterosexuality to be normal, natural, and superior to that of other sexualities” (Greensmith and Davies, 2018, 315).

Question 12

How does the concept of panopticism impact school sites?

Answer 12

“Schools are sites of surveillance, where youth learn that heterosexuality and a two-gender binary system are normal and natural. … Foucault’s work on surveillance [the panopticon - a single prison guard in the centre can watch all prisoners at the same time] can be applied to the context of schooling, where youth will regulate themselves and one another, as they fear they are always being watched” (Greensmith and Davies, 2018, 315).

Question 13

How does the Accepting Schools Act support GSAs? (gay-straight alliances)

Answer 13

“The Accepting Schools Act maintains that all students are guaranteed the right to formulate a Gay-Straight Alliance in any publicly funded school” (Greensmith and Davies, 2018, 319).

Question 14

What is the purpose of a GSA? What does it resist?

Answer 14

“GSAs are resisting normatively that contributes to their oppression by (1) challenging the ways homophobia and transphobia are perpetuated in schools; and (2) generating spaces where diversity around gender and sexuality can be celebrated” (Greensmith and Davies, 2018, 319).

Question 15

What does :childhood innocence” represent in oppostition to GSAs?

Answer 15

“In the case of opposition to GSAs, ‘childhood innocence’ is coded language for ‘(hetero)asexuality’ and ‘passive semi-citizenship.’ … Adults who are morally opposed to GSAs are upset that GSAs ‘disrupt the dominant notion that youth’s sexual subjectivity is naturally and universally asexual in practice … and heterosexual in orientation” (Iskander & Shabtay, 2018, 347).

“The work of GSAs challenge constructions of youth as passive, innocent, and (hetero) asexual. GSAs allow LGBTQ youth to be a visible and recognized presence in schools and take an active, participatory role int he development of a nondiscriminatory school climate” (Iskander & Shabtay, 2018, 347).

Question 16

https://www.globalgoals.org/goals/
What are goals 4 and 5 outlined by The Global Goals to support Gender Equality?

Answer 16

Goal 4: Quality Education (ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunites for all)
Goal 5: Gender Equality (achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls)

Question 17

What are 3 international policies and laws on gender equality?

Answer 17

1. International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights includes Article 13: The right to an education.
2. Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women
3. United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child

Question 18

Why is treating girls and boys alike not the way to achieve gender equality? (accordnig to Fredman, 2018)

Answer 18

“Simply treating girls and boys alike will not address the specifically gendered disadvantages which continues to obstruct girls and women in relation to education” (Fredman, 2018, 103).

“The right to equality should instead encompass a notion of substantive equality [including] … four interconnected dimensions” (Fredman, 2018, 103).

Question 19

What does Fredman (2018) think of Women and Education: The Right to Substantive Equality? What is the model for the transformational eimension? (distributing, recogniizng, participating, and transforming)

Answer 19

1. “The right to equality should focus on redressing disadvantage. This is the distributive dimension” (Fredman, 2018, 103).
2. The right to “address stereotyping, prejudice, stigma and violence. This is the recognition dimension” (Fredman, 2018, 103).
3. The “facilitat[ion of] voice and participation, especially where marginalized groups hav little voice in the political process or are excluded socially. This is the participative dimension (Fredman, 2018, 103).
4. There “should be [an] embrace [of] difference … [to] reconfigure the dominant norm. This is the transformative dimension (Fredman, 2018, 103).

Question 20

What is the distributive dimension?

Answer 20

Redressing Disadvantage: The Distributive Dimension “The right to education needs to be considered in the context of the many interlocking obstacles to gender equality more broadly” (Fredman, 2018, 104).

Address these disavantages:
Lack of sanitation in schools and responsibilities in the household specifically impact girl learners: Menstruation
Fear of attack when seeking privacy - Absenteeism and drop-out
Household chore responsibilities (fetching water)
Early pregnancy

Question 21

What is the recognition dimension?

Answer 21

The Recognition Dimension: Addressing Stigma, Stereotyping, Prejudice and Violence “Stereotypes of masculinity and femininity are reinforced … girls and women are locked into reproductive roles … [and] violence against women” perpetuate unequal access to education (Fredman, 2018, 106-108).

Question 22

What is the participative dimension?

Answer 22

The Participation Dimension “Education is obviously a key to giving voice to the disadvantaged … [and] it is crucial that the educational programmes for girls are able to take into account and integrate the concerns of girls themselves” (Fredman, 2018, 108).

Participate in…
Curriculum
Organization of the School
Protection from Gender-Based Violence

Question 23

How do we achieve the transformative dimension for women and education?

Answer 23

There “should be [an] embrace [of] difference … [to] reconfigure the dominant norm. This is the transformative dimension (Fredman, 2018, 103).
“Transformation and structural change … [including] good-quality teachers, who are given good terms and conditions” (Fredman, 2018, 109).

Question 24

The Accepting Schools act has laws that are trying to be ______ and _______.

Answer 24

proactive and reactive

Question 25

What is the gyst of the article from Greensmith and Davies?

Answer 25

Talks about how normalized heterosexuality is, and that school culture needs to change, but you have to CONTINUOUSLY open up dialogue for diversity, children are the best people to keep this conversation going Not only do principals and teachers surveil the identity of students, students surveil themselves and their peers as well

Question 26

Shabtay explains that heteronormativty and heterosexualiy assumes that al students are passive ______ beings, and GSAs distrupt this assumption.

Answer 26

asexual

Question 27

POTENTIAL EXAM QUESTION: How can schools become more inclusive, and what are the challenges?

Answer 27

-Children are guarded -How do you create these alliances when people are guarded? -What does this suggest?

Question 28

What is the start to improving womens rights in education?

Answer 28

GETTING THEM IN SCHOOL, those the many barriers present still need to be addressed

Question 29

Fredman uses the idea of _________, making sure that there are actions taking to address the inequalities between boys and girls, rather than just on paper

Answer 29

Substantive equality

Question 30

Everbody should have rights to education. What are the challenges of household chores, early pregnancy, and menstruation?

Answer 30

Women dont have the same access or support in education. They dont get times off for thier periods, early pregnancy stops them from being able to finish school, and women are often expected to take care of their households meaning they have to run their home, do their jobs, their schooling, all at once.

Question 31

What are you going to do "substantively abouut these issues? Can you demonstrate how gender based issues and violence in schools could be addressed "substantively"? <- exam question maybe

Answer 31

The right to equality, according to Fredman, should encompassa notioon of susbstantive equality, including four interconnected dimensions. 1. The distributive dimension: the right to equality should focus on redressing disadvantage 2. The recognition dimension: the right to address stereotyping, prejudice, stigma, and violence 3. The participative dimension: the facilitation of voice and participationo, especially where marginalized groups have little voice in poltiical porcesses or are excluded socially 4. The transformative dimension: there should be an embrace of difference to reconfigure the dominant norm