ECS 203 Blog Post #10

How might we begin to address the ways in which the systems that we teach our curriculum are intrinsically homophobic, transphobic, biphobic, and oppressive towards queer and trans people?

I feel like there are numerous ways to address this through our teachings and using the curriculum to discuss the topics listed above. I think that one way to address it is by educating your students more on the topics and showing them ways they can be supportive. Educating your students will allow them to feel like they understand and with understanding less of a bias. Another way we as future educators can address this is by creating a positive environment. Within the Climate Survey Executive Summary article, it says, “2SLGBTQ students need educators to explicitly and visibly support, respect, inclusion, and validate them – all of which is exactly what every student in every school wants and is entitled to expect” (page 6). Which I think reflects that if teachers build positive work environments and keep their students up to date, and educated within the areas listed above we can bias out things like homophobia, transphobia, etc. Teachers may also think about adjusting their teaching pedagogies, for example, instead of just including examples of straight heterosexual individuals or using books from a 2SLGBTQ perspective. These simple adjustments can help change the driven perspective within your classrooms and allow all your students to see different viewpoints. Teachers also acknowledging heterosexual privilege within their classrooms can allow students who may be homophobic, transphobic, biphobic, and oppressive towards queer and trans people to see that they have been granted privileges and the journey people face within the 2SLGBTQ community may be difficult. Overall, when teachers are addressing this when they are teaching the curriculum, they should be making sure that it is meeting outcomes and indicators that are designed for that specific grade.