Ei-iE

The beginning of a new school year always inspires a range of emotions for both educators and students, from excitement and anticipation to anxiety and uncertainty. Reflecting on my own childhood, I can still vividly remember the nervous energy that would build as the first day of school approached. I’d be eager to reconnect with old friends and look forward to the opportunity to meet new ones. I’d also be curious about my teacher. Would they be nice? Would they like me? Would the class be fun or challenging or both?

All students crave a sense of belonging when they enter a new educational space, whether it's a kindergarten classroom or the lecture hall of a university. These initial days and weeks of the school year are crucial as we strive to establish safe, welcoming, and affirming learning environments that will enable ALL of our students to thrive as their authentic selves. Building a respectful and inclusive community within our classrooms is arguably the most important component of effective teaching and learning.

Often our gender diverse students struggle to see themselves included within our learning spaces. This is because most adults, myself included, grew up with significant knowledge gaps with respect to understanding the complexities of biological sex and gender. People often confuse biological sex and gender because in many societies both concepts are historically interlinked to the point where the terms are sometimes used interchangeably in everyday language, obscuring their distinct meanings.

In order to better support the gender diversity of our students, it is important to develop a common understanding of how gender is separate from biological sex. Biological sex refers to physical attributes like chromosomes, hormone levels, reproductive organs, and other secondary sex characteristics. Gender is a social and cultural construct that encompasses the roles, behaviors, and identities that societies expect, value, and enforce. Gender reflects how individuals intrinsically and express themselves, which isn’t necessarily tied to their biological traits.

A further challenge is that many societies remain stuck viewing biological sex and gender from a binary perspective with only two options: male and female. This is a vast oversimplification. Biological sex is more accurately described as a spectrum, similar to skin tone. Biological variations exist beyond male and female, including intersex where people have combinations of chromosomes, hormones, or physical characteristics that place them outside of a binary model as part of the natural diversity of human biology.

Gender, as a social construct, also exists as a spectrum that encompasses a wide range of identities associated with being masculine, feminine, both, or neither. In fact, many cultures recognize more than two genders. For example, some Indigenous communities in North America acknowledge Two-Spirit people, who embody both masculine and feminine qualities. Similarly, cultures in South Asia recognize hijra as a distinct gender category and some groups in Samoa recognize the fa’afafine, a third gender role.

These diverse perspectives have helped me to expand my understanding of gender beyond the strict male-female labels that I grew up with and this has helped me to reflect upon and improve my practices as an educator to support the beautiful gender diversity of our students.

One of the very first interactions involves learning my students’ names. Including pronouns is a seamless addition to these introductions. I model this by sharing my own name and pronouns. I provide an opportunity for students to ask questions or seek clarification if they are unfamiliar with including pronouns as part of an introduction, though I have found that most of my high school students are already very familiar with pronouns because this inclusive practice has already been embedded in earlier grade levels.

It is worth noting that not everyone is comfortable sharing their pronouns. Some transgender, non-binary, or questioning students might not be ready to let others know their gender identity. Other students might object to sharing pronouns for any number of personal reasons. Respect is key and you should allow students to skip their pronouns as long as they don’t mock or disparage the practice.

Honoring and respecting a student’s chosen name which may or may not correspond to their legal name is also critically important. Growing up I never used my full legal name of William and instead chose to go by Billy, which all of my teachers readily affirmed. Lots of people use nicknames or other chosen preferred names.

I avoid attempting to read off names from my class rosters because I don’t want to mispronounce a student’s name or use a name that might make them uncomfortable. Instead I prefer to have students introduce themselves to me and their classmates with the proper pronunciation of the name they use alongside their pronouns, if they are comfortable. I also incorporate a variety of activities including a virtual locker decorating project and a learner inventory assignment that provide opportunities for students to share information about their identity. I’ve also learned that it is important to check-in with students about whether there are different names or pronouns that I should use when communicating with their family members at home.

During the start of the school year I take the time to practice my students’ names and pronouns because it shows that I respect and affirm them. Addressing someone by the wrong name or misgendering them through the use of incorrect pronouns can feel disrespectful and harmful to the student to a point where they don’t feel safe.

Another helpful classroom practice is the adoption of more inclusive language. It is best to avoid making assumptions about students’ gender identities or sexual orientations. This is similar to recognizing that students have diverse family structures at home, so you would not want to assume that all students live in a home with a “mom and a dad”.

I encourage educators to avoid using expressions that reinforce the binary like “boys and girls” or “ladies and gentlemen” when addressing groups of students because not all students may identify with these terms causing them to feel excluded or unseen. These expressions are easily replaced with gender-neutral or gender-inclusive terms such as “class”, “students”, “everyone”, etc.

Remember, creating a supportive and inclusive environment for gender diverse students is an ongoing process. You will make mistakes and that is OK. Students know when your heart is in the right place. Stay open to feedback from students, colleagues, and LGBTQI+ organizations as you continue to grow to create classrooms that affirm and celebrate the gender diversity that represents one of many beautiful parts of your students’ complex identities.