LGBTQ+: New Approaches to Classroom Safety and Inclusion

By Wynter Aiken | Published by April 21, 2020

Inside the classroom to some students is a safe haven, an open door full of differing voices, identities, and perspectives, especially for students of the LGBTQ+ community. Members of the Diversity Council and Holocaust Resource Center came together on April 1 to present the LGBTQ+: New Approaches to Classroom Safety and Inclusion program, where educators, students, and community members can learn more about how districts of NJ can apply the history of LGBTQ+ into their classrooms. 

The program began with LGBTQ+ Advocate Jamie Bruesehoff, MA, who emphasized the importance of implementing inclusion in classroom settings and when student pronouns or identities are not honored in a classroom it can create not only a disharmony between educator and student but can cause damage to communities as a whole.  

Bruesehoff, who has a transgender daughter praised educators who are aware and open-minded.  

“The work we all do can be really hard because the world is not all always a happy and welcoming place for the LGBTQ+ community. That can be challenging when working with students when we’re trying to hear them and walk with them on their journeys,” Bruesehoff said. “When educators show up to their classrooms, they give hope and energy into what advocates do.”  

Increasing awareness around the discussion of gender identity and their use of self-expression does raise questions about how educators can practice promoting gender and sexuality inclusivity on campuses across the country but with the right attitude, curriculum material and language, anything can be done to make students more comfortable. The materials used are critical to breaking down gender expectations in the classroom, she said.  

“Break down stereotypes so not only the LGBTQ+ students are comfortable but as well as the other students. Including diverse reading material is important as well,” Bruesehoff continued. “For individual students, make sure you as the educator, support them, correct misinformation, and have affirming policies in place for schools.”  

According to Garden State Equality, Governor Murphy had signed the LGBTQ+ inclusive curriculum legislation into law on Jan. 31, 2019, making NJ the second state in the nation to require Boards of Education to teach and accurately portray all contributions LGBTQ+ people have made throughout history. This includes political, social and economic contributions to society.  

This monumental step to providing legal legislation for the LGBTQ+ students is essential to schools and universities across the nation and Educator Kate Okeson believes it’s important to have a professional foundation within the new programs that the legislation will now provide.  

“Because it’s a board action, the path to adopting curriculum, lessons, and supporting materials will look different in the hundreds of schools that NJ has. Ultimately, this is about how we interact with our children in the classroom,” Okeson said. 

It’s important to note that only 19.8% of LGBTQ+ students have been taught positive representations of history, people and events of the community in contrast to the 18.4% who’ve been taught negative content involving the community, according to the 2017 National School Climate Survey.  

“From the student perspective, when you have negative experiences in school, you can’t help but have a negative framework to how you approach the school day. You are potentially fearful, and these kinds of things get in the way of you having a positive, learning experience,” Okeson continued. “If they can’t have a positive school day, then we are failing our students.”  

Educators like Allison Connolly, who has taken a strong initiative to implement LGBTQ+ history into her classroom know as a teacher, it is important to be somebody that your student can look to for support and be able to create a safe space for them.  

“As educators, we have our curriculum and lesson plans that we are assigned to teach but at the end of the day there is also the “hidden curriculum”, known as norms in our classrooms that are constantly reinforced,” Connolly said. “The first place to start is to be conscientious and intentful with what we’re doing in the classroom”  

Students who can really learn outside the general scope of education, can have an overall positive and comfortable learning experience in the classroom and connect with not only their peers of the LGBTQ+ community but with their teachers on a deeper level.  

“Within my classroom, my students are entitled to believe what they want to believe and are free to express their opinions that differ from mine. We’ve had uncomfortable conversations, but they went beautifully,” Connolly continued. “I urge teachers to be familiar with what the law says and how the policy reads, we can’t opt-out of this and be prepared to know what you don’t know.”  

If you wish to know more about Jamie Bruesehoff, Kate Okeson and Allison Connolly’s advocacy, follow the links: http://www.jamiebruesehoff.com/ and  https://forms.gle/J6qVMY2fE5XSr4Zw6  

 

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