Vera Teschow.ca
  • Home
  • About
    • Overview
    • Education & Diplomas
    • Consulting & PR
    • Teaching Experience
    • Workshop Facilitation
    • Volunteer Experience
    • Extra-Curricular Leadership
    • Writing
  • Learn
  • BLOG
  • Contact

Run (And throw, sing, dance, think, do math, etc., etc., etc.) Like a Girl!

10/25/2014

1 Comment

 
It always irritated me when I read the title "anti-discrimination education" in our Ontario curriculum documents.  The more eternal optimist in me strongly preferred "Inclusive Education" or "Teaching about Social Justice" or something to that effect.

Increasingly, however, I am coming to understand that "brainwashing" (as the mysogenistic and homophobic brother of my girlfriend calls it) students to buy into an "inclusive", "socially just" world requires a specifically ANTI-discriminatory approach.  In order to create such a world, its members first need an understanding that oppression is systemic, that we are all prone to internal biases and stereotypes (and that we act in discriminatory ways as a result of these), and that very specific steps must be taken by ALL people if we want to eradicate injustice.

This sort of brainwashing (I prefer the term "education" myself) requires a holistic approach, however, and what seems "acceptable" in the mainstream is not helpful!!!

Take this clothing ad, for example:
Picture

Am I getting old and conservative, or does this clothing add glamorize and condone gang rape?!!

How can we teach that the gratuitous taking of sexual power by men over women is wrong and that gang rape is a crime, when the students we teach and their families are regularly exposed to billboards and magazine ads that promote and indeed seem to glorify misogyny?!

How can I teach critical literacy when I myself am not critically literate?  Or when our politicians and social leaders regularly endorse or even practise unchecked prejudice and stereotyping?
Picture

A male student in my class recently told another male student in my class to "stop whining like a little girl wearing high heels".  This, after an already hostile exchange between him and a group of other students during an exploration of opinion about whether or not the recent outrage aimed at Target's allegedly sexist baby sleepers was warranted.

When I called the student to task over his comment (privately, in the hall, not in front of his peers), a mixture of disgust and irritation over over him, as he brushed aside my accusation, saying that "acting like a girl" had always been used as an insult, as early as Grade 3, and no teacher had ever said anything about it, so he didn't see how it was now suddenly "sexist".

He later told another staff member that his sports coach frequently used comments like this.

Picture
I am so tired of having to live in a world where children have to be shot in the head so they can go to school because they are girls.  I am so angry that the province that I live in, in an allegedly educated, first-world country, still boasts an average 28% pay gap between women and men, and that young boys can be chastised by their mentors and role models for playing hockey (soccer, football, basketball, etc.) "like a bunch of girls" and no one bats an eyelash.  I am so fed up with young boys who don't think twice about using the female sex or gender as as an insult because they have grown up in a society where their fathers encourage or ignore it and their female teachers haven't taken them to task on it because they themselves don't fully recognize or feel empowered to speak up against systemic misogyny.  

Perhaps most of all, I am sick of swimming upstream alone or in thin company, and I have had it "up to here" with being viewed as "alternative" or "activist" or just a little bit different because I dare to speak out against what is so clearly WRONG!!!

Picture
Determined not let my joy at my many students who are interested and "get it" and are HUNGRY for these conversations be overshadowed by my deep sorrow at the world's complexities and injustices and -- in particular -- the apparent subsequent hopelessness of some students' understanding, I set about trying to re-energize my own thinking about equity work in emotionally inhospitable situations.

The Ministry of Education's Equity and Inclusive Education in Ontario Schools resource document describes sexism as "prejudice, stereotyping, and discrimination directed against people on the basis of their sex or gender."

They go on to note that "Sexism may be evident in organizational and institutional structures, policies, procedures, and programs, as well as in the attitudes and behaviours of individuals."


Those of us at the frontlines of the fight for universal social justice need to recognize our own biases, and admit that there is more and better work to be done with our more "mainstream" colleagues and friends. We must find creative and insidious ways to constantly and effectively challenge those who think we in North America live in an "equal" society, to challenge their assumptions.  Collectively, we need to take off the rose-coloured glasses through which we view the Claire Huxtable model of "look how far women's rights have come and how equitable we are now", and critically examine our current reality and the formerly avant-garde mainstream media with eyes wide open and vision unobscured.  

Of course we should remember to do so with hope and optimism, and -- especially with kids -- a bit of fun.

Recognizing  the shortcomings of "modern" sitcoms and social media doesn't negate their value; it helps us to more deeply explore what oppression and privilege really mean.
Picture
Unfortunately, in my experience, few adults -- even educated adults -- are comfortable with uncomfortable conversations.  "Presume positive intentions" is a edu-facilitaton-catchphrase with few real life role models who practise it.  People are easily offended and not so quick to forgive when they feel misunderstood.  And with few or no adult models of open exploration, how can the next generation hope to change the world?!

The sexist comment (and the student's apparent unwillingness to admit that his thinking might need some expansion or reorientation) troubled me all weekend.  As an LGBTQ woman I was doubly (triply?) troubled.  Like blacks fighting for a real end to racism, women promoting sex- and gender-equity are often looked on with suspicion or disdain.  "Feminism" is a swear word, and the fact that I'm gay presents a whole new problem for those who appear to somehow have been sheltered from 10% of the world's population for most of their lives.  (Apparently a parent from one of my classes has already asked the admin at my new school, "is Ms. Teschow gay?" The relevancy of sexual identity to my program being.... ??!! The negative connection they want to see between who I love and how I teach math perplexes me.)

Picture
reblogged from Coach HB
But after having a good long cry about unfair things were and how few people were fighting the good fight, I pulled up my big girl underwear, dug deep into my resource stash, called a few friends, talked at length with my (far more pessimistic but refreshingly honest and sometimes painfully raw) girlfriend, and developed two short, fun, engaging lessons to share with my students the following week.  

stereotypes.ppt
File Size: 7782 kb
File Type: ppt
Download File

sexism_concept_attainment.pptx
File Size: 808 kb
File Type: pptx
Download File


The first is a modified version of a little game we played at a Board Climate Training session recently, intended to make us aware of our own biases and the stereotypes most of us cherish.  The second is a "guessing game" (concept attainment) that deals specifically with sexism.

As I chatted with other teachers in the school about what our class was doing, many encouraged me and shared further resources.

And, thankfully, sometimes even the big companies get it right... A recent grad and new supply teacher who is coming in for me later this week got excited about the work, and offered this resource from Always:


We decided that she would follow up the work I started by sharing this video with students, and then asking them what they thought.  As a follow up, she designed a survey they could conduct with three people at home over the weekend, just to see how far-reaching this sort of sexism really is.
like_a_girl_handout.pdf
File Size: 48 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

lesson_plan-_like_a_girl_oct_24_2014.pdf
File Size: 52 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

I am encouraged that the new breed of teacher seems to have a strong understanding of these important issues already early in their career.  With minimal guidance and support, this lovely new teacher developed a curriculum linked lesson plan that considered how sexism fit into various curriculum areas.

Of course I'm still worried I won't get it right, or I won't know what to say, or I won't be able to properly facilitate difficult conversations in my classroom, or I'll have to deal with cranky parents who are so marks-obsessed, they don't see the value -- nay, the necessity -- of this important work. 

But I'll do my best not to let those worries deter me from teaching the whole child, and teaching responsively.  Heck, the Ministry of Education even claims I have to teach this stuff!  And teaching it imperfectly is less of an offence to our students who need and want tools than staying silent would be.

After a decade and a half of not always getting it right, I am determined to do better for the girls in my class this year, and for the boys who will share their world with them. 
Picture
1 Comment
Spooning Recipes link
9/4/2021 08:44:04 pm

Great read thaankyou

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    About Vera...

    Vera & her Sons, April 2021
    After writing for several teacher and multiple birth publications, including ETFO's Voice Magazine, Multiple Moments, and the Bulletwin, Vera turned her written attention to prolific blogging for some years, including BiB,  "Learn to Fly with Vera!"  and SMARTbansho .  Homeschooling 4 was her travel blog in Argentina.  She now spends more time on her Instagram (@schalgzeug_usw)  than her blog (pictures are worth a thousand words?!) 
    DISCLAIMER
    The views expressed on this blog are the views of the author, and do not necessarily represent the perspectives of her family members or the position of her employer on the the issues she blogs about.  These posts are intended to share resources, document family life, and encourage critical thought on a variety of subjects.  They are not intended to cause harm to any individual or member of any group. By reading this blog and viewing this site, you agree to not hold Vera liable for any harm done by views expressed in this blog.
    Picture

    Categories

    All
    Argentina 2013
    COVID 19
    COVID-19
    Cycling
    Family
    Flying
    Geocaching
    Honduras 2011
    Lakeshore
    Lgbtq
    Math Eyes
    Music
    Other Stuff
    Prince Edward Island
    Teaching And Learning
    Teaching-and-learning
    Travel

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    March 2022
    January 2021
    September 2020
    August 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    April 2019
    February 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    October 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010
    July 2010

Vera C. Teschow, OCT, M.Ed., MOT
Toronto, ON & St Peter's Harbour, PE
www.verateschow.ca 2021
Photos used under Creative Commons from Sean MacEntee, Studio Paars, Bengt Nyman, zeevveez, GoodNCrazy, CJS*64, Accretion Disc, CharlesLam, Courtney Dirks, CJS*64 "Man with a camera", Accretion Disc, Bobolink, Ian Muttoo, BioDivLibrary, Alaskan Dude, IsabelleAcatauassu, runran, Transformer18, jglsongs, Create For Animal Rights, david_shankbone, Paul J Coles, foilman, Newport Geographic, Photo Everywhere, kevin dooley, Claudio , Alex Guibord, Tscherno, f_mafra, Terry Madeley, musee de l'horlogerie, BobMacInnes, wwarby, jonathangarcia, amboo who?, chimothy27, Elin B, cliff1066™, Grzegorz Łobiński, Rennett Stowe, Farhill, Phil Manker, Guitarfool5931, airguy1988, dierk schaefer, Rob Stemple, katerha, StockMonkeys.com, Ramotionblog, andrewk3715, charlywkarl, AJC1, rachel_titiriga