Pauli Murray was an activist, legal scholar, author, and she was also queer. Her impact on the civil rights and women's rights movements cannot be overstated. The authors present the reader with the potential for elementary teachers to disrupt and "unmute" curricular silencing by shifting focus to Pauli Murray's story and work in the…

We live in a time when the question of who is (or is not) depicted in public monuments is a topic of heated discussions across the nation. For example, the removal of Robert E. Lee statue in Charlottesville, Virginia, resulted in a violent protest in 2017. Such debates concerning the display and preservation of Civil War monuments center around…

The author recently completed a three-year program in early childhood education in BC and became interested in the evolution of gender development in the early years. Findings of this policy and programs research reveal that the work has been done by upper levels of the provincial education system, but the created programming has not translated…

This article outlines a thinking framework that any teacher can use to adapt curriculum through a lens of gender diversity. The authors illustrate the adaptation of several sample lessons to achieve three key outcomes: (1) to support and reduce harm to LGBTQ students; (2) to engage all students with inquiry into science in society; and (3) to…

When the author's spouse identified as female (they had been assigned male at birth), she did not consider how it would change her practice as a high school biology teacher. However, her spouse's entrance into the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, and Asexual (LGBTQIA+) community has significantly changed her teaching approach.…

This case study follows Maggie, a principal of a large urban elementary school, as she navigates principalship as a woman, revealing various gendered discourses along the way. Maggie recognizes gender as a factor and makes distinctions between male and female ways of leading. She reveals some of the barriers she faces as a female principal and…

A nationwide study (Kosciw et al. 2016) reveals a troubling truth: More than 80% of students who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT) have experienced verbal or physical harassment at school and reported higher absenteeism and lower grades due to this harassment. Even more troubling: Many of these students (about 60%) reported…

LGBTQ students in many parts of the United States often experience hostility on the part of other students, teachers, and administrators. This article reviews current terminology, examines present-day attitudes and recent literature, and offers suggestions to educators who want to create safe spaces for all students in their classrooms.

As queer-identified women and former elementary school teachers who now work in universities as teacher educators, the authors spent the past decade developing a range of approaches to help elementary school teachers integrate lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ)-inclusive practices into their teaching: "expanding…

Courses: Introduction to advanced classes in Media Studies, Women's Studies, Gender Studies, Race, Communication, and Advertising. Objectives: In this unit activity, students critically assess advertisements that co-opt female empowerment and then identify ways they can resist such strategies.

Students of gender communication often explore feminist ideologies and the marginalization of women. Thus, one common component of gender communication courses is the examination of women's (feminist) movements and how they counter hegemony that women have historically faced. Namely, these groups speak out against hegemony and work toward…

How can teachers help students understand the importance of gender pronouns for transgender and gender-nonconforming people? This article presents a gender pronoun reversal activity that simulates the experience of being verbally misgendered. Students followed up on the activity by posting reflections on an online class discussion board. The…

The purpose of this article is to describe ways that teacher educators can encourage future teachers to address lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT) issues in their own classrooms. The Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network's ThinkB4YouSpeak Educator's Guide served as the framework for the activities that the author has implemented in…

The recent federal guidance and litigation on transgender students have increased public awareness of the legal rights of transgender students. Title IX regulations have long permitted school districts to segregate male and female students in separate but comparable toilet, shower, and locker room facilities, but the legal issue presented by…

The power of stories is well documented. Scott Russell Sanders (1997) maintained that stories have the power to build community and help us see the world through others' eyes. Furthermore, Sanders (1997) asserted that "stories teach us that every gesture, every act, every choice we make sends ripples of influence into the future" (p. 3).…