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Hey! Welcome to our teaching resource to help support students' gender diversity.

This resource will take a look at what we mean by gender roles and gender diverse people, as well as why it is important to cater for these students in our schools.

Further, we'll be looking at some resources that can help create a gender inclusive school at the whole school, classroom, and individual teacher levels. We have also linked to media, art, and music created by gender diverse people throughout for extra information!

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Take a look at this resource.
As indicated on the image, it's an "appetiser for gender understanding" and illuminates the way in which gender is far from binary.

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To begin with, it’s important to explain the definitions of what we mean when we talk about gender. The two terms “sex” and “gender” should be clarified when we discuss these topics.

“Sex” refers to biological differences between male and female as what is assigned at birth (Anius, 2013).
For instance, external or internal genitals, hormones, or chromosomes. Further, there are also people who can be identified as “intersex”. These people do not fit into the usual definitions of male or female, that may be expressed as having hormone make up of both genders, or ambiguous biological indicators (Kraus, 2015).

On the other hand, gender is a social construct that denotes how masculine and feminine characteristics are expressed (Anius, 2013). That is, the society can determine the certain occupations, appearances, or personality traits that are expected of masculine or feminine people. For instance, masculinity may be associated with working in trades, being physically strong or having short hair. Alternatively, being neat, sensitive or working in nursing may have connotations with femininity. Gender expectations and roles are inconsistent across societies and cultures (Alesina, Giuliano, & Nunn, 2013). Hence, when we use these gender roles to define people it can lead to feelings of being misunderstood or de-individualised.

In addition to this, many individuals have unique expressions of their gender. When someone is “transgender” it means that they identify with the gender roles opposite to what they were assigned at birth (Conron, Lombardi, Reisner, 2014). That is, a person of the male sex who associates themselves with feminine gender roles. Alternatively, others may consider themselves “gender non-conforming” where they do not situate or identify with either masculine or feminine social roles (American Psychological Association, 2015). As a result, there is a range of expressions of gender, and it’s important for all individuals to feel that they are acknowledged and accepted by others.

A student may express their gender diversity in the early stages of development. Individuals as young as three may feel an affinity to expressing a gender different from their sex (Cohen-Kettenis, 2010). Often puberty can become a distressing time as their body changes to become more aligned to traditional masculine or feminine appearances (Vance, Ehrensaft, & Rosenthal, 2014). In turn, we will outline the importance and impact that gender and expectations around gender have on teenagers and the resources that we can use to support our students.

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Take a look at this resource!

June Jones is the lead singer of Melbourne band "Two Steps on the Water". A common theme in her music is about the difficulties and experiences of being a transgender woman.

"When he said he wanted to be a salmon
Pink and red and able to change sex
I later made a joke to my buddies
But I knew exactly what he meant

Don’t take me back, back to your old days
They were not good and they were not golden"

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Two Steps on the Water Two Steps on the Water is an emotion punk band working on Wurundjeri land. Second album "Sword Songs" due out in late September Sword Songs, released 29 September 2017 1. Camouflage 2. A Very Hot Shower 3. Sword I 4. Venom 5. Hold Me 6.

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The Importance of Addressing Gender Expectations

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The Importance of Addressing Gender Expectations

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Now that we've covered some key terms, it is important to examine the importance of addressing gender expectations in schools.

The demographic of our students represent these aforementioned and various genders, whether binary or non-binary. Young adults spend the majority of their time within the confines of schools, which is why training ourselves to support gender diversity, and promote a safe school ethos is crucial. But why is it important?

Research has indicated that student's choices of subjects and behaviour, is influenced by gender ideology, with "macho"  culture influencing boys educational choices (van der Vleuten, Jaspers, Maas & van der Lippe, 2016).

Additionally, sexual violence was at an all time high in 2014, with 88 victims per 100,000  Australians, 83 % of which were women and 60% were under the age of 19 (ABS, 2016).

Lastly, there has been an increase of young persons experiencing gender dysphoria, identifying as transgender or as intersex, with these students experiencing high rates of bullying and exclusion (Smith et. al. 2014).

We need to address the gender expectations placed on students based on male/female stereotypes, and how the perpetuation of gender roles influences their attitudes, behaviours and wellbeing.

The following set of statistics indicate concerns of young Australians and experiences affecting their wellbeing. See below!

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Now, Moving on to the Impact of Gender Expectations...

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Now, Moving on to the Impact of Gender Expectations...

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The statistics in the resources above indicate perceptions from Australian youth who identify as male and female, however transsexual and intersex persons are increasingly more likely to experience discrimination and mental illness. In 2005, at least 36.2% of transexual Australians met the criteria for experiencing a major depressive episode, compared with 6.8% of the general population (Pitts, Smith, Mitchell & Patel, 2006). The increased risk of mental illness and suicide among LGBTIQA+ people is not due to sexuality, sex or gender identity, but rather due to discrimination and exclusion (Rosenstreich, 2013).

Jones et. al. (2016) provides experiences of Australian transgender, gender diverse and intersex students, who indicated persistent experiences of frustration, discrimination, bullying, isolation and school avoidance due to conflict between school gender expectations and their gender identity. While many young people show great resilience in the face of discrimination, many gender diverse youth show increased psychological distress, depression and anxiety as a result.

Traditional gender expectation within schools force students to  conform to the binary genders of male and female. Our school can provide various support services for gender diverse students, however embedded practices and ideals stemming from traditional school structures are in fact exclusive. Schools as an institution, have entrenched powers which subtly mandate the appropriate behaviours of students, forcing self-identity along binary gender norms (Foucault, 1982). This influences the attitudes and beliefs that students build regarding gender, and the stereotypes around being male, female or other.

As teachers, the language we use and the way we teach, can contribute to the overall class environment, either supporting students' gender identity or indirectly excluding transsexual or intersex pupils.

The purpose of this resource kit is to help evaluate schools structure, environment and culture, and determine how we as teachers, can address gender expectations and effectively implement gender inclusive practices.

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Take a look at the following video.

It involves a conversation with five transgender young people what it's like to be them. It is an initiative of the Transgender Anti-Violence Project at The Gender Centre.

The film can serve as a resource to better understand the issues facing young transgender and gender diverse people.

Showing this video to your students, and even staff members, may encourage them come forward and access support if they need it.

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What's it like growing up transgender? 'In My Shoes' asks five transgender young people what it's like to be them - the awesome times, the challenges and how they've gotten through them. This short, collaborative documentary film is an initiative of the Transgender Anti-Violence Project at The Gender Centre Inc., NSW and is produced by Tahlia Trijbetz, the Transgender Anti-Violence Project (TAVP) Officer.

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* What can schools do? What can we, as teachers, do? *

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* What can schools do? What can we, as teachers, do? *

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The following sections will cover the way in which schools and teachers can minimise the impact of gender expectations.

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As indicated above, behaviours and actions that have been conceptualised as the ‘apparent naturalness’ (Happel, 2013, p. 93) of a particular gender tend to be limiting and constricting to that gender, as well excluding other genders. An example of such an action is the rules that currently enforce our female students to wear skirts. This excludes the needs of students on the gender-spectrum (androgynous, gender nonconforming, genderqueer, transfeminine, transmasculine, transgender, etc.).

Based on this, our schools need to provide all students with positive learning experiences that embrace their gender identity and expression – steering away from institutionalised practices that either deny or discriminate their gender (Beemyn, 2012). In order for students to engage in gender-inclusive learning, we need to learn to teach for diversity. More specifically, gender equity and gender-inclusive practices must be collaboratively constructed and adhered to at school-level (Zozakiewicz, & Rodriguez, 2007).

A detailed resource that can be implemented as a school-wide based practice is the ‘Framework for Gender Inclusive Schools’ (Gender Spectrum, 2015). This framework encourages schools to disrupt any socially constructed views of gender, normalise gender diversity, and teach students empathy and respect for one another. It further explains that to develop gender-inclusive settings, schools need to focus on four entry points: internal, institutional, interpersonal, and instructional.

In 2016, research (Bartholomaeus, Riggs, & Andrew, 2016) showed that 53% of current teachers and 73% of pre-service teachers requested training to feel equipped to teach and support gender diverse students. This further supports the need for a school-wide based approach which this framework provides.

The internal entry points lay the foundation for staff and teachers to understand ‘gender’ and reflect on how our own experiences and/or beliefs influence the way we work with students. The institutional entry points are structured steps that the school takes to honour gender diversity.

For example, our school should provide staff training programs to help better understand gender diverse students, allow parents to specify on school information portals their child’s gender with preferred pronouns, identify department or staff members that are in charge of gender diversity work or issues, gender neutral bathroom facilities, posters celebrating gender diversity around the school, etc.

The interpersonal entry points are the day-to-day interactions and communication strategies employed by everyone at our school to reinforce gender-inclusive practices. These strategies include the normalisation of gender diversity (raise ideas about modern-day gender changes), teaching empathy and respect, as well as educate students and staff about understanding the difference between patterns of behaviour and rules for behaviour. Lastly, the instructional entry points are integrated at a classroom-level and probably the most easily accomplished. We have a great deal of autonomy as teachers, and therefore can adapt gender-inclusive strategies that suit our classroom needs. For example, we can insert gender diversity issues throughout our lessons, use art to explore gender, or highlight how media/pop culture influences gender issues with our students. This will be further discussed in the sections to follow.

Teaching for diversity means we as educators should use theoretical frameworks that emerge from social theories of learning (Zozakiewicz, & Rodriguez, 2007). The ‘Framework for Gender Inclusive Schools’ aligns with the well supported theory of social constructivism. Although time would be a limitation to this framework as it would continuously be a work in progress, it allows us to develop and implement gender-inclusive practices in collaboration with leadership teams, teaching staff, and most importantly with our students.

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Separating gender from our school culture:

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Separating gender from our school culture:

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As indicated above, an area where we as teachers can have an impact on promoting inclusive practice for gender expectations is school culture. The culture can be defined as the character of the school, that encompasses the values, beliefs and traditions that have formed over time (Rutter et al., 1979). This can be present in the classroom to extra-curricular activities such as sport, thus it is important that we proactively promote inclusive practice in these areas in schools.

A recent study by Agnich et al. (2017) has shown the negative impacts that participation in an opposite gender dominated activity, sport or subject can have on students, such as victimisation and harassment from their peers. Conducted in the United States, it found that whilst female students were less likely to victimised in STEM subjects such as maths, there were higher risks with sport participation. This included students of both sexes who participated in female-dominated sports, such as cheerleading and softball, as well as female students who participated in male-dominated sports such as football (Agnich et al., 2017). Furthermore, the expectations of gender and school cultures can also impact the curriculum choice of students. Research illustrates that men and women continue to align with different educational choices and occupations that align with traditional expectations of gender (Barone, 2011). Therefore, this can impact subject selections in schools, “…with boys being more likely to choose mathematics and science tracks and girls tending to choose non-science tracks” (van der Vleuten et al., 2016, pg. 181). Thus, these studies show the issues and negative impacts of traditional gender expectations within school culture on students.

Although there has been progress with the decreasing historical expectations of gender in Australian culture, such as more women playing professional sport, it is important for this to filter down into schools. As important institutions in the lives of young people, schools have a role to promote inclusion by modelling our society’s diverse and inclusive values and beliefs (Watkins & Noble, 2013). Thus, it is important that our schools implement practises and policies that reflect inclusive practice, that break down the tradition expectations of gender.

To ensure inclusivity, a school’s culture must support improvement whilst being positive and professional, which will help to improve student achievement (MacNeil et al., 2009). Therefore, it is crucial that every student is supported by staff and their peers in relation to choices of subjects and extra-curricular activities, as well as zero tolerance towards victimisation and harassment. As teachers, we should also be responsive and theoretically explicit, whilst providing ongoing support in the school environment and using reflexive approaches to collaboration in the classroom (Zozakiewicz & Rodriguez, 2007).

Additional measures could include the use of gender neutral pronouns (further discussed in sections below), the implementation of gender awareness days and the equal representation of gender in classrooms (see resources below). These inclusive measures can help to change a school’s culture by reducing the prevalence of gender expectations.

If schools fail to provide an inclusive environment and students decide to choose what is socially desirable, rather than what they do best, “…society might very well be missing out” (van der Vleuten et al., 2016, pg. 194).

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Back to School "Tips of the Day" for Gender Inclusion

Back to School season can be an exciting time for teachers and other educators to introduce new ways of approaching gender in your classrooms and schools! Once a day every weekday until the end of September, we will be posting a new tip you can use in your work. Many of these are simple things you can do without any new tools or resources; others will include links to videos, images, or other online resources you can use with kids in elementary, middle or high school (see some basic background on gender across the grades ). Check back here or on our page for updates! And find many more resources for gender inclusive schools here.

Tip of the Day 1:

"About Me" Posters

Thanks to teacher Hannah Wikse for sharing this great idea. Many teachers have students make "About Me" posters at the beginning of the school year. The staff at Hannah' school attended trainings from Gender Spectrum last year, and this year the staff decided to model a way to use these posters in their gender inclusion work. In each of their posters, staff members noted the name and pronoun(s) they use, giving students an exa mple of the freedo m to be their full selves in the classroom.

Students and families were met with a "Welcome Wall" of all the staff posters at the beginning of the year.

Hannah and other teachers are also using gender inclusive grade-level appropriate books in their classrooms, and have hung posters about welcoming diversity around school.

Tip of the Day 2:

Gender and Play Time: Toys

Kids get messages about gender all the time, even during play. Teachers can use toys and play as a means of revealing and breaking through traditional gender stereotypes. Here are some ideas:

Show students traditionally "boy" and "girl" toys (and/or pictures of toys). Ask, "Are trucks only for boys? Do you know any girls who like to play with trucks? Do only girls like to play with tea sets?"

Show toys that are more gender neutral - musical instruments, play food, blocks. Ask students, are these really different than the others? Why are the toys in the first group put in "boy and girl" categories but the toys in the second group aren't?

Have the students design their own toys to challenge gender stereotypes.

Tip of the Day 3:

The Language of Gender

The language of gender is changing rapidly, and with these changes has come the understanding that exclusive use of "he" and "she" pronouns excludes many people. Many who identify as nonbinary or are Gender-expansive use the singular "they," or other pronouns.

It's impossible to know what pronouns students use until they tell you. At the start of the school year, teachers can provide an opportunity for every student to share the name and pronouns they use.

Here are some ways to do this:

Ask students to write information about themselves on a 3×5 card, using prompts such as: name you would like to be called, pronouns you use, what you are looking forward to about this year, what you are concerned about, etc.

Ask students to try to have a conversation without using pronouns.

Read a children's book aloud, but change the main character's pronouns. Ask the kids whether this change affected how they thought about the main character(s) or ideas in the book.

For high school students, share and discuss the author's advice about pronouns. You can also watch and discuss .

See this article from the New York Times with a story of one school's process of giving students space to declare their own pronouns, and more ideas on pronouns and gender in the classroom.

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Back to School "Tips of the Day" for Gender Inclusion!

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Back to School Tips of the Day for Gender InclusionBack to School season can be an exciting time for teachers and other educators to introduce new ways of approaching gender in your classrooms and schools!

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While we're all exposed to gender stereotypes, young people are particularly susceptible to them when forming an understanding of their place in society and their potential. The classroom is an ideal environment to raise their awareness of these stereotypes and encourage critical analysis in students so they're equipped to come to their own informed conclusions.

Inspiring young people to question gender stereotypes enables them to make informed choices about their futures and broaden their opportunities. As a teacher, you are in a position to call out examples of gender stereotyping and encourage students to question and dispute them. This might be through highlighting examples in teaching materials or through calling out students' comments and behaviour.

Although you might not be making decisions about what texts and materials are on the syllabus, you do have the opportunity to ask students to question gendered examples within those materials. Suggest students consider the types of texts that are authored by women versus men, to analyse the roles men versus women fill in texts' examples or fictional characters. Maths or sociology classes can provide an opportunity to look at Australian statistics in areas such as gender pay gaps, or gender-bias in careers and employment.

If you hear sexist comments from students, such as "you kick like a girl", "man up" or "get back in the kitchen" it's important to discuss what these phrases mean and their consequences. Many students will use this language without intending to insult, so it's important to prompt them to think about the underlying message and the impact their comments have, as opposed to simply reprimanding or 'banning' such talk.
What can I do to promote gender equity and challenge stereotypes?

Challenge traditional male and female stereotypes when giving examples to students, e.g. 'a female soldier' or 'a male nurse'.

When you do see/hear examples of gender stereotypes use them as an opportunity for 'teachable moments' and ask students to discuss what they mean and why they use them.

Aim to use gender neutral language (e.g. it, their, they).

Avoid statements that generalise, 'girls tend to...' or 'boys are more...'

Don't limit what you ask your students to do, e.g. ask female students to carry sports equipment

Consider the way you interact with students and avoid being, for example, 'blokey' with boys or 'gentle' with girls. Instead, interact in the way you'd expect them to in the real world.

Actively encourage students to engage in activities that might sit outside their gender's comfort-zones (e.g. sports, dance, drama etc.)

Take note of how often you draw on either males or females to answer different types of questions and make an effort to rectify any inequity

Encourage mixed gender group work and seating arrangements

Use examples of gender inequity to inform your lesson, e.g. looking at statistics on the gender pay gap for a maths lesson, or looking at examples of inequity throughout history and how things may or may not have changed

Actively discuss and analyse sexist advertising images and the media's representation of men and women.

Without highlighting that they're not 'acting likes blokes/girls', actively encourage students when they do challenge gender roles.

Use examples of sexism or rigid gender roles currently in the media, news stories, advertising, television or film as prompts for discussion. Ask students for their own experiences with gender stereotypes, and give them our articles on gender for young people to initiate further discussion.

For more information have a look at our other articles on gender for educators. For lesson plan ideas and information on gender and respectful relationships please refer to Unit One: Gender, Respect and Relationships of the Building Respectful Relationships, Stepping Out Against Gender Based Violence resource by the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development.

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Promoting gender equity in the classroom

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While we're all exposed to gender stereotypes, young people are particularly susceptible to them when forming an understanding of their place in society and their potential. The classroom is an ideal environment to raise their awareness of these stereotypes and encourage critical analysis in students so they're equipped to come to their own informed conclusions.

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Minimising gender expectations through classroom practice:

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Minimising gender expectations through classroom practice:

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As emphasised in the sections above, and within an array of literature (e.g. Cahill & Adams, 1997; Erden & Wolf Gang) - we, as teachers, play a significant role in our student’s gender development.Our attitudes and beliefs about gender, as well as our behaviour and our actions, can either cultivate or eliminate traditional gender performances in the classroom. For example, teachers tend to employ different words to address “boys” and ‘girls”, and use gender-biased language by referring to all students collectively as “you guys…” (Giraldo & Colyar, 2012).

The above practices are common, and we have all, in the past, addressed our students using such gender-dividing language and practices. This is why we’ll be discussing some practical strategies that you can employ to develop a gender-inclusive environment - where all students can flourish, regardless of gender and its implications.

An excellent resource that we can utilise to enhance our classroom practice is the peer-reviewed journal article: “Dealing with Gender in the Classroom…” (Giraldo & Colyar, 2012). It is attached below. As indicated by its title, the article offers four teachers’ reflective accounts of their attempts to minimise the impact of gender stereotypes within their classrooms. More specifically, one teacher-recount covers how educators can eliminate gender stereotypes by encouraging students to participate in behaviours that have been traditionally considered as male/female attributes and/or performances. For example, the teacher notes that other educators can do so through practical means, such as incorporating images and videos that challenge gender-expectations by displaying women as fire-fighters and men as stay-at-home dads. While the article itself tends to be situated towards an early childhood context, high school teachers can incorporate this within various learning areas, such as Humanities and English, where role-plays are common activities. Providing students with various opportunities to self-actualise as human beings and explore other forms of masculinity/ femininity will undoubtedly promote gender equity.

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Giraldo & Colyar - Dealing with Gender in the Classroom 

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Giraldo & Colyar - Dealing with Gender in the Classroom 

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Gendered Pronouns: Where the Issue Lies 

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Gendered Pronouns: Where the Issue Lies 

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In accordance to the aforementioned article and above sections, Geohring and Whittington (2001) emphasise that the most effective means of encouraging diversity and enabling inclusivity is to be conscious of our use of gender pronouns. It’s important to note that a common practice within the gender community is to introduce yourself by name, and then state the pronoun that you prefer. Non-binary students might prefer to move beyond already existing pronouns (i.e. she/her/ hers or he/him/his/) and prefer a more generalised “they/them/their”. Other students may create a new pronoun, such as “ze, or Hir” to best suit their identity (Key; Teich, 2012).

We, as teachers, must be aware of this, and always ask students which pronoun they prefer. This can be achieved by simply asking the student themselves, or incorporating a “get-to-know-me” sheet at the onset of the school year. On this worksheet, the student could list some interesting facts about themselves, and identify their preferred pronoun. Regardless of whether the student identifies as cisgender, transgender, or gender-non-conforming – identifying and employing the student’s preferred pronoun is sign of respect and compassion (Geohring & Whittington, 2001). It is nonetheless a profound means of fostering an inclusive classroom environment where all students can thrive.

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Geohring & Whittington - Gender Diversity 

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Geohring & Whittington - Gender Diversity 

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Gender Neutral Pronouns - Get Used to Them!

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Gender Neutral Pronouns - Get Used to Them!

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Take a look at the following video. It relates to the above discussion as it highlights the issues associated with gender pronouns.

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Gender Neutral Pronouns: They're Here, Get Used To Them

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http://tomscott.com - @tomscott - Grammatical gender is a silly concept. So I'm about to go against my vow of descriptivism, and risk being run over by the Linguistic Mafia's bus, and say this: it's a silly idea. [The line about "the first sentence of the video" is wrong: it's not actually in the first sentence of the video.

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Other Helpful and Practical Classroom Strategies:

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Other Helpful and Practical Classroom Strategies:

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The final two resources that will be outlined in this package provide a practical way for teachers to foster positive gender relationships in our classrooms. The intention of this resource collection is to begin with a broader conceptual view of how gender inclusivity can appear from a structural viewpoint and conclude with what we can do as educators that will increase understanding. The selected texts that will be focused upon will be the ‘Building Respectful Relationships’  (BRR) document in conjunction with ‘Resilience, Rights and Respectful Relationships’ (RRRR) guide both produced by the Victorian Department of Education and Training. Both documents are attached below this section.

The BRR document was developed to address the issue of violence against women and schools were selected as an area of focus, “on the basis that schools may be sites of violence perpetration and victimisation, and states that schools are high-risk locations for gender-based violence because of peer influence and a climate and culture of acceptability” (Victorian Department of Education and Training [VDET], 2016, p.6). The BRR document seeks to provide a holistic approach to preventing gender-based violence by incorporating: professional learning, support for staff and students, school culture and environment and community partnerships. Meanwhile the RRRR provides more specific class strategies to be utilised by educational bodies across the age span of early childhood to senior VCE years that focus on promoting positive social and emotional skills such as: coping strategies, help-seeking behaviour, stress management and of course, positive gender relationships (VDET, 2016). The benefits of linking social issues like gender-based discrimination has academic support as noted by the examination of masculinity through the lens of the subject English (Kagan, 2012).

The documents provide activities that we can use in our own classes including learning objectives, materials and wider resources. These are separated into year levels in the RRRR and seek to accommodate for experiences typical of a student in that period of development. An example of this can be observed in the Level 7&8 section that provides detailed instruction on how students can create apologies to peers in response to a range of contemporary issues surrounding gender-based discrimination. The activity outlines approximate time duration, provides materials, instructions, method and review that enables us to confidently teach the content (VDET, 2016, p.89). The range of topics provide an all-encompassing guide for teachers that support us in teaching material that would otherwise result in unease. Embedded within the guidelines are instructions from the VDET that indicate how these activities could manifest themselves within a lesson sequence or unit plan. Flexibility is at the crux of this design and, “schools may integrate the activities into existing developmental health and sexuality education programs, in other learning areas or in less curriculum-specific areas…” (VDET, 2016, p.9).

This poses a potential limitation to the application of this program across Victorian schools as the degree of detail each school engages with it is not measured.There exists a temptation for educational bodies to refrain from managing such concerns due to its complex nature and therefore a disservice to student demographics is observed. This can potentially fail to meet the needs of many diverse communities where this learning would most benefit, exacerbating the situation entirely. Ultimately, however, we believe that this is a highly comprehensive resource that will lead to stronger representations and respect for gender rights on a grand scale.

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 Resilience, Rights & Respectful Relationships (RRRR)

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 Resilience, Rights & Respectful Relationships (RRRR)

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The following document is particularly useful as it provides teachers with various activities that they can utilise in their classroom to foster respectful relationships and resilience within their students.

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 Building Respectful Relationships (BRR)

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 Building Respectful Relationships (BRR)

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Victorian Department of Education and Training (VDET)