“I just wanted to say thank you so much for the parents' presentation. It was very moving, informative and helpful. I felt just unbelievably lucky and proud to be part of Park Day School.”
Dawn — parent, school-wide training
Schools and Educators
Middle and High Schools | Colleges and Universities
Teacher/Staff Training
Children and teens who do not conform to gendered expectations face many challenges and difficulties. They receive little support, and often report being bullied and harassed for their gender expression. In addition, these students typically report a lack of support from administrators and staff. Some students even feel that staff directly encourage or participate in their harassment and victimization.
Confident, knowledgeable teachers are critical to ending discrimination, harassment, and bullying in schools. Gaining an understanding and familiarity with gender identity development in children and adolescents is a crucial first step for school personnel.
Gender Spectrum's school trainings can help you develop and adopt inclusive gender policies and practices that support every child, regardless of their gender expression. We provide training for the entire school — teachers, staff, and students. We supply age-appropriate workshops, videos, and resource materials as an integral part of this training. We also work intimately with parents and families to help them understand how best to support and advocate for their child in school.
Parent Education
Once teachers have gained greater understanding and confidence, parents need to access similar information. By addressing their immediate questions and concerns, we are then able to provide effective strategies to navigate and subsequently diminish parental uncertainty and discomfort — a vital step in the education process. This allows us to assist schools in proactively designing parental education opportunities. Establishing this foundation promotes an environment where all children are valued and every student can learn in a more supportive school environment.
Preschool Education Program
Children can very often express "atypical" gender behavior as early as age two or three. This includes a range of behaviors — such as boys playing with dolls or wearing dresses, or girls who adopt boy's names — as well as children who more consistently assert a cross-gendered identity. Increasingly, teachers are discovering that they are caring for children who don't conform to established rigid gender norms.
Preschool teachers and administration can adopt a proactive approach by training their entire staff on gender sensitivity, or they may respond to a specific situation that inspires the need for education and resources. Our trainings include a range of services from providing support for staff with differing belief systems, to assisting parents with addressing their confusion, discomfort, misconceptions, and fear related to their child's gender variant behavior and expression.
Elementary Education Program
Gender variance is common in individuals of all ages, but gender non-conforming behavior in preadolescents is particularly visible. Some gender variant children may be open and comfortable in expressing themselves. However, most of them are already aware that they do not fit expected gender norms. They may experience negative repercussions at school, and become shy and withdrawn in an attempt to protect themselves from bullying by their peers. Others may exhibit behavioral problems. Some cross-gendered children may have support at home, while others are severely punished for their natural self-expression. Additionally, the lack of support and understanding from teachers, parents, and other adults exacerbates the already difficult environment created by their peers. Even well-intentioned parents sometimes feel they can better protect their child by insisting on gender-conforming behavior at school in an effort to optimize their child's school experience.
Understanding how to supportively address gender identity and expression within the elementary school classroom is crucial to helping gender variant children thrive. We provide direct age-appropriate education to address the questions posed by elementary school children about gender expression. Coupled with school staff training and parental education, this education creates a mutually beneficial learning environment.
Middle and High School Education Programs
During adolescence, young people often express gender variance or, increasingly, identify as transgender. Unfortunately, this also coincides with a time of intense peer pressure for social conformity. This pressure to conform puts gender variant adolescents at significantly greater risk. Advocates and many providers who work with transgender youth report that these young people are at very high risk for suicide.
Learning how to recognize a child at risk is a critical component in our trainings. We will work with you to understand gender stereotypes and how to provide a more tolerant and accepting environment. Other topics addressed include:
- Distinguishing between gender identity and sexual orientation
- Navigating gender-specific activities, places, and documents, such as sports, bathrooms, and school forms
- Accommodating name and pronoun preferences
- Addressing basic civil and legal rights for gender variant and transgender students
Colleges and Universities
We frequently guest lecture in college classes and forums, encompassing a wide variety of subjects related to gender. Topics may include:
- Gender identity development in young children
- Evolving and expanding the language of gender
- Variations of gender expression including:
- Transgender children
- Bi-gendered and cross-gendered children
- Gender variant children
- Gender fluidity and the gender spectrum
- Sexual orientation and gender identity — where they intersect and where they are distinct.
- Ethical and legal considerations