Cultural Contexts and Students Essay

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Transgender

Dealing with Transgender Children

Many children who are transgender identify themselves as such at a young age. Thanks to increasing awareness of the issue in the media, parents of transgender children are becoming more supportive of their child's choice to live as the gender the child believes is correct, whether the child regards him or herself as a boy or a girl. But although awareness is increasing amongst the general public, there is still profound resistance in many quarters to the concept. In this instance, a first grade child is identifying as male, even though he was originally registered in the school as a girl and under a female name. The teacher must find a way to support the child while still tackling the resistance of other parents who might not view the child's self-image in as positive a fashion and children who have adopted their parents' attitudes.

Further complicating the matter is the diversity within the school. When a large percentage of the students speak English as a second language (as do their parents) and their parents come from different cultural contexts, understanding concepts such as transgenderism can be difficult. Even something as simple as asking children and parents to refer to the child's chosen name, versus a female birth name, can cause friction. As noted by George (2014): "It's important to honour students' choices of name -- for trans students, this sends the important message that you accept their identities unfailingly.

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To effectively create a harmonious classroom environment, teachers must also be aware of their own biases. For example, insisting upon boy-girl seating or asking children to line up in gendered lines can cause unnecessary attention to be drawn to gender. Making reference to toys or books as inherently male or female can similarly make a transgender child feel uncomfortable. Simple solutions include to "ask students to sit next to someone they don't know, by birthday or in alphabetical order" (George 2014).

If parents express uncomfortable feelings about having a transgender child in the classroom, it is the teacher's responsibility to act as an educator about the issue, after listening to the parents' point-of-view. Even if the teacher does not validate their views, sometimes having the opportunity to express themselves about an issue of which they have little knowledge can at least begin to build a bridge of understanding. Discomfort about transgenderism may be commonly expressed by the parents expressing concern about what bathroom the child is using; teachers can use this as an opportunity to stress the need for acceptance, toleration, and try to make parents feel less stressful about their child attending school.

If necessary, teachers may also….....

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