Greetings, friends!
For those who are in the classroom at the start of a new school year, I hope that your year is off to an awesome start. Regardless, here's to the beginning of a new season.
In the September edition of the Growing a Gender-Inclusive Biology Education newsletter, we are sending out a few great resources that can serve to support the work you are doing in the classroom.
This Framework Article written by Sam Long details the principles of the gender-inclusive biology framework that we have been sharing at conferences around the country. Check it out and let us know if you have feedback! We will be sharing our work at several conferences this fall, including the NEA LGBTQ+ Issues Conference (October 11-13, Las Vegas, NV), Northwest Teaching for Social Justice (October 19, Seattle, WA), and the Colorado Science Conference (Noveber 8, Denver, CO).
Project Biodiversify - This is a phenomenal collection of resources for science educators and students put together by Ash Zemenick, Marjorie Weber, Alex Webster, and Sarah Jones. It includes several detailed slide decks with presenter notes that provide concrete examples of what moving towards inclusive language and pedagogy in the biology classroom can look like, and a collection of scientist profiles from diverse intersectional identities. They even offer in-person workshops! Definitely explore the library and pass along this resource in your professional networks.
SextEd Inclusive Language Checklist - This is a resource that I share frequently with educators who want guidance on navigating inclusive language for bodies, family structures, and behaviors in the classroom. Even though it is sex ed specific, there are many ways that this can be thought of in a more universal light, and I think this list does a good job of asking questions and providing examples without trying to identify a long list of "good" and "bad" words (which, of course, would be out of date as soon as it was published!).
Want to be more involved in gender-inclusive biology curriculum? Click HERE to sign up to join in on our listserv, a discussion forum where people can share ideas, classroom resources, and ask questions in a group of educators doing similar work.
Happy trails,
Lewis & Sam