Gender: What Teachers and School Leaders of Young Children Need to Know

Since I began a class on gender and leadership with Dr. Catherine McGregor, I realized that I knew very little about gender development in young children.  Our discussions, readings, and guest speakers encouraged me to examine my kindergarten classroom practice, and I realized that I was not creating a truly gender-inclusive learning environment for my little people.  When we were given the opportunity to do a choice project for our final assignment, I knew that investigating gender in young children was really important for me.  This past year, I have spent a lot of time in early years classrooms around Victoria, and it is clear to me that I'm not the only teacher who is uninformed.  With a desire to share research, statistics, and resources and ideas for wise practices, I chose to develop a presentation, podcast, and this blog post for teachers and school leaders of young children.

Since I am still learning about gender in young children and exploring the literature and resources, this presentation (available upon request), blog post, and podcast are far from complete.  I'm sure that I've made some mistakes and missed out important information and ideas.  Please accept my apologies if anything I've said or written is offensive as that was never my intent.  Instead, this is my effort to begin a conversation, pique other educators' interest, and make changes to classroom practice to improve education for ALL children.

Kindergarten Diva Podcast
Take 20 minutes to get a quick overview of what you need to know and what you can start doing now to create a gender-inclusive classroom!  This podcast is available on iTunes and Google Play, or you can listen right here.


Manitoba Government Resources
Manitoba Education and Training document, Supporting Transgender and Gender Diverse Students in Manitoba Schools 

Reports
The Every Teacher Project on LGBTQ-Inclusive Education in Canada's K-12 Schools 
-see pages 3-8 for a glossary of important terms

Transgender People in Ontario, Canada: Statistics from the Trans PULSE Project to Inform Human Rights Policy 

BEING SAFE, BEING ME:Results of the CanadianTrans Youth Health Survey 

Resources
Gender Identity and Young Children: Information from the Canadian Paediatric Society 

Healthy Gender Development and Young Children: A Guide for Early Childhood Programs and Professionals

Responding to Children's Questions on LGBTQ Topics 

Building a library of anti-bias children's books
Ideas from Brightly
Ideas from Huffington Post

Institute for Humane Education and Welcoming Schools: ideas for lessons/learning experiences

Gender Creative Kids of Canada: a wealth of information and resources, as well as opportunities to connect with other families and service providers