LGBTQ Article Review

Sissies, Faggots, Lezzies, and Dykes: Gender, Sexual Orientation, and a New Politics of Education?

Keywords: Sexual orientation and schools; queer legal theory; politics of education; gender

Summary, key points, quotes:

Many areas of academic scholarship have tended to ignore these issues. Each of these deep structural features is intrinsic to the U.S. political culture. The lines around sexual orientation and gender can soften and harden depending on the current political environment we are in. Two of the most controversial political issues involving the U.S. public education have been gender and sexual orientation. Unfortunately, the gender-based violence people often face reflects long-standing legal, political, and cultural norms of what “real” men and women should be and how they should act. The Queer Legal Theory (QLT) is trying to establish a theoretical framework and an agenda for much-needed future research. QLT acknowledges many different ways “to be”. Since public schools are governmental entities ruled by laws, regulations, and policies those who teach, study, play, and otherwise live within a public school's walls are required to conform. Lugg defies politics broadly, “as a historical series of ever-shifting power relations, interactions, alliances, and conflicts between individual and collective actors.” It appears that Lugg is speaking to the general audience interested in these issues, as well as past, present, and future teachers in the public school community. Lugg searches for clarity in this article in how particular legal understandings of gender and sexual orientation shape nearly every aspect of public school life. Gender is defined as an ongoing, lifelong series of evolving performances and sex as a chromosomal state. It has come to Lugg’s attention that research is being less focused on the individual and more on the communal. The United States and the individual states bar sex discrimination, not gender discrimination. The problem is that, “the law has no mechanism to protect men from being fired if they act stereotypically female, although women have had legal recourse.” The article goes further to say that female teachers were not allowed to be married after the Civil War because if they were unmarried, then they were assumed to be nonsexual. Later, after WWII, male and female teacher now, were expected to eventually get married to prove they has the proper moral fiber to work with children. Most importantly is the story of Jamie, who was teased, threatened, bullied, abused physically and verbally by peers, teachers, and faculty of his public school. Given the climate of the era, students learned that to be queer was to be a sissy, a faggot, a lezzie, or a dyke. It unfortunately became the norm to say these things opening without a second thought, look, or scorn.

Points of interest:

- Difference of upbringing and era/generation. Today we are more open and accepting then people were just a generation ago.

- My roommate has a very literal interpretation of the Bible, my dad does not discriminate but simply asks where do be draw the line with acceptance and changing what the Bible and our Constitution says?

- This issue is very sensitive to the scrutiny, acceptance, and tolerance of may different people because of different backgrounds, beliefs, and upbringings.

- Gender is defined above as an ongoing, life long evolving things. Sex is chromosomal. There are many variations of the (X,X) female and the (X,Y) male genes. So we are never just truly female or male.

- I have a friend who is a male, likes girls, dresses like a man, but has a higher voice and expresses himself in a more feminine manner. He hangs out with a lot of girls, has never had a girlfriend, and would rather have a dog then a girlfriend. However, all that being said, he has hopes of marrying a female one day, having kids, and growing old with lots of grandchildren. This is of course all possible for a homosexual couple, but the point is that while he may seem to be a girly man, it does not mean that he likes men, or has any kind of sexual attraction to men. We often judge too quickly based on the typical "role of the man/role of the women" stigma we create.

- The case of Jamie, should be closely looked at and taken as an example of what should have never happened and what must never happen again. Discriminating against homosexuals is just as bad as doing it against Blacks, Hispanics, etc. His case is an example to all that this discrimination is not just upsetting people, it is physically ruining lives and whether we agree or disagree with homosexual rights, we as teacher must be open to all ways of living life within out classroom setting.

Unit 3: Chapter 4

1. Using the CSEL case that you have chosen as a guide, explore all of the possible group differences that may have an effect on your target student(s) or the class as a whole. Consider such group differences as cultural/ethnic differences, gender, SES differences, and "at risk" status.

Cherie is in desperate need of attention. She does not seem to care if she gets it in a negative way, as long as she is getting attention she seems satisfied. However, this is not conducive for any of the other students, and as she continues to misbehave, some of her peers are joining in on the action. While they are not behaving as disruptively as Cherie, they are egging her on so to speak with their laughter and smiles.

It could be that Cherie grew up in a household as an only child or that she was one child of many in her family and is trying to get attention because she does not get enough or she does not get the attention that she needs at home. Her roughness with some of the other students could indicate both of the above, that she does not know the proper way to be around others her own age, or that things are rough at home between siblings and no one stops it or is around to see it. Cherie's gender could also come into play if she thinks that others in her class are getting attention for certain behavior and decides to act like them. At this point Cherie is an "at risk" student if she cannot shape up and begin to learn instead of being the center of attention. Her grades will not be good if she misses class because of behavior or if she is not focused on the material at hand because she is too focused on everyone around her and how they are reacting to her actions.

During an observation this past semester, one of the teachers on the high school level said to his students, "Do you get up and walk around, or talk, or act up in church during a sermon?" At first I thought, here we go, he is gonna get in trouble for this one. However, after explaining the analogy further to his class, I realized that he was really saying. If you do not disrespect your church pastor, someone who is trying to teach you, and you do not respect your educators in the school, then who do you respect? Most of the students agreed that they would never act or behave in such manners during a sermon in church, and my teacher was trying to get across the message that the same should go for the classroom. Obviously this is just food for thought and bringing religion into the classroom should probably not happen, however, I also understood that this teacher was not bringing in any particular religion by any means. He was simply trying to relate his classroom and the respect he wishes to have form his students, and for other teacher, that they most likely give to those in their church. After this discussion, students began to understand and calmed down. Maybe this is not the best way to go about it, but it is definitely something to think about.

2. After reading this chapter, what are your thoughts about how to promote a positive learning environment in your classroom, realizing that your students may require your example in welcoming and appreciating diversity? Include at least three areas where you will facilitate honoring of students' differences.

Positivity comes from our own perceptions and ideas about life and our own being. I strongly believe that positivity can truly come if we are surrounded by an environment that is positive and by people who are positive. I plan to really instill this concept into my students thoughts because I have seen first hand how great an impact positivity can have on the outcome of a situation, or someones attitude and decisions that people choose to have or make. With all of that comes welcoming and appreciating diversity in any aspect of life. My students will learn and know that diversity is a celebrated thing, and that being diverse is the best gift of all.

One way in which I could do this is to take time in the beginning of the year to just get to know my students and to allow my students to get to know each other. I think it is so important for students to feel like they matter, to the teacher and to each other. Especially in art, students must feel comfortable to express themselves and to let loose and create works of art the only further elaborate on who they are as a person, as an artist. Once these relationships are established, students can then begin to understand the diversity of their classroom and appreciate it in their fellow peers.

Chapter 3: Development Activity

1) John Elton: Your Song

It's a little bit funny, this feeling inside

I'm not one of those who can easily hide

I don't have much money, but boy if I did

I'd buy a big house where we both could live

If I was a sculptor, but then again, no

Or a man who makes potions in a traveling show

I know it's not much, but it's the best I can do

My gift is my song, and this one's for you

And you can tell everybody this is your song

It may be quite simple, but now that it's done

I hope you don't mind, I hope you don't mind that I put down in words

How wonderful life is while you're in the world

I sat on the roof and kicked off the moss

Well, a few of the verses, well, they've got me quite cross

But the sun's been quite kind while I wrote this song

It's for people like you that keep it turned on

So excuse me forgetting, but these things I do

You see I've forgotten if they're green or they're blue

Anyway the thing is what I really mean

Yours are the sweetest eyes I've ever seen

And you can tell everybody this is your song

It may be quite simple, but now that it's done

I hope you don't mind, I hope you don't mind that I put down in words

How wonderful life is while you're in the world

 
I hope you don't mind, I hope you don't mind that I put down in words

How wonderful life is while you're in the world

2) page 72-73

3) In Erikson’s theory of social development, the stage this song reminds me of is “Identity vs. Role Confusion”. As teens, the development of self and personal identity is very important. Students are trying to succeed in the ability to find and stay true to who they are and who they want to be in life. Learning to stay true to themselves and trying to deal with the occasional failures can lead to role confusions and a weak sense of self for adolescents. At this stage, Erikson points out that social relationships allow teens to find themselves and to understand that their outside environment of peers, etc. can have a profound effect on their successes and failures. Teens are trying to cope with defining relationships and creating ones that will allow them to feel most comfortable as themselves.

4) The highlighted sections refer to the above situation. “This feeling inside” refers to the emotions students are feeling and how they are trying to learn to be who they are and express themselves with their peers and in the world. This is so hard to do sometimes, especially for teens, they are trying to figure out what all of these feelings are. This song really relates to adolescents who are dealing with the debate to hide who they truly are or be themselves open and out there for everyone to see and hopefully accept. The song says, “I’m not one who can easily hide”. Students should not have to hid, but they too often feel as though they have too when in middle school, high school, or even college. The song also refers to the simplicity of just letting go and putting things out there. In reality it is that simple, but you cannot see things that way when you are a teen.

5) In art, it is essential to make sure that students are open and feel comfortable at all times to express themselves. This song has me thinking about the inner trouble students may be facing that they do no always want to share. It also has me thinking about my students in terms of finding their personal identity and feeling successful in staying true to themselves. I think that creating a unit plan or longer lesson around personal identity can be very beneficial to open students eyes to see themselves and to see their peers, or others in their community in a different light. Diversity is all around and it is such an important thing to identify with. Even just taking the time to bring attention to student development of self will get us started on the right track. If students feel like they cannot figure out who they are in their social relationships, then they will feel like they have a weak sense of self and that will get no one anywhere.

Unit 3: Chapter 3

1. Personal and social development can have a major influence on both individual students learning and the learning environment as a whole. Identify a case from the CSEL guidelines that you would like to address in your paper. Then, examine the possible developmental factors that could be influencing your target student(s) or classroom in the case study. Consider all dimensions of personal and social development, including cognitive, language, social, emotional, and moral development.

In the middle school case, Cherie is acting out and bullying her classmates. A few of her classmates have begun to follow their leader, and distrupt the calss as well. I believe that a lot of factors must be determined to understand her interruptions and need for attention druing class working time. Not only is Cherie being influenced by her envrionment, she may also be having touble outside the classroom or at home.

Cherie may be influenced by her classmates to proceed with interupting and may feel encouraged when they laugh along with her for tripping a fellow classmate. I believe that her motives must be looked explored. Their is a reason for her acting out and it is important for the teacher to investigate what the root cause is for her acting so poorly while class is going on. More so, students are being bullied and hurt in the process. It may be that Cherie has had little social encounters with others her own age outside of school. As an only child myself, it took me a long time to get used to being around others my own age. If Cherie has not grown up around other children her age, she may not know how to respond or  behave with her peers in the classroom setting. It may also be acceptable for Cherie to behave in this manner while at home. Parental guidence is essential when students come to school aware of how to act and behave. If her parent(s) allow her to do as she pleases at home, Cherie will think that this is also acceptable in school. Finally, I believe that her emotinal needs may not be met whether by the staff and faculty of the school or by her home situation. If Cherie is not getting what she needs emotionally from her home life or from the teachers in the school, she may be resulting to getting attention any way she can. This would explain her seeking attention from the teacher and class because she sees that it works. The best plan of action is to form a plan with the other teachers she has and make sure that everyone is implementing it in the same way so that Cherie has consistency and will eventually begin to understand what is acceptable and unacceptable.

2. Check out the Tables 3.1 (p. 75), 3.2 (p.83), and 3.3 (p. 91) with particular attention to the age ranges you are interested in teaching. Identify your personal favorite way that an educator can promote a child's sense of self, perspective taking, and moral reasoning.

Be patient when students show exceptional self-conciousness; give them strategies for preseting themselves to others.

As a teacher, I plan to promote this often. Students should learn to be aware of themselves and those around them. I want students to learn to be proud of who they are and the work they create in my classroom. It is expected, especially on a middle school level, for students to be self-concious about themselves and their work, but I feel it is my job to promote their strengths during each class period. It is also very important that students learn how to present themselvest to others because when they are presenting to their peers, I want them to not only look calm, collected, and confident but feel these things a well. If I can promote an environment that will allow students to feel like they can always be themselves then they should be able to grow and learn without the presures of feeling self-concious. Hopefully I can get to know each of my students on a personal level and aid them in finding what works for them.

Unit 3: Chapter 2

1. One of the most cited theories of human development is that of Swiss biologist Jean Piaget. After reading about Piaget's basic assumptions (p. 27-32) look with particular attention at the stage of child development you would like to teach.

The other most cited theory of human development belongs to Russian developmentalist Lev Vygotsky. Vygotsky's theory of cognitive development leads us to expect greater diversity among our same-ages students than Piaget. Given these two influential theorists' ideas on cognitive development, how might you accommodate students who are not yet working at the level of their peers?

With middle school students cognitive development will be somewhere on the same level but also all over the place at the same time as students are all individual thinkers and creating their own views and perceptions about the world around them. While most students should be at the Formal Operations Stage (p. 32) there are different levels at which students may be throughout this stage. At this stage students can think about concepts that have little or no basis in concrete reality (p. 32). Students recognize that what is logically different from what is true in the real world. They are not able to separate imagination from reality. I believe that Piaget and Vygotsky's theories are well applied to each other and they should not be looked at as one or the other, but rather together as a collaboration for better understanding students needs. Students appear to have greater diversity among their same-age peers, I agree with Vygotsky in that. Since students are at a higher stage of cognitive development they are all thinking differently about the same things. Taking the information that Piaget has said about the stages of development and then applying them to how Vykotsky views a relation between peers, will help teachers better teach students and know the cognitive levels they are on. This will allow us, teachers, to better group our students to learn from one another. So, while most students are doing A, B, and C. High achieving students will be able to do A, B, and C plus D. Low achieving students will be able to do only A and B, not only only A. Special needs student will be able to do some combination of A, B, and C or just one over the others. It is important that as the teacher, I am aware of these different levels. By grouping students together that are on different levels of learning within the Formal Operations Stage, they can work with each other to grow in their knowledge together and help each other see or understand something in a new way.

2. Theories in educational psychology promote the idea that language plays a critical role in cognitive development. Examine Table 2.2 (p. 51). Paying particular attention to the age range that you are interested in teaching. Consider how you might incorporate or adapt the strategies presented for use with your own students.

 With middle school students (6-8 grade level) the suggested strategies include: assigned reading materials for new vocabulary, terminology used by experts, structured debates, consider underlying meanings of words, and explore nature of words and language. These strategies are all informative and helpful for students to learn the content they should know at their grade level.With the new common core, reading is becoming especially important for students to do in all content areas. It is, however, a little more challenging to accommodate for within the art education classroom. I can achieve this though through presenting my students with short articles or stories about works of art or artists that are influential to the lessons we are doing. First had experiences are essential to help students understand what they are learning in relation to the real world. This will bring in the terminology used by the art experts as well as readings that focus on other areas of our lessons which will incorporate other expert terminology for students to learn and apply in other classes. The structured debates are also an excellent idea, however, I will conduct them in the form of critiques. This way students are free to openly express their views about certain works or artists while other students bring up relative information that applies to the topic as well. In art critiques their is often much debate as people are for or against certain aspects of a work of art. This can be beneficial for the artist to see how they could further improve their creativity and process by understanding both sides of peoples' comments. These critiques are important to help students learn how to articulate themselves and receive positive feedback about their works. In art, your work is never truly private. There will be someone viewing it at some point, so the critiques, or rather debates, about what is working and what is not can really change or enhance the students intentions. Finally, the underlying meanings and exploration of nature of words and language will be useful for students to learn the context in which terms are being used so that they can apply the terms in other uses.

Unit 2: Chapter 10

Which of the learning activities/skills can you think of that lend themselves to learning through modeling? How might self-efficacy and self-regulation contribute to the intervention plans you use in your case study?

Academic skills and interpersonal behaviors appear to be helpful when learning through modeling for students who need structure. Academic skills refers to students learning by observing their teachers and peers around them and see how they are doing things in comparison (p. 330). If I am teaching a lesson on how to paint and I want students to learn how to hold their brush correctly and keep their strokes even and going in the same direction, then I should model this to my students so they understand what I am looking for. After showing them how to hold and use a paint brush, students will look to their peers to see if they are doing it right as well. Interpersonal behaviors refers to observing and imitating others (p. 331). This can be very effective if I set up the right environment in which my students can adopt and learn one another's strategies for conducting something such as discussions (p. 331). Discussions in the art room are crucial to participating in verbalizing what it is you are trying to express as an artist. Students can learn how to solicit one another's opinions by asking each other what they think, they can express agreement or disagreement in a constructive manner, and they learn how to justify a point of view that they believe in. These learning activities/skills can be very beneficial for helping student learn through the modeling of me as their teacher, their peers, and others in their learning community. It will help them to be aware and critical of themselves and others if they know how to use these skills correctly.

As for the middle school case study. My attempts with Cherie and modeling would have to begin with her peers, my other students who seem to follow their leader. If I can model to those who engage less and less with learning and more with Cherie, then I have a shot at getting through to Cherie as well. If she sees her peers no longer interested in her misbehavior and disruptions and more focused on paying attention, doing what I ask/when I ask, and modeling good practices on their own Cherie might being to model this herself. As her teacher I should address her misbehaving during a private conversation with her instead of in front of the class, but I should be careful not to let the bad behavior or disruption go without warning. I should model being polite, courteous, and sensitive to others around me. If I treat Cherie and my class in this manner, hopefully they will see though modeling that it is a good way to act and something they should try to do too.

Unit 2: Chapter 9

How would you define successful mastery of your lesson objectives from a behavioral view of learning? Consider your CSEL intervention case study. Are there tools from a behaviorist view for either encouraging productive behaviors or discouraging undesirable behaviors that you could apply to the case? What are they?

First and foremost I believe in positivity, whether it be within the classroom or outside the classroom environment. Their are usually always negative connotations associated with misbehavior/dealing with behavioral issues, but their does not have to be. With every lesson I would expect my students to be listening to me, or any of their peers, while talking. Lesson objectives also include staying seated, looking at the teacher, and completing their work during the class. I am not against students talking while working, getting up to sharpen pencils, going to the bathroom, etc. However, if I allow those things I must monitor my students and how they are handling the privileges. I recently heard the saying, "Don't smile till Christmas." Meaning that if I can get my students on the right track, constantly tell them the rules, enforce them, stay structured and organized, then after the break, I can allow them to have more fun and be more lax in my classroom. Once they have learned what I want them to, then why not allow them to enjoy the rest of the year without so many rules to follow.

On the other hand, I have been talking about the importance of critiques within my classroom environment for weeks. In art, they are so essential to understanding students' works and getting them to express their reason for creating it. Critiques can be a good tool for both encouraging productive behavior and discouraging undesirable behaviors because it lends itself to students learning how to articulate themselves with skills that will go far beyond the art classroom, as well it also is very subjective and if not done correctly or with structure, can be something students use as a way to get out of participating.

In the Middle School Case Study, Cherie is acting up by trying to be funny and bully her classmates. While she thinks it is funny, her peers are getting hurt. I would pull Cherie aside and have a private, positive conversation with her about why she thinks it is funny to trip her classmates. Chances are their is an even greater motive for her acting up and seeking attention. It may be that she does not receive the attention she needs at home. As for her pretending to battle and shoot a gun at her classmates, I have no tolerance for violence, even if it is only pretend. I could suggest Cherie come speak with me after class whenever she is feeling like she wants to interrupt, act out, or hurt a classmate. She can self-regulate her feelings, behaviors, and actions by understanding that she has control over them. It could also be that she needs more activities in the class for her to act things out and be creative with her imagination. As for tools to manage behavior, extrinsic reinforcement (allowing her to have opportunities to receive attention from me and her classmates in an appropriate and productive setting) could really help Cherie (p. 295). Removal punishment would be taking an extreme route to dealing with her behavior, however, I have seen this work within a middle school classroom setting (p. 297). Students often like to misbehave and disrupt the class but once you ask them to step outside or move to a desk where they will be sitting alone, the student no longer wants to create mischief. No one will be there anymore for them to get attention from of they are int he hall or sitting alone. Usually the student will choose to act accordingly with classroom rules instead of moving or leaving the classroom.

Also, the developmental trends listed in the textbook, specifically focusing on middle school grade levels, appear to be very informative with suggested strategies for effective reinforcers (p. 298). The table suggests that students are allowed about five minutes to mingle with each other contingent upon them getting work done, spend one-on-one time with students throughout the class period, and provide explicit feedback to students about what things they have done well in the class that day. Taking the time to assess and help students assess their own behaviors in the classroom, telling them what they have done well, and getting to know them on a more personal level will all help the students know what you want and how you expect them to act and behave within your classroom.