How do we present gender, sex, and sexuality as part of inclusive and accurate science teaching?

What Is The Issue?

Authors:

BY SAM LONG, LEWIS STELLER, & RIVER X. SUH (GENDERINCLUSIVEBIOLOGY.COM) AND KATY BUTLER & KIERAN SLATTERY (GENDER INCLUSIVE CLASSROOMS) | JUNE 2021

Things To Consider

• All students have questions about gender and sex, regardless of their own age or identities. Humans naturally learn about gender starting in early childhood. By the teenage years, 9.5% of young people identify as LGBT, and many more know somebody who is 2SLGBTQ+.¹
• Exposure to inclusive curriculum is correlated with positive outcomes for LGBTQ+ students including increased attendance (Fig. 2.9), more positive relationships with teachers, and increased peer acceptance (Fig. 2.12). LGBTQ+ students exposed to inclusive STEM curricula were more likely to choose a STEM major in college (p. 71).

Attending to Equity

• Teaching the complex truth about gender prepares all students to be responsible and informed community members. People who learn about both biological and environmental influences on gender show less prejudice against transgender people.
• Work with your students to identify what inclusive language works developmentally and culturally for your group. Make space for linguistic diversity and Indigenous and non-Eurocentric perspectives on gender, biology, and identity.
• Consider sharing background resources with families in other languages like Spanish (Family Toolkit and infographic), Burmese, Cantonese, Korean, Mandarin, and Vietnamese.

Recommended Actions You Can Take

• Educate yourself with foundational knowledge about the meaning of gender and sex in biology, the many factors involved in human sex determination, and the diverse patterns in animal species. Scientific discovery continues, so a science teacher must continue to learn about these topics in order to serve students well over time.
• Reflect on your own gender and sexual identities with the Gender Galaxy (Action Canada), the Gender Wheel (Maya Gonzalez) and Flower of Power (LGBTQ2s). How do your identities impact the way you learn science, see yourself reflected in science, and teach science?
• Integrate inclusive language and framing year-round into units that you already teach, not just during discrete lessons about gender. This signals to students that these topics matter and are important in biology. See detailed guidance on language use and framing.
• Design and adapt lessons using the Framework for Gender-Inclusive Biology Curriculum. Use our more detailed list of resources and advice for Elementary School and for Middle & High School.
• Learn what policies govern teaching about gender, sex, and sexuality in your region. Some states have “No Promo Homo” laws, sex education laws, and gender and sexuality in curriculum laws, which may limit how you teach science. A handful of states have adopted inclusive curricular standards, though they often focus on social studies content. Don’t do this work alone! Consider some model guidelines and reach out to potential partner groups. Explore these additional ideas and resources!
• Supplement visual classroom culture with inclusive posters like There’s More Than One Way To Make A Family, LGBTQIA Science/ STEM Etymology Series, STEM Role Models, and Rodillian Academy’s Science and Math Posters.
  

1. 2SLGBTQI+ stands for two-Spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, intersex, and other gender or sexual minorities. The rest of this tool uses the more common LGBTQ+, with the understanding that the “+” in this acronym represents a huge variety of identities.

ALSO SEE STEM TEACHING TOOLS

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