Author Archives: FAEI

“Some Very Basic Tips for Making Higher Education More Accessible to Trans Students and Rethinking How We Talk about Gendered Bodies”

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by Dean Spade

Originally published in the journal Radical Teacher, Spade offers an overview of practices for using non-gender specific language and references in the classroom.

“Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack of Settler Privilege”

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Dina Gilio-Whitaker, “Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack of Settler Privilege” November 08, 2018

An article that clearly refers back to Peggy McIntosh’s “white privilege” article, with another list of examples that while not specific to teaching, again highlight everyday things many people do, in and out of the classroom, that bear rethinking.

“White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack”

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Peggy McIntosh, “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack” 1989

A well-known and oft-quoted and referred to piece in which McIntosh lists a number of examples of “white privilege,” focusing in on the idea of privilege as reflected in structures and practices around her. While not specific to teaching, many of the examples she lists are the kinds of everyday things many people do, both in the classroom and outside of it.

Names and pronouns

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from Brielle Harbin, “Teaching Beyond the Gender Binary in the University Classroom,” (Vanderbilt University, Centre for Teaching)

Some useful gender affirming practices:

  • Only call roll or read the class roster aloud after providing students with an opportunity to share their requested name and pronouns, and what they care to disclose to the class.
  • Allow students to self-identify the name and pronouns they prefer.
  • Set a tone of respect the first day of class as part of the course expectations and connect this discussion with honoring one another’s requested names and pronouns.
  • Acknowledge when you’ve made a mistake about someone’s pronoun and correct yourself.
  • Honor students’ requested names in all university settings including (but not limited to): office hours, classroom, student group meetings, or when speaking with other faculty or staff.
  • Politely provide a correction whether the person who was misgendered is present or not.
  • Do not ask personal questions of gender non-conforming people that you would not ask of others. Such questions include inquiries about a gender non-conforming person’s body, medical care, former name, why or how they knew they were gender non-conforming, their sexual orientation or practices, their family’s reaction to their gender identity, or any other questions that are irrelevant to the classroom context unless the student explicitly invites these questions or voluntarily offers this information.
  • Do not disclose students’ gender identity unless you have obtained their consent.