Welcome our community forum where we can come together and discuss important topics related to equity, diversity, inclusion, and accessibility (EDIA) in our classrooms and schools. This forum is a safe and supportive space where we can share our thoughts, experiences, and best practices to create more inclusive and equitable learning environments.
By engaging in conversations on this forum, we can share our successes, challenges, and ideas to create a more inclusive and equitable learning environment. Some potential topics for discussion could include:
Strategies for incorporating diverse perspectives and experiences in the classroom
Techniques for addressing and dismantling implicit bias
Best practices for supporting students from marginalized communities
Resources for promoting diversity and inclusion in curriculum and teaching materials
Ways to create a more accessible and welcoming environment for students with disabilities
These are just a few examples of the many important topics that we can discuss and learn from one another. Let's use this forum as a space to share our knowledge and support one another in our shared goal of creating a more equitable and inclusive learning environment for all students.
Hi All, me again. Ok so this just happened to me...I am a French teacher at an international school. I was having coffee with a colleague, who also teaches French, with whom I usually get along. One morning, during our usual coffee chats, we got into a chat about the French language and its stance on genderless or gender inclusive words. He was adamant about using IL(S) or ELLE(S) because that is the language and that the new pronouns IEL(S) destroy the purity and correctness of French. We went back and forth about this and although it was not a fight, it did end up with both of us maintaining our stance. It worries me that he is a teacher and that we are partly responsible for shaping students’ beliefs and that if there were students who are non-binary, that they would feel pressured to conform because he is in a position of power. Any advice?
Hello teachers,
I was working in a shared workspace with a few colleagues, one of whom is a regular substitute teacher. He then decided to talk about the “R” word and how it is annoying that “woke” people and “cancel culture” don’t allow this word to be used, even though it is grammatically correct. One of the colleagues is his mom and the other teaches in a different department. They agreed and laughed. This then went on further with discussions of trans people and how deciding pronouns should not be up to the person themselves but up to the English language and their biological sex. I was shocked and very angry and was unable to respond other than to leave the room fuming. I was angry that I didn’t respond because, at the moment, I was very emotional and didn’t know what to say to be tactful and professional. What should I have done and what could I have said?