Rethinking Schools Article Goes Viral: Students Asked to Critically Consider Gender Stereotypes
The following Rethinking Schools article, written by Melissa BollowTempel a Milwaukee Public School teacher, was posted this past week on Huffington Post. It has gone viral state-wide in Wisconsin, nationally and internationally.
It’s Ok to Be Neither
Teaching that supports gender-variant children
By Melissa Bollow Tempel Fall 2011, Rethinking Schools at:
http://www.rethinkingschools.org/index.shtml
Alie arrived at our 1st-grade classroom wearing a sweatshirt with a hood. I asked her to take off her hood, and she refused. I thought she was just being difficult and ignored it. After breakfast we got in line for art, and I noticed that she still had not removed her hood. When we arrived at the art room, I said: “Allie, I’m not playing. It’s time for art. The rule is no hoods or hats in school.”
She looked up with tears in her eyes and I realized there was something wrong. Her classmates went into the art room and we moved to the art storage area so her classmates wouldn’t hear our conversation. I softened my