Great Public Schools are for Every Student. No Exceptions!
By Toni Smith, Trainer and board member, Georgia Safe Schools Coalition. Educator for 32 years.
As an educator, I’ve been guided by a philosophy that evolved as I worked and developed my practice, and I’ve tried to articulate what I want for all children, including children who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ). These students are marginalized and rejected with impunity. I want them to have love, security, and peace; how can I contribute to that?
Understanding that education is the key that unlocks all human rights, I know that the schoolhouse is the one institution that almost all people pass through and it holds the promise for all children.
So you see, the NEA vision statement says it all for me: Great Public Schools for Every Student. The word everymeans all of the individual members of a group without exception. As educators, policy makers, and supporters of public education, it is critical that we look at students through lenses not clouded by bias and cultural expectations. In choosing our life’s work, we have dedicated ourselves to the whole child — the unique individuals who populate our public schools.
So, let’s break down what we mean when we consider the whole child and how we can support every student.
Children come to us full of personality, assumptions, and values of their own. And while these change as they grow older, children start out with a baseline that is not solely formed by their surroundings; much of who we are is innate. Sexual orientation and sense of gender, like race, are real and inborn and make up so much of the human experience that they cannot be ignored or rejected.
That sense of “boyness” or “girlness” or something altogether different is as much a part of the whole child as their physical build. In addition, at some point in growth, attractions to other people develop, and these crushes and relationships can make or break a child’s self-image and view of the world. We cannot separate children into little segments and cherry-pick those we accept.The whole child includes who they are inside and who they loveoutside. We must accept and include the whole child. Every child.
LGBTQ students are often regarded as “outside” of what society sees as the norm and that “otherness” can be reinforced daily through their home and community interactions, the media, and many institutions. School must not be one of those places.
It’s important to understand that what takes place in and around the schoolhouse can mean the difference between life and death for some students. School is sometimes the only place where students find unconditional acceptance. For LGBT or questioning students, this acceptance and the support that comes with it affects how they learn, the social decisions they make, the goals they set andGreat Public Schools are for Every Student. No Exceptions! - Lily's Blackboard:
