I believe I would respond to a person who stated that they felt that gay or lesbians should not teach or children, that a person sexuality has nothing to do with the persons ability to teach. According to one of the classes I have taken at Walden , there are people within communities who are gay , however, their sexuality is not broadcasted to the community.
I al believe that an issue we need to discuss with students is the fact that boys and girls can be whatever they want to be. Last year when I thought pre-k a little girl wanted to be a firefighter. The boys said thst she could not because she was a girl. I found books which had girl fighters and luckily our fire department had a woman firefighter who came during fire prevention week. I think as a society especially in the South, we send the message that girls have to be teachers or nurses or stay at home. This issue needs great attention to ensure that the women of the future can be anything and can support themself.
Hi Joy,
ReplyDeleteI think it is great that you found a book that talks about a woman fire fighter and that there was a woman fire fighter at the firehouse. It is important to teach young children to be whatever they want to be and to encourage them to do so. I remember my cousin telling me that she had a man in her Biology class and when he asked what her major was she said Pre-med and the man looked at her as if she was crazy for wanting to be a doctor.
Joy,
ReplyDeleteI also agree with the fact that a persons sexuality doesn't have anything with their ability to teach or work with young children.
I also had the same situation in my classroom about girls can't be firefighters, I found several book that show females as firefighters and there is a book that shows a mom as a firefighter, the girls loved it and the boys were interested as well.
I totally agree. No one shares their sexual lives and orientation outside of the home so why should it make a diffrence if a person is gay. No one cares as much anymore if families are mixed cultures and we should help society have that same attitude toward same gender parents.
ReplyDeleteThe situation you experienced showed how you were able to take advantage of a teachable moment with that particular child. Children need to have the opportunity to carry out a variety of gender roles in order to feel comfortable and understand how each child is able to choose what they want to based on their interest. Using books to help provide children with that understanding is a great resource for the child as well as the family.
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