Teacher Resources

Books:

The Boy Who Cried Fabulous – Leslea Newman

This book can be used to teach about sexuality explicitly, or it could just be a story that students read in their own time and make their own decisions about. It’s one of the books that is both a great story with accurate representation, but it can also be used to highlight the difficulties that some LGBTI+ students may face.

Tashi series – Anna Fienberg, Barbara Fienberg, and Kim Gamble

The Tashi series is a fantastic set of books for any classroom. These stories are complex and show a range of emotional intelligences that other books tend to miss. Another wonderful thing about the Tashi series is that the protagonist’s gender isn’t revealed! Tashi is shown to have a mixture of traditionally masculine and feminine traits and has love and friendships of all genders through the entire series. It’s an important set of stories, and most importantly it doesn’t show gender or sexuality as being a barrier, and instead tells a tale that any student can enjoy.

Other excellent books to be additions to representation in the classroom are: 
10,000 Dresses – Marcus Ewert
A is for Activist – Innosanto Nagara
And Tango Makes Three – Justin Richardson & Peter Parnell
The Different Dragon – Jennifer Bryan
The Great Big Book of Families – Mary Hoffman
It’s Okay To Be Different – Todd Parr
Jacob’s New Dress – Sarah & Ian Hoffman
King and King – Linda de Haan & Stern Nijland
Mister Seahorse – Eric Carle
Mommy, Mama and Me – Leslea Newman
Monday is One Day – Arthur Levine
My Princess Boy – Cheryl Kilodavis
What Makes a Baby – Cory Silverberg
William’s Doll – Charlotte Zolotow
The Worst Princess – Anna Kemp

 

Gayby Baby School Action Toolkit – Available for free via: http://thegaybyproject.com/schools/
This resource links to the Australian Curriculum in the areas of Health and Physical Education for years 5-6. Alongside Health and Physical Education, this resource links to Humanities and the English curriculum too.

This toolkit includes:
• Activities and strategies that explore
and celebrate the diversity of the
modern Australian family.
• Easy to teach lesson plans and
student worksheets.
• Engaging posters to display around the
school and classroom.
• Ideas for teachers wishing to foster a
more inclusive classroom environment.
• Ideas for school leaders wishing to take
steps to welcome diverse families at an
administrative level.
• Frequently Asked Questions and
Information regarding diverse
family units.

 

Included on the Gayby Baby schools site are these colouring sheets:

 http://thegaybyproject.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/GaybyBaby_ColouringSheets.pdf

In a classroom these can be used in the younger years all the way through to the older years. They can be used in the younger years simply as accurate representation in the class, and as the students start to think in more sophisticated ways they can be used to open up discussions about family and how we have a diverse range of family structures, all of which are natural and normal.

A young person’s family is central to their understanding of their own identity. When students see a family like theirs reflected in their school environment, it increases feelings of validation, safety and acceptance. This positively impacts their academic motivation and social wellbeing (HRC, 2009)

Safe Schools – Joining the Safe Schools Coalition

By joining the Safe Schools Coalition your school will be helping to achieve positive change! The Safe Schools Coalition provides free support services such as: facilitating planning discussions, professional development for staff, facilitating group student talks, guidance in updating policies and frameworks, and a variety of print and online resources.

You can look into the other schools that have joined, the program itself, and with the support of the principal you can join here: http://www.safeschoolscoalition.org.au/safe-schools

Sexuality Education Matters – Deakin University

Teachers, primary and secondary, often feel that they don’t have the knowledge, skills and understandings to confidently and competently deliver sexuality education. This resource perfectly prepares teachers when addressing sexuality in their classroom. It will assist teachers when adhering to the Safe Schools program, which is a necessary part of inclusive education. Sexuality and gender can be integrated into your school effectively with no harm! Sex education can be better than this:

The full resource can be found here: http://www.deakin.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/252661/sexuality-education-matters-april-2013-online.pdf

 

 

Want to help? Have resources of your own? Submit your ideas at s3381223@student.rmit.edu.au

 

Human Rights Campaign [HRC],. (2009). An Introduction to Welcoming Schools(1st ed.). Washington, D.C. Available via: http://www.hrc.org/files/images/general/An_Introduction_to_Welcoming_Schools.pdf