THE EDITORS

THE AUTHORS

The book's lesson plans are written by educators from across North America who create sustaining spaces for gender diversity through their practice.

Dr. Katherine Baker is Assistant Professor in the Department of Education and Wellness at Elon University. She received her doctorate in Curriculum and Instruction with a mathematics education focus from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She supports preservice teachers in their fieldwork in K–5 schools and her courses taught include mathematics and science methods, education and society, and algebra for K–8 Teachers. Her previous teaching positions include a fourth- and fifth-grade classroom teacher for six years and a K–5 Math Lead Teacher at the school district level for two years. Baker has developed and led professional development around the aspects of mathematics discussion and problem-solving.

Ashley S. Boyd, Ph.D., is Assistant Professor of English Education at Washington State University where she teaches courses on critical and cultural theory, English methods, and young adult literature. Formerly a secondary English language arts teacher in rural North Carolina, Ashley now works with preservice teachers to enhance their understandings of education in political and local contexts, and she seeks to guide teacher candidates toward planning engaging, socially conscious classroom curricula. In her current research projects, she is exploring how young adult literature is an avenue for cultivating students’ critical literacies and investigating the implementation of state-mandated tribal curriculum in secondary schools in Washington. She also works with practising middle and high school teachers to identify specific pedagogic approaches for advancing equity both inside and outside of the classroom and provides, through the organization Allies 2 Advocates, professional development on working with LGBTQ+ communities for teachers across the state of Washington.

Savannah Brittner is a preservice teacher in their final year at the Werklund School of Education at the University of Calgary. Savannah has completed two practicums, one of which was at Erle Rivers High School in the rural town of Milk River. It was there that Savannah found a passion teaching junior high. Savannah loved the enthusiasm in that group of kids. Savannah has worked with students one on one, tutoring in math, language arts, and French immersion. Savannah initially found a passion for teaching when Savannah began instructing swimming five years ago. Since then Savannah has worked with hundreds of children, youth, and adults. Savannah became a trainer two years ago, and has continued to share this passion for teaching by certifying new swim instructors. These experiences have provided Savannah with opportunities to work with a wide range of children, including those with ADHD, FASD, anxiety, and other conditions.

Véronique Cartier-Archambault graduated from McGill University with a bachelor’s degree in Life Sciences and a master’s degree in Education. After spending a few months in Toronto as a graduate student in a molecular biology lab, she decided to make a change and pursue a career in education. It’s by working as a tutor in Toronto that she realized how much joy she had from helping and mentoring students. While completing her Master of Education at McGill, she was able to explore the issue of women’s underrepresentation in physics and interview college students on this topic. She is now working for the English Montreal School Board as a substitute science teacher.

Milo Chesnut is a queer and non-binary trans educator, curriculum developer, and researcher. As a NYC high school teacher, Milo organized for proactive LGBTQ affirming education practices, including trans inclusive policy, curriculum, teacher trainings, and school-wide pronoun-sharing systems. Their work has been highlighted in national news outlets and featured in the book Safe Is Not Enough: Better Schools for LGBTQ Students. Milo has written curriculum for the NYC DOE, as well as multiple documentaries. They have an MS in Special Education from Brooklyn College and a BA in Gender Studies/Queer Studies from Smith College. Milo received a Research Excellence Award to pursue a Ph.D. in trans-inclusive education and parenting practices at the University of Strathclyde in Scotland. Learn more at milochesnut.com.

Ryan Colwell, Ph.D., is Assistant Professor and Director of the Elementary Education Program in the Graduate School of Education and Allied Professions at Fairfield University, in Fairfield, CT[CA1] . Prior to teaching preservice teachers, Ryan was an elementary school teacher in two public school districts in Connecticut. Ryan’s research focuses on how preservice and in-service elementary school teachers can empower their students to explore and respond to contemporary social issues.

Dr. Bryan Fede is a recent graduate of the Doctoral (Ph.D.) program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He has 17 years of educational experience across grade levels (kindergarten to college) and has served as a classroom teacher (eight years), elementary grades mathematics coach (one year), and researcher (eight years) and as a university-level teaching assistant. Currently, Bryan is doing research in the development of pedagogical approaches to online teaching and professional development in mathematics education.

Julia Feldman-DeCoudreaux is a health educator with over a decade of experience as a teacher, content specialist, and administrator. She finds joy in making learning engaging and meaningful so that students, teachers and parents feel empowered to continue their own learning and to better care for themselves and others. Currently in California, she runs the Oakland-based sex education organization Giving The Talk, through which she supports all populations with curricula, capacity-building and instruction in relevant and comprehensive sex education, free of stigma and shame. When she’s not teaching sex ed, you’ll find her at a farmers’ market, a dance studio, or at home baking pies. Follow her on Instagram @GivingTheTalk.

Nicole Ferry, Ph.D., has been teaching on issues of social justice at the university level since 2013. She has taught an array of courses for undergraduates in the areas of women’s studies, popular culture, global leadership, academic success, and youth cultures. She currently develops curriculum and teaches courses for graduate students at City University of Seattle in the School of Applied Leadership. As a co-founding and contributing member of the educational collaborative, Allies 2 Advocates, Nicole also works with elementary and high school teachers and administrators across the state of Washington to create curriculum, policies, and classroom practices that foster inclusive spaces for all children, but particularly those who identity as LGBTQIA+.

Meg Gardner, Ph.D., is the Director of Teacher Preparation and Senior Lecturer in the Educational Studies Department at Colgate University. She currently coordinates both undergraduate and graduate programs for preservice teachers at Colgate University, supervises student teachers in the field, and teaches science and math methods courses. Her research focuses on the development, instruction, and sustainability of innovative STEM approaches at the 7–16 level. She received a Ph.D. in Science Education from Syracuse University in 2017, an M.S. degree in Adolescence Education from Utica College in 2010, and a B.S. degree in Natural Resource Management from Cornell University in 2003. Prior to joining the faculty at Colgate, she was a secondary science teacher. She taught five years in public school settings ranging from middle school alternative education to career and technical education at the high school level.

Allison Gonsalves, Ph.D., is Assistant Professor in the Department of Integrated Studies in Education at McGill University. She holds a master’s degree in molecular biology, and a Ph.D. in science education. Over the past 20 years, Allison has taught science in a variety of non-formal learning environments, particularly community centres and after-school programs. Prior to her position at McGill University, Allison completed a post-doctoral fellowship at the Université de Montréal, documenting youth’s engagement in science in out-of-school-time learning contexts. Allison has been teaching preservice teachers at McGill University for over 10 years. She teaches courses at both the elementary and secondary level. Her teaching methods courses employ a practice-based pedagogy approach and focus on ambitious and high leverage practices for science instruction. Her research focuses on the potential of science outreach to support novice teachers’ identity development in science teaching. She orchestrates science outreach opportunities to bring together preservice teachers and undergraduate science majors in informal learning contexts with youth, and documents the identity work that novices engage in as they navigate multiple epistemologies of science.

Angel Rubiel Gonzalez, Ph.D., is an educator focusing on the lives of educationally underserved urban youth. He is currently Principal at De La Salle Academy in New York City. Dr. Gonzalez has also been an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Africana and Puerto Rican/Latino Studies and the School of Education at Hunter College, CUNY. He has delivered presentations at the American Educational Research Association, the Eastern Sociological Society, and the Caribbean Philosophical Association. Dr. Gonzalez’s work has been featured in NBC Latino, NPR’s Latino U.S.A. podcast, as well as in the edited volume titled Sexualities in Education: A Reader. Born in Medellin, Colombia, but raised in the Bronx, Dr. Gonzalez has developed curriculum for an array of programs that include after-school, summer programs for high schools and colleges, professional development workshops, social studies curricula, and teacher education programs.

K. C. Harrison teaches at the University of Minnesota in the College of Education and Human Development’s First Year Experience program, Youth Studies major, and Social Justice minor. She draws on popular education models practiced in social movements and community organizing, learned through her continuing work against mass incarceration.

benjamin lee hicks is a visual artist, elementary school teacher, and Ph.D. candidate. They taught junior kindergarten to grade six classrooms in the Toronto District School Board for eight years prior to beginning graduate work in Curriculum Studies and Teacher Development at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto. benjamin has written and illustrated curriculum materials for teachers on topics of sustainable community-building, all-gender inclusion and arts-based activism. Their graduate work focuses on how we might better support teachers to expect queerness and prepare for all gender identities in elementary school classrooms. benjamin’s current project considers the potential of a decelerated, holistic approach to teacher professional learning about gender diversity and queering school space. They are interested in slowing down the pace at which social justice learning opportunities are offered to teachers, making room for heart-based processing alongside social and political theory.

Matthew Jeffries, Ph.D., has worked in higher education for the past nine years in residence life, new student program, LGBTQ+ student services, and academic advising. Currently, he serves as the director of the Gender Identity/Expression and Sexual Orientation Resource Center at Washington State University. Matthew frequently serves as a guest lecturer in Teaching and Learning courses at Washington State University, where he shares his expertise on issues of educational access and persistence.

Karleen Pendleton Jiménez is a writer and associate professor in education at Trent University. She has been a teacher educator for almost 20 years, as well as a community educator. She facilitated Queer Players, a creative writing and theatre group for queer youth in San Diego; Lengua Latina, a creative writing group for Latinas in Toronto; and also a creative-writing group for women in prison. She publishes both academic and creative works, including journal articles such as “Latina Landscape: Queer Toronto,” and “‘I Love Barbies … I Am a Boy’: Gender Happiness for Social Justice Education.” Her children’s book Are You a Boy or a Girl? (Lambda Literary Finalist) and award-winning film Tomboy (creator and screenwriter) are important curriculum resources for classrooms of all ages. For educators, she has published two books, Unleashing the Unpopular: Talking about Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity in Education, and Tomboys and Other Gender Heroes: Confessions from the Classroom. For the latter book, she delivered dozens of workshops in public schools, engaging students (ages 8 to 18) in discussion and activities of gender and gender transgression in rural and urban communities.

Kim Kelly first began working in NYC public schools in 1996 using art, theatre, and film to enhance literacy skills in K–12 classes. After getting a Master of Arts in Education she began her career as a full-time high school English teacher in Brooklyn and has been teaching eleventh and twelfth grades at East Side Community High school on the Lower East Side. Her commitment to teaching is rooted in the importance of arts and literature to increase students’ understanding of the world, important social and political issues, and their own emotional growth.

Johnna Lash has had the pleasure of working as an educator in a number of capacities, from a first-grade teacher to 400-level post-secondary instructor. In this time she has worked for social justice, making advocacy a cornerstone of both her teaching and learning. Johnna holds an M.A. in World History and an M.A. in English Rhetoric and Composition. Her focus in both degree programs was the construction of knowledge and the ways in which this knowledge is used to subjugate and oppress. While it might sound dire, Johnna has learned so much about ways to combat oppression as a result of her graduate studies which have helped her to recognize and address issues of access and equity in education. She implements techniques gathered from decades in the classroom to ensure both she and her students practice equity and advocacy in their day-to-day lives. Additionally, she is a co-founding member and educator with Allies 2 Advocates, an educational collaborative focused on incorporating socially just practices in K–12 schools.

Katherine Lewis is an assistant professor of Education and Chair of the Multiple Subjects Credential Program at Dominican University of California. Prior to her current role as a teacher educator, she taught in a variety of elementary schools (public schools, an International Baccalaureate program, and a full-inclusion charter) for nine years across Texas, Colorado, and California. Katherine currently teaches and mentors preservice and in-service teachers in both undergraduate and graduate education programs at Dominican University. Her primary research interests are focused on the social, cultural, and philosophical aspects of education and include projects about gendered educational experiences and highlighting gender diverse voices in K–12 schools.

Jacob Licker is an undergraduate student at Colgate University, where he studies Cellular Neuroscience with minors in LGBTQ Studies and Educational Studies. On campus, he works as a research assistant in the creation of a digital archive for queer activism at Colgate University. When he is not engaging in queer praxis on campus, he likes to spend time off campus as an outdoor educator in the Adirondacks and Central New York. His main areas of study include rural queerness, created spaces, and decolonizing outdoor education. He plans to continue this work in the future as a lifelong educator.

Samuel Long is a trans man who he teaches high school biology in Denver, Colorado. A former trans high school student, he gets to work every day to improve the school experiences of LGBTQ students. Sam is particularly interested in affirming diverse identities through gender-inclusive biology curriculum.

Dr. Sonja Mackenzie, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor in the Public Health Program at Santa Clara University. Her community-engaged scholarship focuses on intersections of gender, sexuality, and racism with health in the United States. Her research on gender justice among gender expansive and LGBTQ-parented children builds on her activism and organizing with queer youth and families and her interest in inclusive educational environments as a queer parent and educator, as well as her years of work with children and families in the pediatric HIV epidemic. Her teaching focuses on health equity, race/class/gender and health, community health, and sociological approaches to gender and sexuality. Her book Structural Intimacies: Sexual Stories in the Black AIDS Epidemic was published in 2013 by Rutgers University Press.

Kate Paterson is a Ph.D. candidate in Educational Studies at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. Over the past 10 years, Kate has gained experience in elementary education as a K–6 teacher’s assistant, researcher, and consultant. Her previous research explored the use of children’s literature in the classroom (specifically, traditional fairy tales, and “anti-oppressive” children’s picture books) as a forum to open up meaningful discussions of gender and sexuality with young children. Her findings emphasize the importance of social justice pedagogy and administrative support for LGBTTQ+ inclusive education. Her current doctoral work examines curriculum, pedagogy, and policy to support LGBTTQ+ diversity and inclusivity in elementary education. Kate received her Hons. B.A. in Sociology at Mount Allison University and her MA in Social Justice and Equity Studies at Brock University. For more information, please visit www.kepaterson.com.

Dr. Summer Melody Pennell, Ph.D., is Assistant Professor of English Education at Truman State University where she works with preservice secondary English teachers, both on campus and in their student teaching internships across Missouri. She is also the Safe Zone coordinator at Truman. Her previous teaching positions include high school English in rural North Carolina, composition at the University of Oregon, and English conversation in Osaka, Japan. She has also worked at a variety of academic summer programs, including Upward Bound. Pennell has developed curriculum across content and grade levels.

Jessica Prioletta received her early childhood and elementary teaching certification from Concordia University’s Early Childhood and Elementary Education program in Montreal, Quebec. She taught in Montreal for two years in public elementary schools and as a preschool educator at the YMCA. During this time, she also completed her master’s degree at McGill University, where she worked with teachers to better understand how play pedagogies can perpetuate gender inequalities in the classroom. Jessica is currently pursuing her doctoral research at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto, where she is examining from children’s perspectives how gender-based violence may be normalized in kindergarten play. During this time, she also obtained her Ontario teaching certification with an additional qualification in kindergarten education and has been working with preservice teachers on how to address social justice issues in children’s play at school.

Alisha Sarang-Sieminski (she/her/hers and they/them/theirs) is an engineer, educator, social justice activist, and parent of three kids under six. Their day job is as a bioengineering and design faculty at Olin College of Engineering. In this role, they focus on inclusive education, broadly defined. Their activities include designing to maximize people’s mobility, directing a capstone program, and teaching design and bioengineering courses. Bringing activism and design together, they have been working to develop educational materials to help parents, educators, and caregivers of young children create a more gender-expansive and -inclusive world through their language. The result of this work is the website www.genderjabber.org. The lesson plan in this compilation is an extension of this work.

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Armen Shahnazarian completed his Master and Bachelor of Education at OISE/UT. Currently, Armen is an educator at the Toronto District School Board; where over the past nine years, he has held positions as a Teacher, Curriculum Leader, and an Instructional Coach. In addition to teaching, Tori Amos, gymnastics, and HIV/AIDS anti-stigma education are some of Armen’s other interests.

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Kathleen Raea Spencer has collaborated in outreach and education with the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, McGill University, and community groups in Quebec, Ontario, and Latin America. From kindergartens to university auditoriums, she has experience working with all ages in a variety of educational settings, as well as with multiple landowners on small to large scale conservation, reforestation, and polyculture projects—one of which now protects a 605,200 hectare watershed in a biodiversity hotspot in eastern Panama. Kathleen specializes in facilitating intercultural knowledge exchanges and creating hands-on workshops that teach ecological agriculture and environmental concepts. More recently, she became a certified Science and Technology Teacher and has taught in public and alternative secondary schools in Montreal. Currently, Kathleen teaches grade 11 physics at the Canadian Ecology Centre and travels internationally to teach building science and natural building methods at universities and city halls with the Elemental Carpentry Collective.

Susan Staats is a mathematics educator and cultural anthropologist in the College of Education and Human Development, University of Minnesota. Sue currently teaches college algebra with interdisciplinary and social justice contexts at the University of Minnesota; she also teaches classroom discourse research methods. Sue has taught mathematics through the Socratic method in urban elementary and middle schools. For the last nine years, she has coordinated equity-oriented concurrent enrollment offerings of college algebra in high schools across Minnesota aimed at increasing access to university education for students from non-dominant social groups.

Mario I. Suárez is Assistant Professor in the School of Teacher Education and Learning at Utah State University. Suárez received his Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction from Texas A&M University. Prior to working at Texas A&M, Suárez worked as a high school mathematics teacher for a Title 1 school in Austin Independent School District, where he specialized in working with English Language Learners and Advanced Placement students. His advocacy for queer youth and educators includes being a part of the Core Collective for the Trans Educator Network, a network of 400+ transgender, gender nonconforming, and non-binary educators from around the nation, as well as being featured on Univision Austin and nprEd. His research interests sit at the intersection of inequality and equity, STEM persistence and retention, queer studies, curriculum studies, and critical quantitative research methods.

Ashleigh Talbott has been an elementary school classroom teacher for 15 years. Her classroom is a community of students that are not only learning academics, but most importantly gaining social emotional skills to ensure their successes. These SEL skills are developed through a lens of equity and social justice. A significant piece of her equity program is gender development and gender justice. Giving students the language and voices of empowerment to share who they are and how their identity, and expression thereof, shapes their experiences is an integral part of her teachings. She partners with a wide community of teachers, families, and staff by way of leading workshops, collaborating to develop whole school systems of inclusion, implementing gender structures to support our non-binary students, supporting whole school implementations of LGBTQ+ pride learning, and partnering with students and families within infinity groups. Most recently, she facilitated an after-school group for students in LGBTQ+ families, gender expansive and trans students, and their allies to support their creation of pictures and stories that became a school-wide Gender Justice Kid exhibit. She believes that if students can find their voice and connection to others in school, this can spread understandings and connections, and build bridges between communities outside of the school environment.

Luke Vanderzwet is a licensed science teacher in the province of Quebec and a recent graduate from McGill’s Master of Arts Teaching and Learning (MATL) program. He is currently a substitute teacher in Montreal at the high school level. Prior to entering the field of education, he obtained his M.Sc. (2017) and B.Sc. (2014) from the Department of Chemistry at the University of Waterloo. During these studies, he became interested in pursuing training in education due to experience as an organic chemistry teaching assistant and a personal tutor.

Kyle Whipple, Ph.D., is Assistant Professor at the University of Wisconsin Eau Claire in the Education Studies Department where he teaches elementary mathematics methods courses. He taught mathematics in K–12 public schools in Northeast Missouri for 20 years, where he also taught mathematics methods courses for Truman State University. Kyle completed his Ph.D. at the University of Minnesota in 2018, where he taught college algebra with modelling for two years. His educational research focuses on LGBTQ mathematics teachers and inclusive pedagogy and curricula.

Dawn Wiseman is Assistant Professor of Interdisciplinary Education in the School of Education at Bishop’s University in Sherbrooke, Quebec. She works with pre- and in-service teachers to consider social justice in STEM education and particularly the manner in which Indigenous and Western ways of knowing, being, and doing might circulate together in STEM teaching and learning in kindergarten through post-secondary education. This focus emerges from more than two decades of working alongside Indigenous young people, their teachers, and communities. While Dr. Wiseman’s research has a heavy theoretical component, it emerges from what educators do in classrooms and how these acts of doing impact student learning and understandings. She is particularly interested in student-directed inquiry emergent from relationships with Land, the development of locally meaningful STEM, and the obligations of teachers in terms of taking up the Treaty obligations the Calls to Action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada.

Kim B. Wright is an Assistant Research Scientist at the Texas A&M University Education Research Center and a Lecturer in the Department of Teaching, Learning, and Culture in the College of Education and Human Development. Wright’s research focuses on factors influencing middle grades STEM teachers’ perceptions of reform-based teaching practices and how the use of continuous improvement processes in professional development impact teacher professional learning. Wright has served in various roles in K–12 schools, including that of classroom teacher in grades four through eight, mathematics instructional coach, and mathematics specialist.

Cory Wright-Maley is Associate Professor of Education at St. Mary’s University in Calgary, Canada. He teaches social studies education and pedagogy. His research interests include simulations, democratic education, diversity, teacher education, and economic inequality. He taught social studies in the United States for six years prior to pursuing his doctorate. His work is published in key social studies journals, including: Theory and Research in Social Education, the Journal of Social Studies Research, and Social Education, and has published several chapters including in the Wiley International Handbook of History Teaching and Learning. He is the co-editor of Teaching for Democracy in an Age of Economic Disparity (Routledge, 2017), and editor of More like Life Itself: Simulations as Powerful and Purposeful Social Studies (Information Age Publishing, 2018). He is also the co-recipient of a 2018 Alberta Education Grant for Innovation in Teacher Education directed at strengthening Indigenous programming.

Cheyenne Wyzzard-Jones is currently working as the Founder of Resistance Education, developing and implementing curriculum for K–12 educators in the Boston and New York area. Cheyenne has worked for five years with nonprofits and schools who have requested professional development support in the areas of diversity, inclusion, and curriculum implementation assessments. Cheyenne has been working with communities of colour around the world for the past seven years as a community educator, organizer, and healer. As an academic, her work focuses on using transnational solidarity as an equity pedagogy, the usage of smooth counter-spaces in classrooms and communities, and providing space where academic theory and best practices are explained to and informed by communities of colour (specifically centering Indigenous, women, femmes, gender fluid, youth, LGBTQAI people). Creating spaces for Black and brown communities to heal, unlearn to relearn, and create is the continued work her ancestors called her to do.