Here is a sampling of the peer dialogue that this web page generated:
Dialogue in color is from other class members, dialogue in black is from group 4.
Greg started the dialogue on 7-20-2010:
For Group 4, our book is "Evolution's Rainbow: Diversity, Gender, and Sexuality in Nature and People" and our webpage can be found at utagroup4.wikispaces.com
Catherine Schewe Responded: Cynthia,
Hello! I found your reflection of the book similiar to what I was thinking when I was going through your group's website. It too, would have been very hard for me to read that book. Even though the book was against your own beliefs, you were able to see the book as why it was chosen for this class - to see from another viewpoint, but at the same time be steadfast in your beliefs.
What for you was the hardest part of the book?
Cynthia Nyvall's Response:
The hardest part of the book for me was confronting a topic that I am very uncomfortable with; transgender life choices. I will admit that I have taken the stance of avoidance in the issue in the past. This book made me face it and really try to understand the person behind the decision. This whole course is about seeing people for people and not their labels. I think reading the book was a good lesson in that.
Additionally, the very liberal claims and calls to actions were difficult to grasp. These include a call for a Statue of Diversity off the West Coast (she compared it to the Statue of Liberty off the East Coast) and changes to science curriculum and medicinal curriculum include more than 2 genders in the human species, based in various combinations of X and Y chromosomes. They were so drastically different than what is seen in society today, it was hard to take them seriously. Catherine's Response:
I too am uncomfortable with these issues. You are right when you say that this course is about seeing people for themselves and not their labels. You can't judge a book by its cover.... This is a lesson for me.
Peggy Rogers Responded:
To the Group: I enjoyed visiting your website. I thought, even though your book was very controversial, that you had a more interesting selection than our group did (Beyond Science Wars).
Greg,
I found your personal reflection very interesting. I liked the statement you made about how anyone reading the book would come away from it with his/her current belief system in tact. From what I read on your website, I know that many of my peers would find this book offensive simply because of the topic being discussed. Where I live, homosexuality is not widely accepted, and is very rarely discussed. It is true, that as educators, we need to know that our students may not all be heterosexuals; yet, they all still deserve to be treated with kindness and dignity.
Lisa,
I understand your point of view, but have a question about a statement you made in your personal reflection.
You wrote: As long as none is pushing any type of beliefs within my classroom onto someone else then my class will function just great. After reading this book I feel like I have not learned anything that would possible take to my class to help me become better prepared to teach ANY TYPE of student.
What grade do you teach? What will happen if someone "pushes" their beliefs onto someone else in your classroom? And, what do you consider "pushing"?
Lisa Lee's Response:
I teach at the high school level and this past year had a class that was very diverse with heterosexual and homosexuals that made up the group. I had difficult time getting to group to work together and not having smart remarks being thrown in either direction. They did not want to intermingle or group up with for projects. If I grouped up the kids that were gay then they would start in on telling the jocks that they were cute and that they would turn to liking boys then the jocks would have something back to say. I really had to watch who I grouped them with so it would not get out of hand. I read the part of the book that dealt with gays and lesbian and transgender are born that way and had studies to try to prove this. the book then would say that the lesbians were hand picked very strick guidlines to be able to be in the study and being a math teacher that then in turn i had problems with the percentages that they were giving me. the author talks about they were born this way, the percentages that your child has in being gay, lesbian, and transgendered, and SM (sadomasochism) and BD (sexual bondage discipline), and this has no relavance on how I teach math to these students and any other student.
Peggy's Response:
Thank you for your response. I know that we deal with many separate issues since we teach at different levels. I give lots of credit to anyone who teaches at the high school level. I couldn't do it!
Robin Gersten Responded:
Greg -- I just wanted to say that I really appreciate the statement that you made at the end of your reflection in reference to how we, as teachers, should treat students in our classrooms who are not heterosexual. "Hopefully, with as much sensitivity, kindness and respect as we would show to any minority student."
My school started a club called "Gay Straight Alliance", and while I am sure there are students and teachers who are uncomfortable that we have a club such as this, the club is at least a start for non-heterosexual students to feel supported within our high school environment.
Good job on the website.
Robin
Greg Morrison's Response:
Thanks Robin! Sexuality is a touchy issue for many. I think one's sexuality is widely viewed as a choice (I don't believe this, as I stated in my personal reflection). Thus, while a white teacher may not have any issues with a black or hispanic student (race is certainly not a choice), the same teacher may harbor resentment or at least be uncomfortable with any homosexual or transgendered student (why has he or she chosen to be different?) regardless of race. Especially when many religious teachings would lead people to believe that not only is homosexuality a choice, but it is an immoral choice.
Unfortunately, I believe that if students at my school wanted to start a GSA group, they would be shot down by administrators. As our textbook stated, there is still a lot of homophobia out there, especially at the high school level that we work in. Most all students think it is perfectly acceptable to use "gay" as a synonym for "stupid", as in, "that homework assignment was gay." I always correct them and tell them their language is disrespectful, but they seem to think I'm weird for saying anything about it.
Bottom line for me is students who embrace their uniqueness, rather than being conformists, will always have my respect for being courageous.
Robin's Response:
I also respect students -- people -- for having the courage to stand up for themselves and what they believe rather than being conformists.
I know the GSA group forming at my high school has made some people uncomfortable...and that is a shame. I guess homophobia exists everywhere.
I am sure your students know and appreciate that you are a respectful ally.
Lauren John Resonded:
Great website and very interesting book. I do think that teachers may find it challenging in treating transgendered and gay students just like we do every other student with kindness, diginity and respect just because of the values issue. I did really think that this quote was interesting "A major threat to the human rainbow is the misclassification of human diversity as disease." As teachers we must treat all of our students with dignity and respect no matter what sets that student apart from others and as teacher I do think we especially need to do this because of all the little eyes watching us.
Alana McAnally's Response:
I have had several students over the years in the high school that either classify themselves as homosexual or bisexual.... I personally do not find it hard to treat them the same... the hard part for me is when other students try to make fun of them.... bullying is NOT accepted in my class in any way. When we do group work I always pick the groups and the students know that who I pick is there partner until the work in done and then they can change. I try to tell them that you may not always like who you are with but that is the real world... sometimes we have to work in environments with individuals we do not really like or believe the same way they do, but as adults we have to "put up" with it sometimes for the better good. I try to tell my students that what they believe can never be taken away from them and that they should understand that people are different and believe different things. I try to think about it from my personal stand point.... I am not homosexual and I personally believe that this is not the way God made us.... but on the other hand I do not want someone to tell me I am wrong for believing in God or hetrosexuality... so who am I to judge?
Dialogue in color is from other class members, dialogue in black is from group 4.
Greg started the dialogue on 7-20-2010:
For Group 4, our book is "Evolution's Rainbow: Diversity, Gender, and Sexuality in Nature and People" and our webpage can be found at utagroup4.wikispaces.com
Catherine Schewe Responded:
Cynthia,
Hello! I found your reflection of the book similiar to what I was thinking when I was going through your group's website. It too, would have been very hard for me to read that book. Even though the book was against your own beliefs, you were able to see the book as why it was chosen for this class - to see from another viewpoint, but at the same time be steadfast in your beliefs.
What for you was the hardest part of the book?
Cynthia Nyvall's Response:
The hardest part of the book for me was confronting a topic that I am very uncomfortable with; transgender life choices. I will admit that I have taken the stance of avoidance in the issue in the past. This book made me face it and really try to understand the person behind the decision. This whole course is about seeing people for people and not their labels. I think reading the book was a good lesson in that.
Additionally, the very liberal claims and calls to actions were difficult to grasp. These include a call for a Statue of Diversity off the West Coast (she compared it to the Statue of Liberty off the East Coast) and changes to science curriculum and medicinal curriculum include more than 2 genders in the human species, based in various combinations of X and Y chromosomes. They were so drastically different than what is seen in society today, it was hard to take them seriously.
Catherine's Response:
I too am uncomfortable with these issues. You are right when you say that this course is about seeing people for themselves and not their labels. You can't judge a book by its cover.... This is a lesson for me.
Peggy Rogers Responded:
To the Group: I enjoyed visiting your website. I thought, even though your book was very controversial, that you had a more interesting selection than our group did (Beyond Science Wars).
Greg,
I found your personal reflection very interesting. I liked the statement you made about how anyone reading the book would come away from it with his/her current belief system in tact. From what I read on your website, I know that many of my peers would find this book offensive simply because of the topic being discussed. Where I live, homosexuality is not widely accepted, and is very rarely discussed. It is true, that as educators, we need to know that our students may not all be heterosexuals; yet, they all still deserve to be treated with kindness and dignity.
Lisa,
I understand your point of view, but have a question about a statement you made in your personal reflection.
You wrote:
As long as none is pushing any type of beliefs within my classroom onto someone else then my class will function just great. After reading this book I feel like I have not learned anything that would possible take to my class to help me become better prepared to teach ANY TYPE of student.
What grade do you teach? What will happen if someone "pushes" their beliefs onto someone else in your classroom? And, what do you consider "pushing"?
Lisa Lee's Response:
I teach at the high school level and this past year had a class that was very diverse with heterosexual and homosexuals that made up the group. I had difficult time getting to group to work together and not having smart remarks being thrown in either direction. They did not want to intermingle or group up with for projects. If I grouped up the kids that were gay then they would start in on telling the jocks that they were cute and that they would turn to liking boys then the jocks would have something back to say. I really had to watch who I grouped them with so it would not get out of hand. I read the part of the book that dealt with gays and lesbian and transgender are born that way and had studies to try to prove this. the book then would say that the lesbians were hand picked very strick guidlines to be able to be in the study and being a math teacher that then in turn i had problems with the percentages that they were giving me. the author talks about they were born this way, the percentages that your child has in being gay, lesbian, and transgendered, and SM (sadomasochism) and BD (sexual bondage discipline), and this has no relavance on how I teach math to these students and any other student.
Peggy's Response:
Thank you for your response. I know that we deal with many separate issues since we teach at different levels. I give lots of credit to anyone who teaches at the high school level. I couldn't do it!
Robin Gersten Responded:
Greg -- I just wanted to say that I really appreciate the statement that you made at the end of your reflection in reference to how we, as teachers, should treat students in our classrooms who are not heterosexual. "Hopefully, with as much sensitivity, kindness and respect as we would show to any minority student."
My school started a club called "Gay Straight Alliance", and while I am sure there are students and teachers who are uncomfortable that we have a club such as this, the club is at least a start for non-heterosexual students to feel supported within our high school environment.
Good job on the website.
Robin
Greg Morrison's Response:
Thanks Robin! Sexuality is a touchy issue for many. I think one's sexuality is widely viewed as a choice (I don't believe this, as I stated in my personal reflection). Thus, while a white teacher may not have any issues with a black or hispanic student (race is certainly not a choice), the same teacher may harbor resentment or at least be uncomfortable with any homosexual or transgendered student (why has he or she chosen to be different?) regardless of race. Especially when many religious teachings would lead people to believe that not only is homosexuality a choice, but it is an immoral choice.
Unfortunately, I believe that if students at my school wanted to start a GSA group, they would be shot down by administrators. As our textbook stated, there is still a lot of homophobia out there, especially at the high school level that we work in. Most all students think it is perfectly acceptable to use "gay" as a synonym for "stupid", as in, "that homework assignment was gay." I always correct them and tell them their language is disrespectful, but they seem to think I'm weird for saying anything about it.
Bottom line for me is students who embrace their uniqueness, rather than being conformists, will always have my respect for being courageous.
Robin's Response:
I also respect students -- people -- for having the courage to stand up for themselves and what they believe rather than being conformists.
I know the GSA group forming at my high school has made some people uncomfortable...and that is a shame. I guess homophobia exists everywhere.
I am sure your students know and appreciate that you are a respectful ally.
Lauren John Resonded:
Great website and very interesting book. I do think that teachers may find it challenging in treating transgendered and gay students just like we do every other student with kindness, diginity and respect just because of the values issue. I did really think that this quote was interesting "A major threat to the human rainbow is the misclassification of human diversity as disease." As teachers we must treat all of our students with dignity and respect no matter what sets that student apart from others and as teacher I do think we especially need to do this because of all the little eyes watching us.
Alana McAnally's Response:
I have had several students over the years in the high school that either classify themselves as homosexual or bisexual.... I personally do not find it hard to treat them the same... the hard part for me is when other students try to make fun of them.... bullying is NOT accepted in my class in any way. When we do group work I always pick the groups and the students know that who I pick is there partner until the work in done and then they can change. I try to tell them that you may not always like who you are with but that is the real world... sometimes we have to work in environments with individuals we do not really like or believe the same way they do, but as adults we have to "put up" with it sometimes for the better good. I try to tell my students that what they believe can never be taken away from them and that they should understand that people are different and believe different things. I try to think about it from my personal stand point.... I am not homosexual and I personally believe that this is not the way God made us.... but on the other hand I do not want someone to tell me I am wrong for believing in God or hetrosexuality... so who am I to judge?