Episode 4 – Hanging onto the “Before”: Teaching and Identity, with Marley Dewar

Episode 4: Marley Dewar

Marley Dewar, they/them, talks about the realities of teaching when you are part of the 2STLGBTQIA+ community. Marley, who identifies as gender non-binary, teaches grade 6 at Hartney School in the Southwest Horizon School Division, near Brandon, MB. Marley touches on the intersection of gender diversity and working in a rural environment; how people in the 2STLGBTQIA+ community are more prone to mental health and suicidality; how using pronouns can actually save lives; what allyship means; the state of homophobia and transphobia; the responsibility they feel to support and create safe spaces for others in the 2STLGBTQIA+ community; what gives them hope; and much more.  

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Resources:

1. Manitoba government has the Safe and Caring Schools but specifically a document on how to support Trans and Gender Diverse Students: https://www.edu.gov.mb.ca/k12/docs/support/transgender/index.html
2. Egale is a legal framework that does research and has many different resources on its website. This is by far the best website when it comes to resources. It has everything from learning opportunities to how to help students understand and support a peer who starts their transition: https://egale.ca/
3. Still in Every Classroom - which was a joint project with the University of Winnipeg and Egale. This link is a follow-up to a similar study done 10 years ago, this study should be read by every teacher who wishes to know the realities of their 2SLGBTQIA+ students. There is also a link to compare the original survey to the updated results: https://egale.ca/awareness/still-in-every-class/
4. Every Teacher Project, similar to the Every Classroom this study focused on teachers and their experiences. This study has not been updated since the original but still very relevant today: https://egale.ca/awareness/every-teacher-project/
5. SERC is another great resource and they do workshops for students and PD for teachers (at least in Brandon and surrounding areas): https://serc.mb.ca/
6. MTS Pride Lesson Plans, I helped create these lesson plans. Specifically the ones for middle school students: https://www.mbteach.org/mtscms/2018/04/17/lgbtq-lesson-plans/
7. Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario: https://www.etfo.ca/socialjusticeunion/2slgbtq
8. Rainbow Resource Centre: https://rainbowresourcecentre.org/