117 - Gender, Parents, and Public Schools with Kate Parker

This episode is the first of several episodes dedicated to exploring what is happening with gender in schools and education systems. Schools are becoming more and more of a focus for parents and citizens who pay close attention to identity politics.

In this episode, Stella and Sasha chat with Kate Parker, a high school educator and library director at a private school with over 16 years of service as an elected trustee to K-12 and community college boards of education. Kate recently stepped down from her position as the President of the Santa Barbara City College Board of Education in California and is the parent of an adult trans-identified child.

In their conversation, you’ll hear Stella, Sasha, and Kate discuss how and when Kate noticed things changing and her observations of gender coming into the school system. They explore the triangulation that happens in families when schools keep secrets from parents and how destructive that can be. Kate offers advice to parents feeling too afraid or too confused to speak out. She also shares how school systems and school boards operate, insights into the responsibilities of schools and how that impacts their response to curriculum changes and reactions to it, and about how there is a chain of trust in the perceived “experts” advising on curriculum themes and trends.

Links:

Kohlberg Demonstrations:

https://youtu.be/luqSuuPSEOM

Genspect Resources for Schools:

• Brief Guidance For Schools

https://genspect.org/guidance-for-schools 

• Brief Guidance For Colleges And Universities

https://genspect.org/guidance-for-colleges-and-universities 

• Brief Guidance On Social Transition

https://genspect.org/guidance-on-social-transition 

• School Policy: Gender Identity (USA)

https://genspect.org/comprehensive-gender-identity-school-policy-usa 

• School Policy: Sexual Orientation And Gender Identity (Ireland)

https://genspect.org/school-policy-sexual-orientation-and-gender-identity-ireland  

If you liked this episode, more episodes you might find interesting:

• Gender & Schools | GWL Episode Playlist

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLngVCeAoK6vs-KvDiVE7QjpBphOg1Ckoi 

This episode is the first episode being added to this playlist, so if you’re tuning in soon after the release of this episode, this playlist will seem sparse - we encourage you to bookmark the playlist for future reference as more episodes are added throughout the remainder of Season 3.

• Episode 93 - A Takedown of Gender Politics: Wesley Yang

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