{"id":325,"date":"2022-03-30T13:12:30","date_gmt":"2022-03-30T13:12:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cohort21.com\/jenniferbairos\/?p=325"},"modified":"2022-04-01T13:58:48","modified_gmt":"2022-04-01T13:58:48","slug":"dipping-my-toes-into-social-justice-fsl-where-am-i-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cohort21.com\/jenniferbairos\/2022\/03\/30\/dipping-my-toes-into-social-justice-fsl-where-am-i-now\/","title":{"rendered":"Dipping my toes into Social Justice + FSL – Where am I now?"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Thinking about how to authentically integrate social justice elements into a language program is a necessary, but enormous undertaking. I am gathering ideas, and I am learning so much from educators who are further along on this journey, but I quickly realized I needed to pick one area of focus for the year and start there. I wrote about the evolution of my how might we question in a blog post (The Journey of My How Might We Question<\/a>), and I landed on:<\/p>\n

How might we amplify the theme of identity in the FSL classroom to support LGBTQ+ students as they talk about themselves in order for everyone to feel seen and valued?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

My main goal this year was to teach my students the non-binary pronoun iel and support them as they practised using iel along with other non-binary vocabulary such as family members and adjectives.<\/p>\n

@hfransen<\/a><\/span> and I collaborated on creating a slide deck<\/a> to introduce non-binary pronouns to our students. I tried it with my Grade 7s in the fall and then just this week with my Grade 8s. The student response has been very positive. This week, I heard my students say “I have learned so much in just the first few minutes of our class!” and “This lesson was a big W, Ms Bairos.” That immediate and positive feedback is so motivating and inspiring to me. It tells I am on the right track.<\/p>\n

I also noticed some of my grade 7s using non-binary pronouns when they were writing descriptive paragraphs about each other, and when they were writing about themselves.<\/p>\n

Movie Talks have also been a really easy, yet powerful, way to incorporate more discussions about identity. Richard Smith is an FSL teacher in Ottawa, and he is compiling a slide deck of movie talks that span a wide variety of topics (Slide Deck: Richard’s Movie Talks<\/a>). Movie Talks can also be a great way to talk about how we presume gender.<\/p>\n

After I blogged about my initial reflections and wonderings connected to social justice in the FSL classroom (read it here<\/a>), I was invited to present a session on this topic with the Ontario Modern Language Teacher’s Association spring conference, so I am excited to share my learning further with others later this month.<\/p>\n

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I have learned so much, and I continue to seek out and learn new ideas and perspectives regularly. I’ve compiled many of my “go to” resources in a Google Doc (DEIJ Resources for French Teachers<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Here are a few that are most connected to my how might we question this year:<\/p>\n