Just thought I'd share something I thought was cool

[Mickey'snewestfan]

I don't usually post here, but I just thought I'd share something that happened the other day at work that I thought was amazingly cool, and made me really proud of my city. I hope it's not an intrusion.

The other day I got a form to fill out, it was a needs assessment regarding professional development for our teachers in the preschool program. They asked a whole bunch of questions about the demographics of our staff -- ages, race, level of education etc . . . I assume that they are looking to see if our staff is representative of our student body (e.g. do we need help recruiting staff who are AA or speak Spanish), if we have specific educational needs (e.g. do we have staff who nee basic courses, or do have staff who need master's level courses) etc . . .

Anyway, on the form there were check boxes for everything, but the one I liked the most was where it listed gender and wanted to know how many staff were male, female, and transgender. It made me smile to think that our local government recognizes that this is an important facet of diversity and that maybe they think it's an important goal to increase the representation of transgender adults in preschool settings (I actually don't know for sure if this population is underrepresented in preschool teaching, or if that's why they asked the question). It made me sad for our children that I couldn't check that box.

I hope this makes some of you smile too.

 

[OrlandoMike]

I hope it's not an intrusion.

You are more than welcome to post over here anytime!

 

[jenn&nelsonrego]

It is nice to hear of people being included!

 

[hematite153]

That is a great sign. Inclusion is so important.

 

[DouglasE]

Anyway, on the form there were check boxes for everything, but the one I liked the most was where it listed gender and wanted to know how many staff were male, female, and transgender. It made me smile to think that our local government recognizes that this is an important facet of diversity and that maybe they think it's an important goal to increase the representation of transgender adults in preschool settings (I actually don't know for sure if this population is underrepresented in preschool teaching, or if that's why they asked the question). It made me sad for our children that I couldn't check that box.

I hope this makes some of you smile too.

What came to mind is that I am friends with 2 FTM transgender people that unless they told me that they were originally not male, I would have no idea. If they were working in the schools maybe they wouldn't have gotten checks in boxes when they in fact qualify for a little check in the box. However, I agree it is encouraging that the trans community is not seen as something negative or at best ignored.

 

[Mickey'snewestfan]

What came to mind is that I am friends with 2 FTM transgender people that unless they told me that they were originally not male, I would have no idea. If they were working in the schools maybe they wouldn't have gotten checks in boxes when they in fact qualify for a little check in the box. However, I agree it is encouraging that the trans community is not seen as something negative or at best ignored.

I think that's true. It's possible I have people working for me who are transgender and have never mentioned it to me. I can only report how people self-identify. However, if the goal is to expose children to diversity, and have them growing up with lots of role models, so that they can strong and confident and whole, regardless of the path their life takes, then only people who are openly trans would be included.

On the other hand, if the point of the check box is to look for patterns of discrimination (e.g. are trans individuals significantly underrepresented in preschool teaching) then you'd need another source of data collection. I have to say I don't know the purpose of this survey.