|
WINDY CITY TIMES
|
|
|
Report: IL teachers, social workers unprepared for LGBTQ issues
From a news release
2012-11-13
|
|
This article shared 4789 times since Tue Nov 13, 2012
|
|
Chicago - The Illinois Safe Schools Alliance (the Alliance) just released Visibility Matters 2012, an update to the statewide report card on LGBTQ presence in higher education and teacher preparation in Illinois. This report examines the inclusion of sexual orientation (SO) and gender identity (GI) in university policies related to anti-discrimination and in student codes of conduct, and for SO and GI specifically in teacher education and social work preparation programs. Forty percent, or twenty-four of the state's sixty teacher education preparation programs, received a failing grade of F. Thirty-two percent, or seven of the state's twenty-two social worker preparation programs, received a D or an F.
"Our taskforce is composed of researchers and scholars from Illinois universities," states Professor Erica Meiners, Professor of Education and Women's Studies at Northeastern Illinois University and member of the Pre-Professional Project of the Alliance that authored the report. "We evaluated these programs based on the web because prospective teacher education/social work students research potential programs via the internet and want to know how programs include and address LGBTQ communities."
For Visibility Matters 2012 we are pleased to report that fourteen universities received As in teacher preparation up from just three two years ago," stated Shannon Sullivan, Executive Director of the Alliance. "Social work preparation programs also saw an increase in Asfrom four two years ago to 9 in 2012." "Although all social work programs are required to include content on LGBTQ issues, there are faith-based colleges and universities preparing social workers that have perspectives in opposition to these topics," added Pamela Konkol, Associate Professor, Director, Center for Policy Studies and Social Justice at Concordia University and member of the Pre-Professional Project.
"This project," states Therese Quinn, Director of Museum and Exhibition Studies at the University of Illinois at Chicago and member of the Pre-Professional Project, "aims to educate universities and colleges across Illinois that LGBTQ visibility and policies matter. The report shows that institutions can make great strides. For example, in 2009 just 16% of universities included gender identity in policies. This year, 42% include gender identity."
The report offers a number of recommendations to improve grades, to strengthen policies and to increase LGBTQ visibility. Isabel Nunez, Associate Professor, Center for Policy Studies and Social Justice, Concordia University and member of the Pre-Professional Project acknowledges that, "We expect teacher and social worker education programs to address all components of diversity — race, gender, ethnicity — and that sexual orientation and gender identity are also important aspects of the diversity picture."
The full report, Visibility Matters 2012: Higher Education and Teacher/Social Work Preparation in Illinois: A Web-based Assessment of LGBTQ Presence, is available online at www.illinoissafeschools.org .
|
|
|
|
This article shared 4789 times since Tue Nov 13, 2012
|
ARTICLES YOU MIGHT LIKE |
---|
|
| | Chicago Pride Parade downsizing: Politicians, corporations most affected, but private schools could still be in 2024-04-16 - Nearly 100 groups are on the waitlist to be in this year's Chicago Pride Parade after city officials mandated the annual event be cut by almost 40 percent. The waitlist for the June 30 parade includes ...
|
| | NATIONAL Trans woman killed, Tenn. law, S. Carolina coach, Evan Low, Idaho schools 2024-04-12 - Twenty-four-year-old Latina trans woman and makeup artist Meraxes Medina was fatally shot in Los Angeles, according to the website them, citing The Los Angeles Times. Authorities told the Times they found Medina's broken fingernail and a ...
|
| | Nex Benedict's autopsy report released 2024-03-27 - The full autopsy report for Nex Benedict (he/they)a 16-year-old transgender and Indigenous student from Oklahoma's Owasso High School who died in February a day after a school fighthas been released. The Oklahoma Office of the Chie ...
|
| | An interstate trans healthcare crisis: Illinois prepares for influx of people seeking gender-affirming care 2024-03-26 - With hard-won rights, such as access to hormone replacement therapy or permission to use one's chosen pronouns in school, breaking down in states across the country, trans residents of all ages are left with a choice: ...
|
| | No charges filed in Nex Benedict fight; campaigns call for Walters' removal 2024-03-22 - In Oklahoma, Tulsa County District Attorney Stephen Kunzweiler announced that no charges will be filed in connection with the fight that happened the day before transgender, nonbinary high school student Nex Benedict died by suicide, NBC ...
|
| | NATIONAL Missouri measure, HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, judge, Texas schools 2024-03-15 - In Missouri, a newly proposed law could charge teachers and counselors with a felony and require them to register as sex offenders if they're found guilty of supporting transgender students who are socially transitioning, CNN noted. ...
|
| | PASSAGES Bryan Dean Wilson 2024-03-14 - Bryan Dean Wilson, 64, of Chicago, passed away March 11. Born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Bryan graduated from Washington High school in Cedar Rapids before earning his B.S. in Biology from Mount Mercy University, also in ...
|
| | UPDATE: Nex Benedict's death ruled a suicide; family responds 2024-03-13 - A medical examiner's report concluded that the cause of death of Oklahoma student Nex Benedict (he/they) was suicide, media reports confirmed. Benedict—a 16-year-old transgender student—died Feb. 8, a day after ...
|
| | Florida settles 'Don't Say Gay' lawsuit 2024-03-11 - On March 11, the state of Florida settled a multi-year lawsuit against the so-called "Don't Say Gay" law, which limits how LGBTQ+ topics can be discussed and presented in schools, The Hill reported. The settlement agreement ...
|
| | Federal investigation initiated in Nex Benedict case 2024-03-02 - The U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights has started an investigation into the Oklahoma school district where Nex Benedict, a transgender 16-year-old sophomore, went to school and was bullied before his death, The Advocate ...
|
| | NATIONAL School items, HIV/AIDS activist dies, Nex Benedict, inclusive parade 2024-03-01 - In a new survey, the Pew Research Center asked public K-12 teachers, teens and the U.S. public about the ongoing scrutiny placed on classroom curricula, mainly regarding race and LGBTQ+ identities, ABC News noted. Among other ...
|
| | Activists and others urge removal of Oklahoma schools superintendent after Nex Benedict death 2024-02-28 - TULSA, OKLAHOMA—Today more than 350 national, state, and local organizations advocating for equality across the U.S., alongside notable public figures, issued an open letter to Oklahoma legislative leadership urging justice ...
|
| | 911 calls, videos show cascade of failures in Nex Benedict's death, GLAAD responds 2024-02-24 - "It is haunting to hear Nex Benedict, in their own words, describe how school and state leaders failed, at every level of leadership, to keep them safe from bullying and harm. Less than 24 hours later, ...
|
| | HIV criminal laws disproportionately impact Black men in Mississippi 2024-02-21 --From a press release - A new report by the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law finds that at least 43 people in Mississippi were arrested for HIV-related crimes between 2004 and 2021. Half of all arrests in the state ...
|
| | Oklahoma non-binary student dies after being assaulted 2024-02-21 - Officials acknowledged there are unresolved questions about a 16-year-old non-binary Oklahoma student who died one day after a fight in a high school bathroom, NBC News noted. Chuck Hoskin Jr., principal chief of the Cherokee Nation, ...
| |
|
|
|
|
| NATIONAL Trans woman killed, Tenn. law, S. Carolina coach, Evan Low, Idaho schools | | Through a queer lens: Photographer Paul Mpagi Sepuya discusses Chicago exhibition | | WORLD Ugandan law, Japan, Cass report, Tegan and Sara, Varadkar done | | Q FORCE launches 2024 election efforts in Chicago | | SHOWBIZ Jerrod Carmichael, '9-1-1' actor, Kayne the Lovechild, STARZ shows, Cynthia Erivo | |
|
|
|
|