A Kind of Urging Towards

When a Student Says, "I’m Not a Boy or a Girl" by Zoe Greenberg
The New York Times, October 24, 2017

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This article by Zoe Greenberg in the New York Times offers a helpful (albeit brief) survey of the gender landscape at the moment, from region to region and school to school. Greenberg cites a plurality of schools and curricula, from those forbidding teachers to speak of gay and transgender people in positive terms, to those embedding considerations about gender into the curriculum or "loosening up the whole idea of gender, for every kid." The piece provides glimpses into the range of attitudes and approaches to questions about gender without ultimately advocating for a particular side. Instead, Greenberg captures the openness and fluidity of children around notions of gender relative to the attitudes and understandings of adults, a kind of urging towards a "progressive" and non-binary way of thinking about gender. Greenberg overviews some of the changes, challenges, and opportunities as understandings of gender evolve in our world. She points to a preponderance of questions about who the experts are: teachers, parents, and/or students themselves? Shedding light on the incredible variations of opinion, Greenberg's piece is an invitation to be curious, to learn more, and to engage with colleagues about how we’re approaching the gender conversation in our own schools.