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Training: Education

 

 

Willy provides customized, interactive training that increases awareness, informs, builds empathy, and helps educators develop practical skills for creating LGBTQ affirming educational settings, and support LGBTQ students, families, and colleagues.

Trainings are customized to preschool, K-12, and university settings. They can address how to create affirming schools or higher education, and dial into specific learning objectives that arise from incidents and challenges.

 

The curriculum can be customized to address:

 

  • Cultural competency and managing bias

  • Best practices for creating an LGBTQ-affirming educational setting

  • Terms, identities, concepts, and Intersectional identities

  • How to navigate interactions respectfully; useful language and approaches to build rapport

  • The impact of being misgendered; tools for asking for and remembering names and pronouns; ensuring a student-centered approach; documenting names and pronouns in class rosters and student records; how to apologize when a mistake has been made

  • The impact of being “outed;” honoring student privacy; protections of Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)

  • The impact of pervasive discrimination, violence, and trauma, including anti-LGBTQ legislation, hate-fueled rhetoric, and restrictions on education and access to care

  • The negative health outcome of limited restroom access; how to provide access to gender-specific settings, including restrooms, locker rooms, and athletics, so everyone can use the facilities and participate safely and comfortably

  • Social and medical transition; gender-affirming care; health disparities; health care access in your jurisdiction

  • Support resources for LGBTQ students; how to be supportive of students with LGBTQ families; how to be an ally to LGBTQ colleagues

  • Developing and implementing transition plans; communicating about student or staff transitions; dealing with a curious public; responding to the media

  • Relevant legal issues in your jurisdiction; federal protections of Title IX

  • Policies, procedures, and protocol

  • Action steps

 

Potential learning objectives

At the end of the training, or training series, participants will be able to:

 

  • Define terms, identities, and concepts associated with lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, and gender expansive communities

  • Utilize culturally competent language and behavior for respectfully navigating interactions with LGBTQ students, families, and colleagues

  • Describe tools for ascertaining, remembering, and documenting student names and pronouns

  • Describe strategies and policies for managing gender-specific settings

  • Develop culturally competent best practices for being supportive of LGBTQ students, families, and colleagues

  • Identify action steps to improve universal access to education for LGBTQ students

 

Willy’s trainings are multi-modal and include:

  • Interactive participation

  • Concrete information on navigating interactions appropriately, life circumstances, mental health concerns, health disparities, health care access, social and medical transition, legal issues, and policies

  • Film clips that humanize the issue and reach the audience emotionally

  • Customized case study exercises for practical skills building on learning objectives relevant to your specific circumstances. Case study exercises are customized to your grade level, educational setting, cultural and political climate, student populations, and jurisdiction. They provide an opportunity for participants to work in small groups on practical scenarios that they may encounter in their work, and debrief in the large group to discuss effective approaches and strategies.

  • Welcoming, non-punishing discussion of educational approaches to LGBTQ issues

 

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Ready to give your group the opportunity to problem solve, and develop their knowledge and skills?

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Contact Willy to schedule a call to discuss your training needs. He will work with you to determine topic, learning objectives, time frame, and most convenient dates.

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