https://doi.org/10.33600/IRCJ.48.1.2019.60
Check This Out
Marie Ann Donovan and Mary Yockey
About This Column
The roles and activities of school librarians and media specialists are rapidly shifting in our 21st-century
schools as they transform their centers into learning laboratories for all stakeholders—students, school personnel, and family/community members. This column connects Illinois Reading Council members with the
latest research, trends, resources, and ways of thinking about the unique roles and expertise of library and
media specialists in fostering student literacy.
Illinois’ Inclusive
Curriculum Act
On August 9, 2019, Governor J.B. Pritzker
signed into law a series of amendments to
Section 5 of the extant Illinois School Code
(1-5 ILCS 5/2-3.155 and 27-21) related to
required curriculum content for all public
schools, as well as all educational materials
purchased with public funds for use in those
schools. Titled the Inclusive Curriculum Act,
these changes reflect a value proposition never
before specified in terms of our curricula: All
publicly educated students must learn about the
contributions that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and
transgender people have made to our state’s and
our country’s history in consonance with the
Illinois Human Rights Act of 1979. Moreover,
to graduate 8th grade, students must be able to
demonstrate knowledge of these contributions.
While working alongside elementary-level
librarians and media specialists this school year,
we were surprised when they observed that
more than a few of their classroom colleagues
were not aware of the new law. This phenomenon could simply be a byproduct of the timing
of its passage—days before schools opened in
August. Too, since the Act does not take effect
until July 1, 2020, behind-the-scenes efforts to
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address the law might be underway in districts
across the state that will not be announced until
finalized. We are aware that the Illinois State
Board of Education (ISBE) provided current
K-12 social science curriculum maps to The
Legacy Project (https://legacyprojectchicago.org),
a Chicago nonprofit dedicated to researching
and promoting knowledge about LGBTQ+
persons and their contributions to history,
culture, and society. ISBE tasked The Legacy
Project employees and associates to align their
Education Initiative resources database (https://
bit.ly/2lAQBUE) with the official State curriculum maps, as well as to create or modify
the Project’s current, free lessons and units for
supplemental use by K-8 educators in Illinois.
As of this writing, we hope to see these plans
available through sites under government education agency control such as the suite of curriculum resources featured within the Illinois
Classrooms in Action website (www.ilclassrooms
inaction.org). Unfortunately, we have not been
able to confirm what, exactly, these might contain or when they will be made available. We
are hopeful that as word about the Act spreads,
there will be wider recognition of the need to
provide support for all school personnel as they
rethink content and seek appropriate materials.
(Note: We use the term LGBTQ+ throughout
to indicate respect for, and acknowledgment
of, the need for broader consideration than the
Illinois Reading Council JournalVol. 48, No.1Winter 2019
lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender terms cited in
the Act.)
Librarians tend to be among the first school
personnel consulted when a new curricular mandate is issued. We therefore were not surprised
when library colleagues shared how pressured
they feel to secure and/or to develop LGBTQ+
history materials for their elementary schools,
in addition to educating their colleagues about
the new law and how to comply. We are all discovering a relative dearth of ample, prepared
curricular frameworks and supporting materials
that span the law’s K-8 developmental range,
however. Nevertheless, there are some resources
presently available (most at no or low cost) for
developing lessons and units. The required,
tight timeline for implementing these new curricula in school year 2020-2021 spurred us to
write now about what we have been learning as
we support colleagues in reworking library and
classroom programming. Before getting into
those details, we thought our fellow educators
would first be interested in learning more about
the context of this law, which has set the stage
in large part for how schools and districts are
interpreting it.
Impetus for These Amendments
During informal conversations with early advocates of this statute, we were struck by how
long they endeavored to effect these changes.
A few mentioned they originally hoped the
amendments would occur in time to mark the
30th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots of June
1969. Others described their intensive efforts
to get the Act passed to coincide with the 40th
anniversary of the riots, and the Act was finally
signed over a month after the 50th anniversary.
Throughout these earlier efforts, proponents mounted various campaigns for the general public as well as for teachers and librarians. They adopted a critical literacy stance in
arguing why they were pushing for these exact
changes—not including the contributions of
LGBTQ+ persons to Illinois and American history is another example of the majority determining whose story is worth telling. Without
including lessons on LGBTQ+ people and their
fights for civil rights, among other social and
cultural achievements, we mislead 21st-century
students as they construct a sense of the past.
Other advocates based their arguments on
those put forward by a founder of the multicultural education movement, Emily Style. In a
still-cited essay of 1988, Style (1996) implored
teachers who struggled to incorporate difficult
topics into their curricula to think differently
about how they choose content:
Consider how the curriculum functions,
insisting with its disciplined structure that
there are ways (plural) of seeing. Basic to a
liberal arts education is the understanding
that there is more than one way to see the
world; hence, a balanced program insists
that the student enter into the patterning of
various disciplines, looking at reality through
various “window” frames. (p. 21)
Style’s use of the windows-on-difference and
mirrors-reflecting-selves metaphors for curriculum deliberation is familiar to anyone inspired
by Rudine Sims Bishop’s (1990) use of them
as organizers for her landmark investigations
into the lack of diversity in available children’s
literature. Style (1996) reminds us it is our
responsibility to ensure all students can see
themselves and their experiences somewhere,
somehow in the curriculum. They also need to
see others, even those with whom they do not
coexist, and to grow in their understanding of
them. Without striking this curricular balance
of affirming self and exploring others, Style
argues, we are not truly educating.
The legislators who steered the bills that
formed the Act, Heather Steans (D-Chicago)
and Anna Moeller (D-Elgin), cited Illinois
data from the Gay Lesbian Straight Educator
Network’s (GLSEN, 2019) National School
Climate Surveys (NSCSs) in their substantiation arguments. These biennial surveys
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61
of self-identified LGBTQ+ youth in Illinois’
public and private high schools are designed
to elicit their overall sense of safety, belonging,
respect, and support for their personhood at
school. Among the more disturbing findings
of the 2017 NSCS (GLSEN, 2019) were how
often Illinois students reported hearing negative
remarks about gays (88%) and gender expression (92%), including from school staff. Less
than half (47%) indicated their school administration was either somewhat or very supportive
of LGBTQ+ students. Only 24% agreed that
their school curricula contained positive representations of LGBTQ+ people, events, and history. Although this survey polled high school
students, advocates for the Act explained how
by teaching K-8 students about the actual range
of difference, they hopefully will grow in their
understanding and tolerance of it and, in turn,
the negative attitudes and hurtful acts reported
in the NSCSs will lessen with time and commitment to teaching tolerance.
Teachers and administrators with whom we
work are still grappling to understand the full
import of this Act. Its relatively tight implementation timeline (i.e., 11 months from enactment) and complicated sociocultural implications appear to be the main stumbling blocks in
reorganizing curricula. We unpack them below
and offer you planning guidance based upon
what we are learning and doing together to prepare for School Year 2020-2021 when compliance with the Act becomes mandatory.
Amendment Implications for
Educators
This law is about changing existing Illinois
and U.S. history curricula, if/as necessary, at
the elementary level, in public schools only. It
does not require teachers, parents, or students
to endorse an LGBTQ+ lifestyle or to determine
whom to include solely based upon their sexual
identity as some critics mischaracterize its language to mean (Higgins, 2019; Wray, 2019).
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Illinois Reading Council Journal
The amendment closes a loophole in the previous law mandating that public school curricula
and textbooks include historical contributions
by all groups whose characteristics are protected
from discrimination under the Illinois Human
Rights Act (105 ILCS 5/2-3.155[c]). Before
this Act, LGBTQ+ people were not specifically
listed in the School Code’s requirements; they
were only referred to in the Human Rights Act.
The two Acts are now aligned in their specific
content.
We educators know the teaching of history is not confined to any one grade level or
developmental stage; nor is it relegated only to
single lessons or units about significant events
or the people who shaped them. Teaching history also includes exploring how individuals’ identities and experiences influenced their
motives for actions that, in turn, contributed to
the world as we know it today. This is a lot of
content to teach and to learn, which is why the
previous School Code statute stipulated starting
in elementary school. As K-8 schools examine
their curricula to detect where it makes sense to
include relevant LGBTQ+ figures, they need to
look across all grade levels to see how Illinois and
U.S. history are taught in a spiraled fashion with
built-in redundancies that foster deeper learning. ISBE’s Web page for the Illinois Learning
Standards for the Social Studies (https://www.
isbe.net/Pages/Social-Science.aspx) contains helpful guides for reexamining your social studies
curricula across the K-8 child development
continuum. The Illinois history timeline project created in concert with What on Earth
Books (https://bit.ly/2AOcuDO), in honor of
the state’s 2018 biennial, offers a snapshot summary of key events in our state’s history with
lesson ideas. Examining that snapshot may help
determine where to include the LGBTQ+ content in appropriate, contextualized ways across
K-8 library and classroom programming.
The only grade level specified in the
Inclusive Curriculum Act is 8th grade. By then,
students must be assessed on their knowledge
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and understanding of how people from all protected classes in the Human Rights Act affected
Illinois and U.S. history. The Act is silent about
how that knowledge is to be assessed. Moreover,
the Act does not list any particular grade or
grades in which these contributions must be
taught. While new directives from ISBE or the
Illinois Association of Regional Superintendents
of Schools (https://iarss.org) might be issued, as
of this writing, there are no specific grade levels
or required content we have been able to locate
or confirm through our research beyond that
described in the Act.
Working with Your Colleagues to
Effect the Necessary Changes
If you are responsible for constituting a committee to revise your curricula to make it more
inclusive, we trust you will ask your librarian or media specialist to join (if you haven’t
already). Members of the American Association
of School Librarians (AASL) (2018) hold a set
of Common Beliefs, one of which is most relevant here:
5: Intellectual freedom is every learner’s
right. Learners have the freedom to speak
and hear what others have to say, rather
than allowing others to control their access to
ideas and information; the school librarian’s
responsibility is to develop these dispositions
in learners, educators, and all other members
of the learning community. (p. 4)
School librarians are trained to defend and
preserve this right. Their professional responsibilities include working with any school
stakeholder involved in curricular decisions.
Their extensive knowledge base and research
skills are invaluable for finding and securing
the resources needed to understand the Act and
how to implement it locally.
We recognize that for some of you reading this column, leading these conversations
in your schools will be stressful and difficult.
Emily Style (1996) reminds us that having
hard conversations about what matters to our
communities will keep our democracy alive.
She advises we aim for both challenge as well
as comfort in planning them. Inspired by the
work of poet Adrienne Rich and writing teacher
Peter Elbow, Style insists that at the start of our
conversations, we clearly require everyone to
agree they will approach the discussion with
both healthy skepticism and a commitment to
understanding alternative viewpoints. We find
the following question framework Style uses
when first sitting down to resolve difficult curriculum issues an efficient and effective way to
unearth our colleagues’ apprehensions about
fulfilling the Act’s requirements:
• How long have you felt this way [about this
issue]?
• What caused you to feel this way?
• Can you imagine what might cause anyone
to feel differently than you do about this
subject? (p. 6)
As Style notes, change cannot happen if we do
not actually know what is behind someone’s
disagreement or discomfort. Obliging each
member of the discussion group to begin by
reflecting upon and then voicing their feelings
about an intricate issue, including their reasons
behind their feelings, are key initial stages in
resolving differences. The aim of the third question is to shift attention to thinking from a different perspective than one’s own. This simple
yet powerful moment requires one to consider
another person’s beliefs and expectations. By sitting in another’s perspective for a moment, we
are forced to examine our own as the opposite,
which naturally leads to thinking more deeply
about what we hold on to in our daily work.
It also leads to perceiving the multiple realities impinging upon our final decision-making. Given the complexity of what this Act is
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requiring us to do in our schools, we must find
time and ways to hold these hard conversations.
Merely slotting in LGBTQ+ content where we
think it fits is not enough; nor is it upholding
the spirit of the Inclusive Curriculum Act. We
strongly advise you, our colleagues, not to allow
this curriculum change process to be shortcircuited. Gather your interested colleagues
together and conduct a complete curricular
review process. As we have been discovering,
committing to the process first is reifying and
reinvigorating our curriculum planning and
teaching practices. New authors, new ideas to
share, and new techniques for weaving them
into existing curriculum units have been natural outcomes of the process. We are also growing in understanding and appreciating our colleagues’ professionalism in ways we would not
have otherwise.
The National Council for the Social Studies
(NCSS) (2014) issued two position statements relevant to the issues we have encountered while working with colleagues to revamp
curricula. The first is their Human Rights
Education: A Necessity for Effective Social and
Civic Learning statement, issued at a time when
schools nationwide were acknowledging their
need to write more obvious social studies learning outcomes that reflected the United Nations’
Declaration on Human Rights Education and
Training. Consider asking your colleagues to
read the statement before your first meeting to
guide them in reflecting about why, not only
what, you are collaborating to change. Viewing
your work as part of a larger, international advocacy effort will sustain your energy and resolve
when facing opposition to either the content
changes you are making or the time, talent, and
resources you are devoting to ensure they occur.
The other NCSS position statement
that might inspire and provide a deeper
why moment for your team is the Powerful,
Purposeful Pedagogy in Elementary School Social
Studies one issued in 2017. This statement reaffirms our belief in the worth of sequenced,
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explicit social studies instruction across the
K-8 span. It explicates the dual nature of social
studies programs (i.e., content plus process)
and straightforwardly avows that such curricula
are value based. To this latter point, the authors
note how
[y]oung learners do not become responsible,
participating citizens automatically. They need
to engage in frequent opportunities to make
daily decisions about democratic concepts and
principles that are respectful of the dignity
and rights of individuals and the common
good. . . .Thoughtful and deliberate classroom
engagement related to controversial or ethical
issues provides opportunities for elementary
students to practice critical thinking skills while
examining multiple perspectives. (pp. 4-5)
As you revise your schoolwide curricula to
accommodate the Act, we hope you will not
lose sight of the linchpin role the social studies
hold in maintaining your school’s community
as well as its purpose.
Educating Your School Community
About the New Law
There was ongoing and at times significant
pushback from Illinois legislators and other
special-interest groups before the bicameral
bills forming the Act were passed. For some,
their opposition stemmed from a belief that
these bills were unfunded mandates for teaching curricula that classified historical figures in
unnecessary or unacceptable ways. Others were
upset that the Act’s language precluded parents
from being able to opt out of allowing their
children to learn it. Still others viewed these
changes as yet another unfunded mandate from
the Legislature for an already overcrowded curriculum (Wray, 2019). We suspect members
of your school community already have or
will react similarly. No matter their reactions,
remember: As public school employees, we
must comply with what now is the law. If you
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Winter 2019
have not yet read through the actual Act, we
advise you to do so before you conduct any curricular deliberation. Access the Act’s language
at the following site, which leads you to the
Illinois General Assembly’s Web page where
House Bill 0246 (HB0246) is uploaded in its
entirety, with pertinent amendments to the
School Code underlined: https://bit.ly/2OkRhJE.
No matter how your school or district notifies stakeholders about upcoming curricular
changes, we suggest including the Act’s full text
for their reference. This sends a clear message
that the work you do to revise curricula is based
on the law. It also contextualizes the approaches
you take in redesigning aspects of the instructional day beyond the classroom social studies
lessons.
Districts have varied in their communications about the Act and how their personnel
are addressing its implications. Some superintendents or curriculum specialists presented
the Act’s text and led open discussions at school
board meetings earlier in the fall, indicating they
would keep their boards apprised as their staff
committees reviewed curricula and determined
the necessary revisions. Others simply mentioned in general comments to their boards or
other governing councils that while their staff
were working to understand the Act and amending curricula accordingly, they were hopeful the
ISBE would eventually provide further guidance and instructional resources that they would
follow. Media coverage of the Act was high at
the time of its signing in August but dropped off
soon into the new school year. We anticipate further media attention and more school- or districtlevel announcements during the spring semester,
which is when the ISBE and other groups plan
to have resources available for schools. We also
expect to read or hear of additional protests
against schools’ efforts to comply with this new
law as it nears its required implementation.
Given the controversial nature of this mandate, it is critical to prepare a position statement
or similar piece about the curricular changes
you make for posting on the school or district’s
websites. In addition to these communication
pieces, consider scheduling summertime or
after-school sessions during which administrators and educators share their process and new
curriculum maps. Directly showing stakeholders what has been changed and explaining why
will signify not only your commitment to them
as your education partners but also your knowledge and expertise in shaping curriculum to
reflect the changing needs of 21st-century life.
Learn More, Do More
Five out of the top 11 most censored books
in 2018 were titles depicting LGBTQ+ characters, situations, and events (American Library
Association [ALA], 2019). As publishers issue
more books with LGBTQ+ storylines and
topics, more of them are finding their ways
on to this list. In reviewing the reasons we
could find for petitioners demanding they
be removed or their circulation limited, we
noticed how many of these adult petitioners equated any book with an LGBTQ+ topic
or theme as a sort of sex education manual
or indoctrination into an alternative lifestyle
out of touch with core American values and
beliefs. We could find in none of the over 50
comments we read any statements recognizing LGBTQ+ persons as fellow citizens with
the same, inalienable rights. Nor did we see
any statements admitting the need for students to be taught multiple viewpoints, or
to develop tolerance for difference. When we
compared these statements with those posted
to blogs announcing the passage of the Act, we
detected similar trends in the complaints. As
we have discussed with our colleagues while
moving forward in curriculum deliberation,
we must find ways to distinguish for all stakeholders what this Act signifies: legal acknowledgment that our curricula teach and uphold
the basic human rights for all that our nation
was founded upon. In a global society, it is not
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enough to accept difference. We must commit
to coexisting peaceably. We start by endeavoring to understand the other.
In addition to California, which enacted
their version of the Inclusionary Curriculum
Act in 2011, there are three other states that
passed similar legislation in 2019: New Jersey
(January), Colorado (May), and Oregon (June).
There are bills in process in Maryland, though
it is unclear whether they will advance for a
vote during any of their general assemblies in
2020. As additional states enact these laws, we
expect there to be more curricular resources and
other materials available. In the meanwhile, we
have curated and provided a series of curriculum sources in the “Resources” section to guide
you in learning more about LGBTQ+ history as
well as teaching it.
If you or your colleagues are laboring to
accept what this law requires, consider joining the National SEED project (https://www.
nationalseedproject.org) in any capacity that fits
your schedule and needs. This peer-led program of personal professional development for
educators at all levels (elementary through college) organizes workshops, seminars, weekends,
and lengthier gatherings around the country.
Led by fellow educators, these opportunities
focus on teaching you how to create a conversational community in your workspace that
examines its assumptions as well as its aspirations for establishing equity and understanding
among all.
You will find all the resources listed below
at our compilation link. When you learn and
do more, we hope you will share what you discover with us. We look forward to learning with
you!
http://bit.ly/IRCInclusive
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Illinois Reading Council Journal
References
American Association of School Librarians (AASL).
(2018). National school library standards for learners, school librarians, and school libraries. Chicago:
American Library Association.
American Library Association (ALA). (2019). Top ten
most challenged books lists [Blog post]. Chicago: ALA.
Retrieved from https://bit.ly/2jhr5BP
Gay Lesbian Straight Educator Network (GLSEN).
(2019). School climate in Illinois (State Snapshot).
New York: GLSEN.
Higgins, L. (2019). Toxic progressivism in public schools
and at the Chicago Tribune [Blog post]. Retrieved
from https://bit.ly/352XsrA
National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS).
(2014). Human rights education: A necessity for effective social and civic learning. Silver Spring, MD:
NCSS. Retrieved from https://www.socialstudies.org/
positions/human_rights_education_2014
NCSS. (2017). Powerful, purposeful pedagogy in elementary school social studies. Silver Spring, MD: NCSS.
Retrieved from https://www.socialstudies.org/positions/
powerfulandpurposeful
Sims Bishop, R. (1990). Mirrors, windows, and sliding
glass doors. Perspectives, 1(3), ix-xi.
Style, E. (1996). Curriculum as window and mirror.
Social Science Record, 33(2), 21-28.
Wray, T. (2019, May 7). Southern Illinois politicians
push back on Inclusive Curriculum bill [Blog post].
Illinois Eagle. Retrieved from https://illinoiseagle.
com/2019/05/07/southern-illinois-politicians-pushback-on-inclusive-curriculum-bill
Resources
The Illinois Classrooms in Action website will
soon feature relevant lesson and unit plans on
its Diversity: Engagement and Action pages
(https://bit.ly/31Sr5tH). The Illinois Literacy in
Action site coordinators are redeveloping their
Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Through Literacy
page (https://bit.ly/332bEzg) to feature relevant,
new resources for librarians and classroom
teachers. Members of the Association of Illinois
School Library Educators (AISLE) are working
in their districts, regions, and across the state to
support as well as develop library programming
ideas and resource lists. In the meanwhile, we
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encourage you to consult the following sites to
build your own background knowledge as you
make this broader inclusionary shift in your local
school library and classroom programming.
American Association of School
Librarians: Defending Intellectual
Freedom—LGBTQ+ Materials in
School Libraries
https://standards.aasl.org/project/lgbtq
The American Association of School Librarians
created a resource guide, infographics, and a
freely accessed archived webinar on choosing,
using, and defending LGBTQ+ materials in
school libraries. The webinar is especially helpful in finding the language you will need to
explain and communicate the upcoming curricular changes resulting from the Act.
ONE Archives Foundation
https://www.onearchives.org/lgbtq-lesson-plans
The ONE Archives Foundation, Inc. is recognized internationally for holding the largest collection of artifacts and related materials about
LGBTQ+ history. The founders and archivists
behind the Foundation were part of the statewide
group instrumental in the passage of California’s
mandate for teaching LGBTQ+ history, commonly known as the FAIR Education Act, in
2011—the first of its kind in the nation. This
website contains numerous lessons suitable for
K-12, along with descriptions of exhibitions,
events, and other programming primarily for
middle and high school teachers. Although the
plans skew toward older students, the site provides background and in-depth resources that will
help librarians, teachers, and other curriculum
specialists to learn more to help them in creating
their own personalized units and lesson activities
tailored to their age-specific populations.
Teaching LGBTQ History:
Instructional Resources for
California Educators, Students,
and Families
www.lgbtqhistory.org
This website was one of the first we turned to
when we heard Governor Pritzker signed the
Inclusive Curriculum Act into law. California’s
Our Family Coalition, a member of their FAIR
Education Act Implementation Coalition, manages this site. Unlike most of the other sites we
found, this site’s curators include resources for
teaching students across K-12. They divide their
content into age ranges—K-5, middle school,
and high school. You will find this especially
helpful in learning more about how to differentiate both content and instructional approaches as
you create your LGBTQ+ history programming
and curricula for the 2020-2021 school year.
Facing History and Ourselves:
LGBTQ History and Why It Matters
https://www.facinghistory.org/educator-resources/
current-events/lgbtq-history-and-why-it-matters
This link brings you to a specific unit plan in
the vast collection of the Facing History and
Ourselves repository. We direct you to it for
an example of the content depth and breadth
available (at no charge) on their website, as well
as to review their instructional approaches and
teaching tips for students of various grade levels,
albeit most at the middle and high school levels.
A quick site search using “LGBTQ” will generate numerous lesson and other ideas for immediate application. Teachers to whom we have
recommended this site noted they could readily
adapt some of the plans for use with intermediate-grade students without any difficulty.
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GLSEN (Gay Lesbian Straight
Educators Network)
Illinois Social Science in Action
https://www.glsen.org
New Illinois Social Science Learning Standards
were implemented in 2017. We are still in the
process of understanding their implications for
library and classroom practice around our state. If
you are like we are and find it is hard to keep up
with all that is being learned as we shift to these
new standards, we urge you to subscribe to this
relatively new group. As part of the ISBE’s Illinois
Classrooms in Action initiative (www.ilclassroomsin
action.org), this group’s focus on providing resources for planning, teaching, assessing, and
communicating social science learning within our
state’s context is admirable and timely. (We have
noted an increase in library-related content and
issues as the site matures.) We continue to monitor their (free) enewsletters and website for content
to supplement our library planning as we develop
student and teacher activities related to the Act’s
implementation in School Year 2020-2021.
www.ilsocialscienceinaction.org/illinois-resources.html
This almost 30-year-old organization was founded
by a group of concerned teachers in Massachusetts
disgusted by chronic, increasing reports of bullying and discriminatory acts against students who
identified as LGBTQ+. Now known as the nation’s
leading organization for and by teachers devoted to
ensuring that all students feel safe to be themselves
in school, GLSEN’s network of sites and volunteers conducts research, authors education policy,
and develops resources for educators. We especially appreciate how comprehensive their website
is for learning more about teaching content as well
as creating in-school or community programs that
foster a spirit of inclusion. You can find their teaching resources compiled at this page within their site:
https://www.glsen.org/educate/resources/curriculum.
Teaching Tolerance
https://www.tolerance.org/topics/gender-sexualidentity
We realize that regular readers of our column are
familiar with this organization’s educational mission and various facets. Nevertheless, we would
be remiss if we did not steer you to this particular Teaching Tolerance site link. Here you will
find informative explanations of terms you will
encounter as you incorporate LGBTQ+ historical
figures and events into your curricula (e.g., queer,
questioning, transitioning, and non-binary), as
well as resources for teaching and discussing the
gender spectrum in developmentally appropriate
ways.
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About the Authors
Marie Ann Donovan is an associate professor of Education
at DePaul University in Chicago. She teaches preservice
teacher courses in reading instruction and children’s as
well as young adult literature. Thwarted when young in
pursuing a career in library science (due to severe dust
allergies), she devotes time to hanging out with librarians, publishers, and children in pursuit of Their Next
Good Read. She also researches adult learning and
teacher induction in vocational education settings.
Mary Yockey is the director of the Library Media Center
at Clifford Crone Middle School in Naperville/Indian
Prairie School District 204. After enjoying a career in the
publishing industry and as a bookseller, she shifted gears
and earned her master’s degree in Library and Information
Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
She develops school, district, and community literature programs on global awareness, social justice issues,
and discovering Your Next Good Read. She also leads a
technology-rich program exploring STEAM (Science,
Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) in the
context of literacy and literature.
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