Best Analysis – Rebecca Florentina
EDUC 516, Section 900
May 25, 2010
Sarah Stango
Imagine that you are a senior in high school,
waiting to attend one of the last, and probably
one of the most anticipated dances of your
high school career – prom.
You’re happy and excited to share this special
moment in life with your partner…except your
school has denied you the opportunity to go
to prom because your partner is of the same
sex that you are…
Constance McMillen
• “McMillen fought an Itawamba County school board
to be able to take her lesbian partner and wear a
tuxedo to the Itawamba County Agricultural High
School prom…The school board responded…
announcing they were canceling the entire prom…”
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-20000321-504083.html?tag=contentMain;contentBody
Adenda
• Rebecca Florentina
• Bronfendrenner’s Bioecological Systems
Theory (BEST Theory)
• Rebecca Florentina & BEST
• Instructional Strategies
• Conclusion
Rebecca Florentina
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•
•
•
•
17 year old High School senior
Resides in West Blueridge, Massachusetts
Primarily White and middle-class
Sexual Orientation - Lesbian
Active student
Bioecological Systems Theory (BEST)
• Direct and Indirect Influences
– Microsystems
– Mesosystem
– Exosystem
– Macrosystem
– Chronosystem
Microsystem
•
•
•
•
•
•
Divorced Mother
Older Sister
West Blueridge
Stephie (Girlfriend)
Rainbow Youth
Gay/Straight Alliance
(GSA
• Teachers
Rebecca-Mother:
“Do whatever you want,
as long as you are happy”
Mesosystem
Guidance Counselor- Rebecca:
“…it was precisely because of
the guidance counselor’s
skepticism about her
ability…that Rebecca decided
to prove the counselor
wrong.”
Teachers
Gay-Straight Alliance
Guidance Counselor
REBECCA
Mom
West Blueridge
School
West Blueridge-School
“It’s West Blueridge, it’s
Accepting”
School-Rebecca:
Safe-zone stickers,
GSA involvement
Ceara Sturgis
“But when Sturgis - an honor
student, trumpet player and goalie
on the school's soccer team wanted her senior photograph in a
tuxedo used in the 2009-10
yearbook, school officials balked.
Traditionally, female students dress
in drapes and males wear tuxedos.
“
http://carnalnation.com/content/35412/4/lesbian-high-school-student-banned-yearbook
Exosystem
• Governor’s Commission on Gay and Lesbian
Youth
• Massachusetts’ Governor’s Commission Report
(1993)
– Protect gay and lesbian Students from Harassment
– Encourage and offer training
– School-based support for gay, lesbian, and
heterosexual students
– School-based counseling
• Governor Jane Swift(2002)
GLSEN's 2007 National School Climate
Survey.
Because of student’s sexual orientation, over the
past year:
• 86.2% of LGBT students reported being
verbally harassed
• 44.1% reported being physically harassed
• 22.1% reported being physically assaulted
Macrosystem
EXOSYSTEM
White Race
MESOSYSTEM
Jane Swift
MICROSYSTEM
Teachers
Guidance Councelor
REBECCA
Mom
Governor’s Commission
West Blueridge
Gay-Straight Alliance
Italian Culture
Harvey Milk
Chronosystem
• Stonewall Riots (1969)
• Harvey Milk (1977)
• Don’t Ask Don’t Tell (1993)
People outside Stonewall, New York City
http://www.sanfranciscosentinel.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/stonewall-5.bmp
Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr.
Hate Crimes Prevention Act
“Over the past 10 years, there were more than
12,000 reported hate crimes based on sexual
orientation alone. And we will never know how
many incidents were never reported at all.”
-President Barak Obama
Lesson Plan
• NJ Grade 4 Content and Standards:
– 6.1.4.A.1: Explain how rules and laws created by
community, state, and national governments
protect the rights of people, help resolve conflicts,
and promote the common good.
– 6.1.4.A.2: Explain how fundamental rights
guaranteed by the United States Constitution and
the Bill of Rights (i.e., freedom of expression,
freedom of religion, the right to vote, and the
right to due process) contribute to the
continuation and improvement of American
democracy.
Instructional Strategies
Kristin M. Perry v. Arnold Schwarzenegger (Proposition 8)
• Before: The class will discuss the various factors that surround gay
marriage. In addition, the class will have the opportunity to explore
online resources to gather more information about the LGBT
community.
• During: The class will be separated into two groups, one is for
proposition 8 and one is against it.
– Students will be given a basket with small pieces of paper in it. Each piece
of paper has an argument either supporting or negating the debate
against gay marriage. The papers represent the reasons that people
support and oppose the legislation.
– We will create a chart as a class that lists both sides of the argument.
Students, in their groups, will be given the opportunity to place the
reasons on the appropriate side of the chart.
• After: As a class, review the chart expressing both sides of the debate.
Students will then take the board to develop their own opinion based
on the expressed ideas on the chart.
– They will write a journal entry that discusses at least two reasons why
they support or negate the legislation.
Instructional Approaches
•
•
•
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Build Awareness
Openly Discuss Issues
Learn about and from students
Provide Access to Valuable Resources
– Gay Lesbian Straight Educational Network
• www.GLSEN.ORG
– Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance
• http://gsanetwork.org/
Conclusion
“The 2010 Census will be the first to report
counts of both same-sex partners and samesex spouses”
-The U.S Census Bureau
References
Associated Press. (2009, June 27). Rebel Looks Back 40 Years After Stonewall Riots.
Foxnews.com. Retrieved from
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,529272,00.html
Leff, L. (2010). High Stakes Gay Marriage Trial to begin in California. Abcnews.com.
Retrieved from http://abcnews.go.com/print?id=9504576
Miller, J.R. (2010, February 23). Gay Discrimination Bill Will Stifle Free Speech, Advance
'Homosexual Agenda,' Critics Say. Foxnews.com. Retrieved from
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/02/22/anti-lgbt-discrimination-stifle-freespeech-critics-say/
Nieto, S. & Bode, P. (2007). Affirming Diversity: The Sociopolitical Context of
Multicultural Education (5th edition). Boston: Allyn and Bacon Publishers.
Takaki, R. (2008). A Different Mirror: A History of Multicultural America. Boston: Back
Bay Books.
Schniedewind, N. & Davidson, E. (2007). Open Minds to Equality: A Sourcebook of
Learning Activities to Promote Race, Sex, Class and Age Equity . Boston: Allyn &
Bacon.
References (Cont)
Office of the Press Secretary. (2009). Remarks by the President at Reception Commemorating the
Enactment of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act. Retrieved from
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/remarks-president-reception-commemoratingenactment-matthew-shepard-and-james-byrd(2008, October 20). Got Hope? Harvey Milk. Causecast.org. Retrieved from
http://www.causecast.org/videos/2980-got-hope-harvey-milk
(2009, October 16). Mississippi school bars lesbian student from wearing tuxedo, traditionally for boys,
in senior photo. Newyorkdailynews.com. Retrieved from
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2009/10/16/2009-1016_lesbian_student_in_mississippi_fights_to_wear_tuxedo_in_senior_photo.html#ixzz0on4aNu9G
(2010). Constance McMillen Wanted to Take Her Girlfriend to the Prom, So the School Board Canceled
it. Cbsnews.com. Retrieved from http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-20000321504083.html?tag=contentMain;contentBody
U.S Census Bureau. (2010). The Census: A Snap Shot. Retrieved from
http://2010.census.gov/partners/pdf/factSheet_General_LGBT.pdf