Gender Inclusive Schools: Using the Text to Advocate in Your School Community
Bias directed to our LGBTQ+ students is becoming more frequent and severe in school communities across the country. The current social and political climate in the United States, Canada and the UK continues to create unique challenges for our queer, transgender, nonbinary and gender-expansive students. The “Gender Inclusive Schools: How to Affirm and Support Gender-Expansive Students” text was created to provide insights regarding the needs of queer, transgender and nonbinary students in schools. Join us on March 1st, 2025 from 1:00 pm to 2:30 pm CST for this Educator-Only event to learn about using our book to advocate within your school community.
This 90-minute-interactive session will provide teachers and school administrators with a framework for:
❖ using the “Gender Inclusive Schools” text to lead and facilitate a Professional Learning Community (PLC) or book study group
❖ using the reproducible resources from the text to implement systems-wide changes for supporting gender-expansive students in your school
❖ standardizing responses to challenging questions about LGBTQ+ inclusive practices and proactive education about gender-expansive identities
❖ planning whole-staff and small group consultations and professional development
Training will be conducted via zoom and the link for the event will be emailed the day before the session on Feb. 28th, 2025.
About the Facilitator:
Dave Edwards is a queer person and career educator who has served in almost every role in preK-12th grade school communities. After getting started as a paraprofessional in an Autism classroom in Saint Paul Public Schools, he went on to work as a special education teacher, middle/high school classroom teacher, special education coordinator, Dean of Students, and Assistant Head of School. From 2015-2018, Dave made the jump to higher education as lead instructor for the nontraditional teacher licensure program in Emotional Behavior Disorders at the University of MN Twin Cities. He was an undergraduate and graduate professor in the teacher preparation program at Hamline University from 2018 to 2020 before devoting his efforts full-time to Gender Inclusive Schools. Dave is the proud parent to a transgender daughter, and his family's experience with the discrimination she experienced in kindergarten directly informs his vocation of helping school communities create safe learning environments. Dave serves on the board of the Minnesota Transgender Health Coalition and his family is heavily involved with Transforming Families MN. Dave has been quoted in national publications such as the New York Times, The Advocate, Huffington Post, Rolling Stone, and NBC News. His book, Gender Inclusive Schools: How to Affirm and Support Gender-Expansive Students, was published in September of 2024.
Registration is $40. Reach out to info@genderinclusiveschools.org with questions or if you need low-cost or no-cost registration options!
*This is an educator-only event due to the specific content of the session. Only folks working full-time in school communities should attend and we will informally confirm employment following registration. We will have additional sessions for allies, parents/caregivers and community members in the future. Feel free to reach out if you have questions.
*Can't attend our session but want to bring a group training to your school community? Send an inquiry to info@genderinclusiveschools.org.
Bias directed to our LGBTQ+ students is becoming more frequent and severe in school communities across the country. The current social and political climate in the United States, Canada and the UK continues to create unique challenges for our queer, transgender, nonbinary and gender-expansive students. The “Gender Inclusive Schools: How to Affirm and Support Gender-Expansive Students” text was created to provide insights regarding the needs of queer, transgender and nonbinary students in schools. Join us on March 1st, 2025 from 1:00 pm to 2:30 pm CST for this Educator-Only event to learn about using our book to advocate within your school community.
This 90-minute-interactive session will provide teachers and school administrators with a framework for:
❖ using the “Gender Inclusive Schools” text to lead and facilitate a Professional Learning Community (PLC) or book study group
❖ using the reproducible resources from the text to implement systems-wide changes for supporting gender-expansive students in your school
❖ standardizing responses to challenging questions about LGBTQ+ inclusive practices and proactive education about gender-expansive identities
❖ planning whole-staff and small group consultations and professional development
Training will be conducted via zoom and the link for the event will be emailed the day before the session on Feb. 28th, 2025.
About the Facilitator:
Dave Edwards is a queer person and career educator who has served in almost every role in preK-12th grade school communities. After getting started as a paraprofessional in an Autism classroom in Saint Paul Public Schools, he went on to work as a special education teacher, middle/high school classroom teacher, special education coordinator, Dean of Students, and Assistant Head of School. From 2015-2018, Dave made the jump to higher education as lead instructor for the nontraditional teacher licensure program in Emotional Behavior Disorders at the University of MN Twin Cities. He was an undergraduate and graduate professor in the teacher preparation program at Hamline University from 2018 to 2020 before devoting his efforts full-time to Gender Inclusive Schools. Dave is the proud parent to a transgender daughter, and his family's experience with the discrimination she experienced in kindergarten directly informs his vocation of helping school communities create safe learning environments. Dave serves on the board of the Minnesota Transgender Health Coalition and his family is heavily involved with Transforming Families MN. Dave has been quoted in national publications such as the New York Times, The Advocate, Huffington Post, Rolling Stone, and NBC News. His book, Gender Inclusive Schools: How to Affirm and Support Gender-Expansive Students, was published in September of 2024.
Registration is $40. Reach out to info@genderinclusiveschools.org with questions or if you need low-cost or no-cost registration options!
*This is an educator-only event due to the specific content of the session. Only folks working full-time in school communities should attend and we will informally confirm employment following registration. We will have additional sessions for allies, parents/caregivers and community members in the future. Feel free to reach out if you have questions.
*Can't attend our session but want to bring a group training to your school community? Send an inquiry to info@genderinclusiveschools.org.
