Coming out as a teacher

[Leena]

Jun 17, 2016 16:43:16 GMT 8 NinthPossibility said:

Jun 17, 2016 7:46:35 GMT 8 Leena said:

Sorry, I didn't mean to freak you out, just wanted to make you aware of how it could go badly. I do suggest that if you feel you must say something, you not do it like my professor did. He handed out a letter with a long explanation and asked if there were any questions, making it a class discussion, and taking up a lot of class time. Although I don't think that was all the main thing the administration objected to, that was the part they can and did officially object to.

No worries - I just meant that I know that sort of thing does happen, and so it makes me a bit nervous. I'll probably end up just not saying anything and seeing how it goes - I have an English-only classroom and my students don't speak English very well, so odds are none of them will feel confident enough to actually ask me about it At any rate, I wouldn't make it a big production. That is a bit odd what that professor did, although it's a shame that people working in a university environment couldn't be a bit more willing to challenge their own beliefs. After all, regardless of the subject he was teaching, broadening your mind is supposed to be kind of the point of higher education.

He did it as part of National Coming Out Day, and as I recall, the way his letter read, he was trying to help LGBT students. I really admire him for what he was trying to do, and he was also a very good professor. Doing a really good job at whatever you do gives your employer reasons to want to keep you, keep that in mind.

[NinthPossibility]

Jun 17, 2016 17:51:44 GMT 8 Leena said:

Jun 17, 2016 16:43:16 GMT 8 NinthPossibility said:

No worries - I just meant that I know that sort of thing does happen, and so it makes me a bit nervous. I'll probably end up just not saying anything and seeing how it goes - I have an English-only classroom and my students don't speak English very well, so odds are none of them will feel confident enough to actually ask me about it At any rate, I wouldn't make it a big production. That is a bit odd what that professor did, although it's a shame that people working in a university environment couldn't be a bit more willing to challenge their own beliefs. After all, regardless of the subject he was teaching, broadening your mind is supposed to be kind of the point of higher education.

He did it as part of National Coming Out Day, and as I recall, the way his letter read, he was trying to help LGBT students. I really admire him for what he was trying to do, and he was also a very good professor. Doing a really good job at whatever you do gives your employer reasons to want to keep you, keep that in mind.

Oh, that makes more sense. That was really brave of him. Hopefully things have changed in the past few years for him. It's too bad that stuff like this still has to be a big deal.

[Taka]

if the students become so curious and insecure about your presentation that it hinders them from consentrating on the subject you're teaching, it's time to make a comment. the best comments are one or two sentences that ensure the students that you know how you look and you're absolutely confident about it. make it funny if you can. all you need to do is make your looks harmless, and continue teaching.

it's always the employer you need to be worried about, unless the parents are idiots and have a right to say something. but it should be possible to convince them that you'll be changing a bit physically, but will basically remain the same person, and have no political agende which you want to push onto the students.

[Cypres]

Hey, not sure if you will read this, but I transitioned in front of students and it sucks ... but the thing is at the very least when you change your name and gender marker you have to inform the stuff and they will have to deal with it. So either you wait until it tackles down from there or better you just make a quick remark as soon as you realize that things get wierd. From my experience people can be very oblivious of transitioning ftm, until you have surgery and a full grown beard. But to be honest I never had the courage to say it upfront, I took the tackle down method and later on it was obvious to those who wanted to know, cause I teach moral and politcal philosophy, so I could bring up the topic without talking about me speficically. But what I also did is write a round mail when they got my pronoun and shit wrong. But I am stressed out about this still every semester, even though it got better, but since I know that people read my according to their mind, I know that at least some of them know what is going on, so I deceided to just stay on track and act like nothing is going on. But I remember I had times that where really really hard, for instance when my voice broke and when the staring keept me a while from standing in front of the class, so I was always sitting down, to not expose my whole body to their view ... I wish more courage than I had and have : )