Friday 12 January 2018

Language in the classroom


The vexed question of how or what to refer to pupils at schools as has opened up again following Altrincham Girl's school decision to avoid referring to it's children as girls in what is a girls school and to use gender neutral language.
An awful lot has happened certainly around language since I left the school system and even as a Governor for a period at one least the retitling of 'Forms' for 'Year x' since the 1990's, the removal of the term Pupil and substitution of 'Student', a term I associate with those at 16+ college or University rather than say 8 year olds and yes we were always referred to as "Girls and Boys" in what was a co-ed school.
The reasoning preferred for all this is to be 'transgender friendly' and certainly personally I've no time for misgendering anyone but gender identity is a area that is complex and not the same as saying people are gender neutral although it is true some individuals may well feel 'non binary' and in principal I feel that ought to be respected.
Some as I can well recall from my junior and high school days feel very strongly about their identity and gender role as either boys or girls and to them while they would all agree they were 'children' the bigger thing to them is to be their gender  and if you were misgendered or assigned incorrectly you may well understand why it matters to them.
That's why I get a bit concerned how far we may take well intentioned attempts to make spaces inclusive we end up degendering for those who feel they are misgendered.
I don't feel in the context of an introduction say at an Assembly "Good Morning Children" is an issue although traditionalists prefer "Boys and Girls" to mirror "Ladies and Gentlemen" but when you suggest you cannot refer to a group of girls as 'girls' least it cause offence to any girls in girls school who may be questioning their gender identity in which by design doesn't admit nor allow boys to be and your school sign refers to 'girls' a few thoughts come to mind.
Firstly if hearing or seeing the term 'Girls' offends or intimidate you to that point perhaps being at an all girls school isn't really for you because at the very least you'd rather mix children of either traditional gender or non binary which is more likely at an co-ed school.
If you feel as a girl you're non-binary or especially a boy, then there is gender question about what you are doing where an essential criteria is to be that gender and where if you were to transition you couldn't stay. Does your right to be say non-binary mean it's right to deny your peers the right to called girls to include you?
Finally if you are transitioning as a boy to a girl, you may feel as good number have you'd rather be at an all girls school because you'd be away from boys and their all too real separate genderedness but how would it play to be at a girls school where being being referred to as the gender you now present as is discouraged by official policy and where you'll never be referred to collectively as girls?
To me it just this in the context of an all girl or boy school comes over as muddled and ill thought out especially when you still refer to yourself as a Girls School.

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