An important collection of essays and reflections, mostly by transgender educators and students (and a few allies), on ways that schools can work towards a vision where everyone, including transgender students, are able to thrive. Many of the essays were previously published in Rethinking Schools magazine.
Editors Linda Christensen and Ty Marshall created this volume “to uplift the work of students, teachers, parents, and communities who refused to be silenced by [the] legislative war against trans kids” and “to bridge the gap between where we are as educators and where we need to be.” The many authors draw on their own experiences as queer people and (mostly) as classroom teachers to show why such work is vital; to offer examples of their own work teaching trans-inclusive curricula; and to show how they have fought for the right to teach in LGBTQ-inclusive ways. One chapter, too, showcases the voices of trans students about ways their teachers and schools have supported them and the changes they would still like to see.
Each essay is full of real-world examples and practical advice—on curricula, inclusive practices, policy challenges, and more. Being an anthology with a plethora of voices, the overall book is not as systematic as The Advocate Educator’s Handbook: Creating Schools Where Transgender and Non-Binary Students Thrive or Gender Inclusive Schools: How to Affirm and Support Gender-Expansive Students, but feels like a useful complement to them, particularly for classroom teachers. Among other things, it goes into more specifics on curricula than the other two (although The Advocate Educator’s Handbook does discuss curriculum generally). Anyone interested in improving schools for trans students (and by extension, creating a better environment for everyone) would be wise to read all three.
