Practicing in Community Series Session 6: Creating Gender-Affirming Spaces for Early Childhood and Beyond (CTLE 1.5)

Registration is now closed. Here are some more events for educators: https://www.bklynlibrary.org/learn/educators 

Are you a family childcare provider, a paraprofessional, or a classroom teacher? No matter the setting, if you work with children you want to make them feel safe, seen, and loved. Come practice creating compassionate communities for children with other educators who are doing this work!

We will meet virtually on the third Thursday of each month for 1.5 hours over 6 months (January 2024-June 2024), building a cohort of teachers seeking support in their gender justice practices. Teachers will build community with one another while reflecting on and building on their gender justice practices in their classrooms. 

Some foundational questions include: 

• When and how do children develop an understanding of gender?
• How can we encourage children's comfort and respect for their own body and other people's bodies?
• How can we include and celebrate the diversity of families and family structures in our programs?
• How do we support ourselves and our colleagues in our gender justice work?
• What resources are available to us to deepen our practices?

Cohort meetings will be virtual and co-facilitated, allowing for breakout groups, for one one-on-one support, and de-escalation when necessary, and for facilitators to speak to their specific areas of expertise. 

Each meeting will include:

• An intro activity: icebreaker and grounding into the space
• Time to journal and share about questions and learning over the past month
• Group discussion: questions, reflection, and building on each other’s learnings 
• A featured read-aloud and related lesson plan to promote early literacy as an anti-bias tool
• Sharing resources that are at the forefront of the gender justice movement (e.g. recently published children’s books, research articles, support groups, etc.) 
• 
  Details: 
• Dates: January 18, February 15, March 21, April 18, May 23, June  20
• Time: 7:00pm-8:30pm
• Credit: NYS teachers will earn 1.5 free CTLE credits for each workshop (total 9)
• Resources and tools: Participants will receive a giveaway book for each session they attend. 

Facilitators: 

Laleña Garcia (she/her) is a kindergarten teacher living in Brooklyn. A graduate of Yale University (BA, History) and Bank Street College of Education (MS, Early Childhood and Elementary Education), she’s been teaching in NYC since 2000. Laleña also works for the New York State Early Childhood Professional Development Institute as a Gender and Sexuality Trainer, helping early childhood professionals and families to create expansive and supportive understandings of gender, sexuality, relationships, and family structure. A member of the NYC Black Lives Matter at School steering committee since 2018, Laleña also provides professional development for schools and other institutions seeking to deepen their anti racist work. Her online course for adults, Rooted, offers contextual background and concrete strategies for anti bias work in early childhood and elementary settings. Laleña’s first children’s book, What We Believe was published by Lee and Low in 2020. Her second book, How We Can Live, was published to starred reviews in 2022.

Milo Giovanniello (they/them) is an educator and organizer working for racial and gender justice, and a therapist with a focus on supporting queer and trans disabled survivors. As an educator and facilitator for the past 9 years, they have gained experience facilitating conversations with young people and adults about racial and gender justice, identity and gender exploration, sexuality, and consent. They hold a BA in education and sociology/anthropology from Swarthmore College and an MSW from Smith College.