{"id":5425,"date":"2017-03-06T08:45:58","date_gmt":"2017-03-06T13:45:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/carleton.ca\/tasupport\/?p=5425"},"modified":"2021-08-13T15:35:58","modified_gmt":"2021-08-13T19:35:58","slug":"blog-hey-guys-avoiding-non-inclusive-gendered-language-classroom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/tls\/2017\/blog-hey-guys-avoiding-non-inclusive-gendered-language-classroom\/","title":{"rendered":"Blog: \u201cHey, you guys!\u201d: Avoiding non-inclusive, gendered language in the classroom"},"content":{"rendered":"

By: Anita Grace<\/em><\/p>\n

As I wrapped up a TA workshop on participatory classroom activities, I was feeling positive about the energy in the classroom and the engagement from all the participants. Everything seemed to have gone so well. But when I reviewed the index cards that I had used to gather feedback, two responses stood out: \u201cWatch your gendered language. Avoid saying \u2018you guys\u2019\u201d; \u201cDon\u2019t gender folks (e.g., you guys).\u201d<\/p>\n

Admittedly, I felt defensive at first. \u201cYou guys\u201d is a colloquial expression\u2014everyone knows that! Just as humour and banter with students create a friendly environment, I thought a phrase such as \u201cyou guys\u201d indicates that I am approaching participants as peers. But as I thought more about it, I realized that while in no way had I meant to \u201cgender\u201d or discriminate against participants, my language did not reflect my goal of inclusive pedagogy. I began to question myself and my teaching methods, just as Lesley Coia and Monica Taylor asked themselves: \u201cAre we the feminist teachers we think we are?\u201d (2013, p. 5). Am I in practice the inclusive, feminist educator I want to be?<\/p>\n

Diversity is a term that once referred primarily to race and ethnicity, but it has expanded in the last decade to include multiple and intersecting characteristics of social identity (Bart, 2012). Diversity of gender and gender expression should thus be included in any understanding of diversity and in efforts to create an inclusive, supportive classroom environment. As Sherry Zane (2016) notes, it is the responsibility of educators \u201cto reflect on and challenge our gender assumptions so we can create more gender-inclusive spaces where all students are free to be who they are.\u201d Do gender nonconforming and nonbinary individuals feel comfortable being addressed as \u201cyou guys\u201d? And what about female students in general? English language patterns have historically assumed that, by default, all creatures are male unless otherwise specified (Miller and Swift, 1976; Khosroshahi, 1989). In the 1970s and 1980s, feminists argued that this tendency serves to make women invisible and perpetuates an andro-centric view of the world. I have long been aware of this issue with regard to the written word such that I would not dream of using the generic \u201che\u201d or terms like \u201cmankind.\u201d Now I am coming to realize that the term \u201cyou guys\u201d also reflects, and communicates, a \u201cmale-as-norm\u201d assumption. To be inclusive thus requires that I adapt not only in my writing, but also my speech.<\/p>\n

To facilitate an inclusive and non-gendering classroom space, Zane (2016) suggests that instead of calling participants \u201cguys,\u201d educators use terms like \u201cfolks,\u201d \u201ceveryone,\u201d \u201cyou all,\u201d or \u201cyou.\u201d Yet speech patterns are hard to change. We do not have the benefit of proofreading as we do with our written word. So while I strive to remove \u201cyou guys\u201d from my speech, I admit that this is much easier said than done. Recognizing that it takes time to change speech patterns, however, I now say at the beginning of each TA workshop I facilitate that I am making an effort to stop using the phrase \u201cyou guys.\u201d I invite participants to call me out if they hear me say it. I will also correct myself. These acknowledgements of mistakes, and of efforts to change, are important for fostering inclusivity and demonstrating to students that I am making a concerted effort (Zane, 2016).<\/p>\n

I have also found that this opening discussion serves as a \u201cteaching moment.\u201d For example, after giving this preamble in one TA workshop, a female participant remarked, \u201cI don\u2019t mind if you say you guys.\u201d \u201cYou may not,\u201d I replied. \u201cBut I know some people do and I am trying to be more inclusive.\u201d I added that we have shifted our written language away from the generic \u201che,\u201d and that I\u2019m trying to do the same with my spoken language. This sparked some positive discussion about inclusivity and language before we moved on to the rest of the workshop.<\/p>\n

Clearly, practicing inclusivity in the classroom involves more than replacing \u201cguys\u201d with \u201ceveryone\u201d or \u201cyou all.\u201d In their reflection on what makes a feminist educator, Coia and Taylor (2013) advocate for principles such as empowerment, community-building, and respect for diversity of personal experience. Yet to put such principles into action requires awareness of (and perhaps changes to) our speech patterns. As educators, our comments in the classroom should serve to create safe spaces in which all students feel included. Our actions, and our words, should model respect and the celebrate diversity. The words we use to address our students are fundamental to the development of inclusive pedagogy such that all learners\u2014of all backgrounds, genders, and gender expressions\u2014feel equally valued and included.<\/p>\n

References<\/strong><\/p>\n

Bart, M. (2012). Strategies for creating a more inclusive classroom. Faculty Focus<\/em>. 23 April 2012. Retrieved from http:\/\/www.facultyfocus.com\/articles\/teaching-and-learning\/strategies-for-creating-a-more-inclusive-classroom\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Coia, L. and Taylor, M. (2013). Uncovering our feminist pedagogy: A co\/autoethnography. Studying Teacher Education, 9<\/em>(1), 3-17.<\/p>\n

Khosroshahi, F. (1989). Penguins don\u2019t care, but women do: A social identity analysis of a Whorfian problem. Language in Society,<\/em> 18<\/em>(4), 505-525.<\/p>\n

Miller, C. and Swifte, K. (1976). Words and women<\/em>. New York: Anchor.<\/p>\n

Zane, S. (2016). Supporting transgender students in the classroom. Faculty Focus<\/em>. 25 July 2016. Retrieve from http:\/\/www.facultyfocus.com\/articles\/effective-classroom-management\/supporting-transgender-students-classroom\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By: Anita Grace As I wrapped up a TA workshop on participatory classroom activities, I was feeling positive about the energy in the classroom and the engagement from all the participants. Everything seemed to have gone so well. But when I reviewed the index cards that I had used to gather feedback, two responses stood […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[759,760],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nBlog: \u201cHey, you guys!\u201d: Avoiding non-inclusive, gendered language in the classroom - Teaching and Learning Services<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"By: Anita Grace As I wrapped up a TA workshop on participatory classroom activities, I was feeling positive about the energy in the classroom and the\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/tls\/2017\/blog-hey-guys-avoiding-non-inclusive-gendered-language-classroom\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"CCMS Editor\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/tls\/2017\/blog-hey-guys-avoiding-non-inclusive-gendered-language-classroom\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/tls\/2017\/blog-hey-guys-avoiding-non-inclusive-gendered-language-classroom\/\",\"name\":\"Blog: \u201cHey, you guys!\u201d: Avoiding non-inclusive, gendered language in the classroom - Teaching and Learning Services\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/tls\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2017-03-06T13:45:58+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-08-13T19:35:58+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/tls\/#\/schema\/person\/b84c96792cb38e12a65f6fd1220449ad\"},\"description\":\"By: Anita Grace As I wrapped up a TA workshop on participatory classroom activities, I was feeling positive about the energy in the classroom and the\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/tls\/2017\/blog-hey-guys-avoiding-non-inclusive-gendered-language-classroom\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/tls\/2017\/blog-hey-guys-avoiding-non-inclusive-gendered-language-classroom\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/tls\/2017\/blog-hey-guys-avoiding-non-inclusive-gendered-language-classroom\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/tls\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"News\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/tls\/category\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Blog: \u201cHey, you guys!\u201d: Avoiding non-inclusive, gendered language in the classroom\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/tls\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/tls\/\",\"name\":\"Teaching and Learning Services\",\"description\":\"Carleton University\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/tls\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/tls\/#\/schema\/person\/b84c96792cb38e12a65f6fd1220449ad\",\"name\":\"CCMS Editor\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/tls\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9690ef8273d7ed6fdf7b62ea06678d07?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9690ef8273d7ed6fdf7b62ea06678d07?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"CCMS Editor\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Blog: \u201cHey, you guys!\u201d: Avoiding non-inclusive, gendered language in the classroom - Teaching and Learning Services","description":"By: Anita Grace As I wrapped up a TA workshop on participatory classroom activities, I was feeling positive about the energy in the classroom and the","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/tls\/2017\/blog-hey-guys-avoiding-non-inclusive-gendered-language-classroom\/","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"CCMS Editor","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/tls\/2017\/blog-hey-guys-avoiding-non-inclusive-gendered-language-classroom\/","url":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/tls\/2017\/blog-hey-guys-avoiding-non-inclusive-gendered-language-classroom\/","name":"Blog: \u201cHey, you guys!\u201d: Avoiding non-inclusive, gendered language in the classroom - Teaching and Learning Services","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/tls\/#website"},"datePublished":"2017-03-06T13:45:58+00:00","dateModified":"2021-08-13T19:35:58+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/tls\/#\/schema\/person\/b84c96792cb38e12a65f6fd1220449ad"},"description":"By: Anita Grace As I wrapped up a TA workshop on participatory classroom activities, I was feeling positive about the energy in the classroom and the","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/tls\/2017\/blog-hey-guys-avoiding-non-inclusive-gendered-language-classroom\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/carleton.ca\/tls\/2017\/blog-hey-guys-avoiding-non-inclusive-gendered-language-classroom\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/tls\/2017\/blog-hey-guys-avoiding-non-inclusive-gendered-language-classroom\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/tls\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"News","item":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/tls\/category\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Blog: \u201cHey, you guys!\u201d: Avoiding non-inclusive, gendered language in the classroom"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/tls\/#website","url":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/tls\/","name":"Teaching and Learning Services","description":"Carleton University","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/tls\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/tls\/#\/schema\/person\/b84c96792cb38e12a65f6fd1220449ad","name":"CCMS Editor","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/tls\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9690ef8273d7ed6fdf7b62ea06678d07?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9690ef8273d7ed6fdf7b62ea06678d07?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"CCMS Editor"}}]}},"acf":{"Post Thumbnail":false},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/tls\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5425"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/tls\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/tls\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/tls\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/tls\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5425"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/tls\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5425\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":41247,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/tls\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5425\/revisions\/41247"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/tls\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5425"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/tls\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5425"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/tls\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5425"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}