91��ɫ expert available to explain how LGBTQ youth can thrive in self-isolation

TORONTO, May 28, 2020 – June’s Pride Month will look much different this year with no joyous in-person events celebrating the triumphs and recognizing the struggles of the LGBTQ community.

That is a huge loss for some young people who are grappling with their identities and lacking access to much-needed support systems while stuck at home in quarantine due to the COVID-19 pandemic, says , an associate professor in 91��ɫ’s Faculty of Education who teaches sexuality and education.

“While organizations are working to create virtual celebrations, these cannot replace the feeling of being part of a crowd of LGBTQ people marching down the street,” says Gilbert. “LGBTQ youth may be at home, socially distancing, with families who may or may not be supportive of their sexual or gender identities. Schools, and the friends found there, are often a crucial space of support for LGBTQ youth.”

With Ontario schools closed since the March Break, other young people are happy for the lockdown.

“Some LGBTQ youth face harassment at school and the break may be a welcome respite from the stress of going to school,” says Gilbert, an expert on bullying in schools related to LGBTQ issues who served as the only Canadian investigator in the .

Teachers often do their sex education lessons in the spring so for many students it is being delivered online, if taught at all, which brings both challenges and opportunities.

“Students can access the information shared by their teacher at home, outside the sometimes uncomfortable atmosphere of the classroom,” explains Gilbert. “But they aren’t learning with each other and hearing other people’s questions get answered.”

Gilbert has conducted extensive research on LGBTQ issues in education, youth understanding of sexuality and gender, and sexual health education. Currently, Gilbert is the lead investigator of an international collaborative research project, Affective Beginnings: LGBT Issues in Teacher Education.

She can share tips for LGBTQ youths to survive in self-isolation, including:

• Reach out to teachers, mentors and caring adults to ask for support
• Stay connected with friends online and enjoy socially-distant time together
• Read LGBTQ books, catch up on classic LGBTQ movies and TV shows
• Learn about the history of the LGBTQ community through online resources

91��ɫ champions new ways of thinking that drive teaching and research excellence. Our students receive the education they need to create big ideas that make an impact on the world. Meaningful and sometimes unexpected careers result from cross-disciplinary programming, innovative course design and diverse experiential learning opportunities. 91��ɫ students and graduates push limits, achieve goals and find solutions to the world’s most pressing social challenges, empowered by a strong community that opens minds. 91��ɫ U is an internationally recognized research university – our 11 faculties and 25 research centres have partnerships with 200+ leading universities worldwide. Located in Toronto, 91��ɫ is the third largest university in Canada, with a strong community of 53,000 students, 7,000 faculty and administrative staff, and more than 300,000 alumni.

91��ɫ U's fully bilingual Glendon Campus is home to Southern Ontario's Centre of Excellence for French Language and Bilingual Postsecondary Education.

Media Contact: Vanessa Thompson, 91��ɫ Media Relations, 647-654-9452, vthomps@yorku.ca

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91��ɫ professor to speak on sex-ed curriculum from teachers’ viewpoint

TORONTO, March 22, 2019 – While many parents support sexual health learning in Ontario schools, changes to the sex-ed curriculum have left health teachers balancing the need to be informative and inclusive with the need to be aware of students’ diverse experiences, backgrounds and perspectives.

, associate professor and associate dean for teaching and learning in the Faculty of Environmental Studies, will present “Teaching Sex Ed: A View from Ontario’s Teachers” on Tuesday, March 26 from 7 to 8:30 p.m. in the Civic Centre Resource Library located at 2191 Major Mackenzie Dr. W., in Vaughan. The talk is part of a partnership between Vaughan Public Libraries and 91��ɫ’s Division of Advancement to bring some of 91��ɫ’s top academics to Vaughan.

Flicker will share her research and possible implications for public policy and the community.

“Teenagers need to talk about sex. Discussions in the classroom about these topics can have real repercussions. They can mean the difference between an unwanted pregnancy or sexually transmitted infection, reporting a sexual assault and negotiating consent,” she said.

“Shifts in public policies and government priorities have very real implications to what actually happens in a classroom. These policies are not abstract. They actually shape and change what gets taught and how it gets taught in a classroom,” she said.

Flicker’s talk will focus on her ongoing research, Enacting Sex Education: A view from Ontario’s Teachers, which is examining teachers’ perspectives on implementation and enactment of the changing sex education curriculums. For the study, which began two years ago, Flicker and a team of researchers from five universities interviewed teachers who had at least five years of experience teaching health and physical education.

They asked teachers about their experiences teaching the sex-ed curriculum before 2015, compared with teaching the more expansive sex-ed curriculum after it was updated in 2015 and then reverted in 2018. They also asked teachers about their success stories, concerns, supports offered to them and how the policy and controversy were impacting their classrooms.

Preliminary results found that teachers strongly supported the updated 2015 curriculum, especially updates about consent, sexting, cyber safety, sexual and gender diversity, and naming body parts using anatomically-correct terms.

Flicker has written and co-written more than 75 published journal articles and book chapters, including , co-authored and published last year. Her research also includes , a national project working with Indigenous communities across Canada to determine how Indigenous youth understand HIV in relation to their communities, cultures and colonization, using arts-based methods.

Her talk is part of 91��ɫ’s Scholars Hub Speaker Series which marks the 50th anniversary of the Faculty of Environmental Studies. More information about upcoming talks in the “Environmental Changes” series can be found .

NOTE: Space is limited for the event so members of the public are required to . Members of the media should contact Media Relations (see below).

91��ɫ champions new ways of thinking that drive teaching and research excellence. Our students receive the education they need to create big ideas that make an impact on the world. Meaningful and sometimes unexpected careers result from cross-disciplinary programming, innovative course design and diverse experiential learning opportunities. 91��ɫ students and graduates push limits, achieve goals and find solutions to the world’s most pressing social challenges, empowered by a strong community that opens minds. 91��ɫ U is an internationally recognized research university – our 11 faculties and 25 research centres have partnerships with 200+ leading universities worldwide. Located in Toronto, 91��ɫ is the third largest university in Canada, with a strong community of 53,000 students, 7,000 faculty and administrative staff, and more than 300,000 alumni.

91��ɫ U's fully bilingual Glendon Campus is home to Southern Ontario's Centre of Excellence for French Language and Bilingual Postsecondary Education.

Media Contact: Vanessa Thompson, 91��ɫ Media Relations, 647-654-9452, vthomps@yorku.ca

The post How do Ontario’s teachers navigate sex education? appeared first on News@91��ɫ.

TORONTO, April 4, 2016 – One year after the introduction of a controversial health and physical education curriculum in Ontario public schools, 91��ɫ has organized an event to discuss how the curriculum has been incorporated into teaching.

The panel discussion, Lessons from the field: sex education goes to school, is organized by the Graduate Program in the Faculty of Education.

Teachers from Toronto, Peel and 91��ɫ Region school boards will take part in today’s panel discussion to talk about the ways they have used the new curriculum in their teaching, according to lead organizer Professor Jennifer Gilbert.

Structured in a Q&A format, the participating teachers will talk about incorporating some of the new topics such as gender identity, bullying, and sexting into the curriculum, as well as discussing controversial issues in the classroom.

Visiting Australian university health researchers Mary Lou Rasmussen and Deana Leahy, who have written on similar controversies, will be on hand to answer questions on dealing with controversial topics as teachers.

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WHERE:          Room FC 305, Founders College Senior Common Room, 91��ɫ, Keele Campus (building number 50 on )

WHEN:             Monday, April 4, 2016, 5pm-7pm

NOTE: Professor Jennifer Gilbert, lead organizer and author of Sexuality in Schools: The Limits of Education, is available for media interviews.

is known for championing new ways of thinking that drive teaching and research excellence. Our 52,000 students receive the education they need to create big ideas that make an impact on the world. Meaningful and sometimes unexpected careers result from cross-discipline programming, innovative course design and diverse experiential learning opportunities. 91��ɫ students and graduates push limits, achieve goals and find solutions to the world’s most pressing social challenges, empowered by a strong community that opens minds. 91��ɫ U is an internationally recognized research university – our 11 faculties and 24 research centres have partnerships with 200+ leading universities worldwide.

Media Contact:
Gloria Suhasini, 91��ɫ Media Relations, 416 736 2100 ext. 22094, suhasini@yorku.ca

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