A hand holding a pen writing in a notebook

Why, and how, should one make classrooms less heteronormative?

About the webinar

Language education does not exist in a vacuum, nor is it neutral. Academies socialize learners and educators into structured systems of being and accepted behaviours. While this may provide order, it excludes many members of academic and language communities. For those who do not fit the prescribed narrative, the heteronormative atmosphere of institutions leads to isolation and self-expression that may be perceived as linguistic failure as it does not match expected utterances.

Beginning with ideas on heteronormativity, this session will explain how harm is caused via instances of erasure, and why this issue demands attention.

Attendees will leave the session with a broader understanding of the impact of heteronormativity in the industry and with some practical steps they can apply to reduce that impact.

Recorded on 9 June 2022

Watch a recording of the webinar below

Click or tap to watch the recording on YouTube with subtitles

About the speaker

Elizabeth S. Coleman is originally from the UK, although she has been working overseas for the past 15 years. She holds a BA in Politics, Philosophy and Economics and an LL.M Gender and Human Rights.

Ms. Coleman began her EFL career in South Korea where she worked as an instructor and later Foreign Academic Manager of a private language school. After moving to Istanbul in 2013, Elizabeth has worked at various universities. Currently she is an instructor and CPD specialist at Istanbul Medipol University. A firm believer in education as a transformative and developmental tool, Elizabeth is engaged in research around social constructions, gender, and the representation of minorities in education.

I am open minded and believe personal decisions are made at personal level as long as it does not interfere with space and privacy.

I'm glad you are an open mided, respectful person. I just wanted to mention that sexual orientation is not a personal decision or choice and that addressing this topic in class may be very important in order to problematize heternormative dominance.

I'm so exicted to attend this webinar , can't wait for it . See you soon

I believe that a teacher needs to do constant research that helps him understand his students' needs

I registered but the link to the webinar didn't work

Hi Neveen,

I am sorry to hear that you couldn't join us for the live webinar, and hope that you are able to join the next! All the webinars that are uploaded are linked to our webinar page, I bookmark it so I can find them again. We know that teachers' timetables and also technical problems get in the way of joining the live event so the links are here. Hope you enjoy the webinar!

https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/news-events/webinars

Anne

TeachingEnglish team

I looked up the gingerbread person but was sad because I do not see myself reflected there. As an asexual person, I also live in the background. Although I am safer in most situations that someone who presents as queer, I am still not reflected in resources. One could say that we assume all children are without sexuality until puberty, but there is still an assumption about their futures. Without having the words and concepts, I was in my thirties before I figured myself out.

Hi Gwenna,

I'm sorry you don't find yourself reflected there and thanks for contributing here to the discussion, I hope that the more everyone feels safe to express who they are the more everyone learns, the fewer assumptions are made and we can support each other better.

Best regards,

Anne

TeachingEnglish team