Finding a Shared Language for Difficult Conversations
On Thursday, March 23, Dr. Jennifer Bryan visited campus to conduct a workshop on the topic of gender and sexuality diversity.
Dr. Bryan has been involved with independent schools for 30 years both as a teacher and a consultant. She works with a variety of independent Pre-K-12 schools, both boarding and non-boarding, and has worked with EHS since 2004.
Dr. Bryan led the groups through an exercise in which they were asked to think about and define some commonly used terms surrounding gender and sexuality. The groups then compared their answers with neighboring groups and were able to see the broad range of answers. She also had the opportunity to meet with smaller groups on campus throughout her two-day visit, including dinner with the monitors and lunch with the Gay Straight Alliance. Faculty members were also able to engage in conversations with Dr. Bryan during drop-in hours throughout her visit.
In her presentation to the students, Dr. Bryan discussed the current climate surrounding issues of sexual diversity. “Where we are in 2017 is that not all people fit into these boxes of male and female, man and woman. However, I think there is still a perception that these issues just apply to a very small percentage of the population.
“For adolescents and adults, figuring out who you are as a gendered person is a huge life task. These are really personal issues. Developing empathy and taking care of each other is not always easy. We’re hoping that by virtue of sharing all of your different experiences, values, and ideas that you will go out and be inspired to change the world.
“My goal is to give a school community like yours a shared conceptual framework -- ‘How do we think about these things?’ -- and a shared language -- ‘How do we talk about these things?’”
Dean of Students Ashley McDowell said of the presentation, “It was a great opportunity for our students to have the chance to hear Dr. Bryan speak and to spend some time in advisory groups grappling with some of these ideas. So many of our students are familiar with topics of gender and sexuality diversity, but this workshop was focused on educating the kids on the language that is used to discuss them. As Dr. Bryan mentioned, it is hard to have meaningful conversations if we aren't all using the same language.
"It was great to hear the students continuing to discuss the meaning of various words and phrases throughout the week. Our time with Dr. Bryan was a great way for our community to continue learning about ourselves and understanding others.”
Back
In an all-school assembly, Dr. Bryan addressed several commonly misunderstood themes of gender and sexuality within today’s society. Later, she led a conversation in Laird Dining Hall, where smaller groups were able to discuss these topics and question and learn from each other.
Dr. Bryan led the groups through an exercise in which they were asked to think about and define some commonly used terms surrounding gender and sexuality. The groups then compared their answers with neighboring groups and were able to see the broad range of answers. She also had the opportunity to meet with smaller groups on campus throughout her two-day visit, including dinner with the monitors and lunch with the Gay Straight Alliance. Faculty members were also able to engage in conversations with Dr. Bryan during drop-in hours throughout her visit.
In her presentation to the students, Dr. Bryan discussed the current climate surrounding issues of sexual diversity. “Where we are in 2017 is that not all people fit into these boxes of male and female, man and woman. However, I think there is still a perception that these issues just apply to a very small percentage of the population.
“For adolescents and adults, figuring out who you are as a gendered person is a huge life task. These are really personal issues. Developing empathy and taking care of each other is not always easy. We’re hoping that by virtue of sharing all of your different experiences, values, and ideas that you will go out and be inspired to change the world.
“My goal is to give a school community like yours a shared conceptual framework -- ‘How do we think about these things?’ -- and a shared language -- ‘How do we talk about these things?’”
Dean of Students Ashley McDowell said of the presentation, “It was a great opportunity for our students to have the chance to hear Dr. Bryan speak and to spend some time in advisory groups grappling with some of these ideas. So many of our students are familiar with topics of gender and sexuality diversity, but this workshop was focused on educating the kids on the language that is used to discuss them. As Dr. Bryan mentioned, it is hard to have meaningful conversations if we aren't all using the same language.
"It was great to hear the students continuing to discuss the meaning of various words and phrases throughout the week. Our time with Dr. Bryan was a great way for our community to continue learning about ourselves and understanding others.”
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