NJ LGBTQ Inclusive Curriculum

It’s Live!

After 2 long years, countless contributions of the wider education and advocacy communities, we are proud to announce that the LGBTQ Inclusive Lessons and Resources website is live and available for free. We are deeply grateful to have worked side by side with Garden State Equality on this groundbreaking effort. Please visit the site and stay in touch about what your district is doing to implement the NJ LGBTQ Curriculum Law.  Need assistance in your district? Let us know.

Background

LGBTQ students regularly report that there is little that is as important to their vision of themselves as seeing LGBTQ+ people represented in their studies. Whether in history courses, literature, as part of the biographic profile of a scientist, or the subject matter in artwork, students need to see that people like them made it into adulthood, successfully, and are part of our common history. To that end, MIB4Y is seeking volunteers to assist in the creation of an LGBT inclusive curriculum model to be used in New Jersey schools.

Our first Summit in March of 2018 was a success, and with the passage of Inclusive Curriculum Law in January of 2019, we are poised to see LGBTQ Inclusive Curriculum become a reality. This was followed with a several day working retreat on March 2019 where educators developed lesson criteria, cultural competencies for educational communities, and discussed the challenges of the implementation. From this work came our core beliefs.

We Believe

  • that LGBTQ+ Inclusive education is an obligation
  • that LGBTQ+ Inclusive Curriculum and related objectives must be intersectional in approach
  • that LGBTQ+ Inclusive Lessons shall, where appropriate, be transformational in their pedagogical approach
  • that educators must develop awareness regarding the messages that classroom content and lesson delivery send to students and other educators
  • that it is necessary to provide and support continued education for educational professionals and school stakeholders with regards to LGBTQ+ cultural competencies
  • that we must not wait for textbooks and similar to be updated, and insist upon seeking texts and resources to support the visibility of LGBTQ+ people and contributions as well as all marginalized persons in the various content contexts
  • that students, and thereby their lives and the lives of those around them, will experience positive and lasting impacts as a result of this work

We further believe:

  • That classroom teachers are increasingly the sole point of delivery for multitudinous initiatives and must receive support for curriculum and lesson design focused on best practices;  that is, to help educators will be to help others

What we have done: Curriculum Pilot

Make it Better for Youth has partnered with Garden State Equality to create a pilot for school year 2019-2020. Our participating schools will receive lessons across many subject areas that are written as LGBTQ inclusive and with best pedagogical practices at their core. Data will be collected from instructors and school leadership and will be shared at the May 2nd NJ LGBTQ Inclusive Curriculum Symposium at Monmouth University (stay tuned for more information and registration).

What we are still doing: LGBTQ Inclusive Lesson Plan Collection

If you are a NJ educator, curriculum writer/developer, administrator or scholar passionate about the addition of LGBT inclusive curriculum, we are seeking you as a volunteer to work with us. Specifically, we are asking for you to submit an LGBTQ inclusive lesson (or lessons!) that will be reviewed by peers and ultimately shared with other educators in New Jersey.

While we are accepting lesson plans for all grade levels and all subject areas, we place a high priority on lessons that are:

IMPORTANT! Use this template for the lesson plan. Please make certain all sections are addressed.

Use this form to submit the lesson plan(s).

Questions? Contact us.