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Transgender Basics is a 20 minute educational film on the concepts of gender and transgender people. Two providers from the Gender Identity Project discuss basic concepts of gender, sexual orientation, identity and gender roles. Three transgender community members share their personal experiences of being trans and genderqueer. The film targets service providers and others working with the LGBT community, but it also provides a fascinating glimpse into gender and identity for the general public. "Our culture likes to make things simple, and gender isn't." Carrie Davis, Transgender Community Organizer, in Transgender Basics. "It was the constant fight of me saying 'there is nothing wrong with being this kind of girl,' as oppose to, 'well, I'm not a girl.'" Nicco Beretta, participant in Transgender Basics. For more information contact the Gender Identity Project at 212 620 7310 or at www.gaycenter.org

"When teachers say they are color blind, they are usually saying that they do not discriminate and that they treat all their students equally. Of course, being fair and treating each student with respect are essential to effective teaching. However, race and ethnicity often play important roles in children's identities and contribute to their culture, their behavior, and their beliefs. When race and ethnicity are ignored, teachers miss opportunities to help students connect with what is being taught. Recognizing that a student's race and ethnicity influences their learning allows teachers to be responsive to individual differences. In some cases, ignoring a student's race and ethnicity may undermine a teacher's ability to understand student behavior and student confidence in doing well in a school culture where expectations and communication are unfamiliar. An individual's race and ethnicity are central to her or his sense of self but they are not the whole of personal identity. Moreover, how important an individual's race and ethnicity is to her or his identity will vary and teachers need to take that into account as they seek to learn more about their students."

MATTERS OF RACE is a four-part documentary series that explores race, culture, and identity in the United States today. Each of the 60-minute programs focuses on a single story or set of stories that reveals how "matters of race" continue to shape and misshape American life. Each program challenges conventional thinking about difference. Each also raises important questions: ■ What is race? How does it shape identity and inform relationships between self and other? ■ How does notions of race shape a community? A nation? ■ What is the relationship between race and culture? ■ What is the relationship between race and power? ■ How are long-held notions of difference based on race changing today? How are those changes redefining what it means to be an American? ■ What meaning, if any, will race have for future generations?

GLSEN, the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network, is the leading national education organization focused on ensuring safe schools for all students. Established in 1990, GLSEN envisions a world in which every child learns to respect and accept all people, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity/expression. GLSEN seeks to develop school climates where difference is valued for the positive contribution it makes to creating a more vibrant and diverse community.

How schools acknowledge racial and ethnic identities will affect all students' educational experiences.

"The American Indian College Fund's motto is educating the mind and spirit. We achieve this by providing Native students with scholarships and providing financial support for the nation's 33 accredited tribal colleges and universities, which incorporate American Indian culture and language into their curriculum to honor our students' heritage and Native identity. Established in 1989, the American Indian College Fund is the nation's largest and highest-rated American Indian scholarship organization. "

We expect people to look different. And why not? Like a fingerprint, each person is unique. Every person represents a one-of-a-kind, combination of their parents', grandparents' and family's ancestry. And every person experiences life somewhat differently than others. Differences… they're a cause for joy and sorrow. We celebrate differences in personal identity, family background, country and language. At the same time, differences among people have been the basis for discrimination and oppression. Yet, are we so different? Current science tells us we share a common ancestry and the differences among people we see are natural variations, results of migration, marriage and adaptation to different environments. How does this fit with the idea of race? Looking through the eyes of history, science and lived experience, the RACE Project explains differences among people and reveals the reality - and unreality - of race. The story of race is complex and may challenge how we think about race and human variation, about the differences and similarities among people.

The Safe Schools Coalition is an international public-private partnership in support of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender youth, that is working to help schools - at home and all over the world - become safe places where every family can belong, where every educator can teach, and where every child can learn, regardless of gender identity or sexual orientation.

This study examines the scholarly literature identified by multicultural teacher educators in the United States as most influential to their work. More than 200 multicultural teacher educators were surveyed about the books and the journals that have most influenced the ways they conceive and practice multicultural teacher education (MTE). Responses were tabulated, creating lists of the most-identified books and journals. These lists were analyzed around three primary questions: (1) What do these data suggest about the philosophical frameworks and operationalizations of MTE among multicultural teacher educators?; (2) What do they reveal about the issues multicultural teacher educators consider more or less integral to MTE?; and (3) What might they uncover about the "null curriculum" of MTE? Findings suggest that, in contrast with much of the existing scholarship, MTE practitioners do engage with critical approaches to MTE, even if this might not be reflected consistently in their practice, and that MTE practitioners identify more strongly with literature concerning race and racism than with that concerning other identities and oppressions. Implications of these findings are discussed.

This online toolkit provides an introduction to the multiple facets of diversity. It offers basic information, a short list of strategies and tools, and suggestions for how to find out more. Neither the short list of topics in this toolkit nor the content within each topic is meant to be exhaustive. For more in-depth information, please visit the Web links listed under each topic.

"What does "white anti-racist" mean? How can guilt get in the way? And what's all this talk about being "colorblind"? Teaching Tolerance asked community activists to share their thoughts on these questions, and others. Their answers shine light on the concepts of comfort, power, privilege and identity."