Oklahoma teacher: Avoid male and female pronouns

Aaron Baker is an 8th-grade history teacher in the Mid-Del school district and a blogger who promotes “radical social justice in Oklahoma public schools.” (See my earlier post titled "Oklahoma teacher says some opinions 'should not be allowed to be heard.'")

In a new blog post (“Best Practices for Inclusive Classroom Language”), Mr. Baker says that “if a teacher’s words are not inclusive, students will not feel safe.” Thus, he offers some advice to his fellow educators, including the following.

• “Avoid saying ‘he’ or ‘she.’ … [T]he safest way for educators to be inclusive of all gender identities is to all together drop the male and female pronouns for students.”
• “Avoid saying ‘mom and dad.’” Mr. Baker says the traditional family structure “is just one of many family options.”
• “Avoid saying ‘guys.’ … Instead, say something like ‘people.’”
• “Avoid saying ‘boys and girls’ or ‘ladies and gentlemen.’ … The problem is that these phrases are binary and automatically exclude any students who don’t fit into these two defined categories. Instead, say something like ‘students of all genders’ or ‘students and scholars.’”

Read the whole thing here.