Foundational Skills for Trans Inclusion

Recorded Webinar 
Instructor: Davey Shlasko, M.Ed.  
CEs: 2 CEs 
Level: Intermediate 
Target Audience: Social workers and other social service providers.
Course Delivery Method and Format: Recorded webinar, self study. All courses are hosted on SmithOnline. Login information will be emailed immediately after registration to the email address entered during registration.
System Requirements: Attendees will need access to a computer with internet and the capability to play recorded videos.

Date of original webinar: December 1, 2021, noon - 2 p.m. ET

The understanding of gender identity continues to evolve at a fast pace with growing diversity and nuance. In spite of increasing acceptance of transgender identities, trans community members still face intense stigma, violence and barriers to participation. Many service providers have good intentions about trans inclusion; with a deeper understanding and expanded toolbox, they can build on those intentions to create truly trans-inclusive practices. This course explores the impacts of the current binary gender system and its relationship to histories of colonization and examines key terminology and concepts for understanding trans identities, as well as barriers, risks and resilience factors common in trans communities.  The course provides examples of trans-inclusive practices, practice applying them and an opportunity to ask questions about real world scenarios. Participants will leave this course with a foundation for integrating trans-inclusive and -affirming practices into your work.

Please note: Back by popular demand! This course was previously run as a webinar called Foundations for Trans Inclusive Practice in 2019 and the recording was available as an online course. If you have already taken it, much of the content will be similar.

Registration Fees and Deadlines:

$45 (one time registration fee of $5) | Ongoing 

Learning Objectives:

1. Articulate key terminology and concepts for understanding trans identities
2. Discover a diversity of trans identities and experiences, including those who identify as transsexual, transgender, nonbinary and gender-nonconforming.
3. Identify how factors like race, class and sexuality intersect with trans identity
4. Explain barriers, risks, and resilience factors common among trans community members
5. Demonstrate basic trans-competent behaviors relevant to social service settings, such as inquiring respectfully about pronouns and gender identity
6. Describe the role of the binary gender system in colonization and its implications for current intersectional understanding of gender diversity

Outline: 2 hours

1. Introduction & framing
2. Why this Matters- Barriers, risks and resilience factors, allyship
3. Binary Gender System and Colonization
4. Terms and Concepts
5. Introducing inclusive practices in three areas: Communication and relationships | Program/practice content | Policies/structures
6. Practicing inclusive practices (focusing on interpersonal level), e.g.:
7. Appropriately asking about gender identity and pronouns
8. Recovering from pronoun mistakes
9.  Affirming and respecting trans identities while inquiring about distress, barriers, or discrimination
10. Affirming and respecting trans identities while collecting demographic info
11.  Q&A
12. Closing

About the Instructor:

Davey Shlasko, M.Ed. is the founder and director of Think Again Training & Consulting, an organization that helps organizations implement social justice practices in areas like gender diversity, LGB and trans inclusion, racial & economic inequality, coalition building and allyship. Shlasko has contributed to several editions of Teaching for Diversity and Social Justice and Readings for Diversity and Social Justice, and also authored Trans Allyship Workbook. Shlasko teaches social theory and trans studies in Smith’s M.S.W. program.