fdvenglish2pbl wiki / TASK

Group members:

Tina, Asja, Sara, Kaja

Distribution of roles:

leader - Sara,
secretary - Asja,
reporter - Kaja,
time keeper - Tina

1. 2.

Employment of homosexuals in Slovenian primary schools:

Opinion of principals, teachers, pupils and their parents

1. Definition:

Discrimination means unequal treatment of an individual due to his or her ethnicity, race, gender, invalidity, language, religion or other beliefs, age, social status, sexual orientation or any other social circumstance. Research shows that discrimination in the workplace is quite common in

Slovenia

Our group will focus on discrimination of homosexuals (individuals who are sexually attracted to persons of the same sex) in Slovenian primary schools. The main reasons for the chose of our focus are people's frequent wrong association of homosexuality with pedophilia, the parents' misconception that the teacher’s sexual orientation can affect their child, and principals' fear that they are responsible if something goes wrong or if parents complain.

2. Questions:

1. Does Slovenian legislation seek to prevent discrimination based on sexual orientation (especially in the workplace)?

2. Is there any research on employment of homosexual teachers in the Slovenian or any other school system?

3. Do other countries deal with this problem?

4. Are homosexuals open about their sexual orientation at work or do they hide it?

5. Is it better to hide one's sexual orientation to avoid problems?

6. Why is this a problem / a stigma? (Different causes and explanations.)

7. What do principals, teachers, pupils and their parents think of employing homosexuals as teachers?

8. Which group was more reluctant in employing homosexuals as teachers: principals, teachers, pupils or parents?

9. Are there differences in opinions between primary schools in cities and in the country?

10. How common is employing homosexuals as teachers?

11. Are there any known examples in other countries and how do they solve this problem there?

12. What are the possibilities for solving this problem in Slovenia?

13. Do we have any non-governmental or voluntary groups who deal with this issue (in Slovenia or elsewhere)?

14. Is homosexuality as a sexual orientation discussed in schools at all?

3. Distribution of tasks:

First distribution

Asja will find legislature of the Republic of Slovenia and the European Union that suits our topic. She will try to answer the questions 1, 3 and 14.

Kaja will examine the literature and try to decide which articles are appropriate for our topic. She will try to find some answers to the questions 2 and 4-6.

Sara and Tina will carry out the surveys and interviews, organize the results and find the answers to the questions 11-13.

Together we will analyse the surveys and interviews and answer the questions from 7 to 10.

4. Literature:

Monographs:

Hoffman, Jennifer D. (2001): Teachers' perception o including gay and lesbian issues in the classroom, The Graduate School, University of Wisconsin-Stout, http://www.uwstout.edu/lib/thesis/2001/2001hoffmanj.pdf (accessed 5 November 2007)
Švab, A. and Kuhar, R. (2005) The unbearable comfort of privacy : The everyday life of gays and lesbians. Ljubljana, Peace Institute, Institute for contemporary Social and Political Studies.
Giddens, A. (1993) Sociology. Cambridge, Polity press.

Articles:

1. B. Murray, Susan (1997): The subtle and not so subtle exclusion of men in child care in Benokraitis, Nicole V. editor (1997): Subtle sexism : Current practice and prospects for change. Thousand Oaks, London, New Delhi, Sage.

2.Koražija, N. (1996) ‘Diskriminacija na delovnem mestu’, Srp in kladivo, junij 1996, no. 6, http://www.ljudmila.org/lesbo/lesbo/Lesbo1-8/lesbo1-7/06/11.htm (accessed 5 November 2007)

3. Acanfora, J. III. (2006): OVERVIEW : The case of Joe Acanfora, A Gay Teachers Battle To Teach, http://www.joeacanfora.com/overview.html (accessed 5 November 2007)

4.ILGA EUROPE, Equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in Europe (2007) ’2007 – European Year of Equal Opportunities’ http://www.ilga-europe.org/europe/campaigns_projects/2007_european_year_of_equal_opportunities (accessed 7 November 2007).

Internet:

1.Lexico Publishing Group, LLC (2007), Discrimination, http://www.reference.com/search?q=discrimination (accessed 7 November 2007)

2.The American Heritage Dictionary of English Language (2003). Houghton Mifflin Company. Discrimination, http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Discrimination (accessed 7 November 2007)

3.ŠKUC Magnus – Organization of gays (2007) ‘Slovenski seznam virov za geje in lezbijke’, http://www.ljudmila.org/siqrd/magnus/ (accessed 7 November 2007)

4.Lezbična sekcija Škuc LL (2007) ‘Politika’, http://www.ljudmila.org/lesbo/politika.htm (accessed 7 November 2007)

5.Društvo za integracijo homoseksualnosti – DIH (2007) ‘Dejavnosti’, http://www.dih.si/index.php?option=com_content&task=section&id=4&Itemid=36 (accessed 7 November 2007)

6.Reed Business Informatin (1996): The Last Closet: The Real Lives of Lesbian and Gay Teachers. Publishers Weekly, http://www.amazon.com/Last-Closet-Lives-Lesbian-Teachers/dp/0435081470 (accessed 7 November 2007)

7.Ministrstvo za šolstvo in šport (2007): ’Zakonodaja in dokumenti’ http://www.mss.gov.si/si/zakonodaja_in_dokumenti/ (accessed 9 November 2007)

8.Constitution of the Republic of Slovenia, http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/UNTC/UNPAN014895.pdf (accessed 9 November 2007)

9.Uradni List Reopublike Slovenije: Zakon o delavnih razmerjih http://www.uradni-list.si/1/ulonline.jsp?urlid=200242&dhid=41932 (accessed 9 November 2007)

10. Greif, T. and Velikonja, N. (2001): Poročilo: Anketa o diskriminaciji na osnovi spolne usmerjenosti;http://www.ljudmila.org/lesbo/raziskave_porocilo1.htm (accessed 9 November 2007)

11. Wikipedia: Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., (2007): Education in Slovenia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_Slovenia (accessed 9 November 2007)

Pictures:

Lansing (1998), '98 Homosexual-Recruitment Drive Nearing Goal; http://wackyiraqi.com/rant/gay_marriage/homorecruit.htm (Retrieved 27 Okt 2007)
Raised fist (2007), Voicing Religious Prohibitions on Sodomy: The Lay of the Land; http://araisedfist.files.wordpress.com/2007/05/gay_teacher.jpg (Retrieved 27 Oct 2007)

5. Glossary (10 words):

× Term of disparagement = pejorative words and phrases which are either intended to be or are often regarded as insulting, impolite or unkind. (žaljivke)

× LGBT stereotypes = conventional generalizations, opinions or images about gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgendered people based on their sexual orientation or gender identity. (stereotipi o istospolno usmerjenih)

× Anti-bias curriculum = an active/activist form of curriculum, that wants to eradicate various forms of social oppression (such as homophobia, racism, sexism… (nepristranski učni načrt)

× Heterosexism = discrimination and prejudice in favor of heterosexual people over gay, lesbian and bisexual people. Also describes the belief that heterosexuals are naturally superior to homosexuals and bisexuals.

× Prejudice = dislike of a person, group, custom… that is based on fear or false information rather than on a reason or experience, and that influences one’s attitude and behavior towards them. (predsodek)

× Gender identity = describes the gender with which a person identifies himself, but can also be used to refer to the gender that other people attribute to the individual on the basis of what they know from physical characteristics or social indications (behavior, clothing, hair style…). (spolna identiteta)

× Draft regulation = a first or preliminary form of a law, rule, or other order prescribed by authority. (osnutek zakona ali uredbe)

× To prohibit sexual orientation discrimination = to forbid or prevent unequal treatment of an individual, based on his or hers natural preference in sexual partners, by authority or law. (zakonsko prepovedati diskriminacijo na podlagi spolne usmerjenosti) (Example: Seventeen states have laws that currently prohibit sexual orientation discrimination in private employment.)

× Legally binding = placed under legal obligation. (pravno/zakonsko obvezujoče)

× Homophobia = is a term used to describe the fear of or discrimination against homosexuality. (homofobija)

Sources of the English definitions and examples are summarized from the dictionary accessed 27 Oct 2007 on http://www.reference.com/ and from an article Sexual orientation Discrimination in the workplace accessed 27 Oct 2007 on http://www.nolo.com.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

MINUTES

THE MINUTES OF THE FIRST MEETING FOR THE PBL PROJECT

held on 11^th October 2007 at Tina’s place

Present: Tina Kovač, Sara Lucu, Kaja Kosem, Asja Potisek

Absent: /

Agenda:

1. Forming the definition of the problem.

2. Distribution of tasks.

3. Writing the questions.

4. Agenda for the next meeting.

5. Any other business.

Item 1:

DISCUSSION: After we chose our group name and distributed the roles among the members we discussed the topic. We decided to write the definition together and each member had their own idea. Sara defined the problem of discrimination, Asja added a short definition of homosexuality and Kaja defined what our goal is. At the end, Tina suggested some changes and she wrote the definition based on our ideas.

DECISION: We all agreed with the definiton.

Item 2:

DISCUSSION: Based on our problem we decided that we will try to carry out a survey between some parents, children, teachers and principals on 4 primary schools, two in the center of Ljubljana and two in the country (for possible comparison).

DECISION: Each member of the group wiil try to make an appointment with a principal or, if not possible, another person that we can talk to about this survey and we will present our project to the prinpical and try to agree upon a date when we would perform this research among the pupils, teachers etc.

Item 3:

DISCUSSION: We all participated in forming the questions with our own ideas.

DECISION: We selected 14 questions that are relevant to our project and we think are important.

Item 4:

DECISION: Each member got his own task that she must complete untill the next meeting. That means that each member must arrange a meeting with the principal of one of the schools we chose to participate in our research.

Item 5:

DISCUSSION: Tina proposed that we should hold our next meeting on 17^th October 2007. Sara proposed that we start at 7 p.m. at Činkole.

DECISION: We all agreed about our next meeting. If any changes occur we will post them on the wiki web page.

Minutes taker: Asja

Chair: Sara

The next meeting will be held on Wednesday, 17 October 2007, at 19.00, at Činkole.

__________________________________________________

THE MINUTES OF THE SECOND MEETING FOR THE PBL PROJECT

held on 17^th October 2007 at Činkole

Present: Tina, Sara, Kaja, Asja

Absent: /

Agenda:

1. Review of the work already done.

2. Writing a survey.

3. List of literature.

4. Distribution of roles.

5. Agenda for the next meeting.

Item 1:

DISCUSSION: All four of us contacted the schools that each one has chosen. Sara, Tina and Kaja managed to make an appointment in the following week with the headmasters of OŠ K, OŠ V and OŠ T. Unfortunately the headmaster of the school that Asja has chosen, OŠ A, had a negative response to our request.

DECISION: We all did our tasks and we decided that we will perform our survey on only three primary schools instead of four.

Item 2:

DISCUSSION: Since we had made the first contacts with the headmasters, we now had to make the survey. We decided that it would be best if we made three different surveys – one for pupils, one for pupils’ parents and one for teachers. We also discussed what to ask the headmasters of the schools. We realized that we should also write an agreement for parents to sign so that their children could fill out the survey without any problems that might occur later on.

DECISION: Together, as a group we formed three different surveys, one for teachers in the primary schools, one for pupils and one for pupils’ parents. We also wrote some preliminary questions that we will use when we have a short interview with the headmasters of our selected schools. We will have to get an agreement from parents so we wrote that too. We decided that we will carry out the survey only among the pupils of 7^th, 8^th and 9^th grade and we will choose only one class of each grade on each school. To be sure our surveys are done correctly we decided that we will show them to our mentor Martina Trbanc.

Item 3:

DISCUSSION: We searched for the appropriate literature and we made a preliminary list of literature. We will post the list on our wiki web page.

DECISION: At home we will try to find some more literature and check all the literature on our current list to see if the sources really are helpful or appropriate for our project.

Item 4:

DECISION: We distributed our tasks based on the primary schools. Tina has to carry out the survey on OŠ K, Sara on OŠ T and Kaja on OŠ V. Since the school that Asja had chosen is no longer included in the survey, her task is to go through the literature and decide whether certain texts, links on the web etc. are useful to us or not.

Item 5:

DISCUSSION: Sara suggested that we should have our next meeting on 24^th October 2007 and Asja suggested that we should begin at 6 p.m.

DECISION: We all agreed with the suggestion about when our next meeting will take place and we were all unanimous that we should meet in Činkole. Also we decided that in case of any changes concerning the meeting they should be posted on our wiki forum.

Minutes taker: Kaja

Chair: Sara

The next meeting will be held on Wednesday, 24^thOctober 2007, at 18.00, at Činkole.

___________________________________________________

THE MINUTES OF THE THIRD MEETING FOR THE PBL PROJECT

held on 24^th October 2007, at 18.00, at Činkole.

Present: Tina, Sara, Kaja, Asja

Absent: /

Agenda:

1. Review of the work already done.

2. The second distribution of tasks.

3. Deadlines.

4. Agenda for the next meeting.

5. Any other business.

Item 1:

DECISION: We all executed our last week tasks, all survey were distributed among teachers, parents and pupils within the dead line.

Item 2:

DISCUSSION: Because OŠ A had a negative response to our request, we decided to contact another primary school, located in Ljubljana. Instead of OŠ V, we decided to contact OŠ Č and the response to our request was positive. Asja and Sara arranged a meeting with the principal of OŠ Č and OŠ T after 8^th November, because of the holidays, Tina arranged the meeting with the principal of OŠ K this Friday at 8 a.m. When we were discussing what else we could do, Kaja came up with a great idea. She suggested we should make a short survey among people in Ljubljana, asking them for their opinion on employing homosexuals in Slovenian primary schools.

DECISION: On 25^th October, we will try to make a short survey among people of Ljubljana. Sara and Tina will walk through Prešernov trg and Asja and Kaja will walk through Čopova street and ask passers by for their opinion on employing homosexuals in Slovenian primary schools. On 26^th October, we will meet at 7 a.m., because we need to do the intreview with the principal of OŠ K. After the holiday, we will interview principals of OŠ Č and OŠ T.

Item 3:

DISCUSSION: We tried to find out the appropriate date for our dead line, so we will have a few days to look through our report and maybe change some mistakes or other things, before the 10^th November.

DECISION: PBL report must be done untill 8^thNovember.

Item 4:

DISCUSSION: Kaja suggested that we should have our next meeting on 30^th October 2007 and Tina suggested that we should begin at 8 p.m

Item 5:

DECISION: We all agreed that Kaja will be the one who will post everything on the wiki and try to improve the visual part of our page.

Minutes taker: Asja

Chair: Sara

The next meeting will be held on Tuesday, 30^thOctober 2007, at 20.00, at Činkole.

___________________________________________________________

THE MINUTES OF THE FOURTH MEETING FOR THE PBL PROJECT

held on 30^th October 2007, at 20.00, at Činkole.

Present: Tina, Sara, Kaja, Asja

Absent: /

Agenda:

1. Review of the work already done.

2. Deadlines.

3. Any other business.

Item 1:

DECISION: We all executed our last week tasks. Each member executed his task, defined under distribution of tasks. Kaja found some answers to the questions 2 and 4-6, Sara and Tina organized the results of the short survey among people in Ljubljana and found some answers to the questions 11-13 and Asja found some answers to the questions 1, 3 and 14. Together we answered the questions from 7 to 10.

Item 2:

DISCUSSION: We still need to do the interview with the principal of OŠ T and OŠ Č and we were discussing when we are going to make these interviews. Tina suggested that we could go to OŠ K to collect the surveys on Wednesday, because we have a day off and because this school is not located in Ljubljana, therefore we need a lot of time to get there and to do the surveys among pupils. The principal of OŠ Č asked us if we could come on Monday so we decided that Monday is fine. Since we want to complete this PBL project untill Thursday, we will visit OŠ T on Tuesday.

DECISION: On Monday, we are going to interview the principal of OŠ Č. On Tuesday we are going to OŠ T and on Wednesday we are going to OŠ K to complete the survey. PBL project must be completed until 8^th November.

Item 3:

DECISION: PBL project must be done untill 8^th November. Everything must be brought to the last meeting, where we will discuss about the project and change what needs to be changed.

Minutes taker: Asja

Chair: Sara

The last meeting will be held on Thursday, 8^thNovember 2007, at 20.30, at Činkole.

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TASK

Useful links:

PBL resources:

1. 2.

Employment of homosexuals in Slovenian primary schools:

Opinion of principals, teachers, pupils and their parents

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