Making “A Place in the Middle” in Every Classroom | Teaching Tolerance

Making “A Place in the Middle” in Every Classroom 
Teaching Tolerance May 4, 2015 by Dean Hamer
Audience: educators, principals, administrators, parents, school leaders, students
Key Points: Prejudice reduction and classroom practice, how schools serve diverse students can change the outlook and those students become respected and admired for their important role in perpetuating cultural knowledge and traditions. The story follows a transgender teacher in Hawaii for 2 years  and it's a jumping off place for students to think and talk about how every person's identity is comprised of multiple interacting facets. 
Relevance: As educators seeing how Hina's teaching to K-12 schools, which led to the production of  a youth-friendly, short version of the film called A Place in the Middle that has been excerpted for the Perspectives for a Diverse America  anthology can be used to  help students appreciate the value of inclusion, the strengths they inherit from their cultural heritage and their own power to create a school climate of honor and respect.