30/01/2024 | Writer: Damla Umut Uzun
Kaos GL organized a Feminist and Queer Pedagogies Workshop for mental health workers, psychological counselors, school counselors and educators.
As a part of capacity building activities for professionals working in the field of LGBTI+ rights, Kaos GL Association met with mental health workers, psychological counsellors, school counsellors and educators.
The workshop on feminist and queer pedagogy, which took place in Ankara from 26 to 28 January, included theoretical sessions on the practice of LGBTI+ inclusive psychological counselling as well as interactive group work. Led by Dilek Çankaya, Efsun Sertoğlu and Ezgi Toplu Demirtaş, participants discussed examples of good practice.
On the first day of the workshop, there was a discussion on basic concepts which are alive and changing in the terminology of LGBTI+ rights. Then “Feminist and Queer Pedagogy: From Theory to Practice” session explored feminist and queer pedagogy with appropriate methodologies. It considered what critical pedagogy, feminist pedagogy and queer pedagogy mean and differ, what they include and what they do not include, where they are used and where they can be used. It was underlined why those who govern societies need norms and that queer pedagogy means making visible the fact that norm-based phenomena do not have an equivalent in real life and opening space for them to be revealed.
The second day of workshops started with the session “Working with Myths about LGBTI+'s in School/Session Room” moderated by Assoc. Prof. Ezgi Toplu Demirtaş. The session discussed the myths that professionals face as “frequently asked questions” and how to communicate with individuals and groups in such situations. After the workshop where the possibilities of queer pedagogy were discussed, the session “We are backing over” was facilitated by Efsun Sertoğlu. Through group work and interactive methods, the experts rewrote and discussed the case they had been given. The last session of the day focused on coming out with the role play method.
On the third day, the workshop started with the session “Talking together: Ambivalent Issues” session. In this session, the facilitators presented cases with different dilemmas to the participants. The participants were asked to comment and discuss these cases. The participants evaluated the three days at the end of the open forum session.
Translation: Selma Koçak
Tags: human rights, education, health
