Teachers Attend Conference to ‘Break’ Gender Binary, ‘Interrogate’ Whiteness

A teacher organization called Northwest Teaching for Social Justice hosts an annual conference where teachers attend sessions and learn how to “break the gender binary,” interrogate” whiteness, and implement racial politics in math and science classes.

The conferences, which are held in Portland and Seattle, bring together “more than 1,200 teachers, teacher educators, and interested community members” and seek to “​​provide resources that promote equity and racial justice in the classroom,” according to the organization’s About Us page. Students are also invited to the event and are offered a discounted rate.

One session from the organization’s 2021 conference was titled “Breaking the Binary: Exploring Ways to Deconstruct the Gender Binary in the Classroom.” The description explained, “participants will engage in gender-based, student-friendly activities, including introducing gender as a socially constructed concept and exploring gender identities worldwide.” 

The session was led by Caitlin Motter, a 6th and 7th grade language arts teacher at Washington’s Islander Middle School. A YouTube video shows that Motter has a Black Lives Matter flag in her 6th grade classroom. 

One break-out group from the 2019 conference was called, “What Does Whiteness Look Like in Our Schools? How Do We Interrogate and Interrupt It?” Participants in this session deepened their skills “as anti-racist leaders, discussing ways to both model and communicate anti-racist behaviors, which interrupt and mitigate whiteness in our educational settings.” 

“What’s Up With White Women? Unpacking Sexism and White Privilege In Pursuit Of Educational Justice” was the title of another critical race theory-inspired session. It encourages white women to “examine how our internalized sexism and white privilege work together to create misunderstandings, missed collaborations, and acts of supremacy.”

The teacher training was led by Ilsa Marie Govan, the co-founder of Cultures Connecting, a leftist organization that holds professional development workshops, including one on “White Women’s Tears,” the description of which claims, “The act of white women crying and the response to our tears offers a clear example of the intersection of sexism and white privilege.” 

Govan has also aided in organizing the annual White Privilege Conference and is the co-author of a book about white women, which argues that “White women are positioned in a power hierarchy between white men and BIPOC.” 

NTSJ openly advocates for the implementation of critical race theory in K-12 schools, with a breakout session from the 2021 conference titled “Organizing for Critical Race Theory in Washington.” The description reads that “participants will collaborate to create a ‘bag o’ clapbacks’ to respond to CRT critiques and lobby school boards and state elected officials to support CRT and anti-racism in K-12 schools.”

One session from the 2021 conference was called “Decolonizing Our Minds: Amplifying BIPOC Cultures to Inspire Responsible Action.” It focused on “decolonizing our minds to break down white supremacist culture in the classroom.” It also claims that “whiteness permeates school culture around acceptable behavior and learning goals.”

The organization has also made a concerted effort to implement left-wing theories on both race and gender into science and math classes. 

A 2019 session was titled “STEM Educating for Social Justice: Exploring Racism and Sexism in Science Classes,” while the 2020 conference boasted an event called “Warm-up Routines for the Anti-racist Mathematics Classroom” and another titled “Gender Diversity in the Biology Classroom: Small Tweaks and Big Shifts.” Meanwhile, the 2021 conference included a session called, “Growing Intersectional Gender-Inclusive Biology Teaching.” 

Other sessions were specifically intended for teachers who sought to enlist elementary school students in leftwing social justice politics. The session “Primary Students Can Fight for Justice, Too!” explained that “Social justice is alive in elementary classrooms,” continuing to say “Our youngest learners have powerful voices to stand up to injustice.” 

Certain breakout groups, such as “​​Sustaining Our Identities Beyond a Global Pandemic: BIPOC Educators Building Solidarity Through Testimonios,” “Racial Affinity Groups: From Comraderie to Advocacy,” and “Women of Color Circling Forward,” all of which took place at the 2020 conference, were marked as “(For BIPOC Only).”

NWTSJ is sponsored by a number of different organizations such as the Seattle Education Association and the Washington Education Association, both of which push far-left beliefs into the classroom despite better maintaining a patina of legitimacy. 

Their 2018 conference credits an organization called “Social Equality Educators” with helping to put on the event. The organization describes itself as an organization of “activist educators” who are working to “transform education.”

Spencer Lindquist is a reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter @SpencerLndqst and reach out at slindquist@breitbart.com.