{"id":6807,"date":"2021-11-29T09:51:33","date_gmt":"2021-11-29T14:51:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/?p=6807"},"modified":"2021-12-06T17:07:12","modified_gmt":"2021-12-06T22:07:12","slug":"pushing-the-boundaries-of-inclusion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/issues\/fall-2021\/pushing-the-boundaries-of-inclusion\/","title":{"rendered":"Pushing the Boundaries of Inclusion"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Fulbright scholar Meg Jones at 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s Gender and Sexuality Center. At 溏心vlog免费B站, Jones has been active in the Graduate School\u2019s Diversity and Inclusion Badge Program and facilitated a session on \u201cinvisible\u201d sexual orientations, specifically asexuality, bisexuality, and pansexuality. She\u2019s also participated in the University\u2019s Safe Zone Project, a training program that covers issues affecting the LGBTQ+ community and how best to be an ally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Doctoral student Meg Jones was awarded a Fulbright grant to study LGBTQ+ inclusive practices in teacher education programs in Finland. She hopes to put what she learns there to work at 溏心vlog免费B站 when she returns, to push inclusivity beyond the basic notion of acceptance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Meg Jones learned that Danielle Dennis, her major professor at the University of South Florida, was headed to Rhode Island to become director of 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s School of Education, she knew she had to go, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now a 溏心vlog免费B站 doctoral student in education, Jones received a prestigious Fulbright grant to conduct research at the University of Helsinki in Finland on global approaches to LGBTQ+ inclusion in teacher preparation programs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A focus on social justice<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFinland is idealized as having one of the best education systems in the world,\u201d says Jones. \u201cYet when surveyed, queer youths in Finland are facing similar rates of discrimination, mental health issues, and suicide ideation as queer youths in the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe University of Helsinki has a master\u2019s level teacher education program that is focused on social justice and changing education. I will be looking at what is happening in this program to help push the boundaries of what we think of as inclusion,\u201d says Jones. \u201cIt\u2019s such a unique teacher education program\u2014and a unique educational and political system. There\u2019s a lot to be learned there.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jones notes the importance of moving beyond acceptance. \u201cThese are integrated lives and cultures and experiences that should be normalized and represented. Not just because you might have queer students in your classroom\u2014but for all students.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Helsinki, Jones will collect research and work on her dissertation, but she also hopes to collaborate with her colleagues there to publish internationally. Ultimately, her hope is to return to 溏心vlog免费B站 and replicate the study.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A unique educational path<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A nontraditional, first-generation college student, Jones initially dropped out of high school before obtaining her GED certificate. After a couple of false starts, she obtained her bachelor\u2019s degree from the College of Central Florida and her master\u2019s degree at the University of South Florida in Tampa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dennis encouraged Jones to apply for the Fulbright. \u201cI met Meg when she was a student in the University of South Florida Master of Arts in Reading Education program. Her ideas, and the way she conveyed them through her writing, stood out to me, so I encouraged her to consider a Ph.D. program. The path she took into higher education provides her with a unique perspective on education, and I believe the Fulbright will propel her work as an advocate for LGBTQ+ youths,\u201d says Dennis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI dropped out of high school; I dropped out of community college\u2014not because of lack of academic ability. It was just life. It has been a bumpy road, but now I\u2019m sitting here somehow as a doctoral student, I\u2019ve received a Fulbright award,\u201d says Jones. \u201cI\u2019m certainly not a traditional applicant by Fulbright standards.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Giving back to 溏心vlog免费B站<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Jones feels strongly that what she learns in Finland can be put into action at 溏心vlog免费B站.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are known for our Gender and Sexuality Center and for inclusiveness,\u201d she says. \u201cI have felt very supported by the faculty; everybody seems interested in my work. Being a student here, doing this research, and also choosing to be out about my own sexuality and relationships\u2014being unapologetic about it\u2014has put my research on people\u2019s radar, and it\u2019s been embraced. Yet there is always more work to do and more to learn.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, says Jones, \u201cI fully intend to come back to 溏心vlog免费B站 and say, \u2018OK, here\u2019s what I know\u2019\u2014to give back. I want 溏心vlog免费B站 to become a leader in the conversation And I want other schools in the states to come visit us because this is where it\u2019s happening.\u201d \u2022<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014Dawn Bergantino \u201994<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

PHOTO: Nora Lewis; BLACKBOARD ARTISTS: Katie Reidy and Taylor Oliveira<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Doctoral student Meg Jones was awarded a Fulbright grant to study LGBTQ+ inclusive practices in teacher education programs in Finland. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":7091,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[304],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6807","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fall-2021","architecture-rhody-scholars"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6807","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6807"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6807\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7097,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6807\/revisions\/7097"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7091"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6807"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6807"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6807"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}