intersectional health education
intersectional health education
intersectional health education
Justine Ang Fonte, M.Ed, MPH
"Health is the state of complete
physical, emotional, and social well-being,
and not merely
the absence of disease or infirmity."
-World Health Organization
Hi, I'm Justine!
I use she/they pronouns.
I come from a family of Philippine immigrants, am a child of colonization, student of decolonization, and have reveled in disrupting health education for 10 years.
Real Talk:
We can all learn about health but we don't have equal access to it. Framing my pedagogy through the lens of Kimberlé Crenshaw's teachings on intersectionality, I interrogate how our multifaceted identities shape how we experience health. I believe it is the responsibility of comprehensive health education to be about social justice because health is a human right. Through my teaching, I promote agency, activate empathy, fight for equity, embrace one's authentic self, and navigate care.
Also:
Things I did before:
my teaching journey
My career started in an American middle school math classroom. There, I experienced first-hand the direct impact that insufficient health education and access to care had on my students and their learning.
I teach in K-12 schools, present to universities, speak on panels and conferences, train faculty and parents, and consult in both public and private institutions who are seeking to build socially just and comprehensive health programming.
Healthy students make for stronger learners yet systemic health disparities affect the school experience and through education projects I've done in the Philippines, I know that this is not unique to the United States.
When I'm building with schools, I develop health programs that are intersectional, anti-racist, sex-positive, multidisciplinary, stigma-busting, and relevant. (If some of those terms are unfamiliar, know that they are almost synonymous.)
Why did I choose this career?
Watch an excerpt from the 2015 Independent School Health Leader's Conference in Raleigh, NC
"I am the dream my ancestors dreamed would free them."
-The Journey of a Brown Girl
"Until the lion learns to write, every story will glorify the hunter." -African Proverb
"Island women rise, walang makakatigil. Alamin ang 'yong ugat." -Ruby Ibarra