Abstract:
While ample evidence positions positive primary/secondary school climates and inclusive curriculum as protective factors for gender and sexuality diverse (GSD) youth, educators are often reluctant to engage with related topics in the classroom due to concerns about parental and community backlash. This paper will explore key findings from the authors’ large-scale, nationally representative mixed-methods research project which investigated Australian public school parents’ attitudes towards GSD-inclusivity across Kindergarten through Year 12 education.
Additionally, this presentation will speak to the criticality of pre- and in-service teacher professional learning in this space with particular focus on an asynchronous micro credential titled, “Teaching to Affirm Community Diversity”, designed for educator professional learning (K-12) as a central outcome of this national research. This micro-credential was derived from verbatim in-depth interviews and an online forum with parents of GSD children. In this resource, parents share their experiences of navigating the constrictions of a normative, binary framing of gender at their schools for/with their GSD child and suggest how educators can best support GSD young people. The parent narratives featured in the micro-credential were inclusive of three children assigned male at birth who had transitioned/were transitioning while at school: one child assigned female at birth who identified as gender-fluid and who shared this with their teachers/peers; an adolescent boy who identified as bisexual; and a same-sex attracted adolescent girl.
The session will conclude by presenting educators’ responses to these professional learning resources and preliminary data on their impact within the school setting.
Additionally, this presentation will speak to the criticality of pre- and in-service teacher professional learning in this space with particular focus on an asynchronous micro credential titled, “Teaching to Affirm Community Diversity”, designed for educator professional learning (K-12) as a central outcome of this national research. This micro-credential was derived from verbatim in-depth interviews and an online forum with parents of GSD children. In this resource, parents share their experiences of navigating the constrictions of a normative, binary framing of gender at their schools for/with their GSD child and suggest how educators can best support GSD young people. The parent narratives featured in the micro-credential were inclusive of three children assigned male at birth who had transitioned/were transitioning while at school: one child assigned female at birth who identified as gender-fluid and who shared this with their teachers/peers; an adolescent boy who identified as bisexual; and a same-sex attracted adolescent girl.
The session will conclude by presenting educators’ responses to these professional learning resources and preliminary data on their impact within the school setting.