Rethinking conventions: Keeping gender-diverse students safe
A primary principal learns how to create a safe culture for gender-diverse students.
This short article relates the experience of an American school principal. It begins with a parent’s question: “Would you allow our son to wear a dress to school?”
The principal talks about what he learned from research and how he personally realised that “any potential discomfort we or others may have ... does not outweigh a student's right to be safe and feel included.”
From their research the school implemented a framework centred on four best practices:
- build gender literacy
- respect gender Identity and expression
- balance personal views with professional roles
- establish a sense of safety.
The article includes three reflective questions.
Further reading
Guide to LGBTIQA+ students – Inclusive Education website
Information, strategies and resources for schools to support the inclusion and wellbeing of students who identify as sex, gender, or sexuality diverse (SGSD).
Community report – Counting ourselves website
Chapter 8 summarises the survey responses of gender-diverse young people attending secondary school. (2019 report)
Reference
Ciuffo, A. (2019). Rethinking Conventions: Keeping Gender-Diverse Students Safe. Educational Leadership, vol 77(2), pp70-75. ASCD.
