Although Victorian policies contain similar expressions (School operations: LGBTIQ Student Support, 2020), these are simply 'considerations' for individual student support plans, rather than overarching policy requirements.

 

All students are entitled to access safe and unbiased education regardless of their gender identity and schools have an obligation to work with students to develop a student support plan that affirms their gender identity (School operations: LGBTIQ Student Support, 2020).  For teachers and staff at many Australian schools, this is a challenge that will best benefit from a “multi-pronged” approach (Tinklin, 2003) involving policy, curriculum, behaviour and language.

 

This online tool will present issues and responses to areas like dress code, language, infrastructure and representation in the media that can provide teachers with potential responses to prepare them for the classroom.  The issue is broad and no one approach will address all of the challenges you are likely to encounter.  We have attempted to provide some examples of issues teachers will encounter.

  

Gender diverse people “refers to people who fall outside the typical range of masculinity or femininity with regard to gender identity and/or physical sex characteristics” (Australian Curriculum in Jones, 2017).  Critical is the notion that gender identity needs to be separated from the sexed body of the person (Zimman, 2017).  Additionally, students have a broad range of ways of identifying themselves, as one survey (Jones, et al., 2016) found that 50% of the respondents identified as something other than male/female binary (e.g. genderqueer, gender fluid, agender, etc.).

 

This is a vulnerable student group, as surveys show that spoken and corporeal abuse is common and suicide risks are high for this group (Jones, 2017).  Students who were surveyed showed markedly higher rates of self-harm, social withdrawal, transferring schools and fear of attack.  Schools can act as catalysts for change and support networks for these at risk students. 

 

 

Teachers can have a significant impact on the life of a transgender or gender-diverse student.  Issues like drop-out rates, hiding at school, bullying and written abuse can all reduce when teachers and administration are supportive (Jones, et al., 2016).  School-wide policies and programs that provide multi-level support are particularly important (Jones & Hillier, 2013).   Research shows that gender diverse students are more sensitive to the language and messages from their teachers, responding positively to inclusive language that is seen as supportive (Ullman, 2017).

 

Start with the small things.  Avoid activities that segregate students on the basis of gender, such as lining up in rows of boys and girls, that highlights the binary differences of people (Jones, et al., 2016) and use inclusive language based on the preferences of the gender diverse student.

 

The benefits can extend beyond gender diverse students to the school as a whole, creating a more inclusive and accepting environment for all students with other challenges (Bartholomaeus & Riggs, 2017).  This is consistent with the notion that difference is essential for any kind of learning, promoting the transformability of teaching (Florian, 2012).

Martine Rothblatt is currently the highest-earning CEO in the biopharmaceutical industry, as well as the founder of her company, United Therapeutics. Her fascinating and storied career has spanned the fields of law, aerospace, and medicine.

Martine publicly came out as a trans woman in 1994, and remains a fierce advocate for trans rights. She's married with four children, and dedicates much of her time to transhumanist efforts.

Jennifer Pritzker is best-known for being the first transgender billionaire. She served as a Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Army, and founded the Tawani Foundation in 1995. Through the foundation, she seeks to donate to numerous civic causes.

Pritzker publicly came out in 2013 via a statement to her employees. She has received many accolades for her work in advancing the visibility of and discussion around gender identity.

Vivienne Ming is a theoretical neuroscientist and entrepreneur, and is the co-founder of Socos. Socos aims to combine machine learning and neuroscience to maximize the potential of students. In 2013, Ming was named one of Ten Women to Watch in Tech by Inc. Magazine.

Vivienne came out as trans to her then-fiancé, Norma, on her 34th birthday in 2005. She and Norma married the following year, and went on to found Socos together. Today, Ming sits on the boards of StartOut, The Palm Center, Emozia, Engender, and Genderis Inc.'

(Excerpt from Kerrigan, 2018)

Student behaviours and values are affected by school environment. According to Proctor (2011) single-sex schools reinforce gender roles, likely developing sexist behaviours. Plus, Lee et al. (1994) show that sexism is more common and substantial in single-sex schools, rather than in coeducational settings. Although the presence of two genders does not eliminate sexism, equal representation of girls/women and boys/men reduces the risk of sexist incidents. Within this school context, students are expected to follow prescribed binary norms according to their sex assigned at birth, limiting their freedom of self-expression, development of personality and preferences.

Gender non-conformity includes a wide spectrum of fluid, nonbinary and transgender identities. Bragg et al. (2018) show that gender identity is strongly linked to self-expression. Through student interviews, Jones et al. (2016) observed uniform policies do not acknowledge gender diversity. Students are discouraged and penalised for wearing uniforms associated with the perceived opposite sex. These enforced binary uniforms lead to the erasure of gender diversity and broader feminism issues, relating to women’s liberation and self-expression, in turn, promoting normative gender stereotypes. These requirements relating to student self-expression influence their wellbeing.

All schools may have gender diverse students and should display appropriate support. Bragg et al. (2018) demonstrate schools have an awareness of feminist issues, addressing gender equity and gender justice themes through extra-curricular programs. These practices begin to support gender inclusivity but remain within the current gendered binary society. Moreover, Morgan (2017) observes that implementing policies about gender diversity drastically improves inclusivity. Flexibility is required for further inclusion, in fact, this case opens the discussion about the need for medical certificates to formally acknowledge students’ identities, using preferred names and pronouns, affecting their enrolment process.

Progress in gender inclusion is made through flexible policies. While gender equality content allows to fight sexism when implemented in lessons, it is not sufficient alone. Lee et al. (1994) conclude that gender equity policies make a difference for an equitable treatment of gender diverse students. The establishment of these policies would frame staff and student behaviours towards diverse students to improve their wellbeing. In addition, policies should aim to represent and acknowledge gender diversity, and specify enrolment circumstances in single-sex schools, or gender specific subjects, such as sports. Flexibility with uniform policies would allow students to express their identity, by either developing gender neutral clothing items available to all students or cease separating items in a restrictive binary system, in turn, allowing any student to wear any uniform garment. This would allow all students to feel validated, safe, and comfortable in the school environment.