School experiences of transgender and gender diverse students in Australia · ICGS Research Library

Title

School experiences of transgender and gender diverse students in Australia

Author

Jones et al. (2016)

Year Published

2016

Description

An Australian study conducted by Jones, Smith, Ward, Dixon, Hillier and Mitchell sought to explore the schooling experiences of transgender and gender diverse students that are becoming increasingly visible across Australia’s education landscape. From their findings they propose a number of recommendations for establishing more inclusive practices within schooling environments that can better support these students (Jones, Smith, Ward, Dixon, Hillier & Mitchell, 2016, p. 156).

At an international level there has been an increased awareness and acceptance of the growing possibility of students presenting diverse gender identities within schooling contexts. The existing literature on transgender and gender diverse students has largely focused on risk factors associated with belonging to this population, including the increased potential for victimisation and discrimination within the school environment. Evidence of the schooling experiences of this population is being increasingly used to inform policy protections aimed at establishing inclusive school environments that provide greater recognition and support for gender diversity. Against this backdrop, Jones et al.’s study became focused on exploring the extent to which Australian transgender and gender diverse students report feeling supported within their school environments, with particular consideration of recognition of their experiences of puberty and sexuality education, treatment by students and staff, and advantages of participating in activism (pp. 156, 157).

To conduct their study, 189 transgender and gender diverse students across Australia’s various education sectors participated in an online survey answering questions related to their schooling experiences, mental health and the role of activism in their wellbeing. In depth interviews were further conducted with sixteen of the survey participants who were willing to discuss their experiences of schooling in greater detail (pp. 160, 161)

The data obtained from interviews and surveys revealed that the majority of participants in the study reported a lack of inclusion in their experiences of sexuality and puberty education. Two-thirds of transgender and gender diverse students revealed that the provision of sexuality education at their school was mostly inappropriate for failing to recognise sexual and gender diversity. The findings further revealed that 55% of participants believed that their education regarding puberty was mostly inappropriate (pp. 163, 164).

Transgender and gender diverse students revealed negative experiences of schooling in their accounts of the wearing and policing of school uniforms. Many participants reported that the wearing of the school uniform was a problematic experience, particularly where the uniform options provided by the school were strongly gendered. Participants predicted that improvements to the inclusion and wellbeing of gender diverse students would be benefitted by uniform options that supported greater flexibility in gender expression (pp. 164, 165).

Lack of support from school personnel was reported to bear a significant weight on transgender and gender diverse students’ negative experiences of schooling. A common situation through which gender diverse students reported feeling ill-supported by school personnel was when their teachers and school administrators failed to acknowledge them by their preferred name or pronoun. This situation reportedly affected students’ ability to concentrate in class, which for many students further led to them achieving poor results or leaving school entirely. Lack of recognition of ones’ gender diversity from school personnel was also positively linked to increases in verbal and physical abuse from peers (pp. 165,166).

Participants with supportive classmates were less likely to experience victimisation at school. However, 65% of the study’s participants reported experiencing verbal abuse from their peers on the basis of their gender diversity and 21% reported experiencing incidences of physical abuse. Over 90% of participants who had experienced physical abuse were reported to have contemplated suicide (pp.165, 166).

Due to experiences of discrimination and victimisation, 91% of participants in the study reported being involved in activism promoting the need for improvements in society for gender diverse and transgender people. Becoming involved in activism was reported to have a positive impact on participants’ wellbeing by increasing their resilience (33%), easing their symptoms of depression (30%) and reducing their ideation towards self-harm (30%) and suicide (31%) (p. 166).

The data provided by the surveys and interviews with transgender and gender diverse students illustrate the need for schools to continue to scrutinise and transform their practices so as to improve the inclusion of these students within the school environment. Based on their findings, the authors recommended that improved school climates fo