Just Like Us surveyed 9,000 teachers across the country to find out more
BY ELLA GAUCI, IMAGE BY GETTY IMAGES/CANVA
Over half of teachers surveyed across England said they “agree” or “strongly agree” that their school takes active steps to be LGBTQIA+ inclusive, according to young people’s charity Just Like Us.
Surveying 9,000 teachers, this new research shows the encouraging move from schools across the country to celebrate diversity and inclusion. Only 9% of teachers overall said they “disagreed” or “strongly disagreed” that their schools take active steps to be LGBTQIA+ inclusive.
Laura Mackay, CEO of Just Like Us, said: “Despite divisive narratives in politics and the media about supporting LGBT+ pupils in education, this research shows thousands of schools are doing the right thing. However, the number of teachers who are unsure whether their school is taking active steps to be LGBT+ inclusive is a sign that more visible, tangible and consistent work needs to be done. Taking action to create an LGBT+ inclusive school environment can be as simple as openly discussing LGBT+ identities with all ages and across the curriculum.”
Beth Gibbs, a teacher in the East Midlands, took on their school’s Just Like Us Pride Group three years ago. What started as a group of less than 10 members has transformed into 30 people coming together every Tuesday. This safe space has encouraged students to learn about different identities and feel connected. Beth’s school now also runs whole school assemblies for LGBT+ History Month.
While there is evident progress in LGBTQIA+ inclusion in schools, there is still more work to be done. One secondary school staff member told Just Like Us that the attitude towards LGBTQIA+ inclusion in their school is largely “neutral or ambivalent”. Although they do have a Just Like Us Pride Group running, when queer staff members have asked for school wide events like School Diversity Week “there doesn’t seem to be time or budget for anything more than an assembly and a bakesale”.
This staff member added: “When we started the club there would be a lot of intimidating behaviour from homophobic pupils in the school; hanging around outside the room challenging people going in, staring in the windows, asking to come in and then making intolerant statements. Luckily due to a combination of boredom, SLT support and our Sixth Formers being very good at countering this behaviour with a mix of humour and assertiveness, this seems to have mostly dissipated.”
“LGBT+ inclusion is incredibly important and things are slowly getting more inclusive in our school community, but there is a long way still to go. I feel like national guidance, especially the draft Gender Questioning Children guidance, is not helping though, and is actively making things worse for our community.”
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