Teaching LGBTQ-inclusive Topics in the Classroom

Isabella Liang

There have been many discussions about what topics should be taught in school or not, such as critical race theory and sexuality. While some states in the US, such as California and New Jersey, support teachers teaching LGBTQ-inclusive curriculums, other states like Florida prohibit teachers from teaching those topics. I had conversations with two teachers from the Pride and Less Prejudice team about their perceptions and experience of teaching LGBTQ-inclusive topics in their schools, which are located in relatively inclusive areas in the US. Dani teaches two- to three-year-olds, and Nicole teaches the second grade.

Some people may have doubts about whether young children have the capacity to understand the concepts of gender and sexuality. However, these topics can be taught age-appropriately and in a way that children can understand. Both Dani and Nicole shared that their students were accepting when they learned about LGBTQ-related topics in the classroom. For Dani, their students were “pretty unimpressed. [The students] just went with it, [and LGBTQ stories] didn't seem novel or new or strange or anything to them.” Nicole mentioned that LGBTQ-related topics are not anything shocking or surprising for her students, although many of her students were hearing about these topics for the first time. She recounted a lesson that she has done about the rainbow flag:

I remember the page [in a picture book] where a rainbow flag spanned two pages of the book. When I held up the book for students to see, they started naming all the places where they have seen that flag before. Like “I saw that flag outside of my friend's house,” “I saw that flag outside of the store where I was shopping this weekend,” or “I saw that in the car on my way to the beach!” ...then they were like, “Oh now I know what that means.” It was kind of like a light bulb went off. Students didn't have a lot of questions about LGBTQ issues. The only comments were “I don't understand why that happened” or “why that was wrong.” They don't get that part [about LGBTQ discrimination and oppression], but they get the part about acceptance. 

Although students are very accepting, some parents may show resistance to letting their children learn about such topics in school. Nicole described her school district as very inclusive and accepting. Nevertheless, she received backlash from some parents when she was doing a read-aloud of the book Sam is My Sister, a picture book that has a transgender character in it. Luckily, her head director was supportive, and some parents responded positively after she explained what the book is about to them. Being afraid of experiencing backlash and parental resistance is one of the barriers for teachers to discuss LGBTQ-inclusive topics in the classroom (Hermann-Wilmarth & Ryan, 2019; Meyer et al., 2019), and parents’ resistance usually stems from the misconceptions and stereotypes that they hold about LGBTQ+ people. Here are some tips for teachers that may help them deal with parents’ misconceptions and resistance:

• Explain why you chose to teach LGBTQ-inclusive topics and how you are going to teach the topics during the parent-teacher night.

• Invite parents to have an open conversation with them and find a middle ground where both teachers and parents are able to express their perspectives respectfully.

• If parents really do not want their children to learn about the topic, the teacher can assign the child to do something else while the other students are learning about the topic.

In the meantime, there is a lack of training and directions for teachers on how to design and teach LGBTQ-inclusive courses and how to deal with the backlash. Both Dani and Nicole stressed that there should be more opportunities for teachers to learn about practical applications instead of theoretical ideas because teachers need to learn how to implement LGBTQ topics in the classroom. Nicole also suggested that every teacher, regardless of their sexuality, should teach LGBTQ-inclusive topics in their classrooms. Heterosexual teachers should not count on queer teachers to help them cover LGBTQ topics because it could be exhausting for queer teachers to do the heavy lifting of teaching the topics. Heterosexual teachers may let their students know that they are not an expert and they do not know everything about the topic. For example, they can say, “This is not something that I identify with, but I did research, and you might have questions that I can't answer.”

Dani and Nicole shared similar visions of what their ideal LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum would be like. Teachers should “sprinkle” age-appropriate LGBTQ topics into every grade level, “Not just for the older grades because younger students definitely can handle it.” For younger kindergarten and primary school students, teachers could discuss family structures, such as some families that have two dads. Dani added that when younger kids asked questions about LGBTQ-related questions, like, “Why does the family have two mommies?” teachers then could have honest conversations with them. Teachers do not necessarily need to force the conversations, and they can let kids come up with those questions naturally instead. As for middle school students, they could learn about LGBTQ health in sexual health class and LGBTQ history in history class. LGBTQ topics should be featured in other courses as well instead of having one particular course completely dedicated to them because they are relevant in every other course. 

Still, barriers such as school policies, lack of training, and parental resistance are preventing teachers from implementing teaching LGBTQ-inclusive topics in the classroom. The education system and policies need to improve in order to create safe learning and teaching space in schools for teachers, parents, and students. Diversity and inclusivity education is important for children because early exposure to people from different backgrounds (e.g., racial, sexual, religious) can alleviate out-group bias and stereotypes. As Nicole pointed out, learning about LGBTQ-inclusive topics “Helps [students] understand themselves… and what some of the people around them are going through. While [LGBTQ topics] might seem like a scary unknown to some students, the more they learn about it, the more that they'll see that it isn't that way. Just that education and representation starting at a young age will lead to an overall kinder generation.”

References

Hermann-Wilmarth, J. M., & Ryan, C. L. (2019). Navigating parental resistance: 

Learning from responses of LGBTQ-inclusive elementary school teachers. Theory Into Practice, 58(1), 89-98.

Meyer, E. J., Quantz, M., Taylor, C., & Peter, T. (2019). Elementary teachers’ 

experiences with LGBTQ-inclusive education: Addressing fears with knowledge to improve confidence and practices. Theory Into Practice, 58(1), 6-17.