Gender non-conforming students continue to be at greater risk of harassment, bullying and negative mental health than their cis-gender peers (Wernick, Kulick & Inglehart, 2014). This is despite increasing recognition of the need to trouble binary notions of gender from European Parliamentarians and education policists alike (European Institute for Gender Equality, 2013).

While education remains a mainstay in policy for catalysing perspectival shifts (European Commission, 2015), research continues to report schools act as sites of social reproduction rather than as sites of social change (Collins, 2009). In light of research that shows the significance of school staff in gender non-conforming students’ networks of support, this presentation focuses on school staff perceptions and practices related to supporting gender non-conforming students (Taylor et al., 2016; Toomey, McGuire & Russell, 2012). Like Europe, Australia is working towards a policy landscape that supports gender diversity in education contexts, most notably through the the recently ceased Safe Schools Program. We present findings from the project ‘Inclusive practices: Supporting teachers, supporting students’ which was conducted in the Australian state of Tasmania. The research questions we focus on in this presentation are:

1. What are school staffs’ ideas about gender and how do these ideas inform their support of gender-nonconforming students?

2. What are perceptions of school staff about the support that is available for gender-nonconforming students in their school and schooling community?

Utilising a hermeneutic case study methodology (Moules, McCaffrey, Field & Laing, 2015), the project was delivered in partnership with Working It Out, a gender, sexuality and intersex status support and education service funded by the Tasmanian Government. Participants in the study were school staff members who were identified by their school leadership as support persons for gender non-conforming students. This exploratory study aimed to inform the development of policy and practice initiatives for further professional learning for school staff and policy development in this area.

In this presentation, we report on interviews conducted with school staff from participating schools. This has been an opportunity to map spaces of inclusion and at the same time inform the ongoing work that the community organisation are continuing to do. We explore how the role of encounter was key to promoting acceptance, belief, acknowledgement and trust in the relationships between school and student. We present preliminary data that suggests the experiences of school staff are idiosyncratic and reflect the social location of both the individual and the socio-cultural conditions of the school. Findings will inform and enhance capacity to support pre-service teachers, teachers and school communities to embrace diverse and inclusive learning cultures both in Australia and internationally. Specific outcomes of this project will include a report of findings and recommendations for community organisation audiences and education stakeholders.

Coleman, B., Beasy, K., Grant, R., Emery, S. & Clayton, S. (2017) Small grants 2017 ‘Inclusive practices: Supporting teachers, supporting students’ Retrieved http://www.utas.edu.au/research/our-research-themes/creativity-culture-and-society/small-grants-2017 Collins, J. (2009). Social reproduction in classrooms and schools. Annual Review of Anthropology, 38, 33-48. Retrieved http://www.annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev.anthro.37.081407.085242 European Institute for Gender Equality. (2013) Synthesis report A study of collected narratives on gender perceptions in the 27 EU Member States. retrieved: http://eige.europa.eu/rdc/eige-publications/study-collected-narratives-gender-perceptions-27-eu-member-states European Commission. (2015) Education at a Glance 2015: Main messages for Europe. Retrieved: http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/education_culture/repository/education/news/2015/documents/eag2015-eu-press_en.pdf Moules, N., McCaffrey, G., Field, J., & Laing, C. (2015). Conducting hermeneutic research: From philosophy to practice. New York: Peter Lang Publishing. Taylor, C.J., Meyer, E.J., Peter, T., Ristock, J., Short, D., & Campbell, C. (2016). Gaps between beliefs, perceptions, and practices: The Every Teacher Project on LGBTQ-inclusive education in Canadian schools. Journal of LGBT Youth 13(1-2): 112-140. Toomey, R. B., McGuire, J. K., & Russell, S. T. (2012). Heteronormativity, school climates, and perceived safety for gender nonconforming peers. Journal of adolescence, 35(1), 187-196. Wernick, L. J., Kulick, A., & Inglehart, M. H. (2014). Influences of peers, teachers, and climate on students' willingness to intervene when witnessing anti-transgender harassment. Journal of Adolescence, 37(6), 927-935.