Institutional cisnormativity and educational injustice: Trans children's experiences in primary and early secondary education in the UK

Abstract

Background: Transgender children are known to face a wide range of barriers, difficulties and injustices at school. Few studies have focused on the educational experiences of trans pupils who socially transition at or before primary school, with no such studies in the UK. Aims: To learn about the at-school experiences of transgender children who socially transitioned at or before primary school in the UK, listening to children's and parental accounts of navigating cisnormativity in UK primary and early secondary education. Sample: The primary sample included 30 parents whose children had socially transitioned under the age of 11 in the UK. This sample was complemented with data directly from 10 of these trans children. The primary sample was accessed through six trans positive parenting groups in the UK, supplemented through snowball sampling. Methods: Semi-structured interviews produced a rich and detailed qualitative data set, that was analysed through inductive thematic analysis. Results: Three major themes are presented, highlighting experiences of (i) institutional cisnormativity in UK schools, (ii) a failure to protect trans children and (iii) evidence of educational injustice. The results demonstrate how institutional cisnormativity leaves trans pupils in unsafe educational environments, contributing to school drop-out and trauma. Conclusions: Cisnormative attitudes normalize injustice, making it acceptable for trans children to lose access to education, or to experience trauma in school. Educators, schools and school leaders need to take action to protect trans children in our schools.

LGBTQ parents’ accounts of their children’s experiences with heterosexism in schools.

“…In addition to a lack of inclusion of trans parents, prior work has also failed to consider how the sexual/gender identities of the children of LGBTQ parents may affect their experiences at school. Trans children in particular seem to face more discrimination than their cis peers (Horton, 2023), demanding parental advocacy (Davy & Cordoba, 2020). Research on lesbian mothers of trans children indicates that such parents may encounter an added layer of stigma related to perceived attribution by teachers that, by virtue of their queer identities, they “made” their children trans (Kuvalanka et al, 2018).…”

Navigating secondary school: A perspective from trans and non‐binary activists

“…These dynamics reinforce the need for youth to understand the root causes of social problems and to recognize the impact of power mismatch in perpetuating inequality in order to change contexts and liberate from oppression (Ginwright & Cammarota, 2002). The hostile school climate, combined to the lack of guided reflections on exclusion and oppression, negatively affect gender expansive students' life in terms of (a) academic trajectories, as shown by absenteeism and dropout rates, which are higher than their cisgender peers (Horton, 2023); (b) sense of self, since they feel discouraged from coming out in school (Kelley et al, 2022) and exposed to discrimination and stigma (Horton, 2023); and (c) mental health, as a result of the psychological distress (Frost & Meyer, 2023). While schools have begun to adopt LGBTQIA+ guidelines and policies to address the negative impacts of bullying and harassment (Swanson & Gettinger, 2016), these measures often overlook non-binary youth, focusing predominantly on binary experiences (Bower-Brown et al, 2021).…”

“…According to TNB literature, schools, at every educational level, are often sites of perpetuation of cisnormative power (McBride & Neary, 2021), where gender expansive youth can experience bullying, physical and verbal aggressions, misgendering, 5 deadnaming 6 , and other forms of cisnormative violence (Bradlow et al, 2017; McBride & Schubotz, 2017). Administrative practices, public spaces, and gendered uniforms can also act as systemic barriers to gender identity exploration in primary (Horton, 2023) and secondary schools (McBride & Neary, 2021). These dynamics reinforce the need for youth to understand the root causes of social problems and to recognize the impact of power mismatch in perpetuating inequality in order to change contexts and liberate from oppression (Ginwright & Cammarota, 2002).…”

“We Just Think of Her as One of the Girls”: Applying a Trans Inclusion Staged Model to the Experiences of Trans Children and Youth in UK Primary and Secondary Schools

“…Across the literature there are examples of schools more easily assimilating a certain type of trans pupil—one who is gender conforming, binary-oriented, nondisclosing, who can be easily absorbed into a cis-dominant system with barely any disruption (Frohard-Dourlent, 2018; Horton, in press). Schools find it simpler to accommodate “binary trans students, because their genders are more culturally intelligible” (Frohard-Dourlent, 2018, p. 2).…”

“…The description of assimilation in the second level, therefore, does not refer to an individual child’s preference to assimilate and to be presumed cis, but to a school implicitly or explicitly encouraging or demanding assimilation. Horton (in press) describes a school explicitly restricting a child from using the word “trans” to describe themself—an example of enforced assimilation.…”