The boy who was drawing princesses: primary teachers' accounts of children's non-conforming behaviours

Abstract

The aim of this work is to raise awareness of sexual minority issues with a special focus on the primary school domain in Greece. Greece is considered a conservative country where most people regard homosexuality as taboo and non-heterosexual people as an invisible group. Research data from interviewing primary Greek teachers showed that (homo)sexuality and gender-challenging behaviour are issues of concern in primary school children. Moreover, teachers occasionally identify sexuality and gender-related behaviours in children that do not conform to stereotypical expectations. In some schools, non-conforming behaviour is stigmatised, and pupils who failed to follow the norm are mocked. Such hostile behaviour often goes unchallenged. When respondents were prompted to discuss their personal reactions to such incidents, they referred to a range of reactions such as offering etymological explanations, ignoring the issue altogether, dismissing it as unimportant, or recalling it privately as amusing. Finally, the school personnel tended to handle 'dangerous' situations discretely (secretively). Data from this study could contribute to a framework for exploring teachers' school experiences with the overall goal of transforming them into learning.

Tracking gender in kindergarten

“…Therefore, boys are trained from an early age to take active positions and the opposite applies to girls (Bø, 2014). Therefore, gender-stereotypical attitudes towards girls and boys contribute to upholding traditional perceptions (Aune, 2012;Chen & Rao, 2011;Chick et al, 2002;Gerouki, 2010;Hamilton, Anderson, Broaddus, & Young, 2006;Lynch, 2015).…”

Safe Schools for LGBTQI Students: How Do Teachers View Their Role in Promoting Safe Schools?

“…Several studies found that teachers view sexuality as a private and moral issue that does not have any place in the classroom (Bower & Klecka, 2009;Dessel, 2010;Gerouki, 2010). In Bower and Klecka's qualitative study, heterosexual master's-level teachers in Nevada explained that they were not willing to address sexuality because it may conflict with students' families' beliefs.…”

“…Respondents in Zack, Mannheim, and Alfano's (2010) study expressed a lack of confidence to address homosexuality regarding contradicting families' religious beliefs. Other studies have shown that teachers report avoiding topics related to sexual minorities due to a fear of parental reactions (Bower & Klecka, 2009;Dessel, 2010;Gerouki, 2010;O'Higgins-Norman, 2009;Schneider & Dimito, 2008). Teachers also reported avoidance of the topic because of fears related to disapproval from students, colleagues, and boards of management (Bower & Klecka, 2009;Dessel, 2010;O'Higgins-Norman, 2009), fear of political climate (Clark, 2010), fear of diminishing coverage of required curriculum materials (Meyer, 2008;Zack, Mannheim, & Alfano, 2010), and possible perceptions of being gay (O'HigginsNorman, 2009;Zack, Mannheim, & Alfano, 2010).…”

“…For example, in a qualitative study of Greek primary teachers, participants described their reactions to homophobic bullying (Gerouki, 2010). Gerouki explained that in their dialogues, teachers downplayed the significance of the use of hateful or pejorative language.…”

Gender Stereotypes and Elementary School Teachers

“…Research data from Greek primary teachers show that, even at the primary school level, teachers occasionally observe and identify children's behavior that does not conform to stereotypical expectations. Reporting gender nonconforming behavior is more prevalent in non-heterosexual populations, and many lesbian, gay and bisexual people affirm that their perceptions of being different, as well as acting differently from their peers or family members, had already developed from an early point in their lives, and even in their teen or pre-teen years (Gerouki, 2010). That is why, we were interested in examining whether Slovak teachers treated boys and girls with the same respect and supported every child to express ideas and participate fully.…”