Work

Interrogating the promise of ‘inclusivity’ for LGBTQ+ lives in primary schools

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: Amid particularly turbulent times for LGBTQ+ people globally, it is unclear what concepts like ‘inclusivity’ can achieve in primary schools where institutionalized cis-heteronormative logics abound. Drawing on a study conducted with primary school staff (n = 1031) in Ireland in 2023, this paper explores the concept of inclusivity and how it functions when applied to LGBTQ+ lives in primary schools. This paper yields new insight into how primary school staff understand and approach LGBTQ+ inclusivity in a diversity of ways, some of which can have negative effects for LGBTQ+ people. Furthermore, this paper reveals significant incongruities between some primary school staff commitments to and understandings of inclusivity, and their everyday realities of practice and culture. Ultimately, this paper serves as an illustrative invitation to interrogate deeply the practices that are happening in the name of inclusivity in primary schools.

Source: Gender and Education

DOI: 10.1080/09540253.2025.2545477

Authors: Aoife Neary, Jason Richard Power

Institutions: University College Cork, University of Limerick

Language: English

Topic: Gender, Sexuality, and Education

Subfield: Gender Studies

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDGs: Reduced inequalities, Quality education

Open Access status: green

Funder: Irish Research Council