Section 9. Curriculum

This section focuses on how trans and gender diverse young people experiences silences in school curricula. In the first instance, please watch the video about tackling homophobic, biphobic and transphobic bullying.

This section also contains key findings from research, impactful quotes from young people, starting points to think about curricular developments as well as resources for further study. Please navigate through this section and complete the corresponding worksheet in the workbook.

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There are absolutely zero talks or information given about gender identity and expression and the differences between them – so virtually most of the people are uninformed on the topic.

(Workshop Participant, Anonymous)

Research

Trans and gender diverse youth explained:

How gender identity and gender expression were excluded from their school curriculum
That they were denied information and terminology that was vital to making sense of their gender identity and limited their ability to discuss their experiences with significant others
That curricular exclusion promoted misunderstanding and contributed to the stigmatisation of trans and gender diverse youth
That many students turned to trans and gender diverse youth for education about gender identity and gender expression and that this was emotionally draining

International research has found that:

Only 12.7% of trans and gender diverse had LGBT issues covered by their school curriculum (Greytak et al. 2013).
Trans and gender diverse youth are often required to explain their identity to others and that this can be a psychological strain (Austin, 2016).
Providing an LGBTI+ inclusive curriculum improves trans and gender diverse youth’s learning and well-being (Snapp, et al., 2015).

It's very weird, because typically if anyone wants any information, they'll come straight to me, so suddenly I become a teacher for all of it. Which, you know, every once in a while I'm fine with, but literally having to make a mini-classroom to teach people about it does. It gets annoying and frustrating, if only because I just want to be like every other student. I don't want to be the teacher, you know?

(Shane, Age 16)

Ensure that gender identity and gender expression are incorporated across the curriculum. The following are some suggested starting points: