In this book, Francis highlights the tension between inclusion and sexual orientation, using this tension as an entry to explore how LGB youth experience schooling. Drawing on research with teachers and LGB youth, this book troubles the teaching and learning of sexuality diversity and, by doing so, provides a critical exploration and analysis of how curriculum, pedagogy, and policy reproduces compulsory heterosexuality in schools. The book makes visible the challenges of teaching sexuality diversity in South African schools while highlighting its potential for rethinking conceptions of the social and cultural representations thereof. Francis links questions of policy and practice to wider issues of society, sexuality, social justice and highlights its implications for teaching and learning. The author encourages policy makers, teachers, and scholars of sexualities and education to develop further questions and informed action to challenge heteronormativity and heterosexism.

The book focuses on the ways in which gendered and sexualised systems of power are produced in educational settings that are framed by broader social and cultural processes, both of which shape and are shaped by children and young people as they interact with each other. All these nuanced features of gender and sexuality are vital if we are to understand inequalities and violence, and fundamental to our three-ply yarn approach in this book. Focusing on the South African context, but with international relevance, the authors adopt the metaphor of the three-ply yarn (Jordan-Young, 2010): these being the cross-cutting themes of gender, sexuality and violence. Subsequently, the book illustrates the intimate ties that bind gender and sexuality with the social and cultural dimensions of violence, as experienced in educational settings.

Offering a vital, critical contribution to debates on gender, sexuality and schooling in South Africa, this book highlights how South African educational practices, discourses and structures normalize cisheteronormativity, along with how these are resisted within schools and through contemporary forms of activism. Not only does it add fresh insights to the existing research literature on gender, sexualities and schooling, it also underscores the valuable contributions of queer and transgender social movements, which have made influential legislative, teaching, learning and support contributions to education. Drawing on ethnographic research with queer and transgender activists, teachers, school managers, parents and school attending youth, the book provides everyday real-life quotes and observations offering a deeply critical contribution to the debates on gender and sexualities, education and activism. Using spatial and affect theories, it troubles the assumptions that frame this field of research to make a novel contribution to the national and international literature and research. The book provides research-based insights for thinking about and calls for informed action to challenging cisheteronormativity within and beyond schools.

Recognizing microaggression as an often unseen, yet pervasive issue in schools globally, this book offers critical examination of instances of aggression, hostility, and incivility in school contexts around the world. Drawing on authors’ experiences and empirical analyses, the volume puts forward practical recommendations to remedy such violence and tackle its root causes. Global Perspectives on Microaggressions in Schools brings together contributions from South Africa, Australia, Canada, and the US to explore the various forms that microaggression can take. Authors implement qualitative methodologies, personal reflection, and empirical literature to document microaggressions perpetrated by, and directed against all members of the school community, including students, teachers, school leaders, and administrators. In doing so, they highlight ongoing issues including xenophobia, sexual violence, and prejudice against gifted students, LGBTQ, refugee, and indigenous communities. Looking forward, the volume proposes practical ways to undermine such prejudices and prevent the occurrence of microaggressions through effective training, policy, leadership, and student agency. Given its rigorous approach and attention to widespread issues of school violence, this book will be a timely resource for scholars, researchers, and academics with an interest in the sociology of education, educational leadership, school culture, student well-being, and inclusive education. In addition, school leaders, administrators, and pre- and in-service educators may find benefit from reading this volume.

Organizations worldwide have introduced equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) policies to address the inherent disadvantages experienced by employees with diverse social identities in different national contexts. EDI policies are present to address the inherent disadvantages and inequalities experienced by a diverse workforce. The Handbook of Research on Exploring Gender Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Through an Intersectional Lens reports on current challenges that organizations face in terms of gender diversity management and provides crucial research on the application of strategies designed to increase organizational change and support and integrate diverse individuals, including physically disabled individuals, women, and people of color, into organizations. Covering key topics such as mental health, tolerance, and a sustainable workforce, this major reference work is ideal for managers, business owners, administrators, government officials, policymakers, researchers, scholars, academicians, practitioners, instructors, and students.

This book brings together leading scholars researching the field of gender, sexuality, schooling, queer activism, and social movements within different cultural contexts. With contributions from more than fifteen countries, the chapters bring fresh insights for students and scholars of gender and sexuality studies, education, and social movements in the Global North and South. The book draws together both theoretical and empirical contributions offering rich and multidisciplinary essays from scholars and activists in the field focusing on outreach work of QSM (Queer Social Movements) in schools, queer activism in educational settings, and the role of QSMs in supporting and informing queer youth.

This book explores the narratives and experiences of LGBTQ+ and gender non-conforming students around the world. Much previous research has focused on homophobic/transphobic bullying and the negative consequences of expressing non-heterosexual and non-gender-conforming identities in school environments. To date, less attention has been paid to what may help LGBTQ+ students to experience school more positively, and relatively little has been done to compare research across the global contexts. This book addresses these research gaps by bringing together ongoing research from countries including Brazil, China, South Africa, the UK and many more. Each chapter examines results of empirical research into school experiences of LGBTQ+ students, and the experiences and perspectives of teachers and parents. All contributions are theoretically informed by aspects of queer theory and/or critical feminist theory, with additional insights from psychological, sociological and linguistic perspectives. Contributing chapters consider how educational workers may question socially sanctioned concepts of normality in relation to gender and sexuality in ways that benefit all students, and how they can ‘queer’ schools to make them less oppressive in terms of gender and sexuality. Expertly written and researched, this book is an invaluable resource for researchers, policymakers and students in the fields of education, sociology, gender studies and anyone with an interest in gender and sexuality studies.