Non-Normative Gender and Sexual Identities in Schools: - Schools Out

SJ: I wouldn’t know anything, I don’t think anyway.
AM: OK. So, in the last, what are we 2008, in the last year are you aware of your school
having received any information from the Government or from the organisation
Stonewall about these issues.
SJ: No.
AM: OK, that’s interesting. Um [//] basically there was a report done by Stonewall last
year which was sent to every single school in the country um and also a DVD to help
train teachers in these issues. A fifteen minute DVD sent to every school in the country.
SJ: Right.
AM: Um, but Stonewall are currently in the process of sort of finding out if that DVD
and that policy, where it’s actually got to um and very few teachers I’ve spoken to have
actually seen it.
SJ: No.
AM: and then the other thing what came off the back of that was the DCSF 2007 ur antihomophobic
bullying guidance which is the document at the moment to deal with both
homophobic, biphobic and transphobic bullying and also issues around if a student comes
to you and says oh I think I might be gay um ways in which you could deal with it and it’s
a fantastic, it’s a massive policy, but it’s an internet resource so you don’t have to sit
there and read it all.
SJ: Right.
AM: And again, that’s something that’s been sent to all schools. But Stonewall are
finding out that most teachers don’t know anything about it. So even though there’s
resources out there people just don’t know about them.
SJ: Yeah, no I haven’t heard anything. In sort of, not in defence, but just sort of to put
like um a realistic look on that is the fact that as teachers you get so much stuff anyway,
that is absolutely, not that this isn’t essential, but absolutely essential to be able to teach
that like to have time to, for them to give us any other stuff, I don’t know when they
would.
AM: Yep. Well actually we can link that to question twelve because, about um
curriculum time resources, and training um and whether you feel there is space within the
curriculum and training and resources to tackle these problems. And that is something
that has really come up, people saying yeah I’d love to tackle these issues, but when.
SJ: Yeah.
AM: When there’s so much going on.