<
https://theconversation.com/why-cant-i-wear-a-dress-what-schools-can-learn-from-preschools-about-supporting-trans-children-223859>
"A new group of young children has just started school for the first time, with
many excited about new friends, uniforms and being at “big school”.
But for trans kids, starting school can be a much more daunting process.
They have likely gone from preschools and daycare where they had the freedom to
wear what they want and play what they want, whether that was dinosaurs, dolls
or dress ups. The boy who likes to be Rapunzel was probably viewed as “cute”
and the girl always playing pirates was encouraged to do so.
But school culture is much more cisnormative. This means schools tend to assume
children can be sorted into boys and girls and everyone is comfortable in what
category they are in.
You can see this in formal ways, with boys’ and girls’ uniforms and toilets and
in informal ways, with boys and girls making different friendship groups and
playing different games at lunch.
This makes it difficult for trans children to feel as though they belong at
school. Trans students often have lower levels of wellbeing and lower
educational outcomes than non-trans students.
My research looks at what schools can learn from preschools and other early
learning settings such as daycare centres about how to support trans students."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
