LGBT Diversity and Inclusion in Early Years Education

Deborah Price, Kath Tayler

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2015
• Print ISBN: 9781138814097
• eBook ISBN: 9781317602224
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Early Childhood Education

Children and families come in all shapes and sizes, as do members of staff. LGBT Diversity and Inclusion in Early Years Education will support practitioners in thinking about LGBT issues in relation to their early years practice.

It examines the history of equalities legislation and the diversity of families with LGBT members alongside pragmatic advice to ensure that all children, families and staff feel welcomed and celebrated in the early years setting.

This book offers realistic advice and practical guidance, which results from years of first-hand experience in the early years sector. The chapters explore key topics such as:

• A brief history of legislation in the UK in regard to LGBT diversity
• Good practice with children and families
• LGBT diversity in an early years work environment
• Resourcing for equality

Including case studies, reading lists and links to useful websites and organisations, this book will be valuable reading for all early years practitioners and students that want to promote an inclusive environment for the children in their care.

1 Introduction

DOI: 10.4324/9781315747736-1

This book is about families. Our aim is to think about including the needs of every child. We want that to be the starting point to any thinking, conversations, planning or training that you carry out when using this book. The main underpinning question that we are fundamentally asking you is, ‘How do you include and support all of the families, children and workers in your setting?’ We are asking you this in connection with your current thinking about LGBT issues in regard to the children, families and workers who come into contact with your setting.

We are aware that looking at this question through the lens of LGBT diversity is a challenging task for some practitioners, but if you are overwhelmed or confused at any point by the material in this book, then we ask you to return to the vision statement that is the core ethos of our writing and at the heart of our writing; we want to enable you to support the children, families and workers in your setting as fully as you can.

LGBT issues have no relevance in my setting because I work with little children. These things should only be discussed when children reach secondary school, if at all.

(nursery practitioner)

We have both heard this many times in connection with this aspect of diversity and we want to make it clear that in this context in talking about sexuality we are not talking about sex. We are also not talking about having involved conversations with children under five about the sexual choices that same sex and transgender people make. What we are talking about is:

• supporting those members of staff who choose to share their sexuality status at work
• supporting families of children who attend the setting when their parents have chosen to share their sexuality status with the setting
• supporting children who we know have parents who are same sex or transgender
• ensuring a supportive and inclusive environment for all of those staff and family members who have chosen to share or not to share their sexuality status
• ensuring a safe, supportive and inclusive environment for all of the children who are cared for in the setting in recognition of the sexuality that they will develop
• fulfilling the legal obligation of the setting to promote good inclusive practice in terms of LGBT diversity as they would do with any form of diversity from the main makeup of the setting.

Questions about sexuality

There are some very big issues involved when talking about LGBT diversity, and this book is not the place to discuss some of these in great detail. Here we are only looking at LGBT issues where they touch on early years work. We hope to be able to signpost you to further wider reading and research if you want to explore further. In most cases, Stonewall (2014) is the best starting point for any additional reading. Some of the more general questions you might be asking yourself at the end of this book are:

• To what extent do people choose their sexuality and are some people born with their sexual preference irrevocably set? Can this change?
• Why do some people feel that they are born in the wrong body, and what makes them want to change?
• Can we influence children in their sexuality? At what age are children aware of their own sexuality?
• What does being gay mean?

These are all challenging agendas to discuss and think about further. This book is about those people who have defined their sexuality, either workers in the setting or parents who use the setting, and positive images and ethos that show children that families and people of all kinds are respected and considered valid.

We will try and not confuse the issue by looking at gender when it is unconnected with sexuality. This will be difficult, as the two may be entwined either in reality or in the minds of those who are dealing with issues.

Gender

Society can be very binary in its outlook and there is a pervading need to categorise people into male and female. In addition to this, many people hold fixed ideas about what characterises men and women – for example, what physical appearance they should have, what behaviour they should adopt, what jobs they can do, what clothes they should wear.

There are people who do not fit into those categories. Some of them will feel that they want to wholly adopt the behaviours and physical characteristics of the ‘opposite sex’. Some of them will just want to explore some of the behaviours of the ‘opposite sex’. Some of them will be sexually and emotionally attracted to their own sex.

What we are saying is that a boy or a girl who likes to play with toys or wear clothes that society associates with the ‘opposite’ sex will not automatically grow up to be attracted to their own gender or want to take this further and completely change genders. There is more exploration of this in Chapter 2.

We have endeavoured to present as broad a mix of case studies as we can. Some of those are real incidents and some of them will have a kernel of reality in them but be structured to make a specific point. We have anonymised them except when we have permission from the person involved. We hope that by doing this we have found at least one situation that will resonate with the reader. Where we have included sections from Ofsted reports, we haven't named the setting in order to retain confidentiality.

Training

In Chapter 6 we include material to support leaders and managers of settings. We assume that when we are talking about training, practitioners have already thought about the good communication and assertiveness skills they would need in order to deliver this training. These are underpinning attributes that will be needed when training such a sensitive and potentially challenging subject, and we would advise anyone attempting to introduce the activities and discussions that we suggest to a staff team to ensure that they feel confident in dealing with difficult conversations and conflict.

When in doubt, we would advise settings to seek a specialist trainer in LGBT issues. These can be found through Stonewall (2014) or from a Local Authority.

Language and terms

We would encourage you to continue your reading of this book with Chapter 2, as it provides a crucial centre to the book in terms of defining concepts and ideas. Chapter 2 also provides a useful glossary to some of the terms we use in the book that describe LGBT diversity so that you have a clear understanding of their meaning. In connection with this we would advise any setting to think about the language that they use in terms of LGBT diversity and use appropriate resources and organisations (like Stonewall) in order to keep up to date with terms used. This is no different from other areas of diversity, for example, special needs. The terms used to refer to children with special needs have changed over the years and certain words or expressions that were acceptable 20 years ago have now been rethought and are not appropriate today. This is usually because people with special needs have been involved in defining terms and have been consulted. This is the same case with LGBT and the collection of language and terms that are used when referring to this aspect of diversity.

There are many disparaging terms that are used around LGBT diversity; again, this is no different to special needs or cultural difference. Stonewall provide some interesting resources and ideas on how to tackle and think about the use of the word ‘gay’ in the playground or staffroom as a negative expression. This would be an interesting and challenging way to start some discussion in a staff meeting around the use and misuse of language and terms. We have chosen to use ‘LGBT’ in this book to express a willingness to think about a wide definition of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans community while at the same time root it within the realms of practitioners’ experience in early years settings. We have tried to ensure that the case studies and examples that we use in this book reflect the breadth of diversity there is when talking about LGBT issues.

Chapter breakdown

Apart from Chapters 1 and 2, this may not be a book that you read from start to finish in order. We have arranged it in an order that makes sense to us, but it may be that you choose the chapter that has most relevance to your setting at this time. For this reason we include here a short summary of each chapter.

Chapter 2 – What's it all about?

This chapter gives an outline of some of the underpinning concepts and theory that the book will cover. It examines pivotal questions such as: What is a child? What does it mean to be LGBT? It also looks at the question of identity and aspects of stereotyping and discrimination in terms of LGBT diversity. The section mentioned above on language is also included here.

Chapter 3 – The legal background

This chapter looks in detail at the pieces of legislation that specifically relate to early years settings in terms of general equality issues and how aspects of LGBT diversity are included within them. It also gives a concise guide to some of the other key pieces of legislation that have affected the LGBT community. The chapter covers legislation that affects children and also the legal obligations of the settings’ employment practices.

Chapter 4 – We are family

This chapter starts with the child as its centre and examines family structures in connection with LGBT diversity. We look at some similar issues in Chapter 6, but here we are very much focused on the child. Because children should be at the centre of practice, and remembering that the Children Act refers to the child's needs as ‘paramount’, we want to reflect this by having this chapter first rather than start with the adults and work down. We look at all the different ways that people can have children in their lives, whether or not they are a biological parent. It also looks at the different types of family groupings with LGBT parents to which a setting might offer childcare and education. It examines good practice in this context and thinks about the implications that supporting LGBT diversity can have on a setting's practice. It is important to note that we try to avoid the use of the phrase ‘LGBT families’ as the children are included in describing a ‘family’ and they may or may not define themselves as LGBT, so this term is not the most accurate way to describe such families.

Chapter 5 – Thinking about practice with children and families

This chapter extends the issues raised in Chapter 4 and looks at a wider context of good practice in supporting diversity and how this can be extended to include families with LGBT parents. This chapter firmly puts LGBT diversity within the context of good equalities practice that should be a key element of every outstanding setting. In this book we include pointers towards good practice in every chapter. This chapter really focuses on giving some key ideas for settings to include LGBT diversity in their work with children and families.

Chapter 6 – LGBT diversity within a staff team

This chapter looks at LGBT diversity in terms of staff and the setting's obligations in supporting members of staff who define as LGBT. Beyond that, it looks at providing a generally inclusive and supportive environment so that those staff members who choose not to share their LGBT identity would still feel valued and safe. This chapter includes some ideas that would shape staff training and discussions in staff meetings. This chapter should be read in conjunction with Chapter 3, on legal issues, as there are employment rights that impact upon a setting's practice with staff who define as LGBT.

Chapter 7 – Resources

This chapter looks at the way that current resources in a setting could include items that would support and promote diversity in terms of LGBT equality as well as seeing the practitioners and their commitment to good equalities practice as the central resource. It also gives ideas and suggestions for specific issues that the setting could consider when thinking about future acquisitions.

Chapter 8 – Conclusion

We summarise the content of the book and make some general statements about the importance of LGBT diversity in the early years. We also look to the future and think about the importance of this work in terms of the young person and adult that the child will become. We also look at the international perspective and the dangers of coming out as LGBT in some countries. Finally we reflect on the way that families where individuals are LGBT can be isolated in the UK.

Last but not least …

Before you start to read this book, there is a key example of an immediate change that early years settings will need to make to their practice. Since 17 July 2013, same sex marriage became legal in the UK. That means that same sex couples no longer have to call the legal recognition of their union ‘civil partnership’, and in being called marriage it can no longer be distinguished as different from that of the marriage of a man and a woman.

Because of this change in law, practitioners can no longer assume that, when a child talks about a marriage that they have had experience of, this is between a man and a woman. Children may have this experience in a range of different ways. Their parents or a family member may have got married, or they may be taken to a wedding by their parents, or they might be a bridesmaid or pageboy. They might have just overheard someone talking about a marriage or seen one on TV. There are many ways that this can come up in the conversations that practitioners have with children. It is well...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Half-Title Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Table of Contents
• Acknowledgements
• 1 Introduction
• 2 What’s it all about?
• 3 The legal background
• 4 We are family
• 5 Thinking about practice with children and families
• 6 LGBT diversity within a staff team
• 7 Resources
• 8 Conclusion
• Appendix 1
• Appendix 2
• Index