Do secondary school teachers understand the needs of LGBT students, and do they feel equipped to support these needs?

Nitsche, Chris and Jackson, Carolyn (2025) Do secondary school teachers understand the needs of LGBT students, and do they feel equipped to support these needs? PhD thesis, Lancaster University.

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Abstract

This thesis explores whether teachers at a secondary school in the UK feel equipped enough to support LGBT students. I argue that more needs to be done to support teachers and schools to improve the school experience for LGBT students and to disrupt the heteronormative environment that currently exists in education and the wider society. The thesis contributes to ongoing research surrounding school experiences for LGBT students and teacher attitudes on their opinions of LGBT experiences in school. The thesis highlights the lack of support that teachers receive when asked to support LGBT students and makes suggestions on how to create a post-heteronormative school environment, based on a greater appreciation of inclusivity. Heteronormativity is used as a lens to review responses I received from 12 participants of semi-structured interviews. The interviews were conducted at a secondary school in the UK, with the participants either being fully trained teachers, trainee teachers, or senior administrators at the school. I argue that the respondents had a lack of understanding of how to best support LGBT students and that the school did not provide suitable opportunities to disrupt the heteronormative environment that exists. The participants were eager to incite change in the school and requested additional support in being able to better support LGBT students. The findings from the research are useful in recognizing how more needs to be done to disrupt the heteronormative environment surrounding education and the wider community. This research has made impactful contributions to the fields of education that emphasizes the imperative need for enhancements to foster more inclusive and supportive environments for LGBT students within educational institutions.