Being good to one another and having things well organised for one another is very important at school. And the good news is that, in this blog, written in collaboration with Gendi, I will tell you what you can do in practical terms. What can you, as a teacher, contribute to creating a positive environment and treating one another well? And how can you ensure that all students at school are included, including LGBTQI+ students?

LGBTQI+ students are bullied more often

LGBTQI+ students feel less safe and generally experience school more negatively than heterosexual students. Research shows that they are bullied nearly twice as often. Bullying often has major consequences, including a feeling of insecurity. Bullying and a lack of safety do not only affect the person being bullied; they also have a negative impact on the atmosphere in the classroom and on everyone’s sense of safety at school. Naturally, as a teacher, your aim is for everyone to feel safe in the classroom and to be allowed and able to be themselves.

Paying attention to LGBTQI+ students

Regardless of all the differences in society and at school, it is important to pay attention to everyone. You may also need to be especially aware of those who are in the minority at school, such as LGBTQI+ students.

Research shows that some students are bullied by school staff (with LGBTQI+ students more often being the victims). Your own actions have a major influence on others and can have both negative and positive consequences. Sometimes this happens unconsciously: you make a joke (which is experienced as unpleasant) or laugh along in the classroom. These examples (unintentionally) establish a certain norm within the group—a norm in which bullying and discrimination are tolerated. It is therefore important to examine your educational practice. But how do you do that? And what should you pay attention to in your own behaviour?

Reflecting on your own actions

You create awareness by regularly reflecting—with yourself, colleagues and students—on your educational practice. Reflecting on yourself is very important, because you bring yourself into every interaction, including your interactions with your students.

Take some time to reflect on your norms and values regarding gender and sexual diversity. The following questions may help you:

  • What assumptions do I have?
  • How do these assumptions influence my actions?
  • What is our school’s vision? And how do I reconcile my own beliefs with the school’s vision?
  • How do I ensure that I can be there for all students? And how do I do that for LGBTQI+ students?
  • How do we treat one another well in the classroom?
  • When do I feel that we are treating one another well?

In addition to self-reflection and reflection with your colleagues, you can also involve your students in the reflection process. Regularly ask them, out of genuine interest, what they do or do not like about the way you interact with them. Or ask students for their views in specific situations.

Read more here about how to support an LGBTQI+ student and how to act in a gender-aware way.

Respect can be learned

School is like a miniature society; it is a place where students can practise: you can learn how to live together. The classroom is a perfect place to start a conversation about this and practise treating one another respectfully, with an eye for diversity because everyone is different.

The conversation cards about gender and sexual diversity can help you have an accessible conversation about these topics in the classroom. The cards can be downloaded free of charge.

After reflecting on your own actions, you can talk to your students about respect and bullying—and especially about how you can treat one another well.

Safety within the group is the precondition for having a conversation in the classroom, where it should be possible to disagree and engage in challenging discussions. You can read about creating a safe atmosphere for discussing gender and sexual diversity in the article: Tips for a safe classroom conversation.

Treating one another well also means working on a positive school climate

A positive school climate helps LGBTQI+ students feel safer. So make sure that your school’s safety policy is also ‘well organised’. It is important for the school to establish and promote a positive standard. For example: ‘We have a school culture in which every student is allowed to be themselves, students treat one another with respect, and bullying is not tolerated.’ Naturally, you do not create such a culture in a single day. It requires continuous attention to both bullying and gender and sexual diversity—not only in the classroom, but especially with the team and in school policy.

Tip! With your colleagues, review how the policy concerning bullying and LGBTQI+ issues is organised.

What agreements about behaviour and preventive measures are currently in place to prevent undesirable behaviour and promote safety for LGBTQI+ students? Do they still correspond to how students feel? To answer that question, the school can investigate what is going on among students through monitoring.

On Gendi.nl, you can find team tools to discuss these topics together. For example, play the Gedragen Gedrag game, complete the Kijkroute together, or discuss the subject using the poster ‘Where do you start?’.

Take part in Anti-Bullying Week

A good start to working towards a socially safe school is to take part in the annual Anti-Bullying Week from 25 to 29 September 2023. The week is an initiative of Stichting School & Veiligheid and helps schools promote a positive school climate and tackle and prevent bullying. Being visible to your students and using the school as a place to practise treating one another well is a wonderful starting point for creating a positive experience for your students.