Inclusion of students with different sexual orientation and gender identity in the Greek school

Abstract

The present article focuses on the perceptions and attitudes of Greek primary school teachers about inclusion and social diversity regarding students with different sexual orientation and gender identity. The study presents the concepts of sexuality, social identities, inclusion, and sex education in school and examines Greek teachers’ knowledge about sexuality, eventual homophobic/transphobic perceptions, how they perceive their role within the school community in terms of inclusion and empowerment of LGBTQI+ identities, as well as their views on sex education and education policy regarding inclusion. The research involved primary school teachers and the semi-structured interviews were chosen as the most appropriate qualitative methodological tool. Teachers do not seem to be familiar with LGBTQI+ identities, they rather confuse adult with child sexuality and do not usually avoid stereotypes and prejudices which results in their difficulty to empower students with such identities. The inclusive education cannot be achieved easily since sex education is not part of the Greek school curriculum and teachers are reluctant to take responsibility towards this direction.