Overview:

As an educator it is important that teachers are always exploring new methods of practice and

teaching styles. This research article will examine the educational issue in the article “Ladylike/butch,

sporty/dapper: exploring ‘gender climate’ with Australian LGBTQ students using stage–environment

fit theory” by Jacqueline Ullman and how it can affect the learning environment for school students.

It will also focus on how the issue addressed is relevant towards an educator and their chosen Key

Learning Area (KLA) and how the issue can be resolved. The research methods and finding will be

examined in this research article as a means of evidence to see whether the author’s

recommendations of practice are correct. A lesson activity in the chosen Key Learning area will also

be used and examined as a way to address the issue and in turn help the students become more

comfortable in the school environment.

Introduction:

The educational issue addressed in the article is gender climate, in particular how lesbian, gay,

bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning (LGBTQ) and genderqueer (GQ) and how they fit into the

schooling environment. Gender climate is a term used which describes the way in which students are

instructed to behave (Lee 1996). For lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning (LGBTQ)

and genderqueer (GQ) school can be a daunting place as they feel they are different and are more

likely to have experienced verbal abuse and social isolation (Hillier et al. 2010; Mikulsky-Ullman 2007;

Schwartzkoff et al. 2003). The schooling environment plays a vital role in ensuring the safety of

students. (LGBTQ) and (GQ) students essentially have an issue with their safety as their troubles are

constantly overlooked by teachers and do not address their needs accordingly. This is due to the fact

that there has been such a strict discipline over the past years as to how both males and females must

act and carry themselves according to traditional society. The way schools enforce policies both

directly and indirectly further enhance the problems being faced by the students as females are

instructed to wear a skirt and males to wear trousers.

Explain how this issue is relevant both broadly and specifically within your KLA:

The relevance between the article and my KLA, Personal Development, Health and Physical Education

(PDHPE) is evident as it focuses on the importance of inclusivity between students regardless of

gender climate. According to the article by Ullman, the examined students claimed that there were

set requirements based on their gender. For example, the male students had to show their masculinity

during sport whereas the females contribution was provisional. The KLA Development, Health and

Physical education has a high regard for this matter and promotes a healthy lifestyle for all students.

It is designed to give everyone a fair opportunity in the class regardless of gender. All activities are

specifically aimed at the involvement of all students and allowing them to participate in the same

activities. Outcome 4.1 in the PDHPE years 7-10 syllabus focuses on the idea of having a sense of self

and the supporting environment it can create in the classroom (Personal Development, Health and

Physical Education Years 7 - 10, 2017). Ullman’s article discusses the gender bias perspectives set

within schools that creates an environment that hinders inclusivity in regards to certain genders

playing specific sports. The predetermined understanding that certain sports are gender constricted

generates a negative environment for LGBTQ students, thus decreasing their academic motivation to

excel (Ullman, 2014). Outcome 4.3 describes the importance of school safe environments and its

positivity on student learning. This can specifically help LGBTQ students as it aims to improve their

classroom relationships and not allow them to feel left out. The outcome also focuses on how power

can be abused and how the effect of positive relationships can help reduce this exploitation through

the use of inclusivity between genders (Personal Development, Health and Physical Education Years 7

- 10, 2017). This can be done as all activities will be performed by both males and females and will not

be labelled by gender but rather have the whole class involved in the same activity.
Cited Background research:

The reason behind the system of conducting this article, is related to how research has been

conducted in the past in the US, where it focuses on same-sex attraction, transgender and the

importance of the schooling curriculum in creating a positive environment for students. The inclusion

of same-sex attracted education and history in the school curriculum can increase LGBTQ and GQ

students’ participation in school as they can feel a sense of belonging and acceptance (Kosciw et al.

2010, 2013). In addition, gender climate is used in the cited background as it focuses on the different

characters within the school environment and how the school climate can influence and enhance

LGBTQ students learning and involvement in school. The stage-environment fit theory (SEF; Eccles and

Midgley 1989; Eccles et al. 1993) is another additive to the reason of the background research as it

focuses on how LGBTQ student’s positive motivation considerably drops through their adolescent

years due to the gap between student needs and teacher recommendations for learning.

Furthermore, schools that included same-sex-attracted and transgendered people, history and events

experience less victimisation and an increase in academic learning compared to schools which do not

meet these needs (Kosciw et al. 2010, 2013).

Methods:

The article by Ullman conducted the research through the use of both qualitative and quantitative

methods. The research leans more towards qualitative as it focuses on interviews and questionnaires

with the little use of numbers. By using a snowball sampling technique, the researchers recruited the

participants through the word of mouth and were addressed through two organisations by a university

influenced area and the other being a school targeted program (Faugier and Sargeant 1997). Each

interview lasted between 45-90 minutes and consisted of just the author and participant. NVivo was

used in order to contribute to the organisation and examination of the transliterated interviews

(Ullman, 2014).
Findings/Results:

The evidence gathered through the article states that students were forced to wear a school uniform

based on their sex. Particularly in private schools, the female students would have to wear a skirt

rather than have the option that public school students have of trousers or skirts. The students that

participated felt that there was no room for self-expression of the physical body where they were told

how to carry themselves with regards to hair length, colour and style by the school policies. Students

also spoke about physical education and how their gender decided what they were able to play. For

example, one participant claimed that he played football but also enjoyed sowing so when he was off

the football field he was ignored.

Author’s recommendations:

The recommendations focus on the importance of gender climate and how it can be integrated into

modern schooling environments. It focuses on the SEF theory and the idea to recreate a school

environment in order for students to be able to express themselves and experience an educational

social togetherness regardless of gender and sexuality. The implementation of a LGBTQ-inclusive

curriculum is also recommended as it will allow students to feel a sense of social identity and gender

literacy.

Chosen Learning activities/lesson plan:

The learning activities that I have decided to focus on is rugby league. Rugby league is a full contact

sport that is played with 13 participants on the field with the aim of scoring more points than the

opposite team. This lesson plan focusses on the fundamental skills of the sport and how it can be

implemented into a games sense approach. In the first activity students are instructed to pair up as

they will be participating in a 2 versus 2 game. It will be set up on a smaller field (as seen in the

appendix) and the idea of the game is to score in the opposition try line. Both teams will get 2 attempts

each (one for each student) before swapping over roles (attackers become defenders and vice versa).
The second activity involves students to be put into groups of 4 and verse each other with the same

rules except each team gets 3 attempts each. In the third and final activity, students are allowed to

decide how big they would like the football field as a form of encouragement. The teacher selects the

team and encourages the students to create their own rules but respect must be shown throughout

the whole game. Teams can be rotated if the teacher deems necessary to help the students perform

in the activity. This activity aims to encourage the students to use problem solving skills and

acknowledge that they can make their own decisions.

Revisions you would make to your chosen learning activity and justify these using your chosen

article:

First and foremost, I would like to acknowledge that rugby league is a full contact sport which could

be intimidating for LGBTQ students. In saying so, the activities will generally be performed where

students are encouraged to tackle each other and by doing so may affect people physically and

mentally. A simple solution is to replace the “tackle” option with a touch or tag approached system

where the students don’t need to feel pressured into performing the activity without their own

consent. This can promote LGBTQ awareness as every student is different and can feel a sense of

belonging and allow them to express themselves without being judged. Predominantly, rugby league

is perceived as a “male” sport and is unfair to the female students who feel they want to be a part of

the sport. The lesson plan focuses on the sport in general but it can be interpreted differently from

student to student. The teacher must be able to encourage all students to participate equally and

ensure that students feel comfortable in the setting with no judgement and emphasis on who should

be playing what sport with regard to gender type. The outcomes of the SEF theory develop

opportunities for students within the school environment in relation to the subject of PDHPE (Eccles

and Roeser 2009, 404). This is illustrated in the SEF framework which creates a deeper understanding

in expressing gender climate. To help express gender climate, a guest speaker brought forward by the

PDHPE department can creates a relatable discourse for LGBTQ students. An issue that could arise
within this specific lesson plan is that within activity 3 students are able to create their own rules. In

doing so, students may clash in accordance to their preference which some may wish to play tackle

whilst other may want to play tag or touch. As the teacher, I will intervene by splitting the students

into separate groups based solely on their preference rather than their gender. This will promote a

healthy lifestyle amongst students as they are playing the sport that they wish and are not being forced

into playing a game that they are not comfortable with based on their biological sex.

Conclusion:

Through this research article it has become evident that LGBTQ and GQ students face many situations

in the schooling environment. The findings reveal that LGBTQ and GQ students suffer from both

mental and physical abuse because other students see them as being different. With regard to my

KLA, there are many methods that can be taken that can help address these issues at hand. The simple

inclusion of both genders into sports can allow LGBTQ students to gain confidence and sense of

belonging as there is no specific label on who can play what sport. Many recommendations can be put

forward to address these issues and in particular by simply changing the way gender climate is

perceived can help boost the confidence of LGBTQ students and feel comfortable in their own

element.
Appendix:

("NRL BYL LESSON PLAN - NRL Game Development - South East Queensland - SportsTG", 2017)
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