How do 2SLGBTQ children and children from 2SLGBTQ families envision educational spaces that meet their needs?

I’m a queer and trans PhD candidate co-researching with my non-binary ten year old. 

We want to know:

1. How do 2SLGBTQ children, and children from 2SLGBTQ families, envision education spaces (preschools, drop-ins or elementary schools) that meet their needs? 

2. How might 2SLGBTQ caregivers (parents and others) and the caregivers of gender independent children envision education spaces (preschools, drop-ins or elementary schools) for young children that meet their needs? 

3. How might staff of these spaces envision culturally queer and culturally trans programming? 

4. What would happen if I engage caregivers, staff and children in co-imagining educational spaces as 2SLGBTQ cultural spaces? 

We’re drawing with children 3-12 and their families and caregivers as a way to learn more about what 2SLGBTQ children, and children from 2SLGBTQ families, and their adults imagine queer and trans possibilities in school. 

We’re deliberately wanting to talk about possibilities and how children and families imagine the best possible situations for them. Most of the existing research is about homophobia, transphobia and gender policing in schools. While it’s important these things be documented we want to hear more from children and adults about what people actually want, and what schools/drop-ins-day cares could be like if they were built or designed with the needs of 2SLGBTQ+ people in mind. We want to explore our creative solutions, and think together about what we actually want.

I’m not looking to debate if these topics belong in primary school spaces, but coming from the belief that they absolutely do, and want to share ways children and their adult caregivers imagine that best happening.

Overtime, we hope to be able to share participants artwork and a whole variety of creative possibilities for making schools, drop-ins and daycares places that are safe, celebratory and welcoming of us and our families.

We will also look for other ways to share our results, and the brilliance of our participants. 

 If you are interested in participating, or want to know more about the project, e-mail me at jwallace.skelton@mail.utoronto.ca