Exploring gender identity and gender norms in primary schools: the perspectives of educators and parents of transgender and gender variant children

What is this Report About? Funded by the Irish Research Council, this study is the result of a collaborative partnership between the School of Education at the University of Limerick and the Transgender Equality Network Ireland (TENI), a national non-government advocacy organisation that seeks to improve conditions and advance the rights and equality of transgender people and their families. This was an exploratory, in-depth qualitative study conducted between May and October 2017 with (a) the parents of eleven transgender and gender variant children (b) seven educators who have accessed the support services of TENI. This is the first study of this kind in Ireland. It provides new insight into how transgender children and their families are experiencing and negotiating everyday life in primary schools. It also provides new insight into how primary school educators are supporting transgender children and their families. Drawing from these data, this report raises pertinent questions about how gender is constructed and lived in primary schools.