Belong To Primary: New Foundations for LGBTQ+ Inclusivity in Primary Schools

This research is funded by an Irish Research Council ‘New Foundations: Engaging Civil Society’ grant, enabling a research partnership between the School of Education, University of Limerick and Belong To – LGBTQ+ Youth Ireland. This research project encompassed two strands: a survey with 1031 primary school staff, and 23 qualitative interviews with the parents of primary school-aged children who identify as LGBTQ+, and parents who themselves identify as LGBTQ+ and have children in primary school. Taken together, these two strands provide a rich and comprehensive overview of what LGBTQ+ inclusion looks like today in Irish primary schools - relating to the experiences of both primary staff and LGBTQ+ families within primary school communities.

The full report contains the findings from both of the above strands. Our key findings report details some of the headline findings from the survey conducted with primary staff.

To clearly situate the research findings within an educational policy context, the reports are arranged in accordance with the four key areas of wellbeing promotion: Relationships and Partnerships; Culture and Environment; Curriculum (Teaching and Learning); and Policy and Planning.