By Rachel Pratt
Equality and acceptance of LGBT teachers in the New Zealand education system is still far from established.
Discrimination can be subtle, such as whispering the word ‘gay’ so that the children can’t hear, but can also be obvious and inappropriate through direct discrimination and exclusion.
Teachers, and particularly leaders, in early childhood education have a responsibility to promote an inclusive environment where LGBT teachers feel welcome and included.
By supporting LGBT teachers and ensuring that the programme includes diversity in the area of sexual orientation, we can help children to remain open to people’s differences in all areas of life and to understand that these differences are to be celebrated in each person’s unique identity.
This article provides perspectives and will help you to toward ensuring inclusive employment practices, a respectful environment, and tips for supporting staff facing discrimination from parents or others.
This information or article is exclusively for our early childhood service members holding a full membership
To keep reading, login with your member's username and password
Here’s how our membership plans work
- Individual Members can view all the individual member-only articles and our library of Research Journals.
- Full Early Childhood Service Members (staff and managers) can view everything including individual member articles, ECE research journals, and management and business (Go to the Join Us page for more details)
- Research Library subscribers have access only to our online library of Research Journals (this includes all past and current journal issues).
If you are not yet a member you are welcome to apply now by going to the JOIN US page.
