A pedagogy of coming out : a comparison of experiences concerning gender, sex, & sexuality in Maltese schools

Abstract

Almost a decade after Malta recognised numerous LGBTIQ+ rights, this research looks into the impact these, and other policy reforms, have had on local schools. The research is divided into two stages. The first stage documents the experiences of LGBTIQ+ students who recently finished school and also of LGBTIQ+ teachers to establish several themes that emerged from their experiences. These are presented in this document here but also through a 35-minute documentary which was also produced as part of this research. In preparation for the second stage, it uses their experiences and various literature to design what is here called a Pedagogy of Coming Out. This is meant to address the often-found invisibility of LGBTIQ+ lives in local schools. In the second stage, the Pedagogy of Coming Out document and the 35-minute documentary were both presented to several School Management Teams (SMTs). This was done to gain insight into the push and pull factors which may impact the introduction of such a pedagogy in schools. The participants chosen for this research have been selected according to an adaptation of Foucault’s Repressive Hypothesis which is elaborated on in the Literature chapter. Once the participants were identified through this hypothesis, a process of purposive recruiting was initiated for the first stage. In total 10 LGBTIQ+ participants have talked about their own experiences in this research. These are throughout the results, identified by keywords such as their profession, or the type of school they attended or currently work in. The video documentary produced in the first stage also adopted this same approach. Then, another 5 SMT members from various schools were then recruited in the second stage. These too are presented according to various categories in the Data chapters. The data gathered in this research has shown that while the inclusion of LGBTIQ+ topics is nowadays more present in schools, it is often presented through a minimal and superficial glimpse which is contained within specific spaces such as the PSCD or guidance room. Moreover, episodes of queerphobic bullying are still present in local schools. This research tries to show how such episodes are further likely to take place if schools retain a reactive pedagogic strategy to the subject and then presents the Pedagogy of Coming out as a more proactive, alternate solution. Overall, there has been great improvement in the legislative and knowledge aspects of the LGBTIQ+ community. However, this research shows how education can do much more to help society embrace these laws as part of its daily practices.