Parents’ perspectives about the effects of heteronormativity on children’s learning experiences at school

Abstract

This qualitative study presents parents' perspectives about the effects of heteronormativity on the learning experiences of children in Maltese primary schools. Heteronormativity advocates marital and sexual relationships between partners of the opposite sex and regards them as the norm. This belief portrays one sole type of sexual relationship, marriage or partnership and excludes other expressions of sexuality. The children's learning experiences at school refer to how they respond to curricular material. Perspectives by heterosexual and same-sex parents inform the study. Data was collected through six in-depth interviews; three with heterosexual informants and three with same-sex participants, all of whom are either married or in a partnership and have children of primary schooling age attending state schools and independent schools during the time of data collection. The inquiry is based on whether parents think there is heteronormative dominance in curricula and in the topics their children learn at school and seeks to find out parents’ perspectives on whether the Maltese educational system solely promotes portrayals of same-sex couples and families in teaching and captures their views on these issues. Data was analysed through thematic analysis according to Braun and Clarke (2006, 2017). The study employs queer theory as a theoretical framework in order to draw insights on 'queering', and on deconstructing and destabilising heteronormative dominance in education. The findings reveal that according to parents’ perspectives, heteronormativity is still pervasive in Maltese schools, dominating the curriculum and affecting the learning experiences of children through portrayals of a world made up of only a mummy and a daddy figure. They indicated that heteronormative beliefs that permeate educational curricula, restrict their agenda. Children are taught that only a relationship between a man and a woman is acceptable and exists, negatively affecting the learning experiences of children coming from same-sex families and other non-traditional family constructions, or children who are LGBTIQ+ themselves. Parents asserted that for these children, the classroom becomes an alien space in which they or their family do not belong, dismissing their identities and tainting their disposition to learn and excel like their peers. The findings indicate that parents are not resistant to the prospect of teaching topics in the curriculum that transmit conceptualisations and visualisations of LGBTIQ+ persons and same-sex couples and families. The study recommends ways of deconstructing the hegemonising influence of heteronormativity in education and highlights the demand for learning experiences for children that protect social justice, promote new ways of thinking, and celebrate difference.