How do rainbow children experience school?
Are children and young people with LGBT parents more likely to experience discrimination in primary school and high school then children and young people with heterosexual parents? Are they excluded, made invisible or harassed more often because of their families? Are children and young people with LGBT parents seen as different by their classmates or teachers? Do children and young people with LGBT parents get to understand through teaching that their families are seen as different?
In this European qualitative study,
researchers address children and young people in rainbowfamilies. We are
interested in children’s’ and young people’s own experiences and how they
experience school. We would like to pay attention to a heteronormative outlook
on the family that is often found in the classroom. We also want to make
visible if rainbowchildren are exposed to homophobia and discrimination. In
this study, children and young people shall get to talk about how they handle
their possible vulnerability and what kind of support is available for them.
We are also going to interview rainbowparents
about how they see their children’s situation in school. We would like to
understand parents’ expectations or anxieties, and their experiences as parents
in school.
The aim is to get better knowledge about rainbowchildren’s life in school and to make visible their experiences. By using open questions, we hope to reach a broad spectrum of experiences both children and young people, and parents.
Based on the research results and together with
other experts in the field, we will also develop material for teachers and
socialpedagogues as a tool to counteract discrimination and the being made
invisible of rainbowchildren in the classroom. The material will be founded on
how the children and young people themselves deal with being treated
differently and which recourses they have at their disposal in their everyday
lives.
We are looking for children and young people
from rainbowfamilies who would like to be interviewed about their experiences
in school. We are also looking for parents you are interested in participating
in the study.
We are looking forward to your e-mail, letter
or phone call!