Challenging fear: teaching LGBTUA+ relationship and sex education (RSE) from a trainee teacher and teacher educator perspective

Background Sex and relationships education (SRE) was revised in 2019 and new relationships and sex education (RSE) guidance was introduced to primary and secondary schools in England. The new guidance provided a statutory obligation for primary schools to teach mandatory relationships education and secondary schools to teach mandatory relationships and sex education. The new guidance specifically included LGBTUA+ content meaning that schools in England were required to include LGBTUA+ inclusive teaching in their relationships and sex education from 2019. This research considered the attitudes of trainee teachers towards the teaching of LGBTUA+ inclusive relationships education in primary schools with a particular focus on ‘fear’. Further it examined the attitudes and ‘fears’ of the LGBTUA+ teacher-educator-researcher. Methods An ethnographic and autoethnographic research design was adopted which allowed for exploration of the attitudes of trainee teachers and the teacher-educator-researcher. An online questionnaire was completed by a single cohort during a Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) course in an Initial Teacher Education (ITE) provider in England. The questionnaire was a short, closed question questionnaire designed to elicit themes which were then through additional data collection tools. Additional data collection tools included body maps, a focus group and a field note diary to provide thick description. Results The findings suggest that trainee teachers and the teacher-educator-researcher shared similar concerns (and in some cases fears) about teaching LGBTUA+ RSE in schools. These concerns linked specifically to parental attitudes, school attitudes, teacher confidence, religion, social media. Conclusions The results suggest that LGBTUA+ RSE still influences negative attitudes and fears in primary schools. To challenge these attitudes greater staff training is required as is a policy shift to include a greater emphasis on LGBTUA+ RSE.