Matthew Cooke, 17299158 Applying Gender Climate Research 1

The Appraisal and Application of Gender Climate Research to an English KLA Lesson Plan

Evidence-based professional practice is “not just a passing fad, but rather a

fundamental advance” to informing professional decision making in various occupations on

the basis of research finding (Ullman, 2015, p. 3). Increasingly, professional educational

practice is being informed by educational research, meaning educators need to study and

engage with such research in order to have any influence over how and what they teach

(Ullman, 2015). It is therefore important that teachers and pre-service teachers understand

how to critically engage with research and implement the research findings where applicable

(Ullman, 2015). Of particular importance to improving school practices are areas of hidden

marginalisation and disadvantage, of which gender and sexual diversity is one such example

(Shannon & Smith, 2017). The present paper will critically analyse Ullman’s (2014) article

concerning gender expression within schools and apply the article’s findings to revise a

lesson involving comparing poetry and Australian identity (Jones, 2014, see Appendix).

Context surrounding gender climate

Many LGBTQ young people in Australia face physical and verbal homophobic abuse,

with instances most likely to occur at school, and such abuse associated with drug use, self-

harm, and suicide (Hillier et al., 2010). Moreover, homophobia in schools have been

associated with lack of concentration, missing and dropping classes, and missing and

changing schools or dropping out of school altogether (Hillier et al., 2010). These negative

behaviours and poor academic outcomes have been linked to homophobic school climates

(Birkett, Espelage & Keonig, 2009), but curriculum content and school policies on diversity

“remain dictated by patently neoliberal and heteronormative hegemony” (Shannon & Smith,

2017). According to Hillier et al. (2010), some of the main schooling needs LGBT young

people want are simple recognition and awareness of same sex attraction and gender diversity
Matthew Cooke, 17299158 Applying Gender Climate Research 2

and for the school to address homophobia when it occurs—in short, LGBT young people

wanted the freedom to express their identities. However, of the discussion of LGBTQ

diversity that is present in schools, much of it is relegated to fact-based sex-education that

provides little space for subjectivities and expression (Shannon & Smith, 2017). Therefore,

the English key learning area (KLA) could provide a good space for exploration of the

personal and subjective lives and relationships of LGBTQ people, to make school

environments more-friendly and combat homophobic sentiments that pervade the school

environment (Clark & Blackburn, 2009).

Critical examination of the article

The issue of policing gender expression is explored in Ullman’s (2014) article

“Ladylike/butch, sporty/dapper: exploring ‘gender climate’ with Australian LGBTQ students

using stage–environment fit theory.” Here, Ullman (2014) outlines the heteronormative

attitudes and curriculum inadequacies that perform and preserve heteronormative hegemonic

attitudes to create an unwelcoming “gender climate,” which is described as “the sum total of

school ethos around gender expression” (p. 431). The inability for LGBT students to express

their gender is given “cross-disciplinary focus” (sociology and psychology) when applied to

the psychological developmental stage-environment fit (SEF) theory, whereby the schooling

environment does not meet or address the developmental needs of adolescent LGBT students

(Ullman, 2014, p. 431). Utilising this framework, Ullman (2014) conducts a qualitative case

study concerning five LGBT young people and utilises interview transcripts to link

developmental needs across three areas of the gender climate—organisational (school rules

and boundaries), instruction (curriculum and teaching focus), and interpersonal (implicit

social regulation).
Matthew Cooke, 17299158 Applying Gender Climate Research 3

The five participants from Sydney’s western suburbs involved in the study were

selected via snowball sampling “in which cases are recommended by individuals who know

other individuals” and is a credible means of obtaining “relevant, information-rich data”

(Ullman, 2015, p. 160). Moreover, the small sample contains a variety of genders, sexualities,

and schooling environments that match those LGBTQ students and schools discussed in the

review of the literature, and the relevancy of the of the sample was further justified by the

diversity and prevalence of homophobia in the western suburbs where the participants lived

(Ullman, 2014). This detailed summative description of the participants reflects “the

researcher’s concern for providing contextual completeness” to the study (Ullman, 2015, p.

169). Furthermore, the article uses the qualitative data analysis program Nvivo, “described as

being good for managing complex, unstructured, or multimedia information” such as

transcripts (Ullman, 2015, p. 163), to organise and analyse the transcribed interviews

(Ullman, 2014). Nvivo was first used as a coding check by comparing the agreement between

the descriptor coding of the researcher against the researcher’s assistant (Ullman, 2014),

indicative of the analytical rigor employed in the research to “demonstrate the credibility and

trustworthiness of [its] findings and methods” (Ullman, 2015, 167). Nvivo was then used for

the purpose of interpretational analysis, applying the descriptor codes to the components of

SEF theory (Ullman, 2014), “in order to identify constructs, themes, and patterns that make

sense of the data” (Ullman, 2015, p. 162). Finally, the article utilises quotes from the

interview transcripts and employs them within the broader theoretical framework of SEF

theory and gender climate (Ullman, 2014).

The Ullman (2014) article provides various findings and recommendations on the

basis of its research and framework. Given the role teachers play in enforcement of rules, and

their choice and delivery of curriculum content, teachers themselves are “implicated in the

co-construction and maintenance of their school’s gender climate” (Ullman, 2014, p. 441).
Matthew Cooke, 17299158 Applying Gender Climate Research 4

Interpersonal and organisational recommendations included addressing discriminatory

language and restrictive gendered uniforms, and revising school policies and mission

statements to be more inclusive and address discrimination. Of particular relevance here are

the recommendations concerning class instruction, for which Ullman (2014) argues for the

presence of content that includes same-sex attraction, which has applicability to various key

learning areas, and the study of the social nature of gender more generally to increase gender

literacy and encourage a more critical understanding of the biases and assumptions

surrounding gender. Moreover, the inclusion of sexuality and gender diversity in curriculum

content, in addition to acceptance and protection of LGBTQ students, improve such students’

view of teacher care and the school climate in general, which is likely to improve student

wellbeing and increase focus and participation at school (Ullman, 2014). Taken together, the

article by Ullman (2014) contains a logical, rigorously conducted, and critically engaged

argument for the fostering of a positive gender climate, and the benefits therein for improving

LGBTQ students’ wellbeing and academic achievement.

Application to a lesson plan

The findings of the article by Ullman (2014) can be applied to the English KLA

lesson plan, “Paterson Vs Lawson – A Classical Literature Study Booklet on Australian

Identity for Years 8/9/10” poetry comparison found on the Australian Curriculum Lessons

website (Jones, 2014, see Appendix), with focus on application for a year 9 class. The lesson

plan suggests choosing a sample of ballads from Henry Lawson and Andrew Barton ‘Banjo’

Paterson and comparing them against each other to learn about the ballad structure and “gain

insight into the cultural and social context of the time” (Jones, 2014, para. 1). The plan

includes an outline of the various links to curriculum descriptors, indicating its educational

value, and contains a guide for teachers that briefly outlines some of the poetic works from

the two poets (Jones, 2014, see Appendix).

Matthew Cooke, 17299158 Applying Gender Climate Research 5

Upon reflection of Ullman’s (2014) notion of school gender climate and the

importance of gender expression to LGBTQ students, modifications to the texts used in the

lesson plan could be made to make the lesson plan more inclusive and relevant to LGBTQ

youth. Many of the recommendations concern teaching and school environments in general,

such as changes in policy and the need for teachers to respond to bullying (Ullman, 2014), are

important but have little application to modifying lesson activities. However, the operational

findings that cover the lack of LGBTQ content and curriculum engagement in Australian

schools do have relevancy here (Ullman, 2014). Moreover, given the gendered perception of

arts and humanities (Ullman, 2014), of which English would apply, the English KLA would

be a good place to address issues of sexual and gender diversity. Although the Australian

ballet lesson plan does indeed have value for exploring Australian identity, the lives and

identities of LGBT people are rarely explored and largely hidden in the school environment

(Ullman, 2014; Shannon & Smith, 2017).

While it is recognised that it is not the intent of this lesson to address LGBT identity,

this is characteristic of much of the curriculum that implicit engages in silences on topics

related to LGBT identity and diversity (Ullman, 2014). In fact, this author could not find any

content on the Australian Curriculum Lessons website when searching key terms

(“sexuality,” “gender,” “gay,” “lesbian,” and “LGBT”), further indication of the lack of

LGBTQ content available. Such curriculum silences are problematic as they are contributors

to the poor gender climate in Australian schools that see LGBT students to be marginalised,

and “experience a decreased sense of belonging and identification with the school culture”

(Ullman, 2014, p. 431). The replacement of Australian ballads mentioned in the lesson plan

with LGBT poetry would also address the educational needs mention of LGBT young people

in terms of recognition and discussion of their own identities (Hillier et al., 2010). It would
Matthew Cooke, 17299158 Applying Gender Climate Research 6

therefore be valuable to examine Australia poetry as it concerns gay and lesbian authors, to

give a perspective not usually seen in schools.

A suggestion for the poetry incorporated into the lesson could come from ‘Out of the

Box: Contemporary Australian Gay and Lesbian Poets,’ noted as being “the first anthology

specifically of both gay and lesbian Australian poetry” (Vickery, 2012, p. 258), and therefore

a particularly diverse and inclusive source for poetry. Rather than ballads providing an

historical context from which Australian identity can be characterised (Jones, 2014, see

Appendix), differing contemporary articulations of hidden identities related to sexuality can

be selected and insights into discrimination, belonging and, performative gender roles and

their social construction can be made (Vickery, 2012). The nature of this kind of investigation

would not only provide a space for LGBQ identities in the curriculum, but would also align

with Ullman’s (2014) recommendations to include theories of social learning and social

construction “to help young people articulate the ways in which gender assumptions and

biases impact on students’ social and academic behaviours and associated identity

development” (p. 441).

The implementation of such material and discussion would serve to increase students

gender-literacy, and would improve the well-being and development of identity so important

for LGBTQ students (Ullman, 2014; Hillier et al., 2010). However, regardless of the text

chose, care needs to be taken to consider how the text is positioned in the lesson to ensure

that the text fosters inclusivity, reflexivity and personal connection rather than contribute to

or exacerbate existing homophobic beliefs and practices (Blackburn & Buckley, 2005).

Therefore, in order to position the texts employed in this lesson in the most effect way,

Ullman’s (2014) other non-operational recommendations surrounding policing homophobia

and more inclusive policy would also contribute to the efficacy of the lesson as a whole.
Matthew Cooke, 17299158 Applying Gender Climate Research 7

Conclusion

So as you can see, engagement in professional evidence-based practice grounded in

sound research is becoming increasing important to allow teachers to influence educational

practices and inform their own understanding of improving the school environment (Ullman,

2015). More specifically, the revision of the School Curriculum Lessons activity (see

Appendix) with the recommendations of Ullman (2014) demonstrated that these evidence-

based educational practices could play a significant role in providing space and critical

investigation into the largely silenced area gender and sexual diversity. In turn, provision of

this space sends the message of recognition and value of LGBTQ students and identities,

which could go a long way to improving the state of the gender climate and in turn the

wellbeing and academic performance of LBGTQ students (Ullman, 2014; Shannon & Smith,

2017). Therefore, engagement in educational research can be seen to have an important place

in improving school practices and the futures of the students themselves.

Matthew Cooke, 17299158 Applying Gender Climate Research 8

References

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Schools: The Moderating Effects of Homophobic Bullying and School Climate on

Negative Outcomes. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 38(7), 989.

doi:10.1007/s10964-008-9389-1

Blackburn, M. V. and Buckley, J. (2005), Teaching Queer-Inclusive English Language Arts.

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Matthew Cooke, 17299158 Applying Gender Climate Research 9

Ullman, J. (2014). Ladylike/butch, sporty/dapper: Exploring ‘gender climate’ with Australian

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Vickery, A. (2012). Anthologies and the anti-republic of Australian gay and lesbian poetry.

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Matthew Cooke, 17299158 Applying Gender Climate Research 10

Appendix