It takes a team: a framework for LGBTQ-inclusive leadership and teaching

For decades, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer (LGBTQ) students have participated in research investigating their experiences of bullying, harassment, isolation, and exclusion in school, generating data demonstrating that they experience unsafe school conditions which result in both immediate and long-term consequences for LGBTQ youth. While the research base provides discrete intervention recommendations for specific factors negatively effecting LGBTQ youth in schools, it has not yet identified a comprehensive process for creating a systemic, empowering school culture for LGBTQ students and families. Furthermore, a considerable gap in the research base exists regarding related needs in elementary school settings. In this Participatory Action Research (PAR) study, I collaborated with the Equity Team of one elementary school to investigate our collective journey toward integrating ongoing, age-appropriate, LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum and instruction at their site. My primary purpose was to identify and describe salient factors that contribute to successful integration of LGBTQ- inclusive instruction at the elementary school level. My findings included the professional development process I used to support the Equity Team's emerging leadership practices to increase LGBTQ-inclusive instruction, our work as a team to implement LGBTQ- inclusive instruction with their teaching colleagues at the school, and thirdly, a detailed and expansive description of "LGBTQ-inclusive instruction". Based upon this research, I propose an LGBTQ-inclusive framework that includes a description of the process of professional development facilitation that can be used to support a site Equity team and school staff .