Exploring the secondary school experience of LGBT+ youth: an examination of school culture and school climate as understood by teachers and experienced by LGBT+ students

The purpose of this mixed methods study was to examine teacher and LGBT+ student attitudes around school climate and school culture. Participants were 153 teachers and staff from six UK secondary schools who completed electronic surveys, nine of whom were interviewed, and students who participated in focus groups at each school. Results suggest a disconnect between teacher and student viewpoints regarding both school climate and school culture around LGBT+-related matters. Many teachers seemed unaware of the overt discrimination that many LGBT+ students received from their peers and that these students were mostly unhappy with the lack of curricular integration of LGBT+ topics. Findings suggest most staff are taking a reactive rather than proactive stance to LGBT+-related issues, and their ignorance of student concerns means little is likely to change. These findings reflect a heteronormative and cisgendered culture, where those in charge are not questioning cultural norms and the status quo. The study argues for a re-examination of how teachers and other staff interpret lived LGBT+ student experiences in these and other secondary contexts