Voices of Transgender Children in Early Childhood Education: Reflections on Resistance and Resiliency
About This Book
Who are transgender children? What does it mean to be a transgender
child in schools today? What kinds of realities do trans children grapple
with while growing up? Though there has been a recent shift toward
increased understanding and support for trans youth, their experiences in
the education system can often be fraught with challenges and barriers.
Nonetheless, there have been and will continue to be arenas of hope that
permit and foster a gradual erosion of the often firmly demarcated line
between ‘cisgender’ and ‘transgender.’
This book is a qualitative study of transgender children and internalized body normalization in early childhood education settings, steeped
in critical methodologies including post-structuralism, queer theory, and
feminist approaches. As the struggles and triumphs of trans individuals have reached a watershed moment in the social fabric of the United
States, this text aims to proffer a snapshot into the lives of ten transgender people as they reflect on their earliest memories in the American
educational system. The book marries theory and praxis, submitting to
current and future teachers a text that not only presents authentic narratives about trans children in early childhood education, but also analyzes the forces at work behind gender policing, gender segregation, and
transphobic education policies.
The trans people who participated in our study (our “research partners”) reflect on their schooling from the ages of three through eight
years old. From their narratives, multiple themes arose regarding navigating transphobic social interactions. Most interviewees befriended
peers who held the same gender identity and/or were considered “outcasts.” There were barriers to friendship that stemmed from perceived
gender non-conforming behavior, and these seemed to increase with
age. All were teased and assaulted, and each found different ways to cope
with being bullied (including self-induced isolation, retaliation, building
relationships with allies, and providing beneficial services to peers). When
reflecting on interactions with teachers, the research partners recalled
double the amount of negative interactions than positive ones. Included
in these narratives were discussions of maximum control over the physical body, restrictive curriculum methods, and public humiliation.
The research partners also recalled the effects of gender normative
physical spaces and typically regarded the music classroom, art room,
auditorium, and library as safe and empowering spaces and the gymnasium, cafeteria, bathrooms, and principal’s office as unsafe and disempowering locations. Foucault’s normalization of the body theory was
explored in relationship to the studied population. The findings suggest
that gender performativity, gender segregation, gender normalization/
gender role conformity are of particular concern for transgender children
in early childhood education. The book concludes with suggestions for
creating more inclusive classrooms for diverse students including allowing children to be themselves, abandoning assumptions, eliminating
gender segregation, involving parents, creating a safe environment, and
supporting/protecting transgender children. Ultimately, the book aims
to illuminate the realities and experiences of transgender individuals, in
their own words, and to inspire early childhood teachers to fortify the
rights, address the needs, and encourage the authentic individuality of
the young transgender children in their care.
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