Students, teachers and school leaders are increasingly aware of the ways that gender and sexuality play out at and beyond school. Public discourse around consent education, deepfakes, slut-shaming, consumption of pornography, and homophobic and transphobic violence is at a high volume, with many practitioners, researchers, and commentators divided about how to respond. This is the context in which schools are looking for new strategies to meaningfully educate teachers and students around gender and sexuality.

This symposium will present cutting-edge research into the ways that gender and sexuality matter at school, including how they affect students' belonging, connectedness, academic performance and relationships.

Day one will showcase contemporary research about the challenges around responding to gender and sexuality-driven violence and diversity in Australian schools. Day two will highlight new initiatives to enhance education, inclusion, and diversity related to gender and sexuality in schools.

Across both days, this symposium will offer teachers, students, policymakers, school counsellors and scholars time to talk about research findings, emerging practices, and future collaborative partnerships that can drive forward advocacy and change around gender and sexuality in Australian schools.

Dr Victoria Rawlings
University of Sydney
Senior Lecturer
ARC DECRA Fellow

A two-day ticket is $10 and includes a copy of STIR: Seeing, Talking, Interrogating, Reflecting, a new collection of classroom activities designed to help educators make space for critical conversations about gender and sexuality. Tickets can be purchased through this link.