Inclusive LGTBI+ school practices: A critical look at the field of research from the Global South

Abstract

This article proposes a critical interrogation of recent research developed for the understanding of the teaching of sexual and gender diversity in Latin American schools. To this end, a review of 16 articles that investigated LGTBI+ inclusion issues in pedagogical practices, school culture and curricular implementation in the school system of the region are presented. As the main findings, two epistemological positions in the construction of knowledge are recognized: a first post-structuralist position linked to queer theorizations in education and a second hybrid or eclectic position linked to the field of critical sociology of education. Both positions show a marked influence on the work of Michael Foucault and Judith Butler to understand the phenomena linked to sexuality and gender in the educational context. Similarly, a series of discursive barriers were identified that condition and frame the development of LGTBI+ inclusion in schools, such as curricular silences, teachers' perceptions of parental surveillance and incipient educational policies inclusive of sexual diversity.