Gender, Sexuality and Social Sustainability in UK Schools: The Role of Language

This article explores the relationship between language, gender, sexuality and social sustainability in UK schools. Social sustainability in education focuses around enabling every individual to develop the knowledge, skills and values necessary for shaping a sustainable future (UNESCO, 2016). Key principles in socially sustainable education include equity, collaboration and participatory parity between individuals and groups. The recognition and participatory parity dimensions of social sustainability have particular relevance to issues around gender and sexuality equality and diversity. It is well-documented that, despite progressive legal changes in the UK, gender and sexual minorities (GSM) continue to experience disadvantage, social exclusion and marginalization in schools. But there has so far only been a relatively small body of research which has examined the role played by language in processes of school exclusion and marginalization for GSM students. This article explores some of the ways in which language is central to achieving or preventing recognition and participatory parity in relation to gender and sexuality in UK schools. I examine how language is more often experienced by students and teachers as an obstacle to, rather than a facilitator of, social sustainability. I consider linguistic interventions that could be useful for breaking down some of the existing barriers to gender- and sexuality-related social sustainability in school