Discussing sexual identities with pre-service primary school English-language teachers from a Spanish context

Abstract

This article is based on a discussion with seven voluntary Spanish pre-service primary school English-language teachers on queer issues. The focus group followed a questionnaire on their knowledge and understanding of sexual identity issues in education. The facilitated discussion enabled the participants to be better prepared on the subject. At first, the researchers guided the discussion based on the main results from the questionnaire and then worked as facilitators for the focus group, prompting critical thinking. Through pedagogical suggestions, the participants discussed possible applications of queer theory in primary education in order to counter homophobia and heterosexism. The results of the discussion highlight the absence of queer issues in English-language teaching in primary education in Spain and the need for teacher training programmes, as requested by the participants. In this article, sexual identities are related to lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, intersexual (LGBTI) as well as heterosexual people. It is the first study realised in Spain to use group discussion on these topics.