School uniforms by gender a relic – PPTA

The nationwide push for genderneutral uniforms has been given a big boost, with secondary teachers’ union the PPTA calling for students to have a choice over what they wear.

In its new ‘‘Affirming diversity of sexualities and gender identities in the school community’’ guidelines, the PPTA said strictly gendered uniforms reinforced gender stereotypes and perpetuated norms of a gender binary: ‘‘a society in which girls ought to be feminine and that boys ought to be masculine’’.

‘‘From a practical stance, some girls find skirts and dresses to be restrictive, limiting the types of activities they do before school, during break times and after school. From bike riding to sporting activities, feminised uniform options often disadvantage girls,’’ the PPTA said.

‘‘Allowing all students to choose from a range of shorts, trousers, skirts of different lengths and styles, with both tailored and non-tailored interchangeable shirts, would be progressive in valuing diversity of gender expression.’’

In a 2015 update of its sexuality education guide, the Ministry of Education said school uniforms could reinforce gender norms, so schools may consider offering gender-neutral clothing choices when uniforms were reviewed.

A survey in February of more than 220 schools showed increasingly schools were crossing skirts and dresses off the uniform list for girls. Instead shorts or ’’skorts’’ and culottes are making an appearance.

The survey found more than 70 per cent of schools have a uniform. Of them, 77 per cent let girls wear shorts and 36 per cent said boys could wear skirts, but most commented boys had never asked for that option.

One school which has done away with boys and girls uniforms is Dunedin North Intermediate, where students have five options which they can choose from regardless of gender. The options are trousers, skirts, kilts, culottes and shorts.

In March, principal Heidi Hayward said the change came after incoming female students in late 2015 asked why they would have to wear the traditional skirt.

Hayward realised she couldn’t think of a good reason. ’’This was a good example of where we [were] out of step with society’s norms, so we said ‘fair enough’ and changed it,’’ Hayward said.

The change happened gradually. At the start of 2016 girls could wear the boys trousers, but this resulted in further problems.

‘‘They were quite often asked, you know, ‘are you a boy or a girl?’. So we added another option of culottes, then at the end of the year we just took away the labels, so there is no longer a boys’ uniform or girls’ uniform, they can just wear whatever they are comfortable in.’’

The PPTA is also suggesting individual toilets and showers are a way to keep students, including those who are gender-diverse, safe from bullying and provide desirable levels of privacy.

A campaign to establish gender- neutral facilities had been receiving a great deal of attention, the guidelines said.

Gender-diverse students had highlighted the prevalence of bullying and perceived threat of physical harm when using shared gender-specific facilities.

Changing rooms and toilets were an area where direct supervision by school staff was challenging. They must be designed in a way to provide implicit safety and security for all users, the guidelines said.

Providing options for students to change and shower in privacy would help alleviate the potential for personal safety concerns. Schools were encouraged to create environments in which the safety and dignity of gender diverse staff and students count be maintained, in a way that maximised opportunities for personal privacy.

‘‘Individual toilet and shower units with lockable doors and floor to ceiling divisions provide safe spaces,’’ the guidelines said.

The PPTA raised concerns about the status quo under which students often had to ask permission to be able to use safe alternatives to shared genderassigned facilities.

At times those facilities were labelled with a disabled sign, were inconvenient to access, located in highly visible areas of the school and sometimes shared with staff.

’’The requirement for students to ask permission, risk ‘coming out’ unnecessarily and/or be reprimanded by uninformed staff for being in staff-only areas in order to perform some of the most basic of life’s functions is problematic,’’ the PPTA said.

In 2016 it was reported an Auckland primary school had installed a unisex toilet to help a 6-year-old transgender pupil feel safe and accepted. It was installed with the help of the Ministry of Education after the child’s transition from boy to girl.

In Wellington, Wellington High School and Onslow College have provided some gender-neutral bathrooms for students who feel uncomfortable using male or female facilities.

In the 2015 update of its sexuality education guide, the Ministry of Education said toilets could be unsafe environments for students who did not conform to gender norms. Schools may consider reviewing options around toilet facilities to ensure students had choices of safe spaces, the guide said.