Teachers support gender-neutral school uniforms

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

In its Affirming diversity of sexualities and gender identities in the school community guidelines, the PPTA said strictly gendered uniforms reinforced stereotypes of ‘‘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 skirts and dresses were increasingly being crossed off the uniform list for girls. 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 also suggests 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.