Creating and sustaining LGBTQ+ inclusive communities of practice in UK primary schools: an interpretative phenomenological analysis

Educating for LGBTQ+ inclusivity continues to be both challenging and controversial for many teachers and often falls on the shoulders of sexual minority teachers or motivated individuals rather than taking a school wide approach. Deeper understanding is needed of how school communities can better support one another to develop knowledge, practice and resources to sustain LGBTQ+ inclusivity. This article argues that Lave and Wenger's (Situated learning: Legitimate peripheral participation. Cambridge University Press, 1991) concept of the Community of Practice can offer new insights into how teachers can sustain heteronormative disruption over time. An interpretative phenomenological analysis was undertaken through 12 interviews with UK primary teachers who had created LGBTQ+ inclusive CoP over at least two years. Findings from this approach include fostering robust and unified responses to external challenges and an ongoing commitment to adapting the resources and collective knowledge of the CoP are crucial in sustaining the disruption of heteronormativity over time.