ABSTRACT
The previous chapter introduced and discussed critical social psychology and the Theory of Ecological Development as a potential framework to highlight the different contexts LGBTQ+ parents develop within. This fourth chapter continues examining this theoretical framework to explore different aspects of LGBTQ+ parents and their school environments. It opens with LGBTQ+ parent reflections on school environments as contexts of individual and family uncertainty, nested within broader socio-cultural contexts of uncertainty. The chapter highlights the research questions and emancipatory methodology developed for the Australian study reported on in the book, which utilised a mixed-method approach adopting qualitative and quantitative measurements in a non-experimental cross-sectional web-based survey. This chapter outlines findings related to individual characteristics (participant demographics) and LGBTQ+ related supports in Australian school microsystems, foregrounding 73 LGBTQ+ parents’ views on their own positioning and contexts. The study found parents were highly educated with high incomes typical of previous research, and parents had children enrolled in all types of school levels and areas. Parents had children in school contexts that often failed to include LGBTQ+ inclusive policies, procedures, and practices. The chapter concludes with a summary of the results before pointing to the next chapter’s themes.
