Teachers experience a range of situations in the primary school context where students talk about, share ideas and use words and actions that might be described as non-heteronormative in character. This article reports on teachers’ experiences of the ways in which they respond to actions and events they see as non-heteronormative. It identifies six different ways in which teachers conceptualise their pedagogical responses to the situations they encounter: \ud \ud (1) being nonchalant; \ud \ud (2) avoiding a response; \ud \ud (3) being uncertain; \ud \ud (4) maintaining home and school boundaries; \ud \ud (5) protecting students’ well-being, and; \ud \ud (6) embracing non-heteronormative sexualities. \ud \ud Teachers’ responses to these events are important in that their actions may affect how students interpret and understand the world. Primary school teachers will benefit from support in knowing how to respond appropriately when faced with a scenario or situation that is non-heteronormative in character

Texts such as curriculum and policy documents work in complex ways to coordinate teachers’ work and approaches to diverse genders and sexualities. Although it might be assumed that official, mandated curricula determine teachers’ curriculum choices, little is known about the extent of textual influences on how teachers represent genders and sexualities in primary schooling. This institutional ethnographic study investigated how the Australian national curriculum coordinated teachers’ curriculum decisions in one Australian primary school. Drawing on the work of Dorothy E. Smith, we found that teachers and school leaders use multiple institutional texts to guide curriculum choices. Although diverse genders and sexualities are visible in the Australian Curriculum (minimally so), we found curriculum and related policy texts were shaped by an ideological code that conceals diverse sexualities and genders. We argue that dominant hetero-cis-normative practices embedded in chains of texts remain powerful, shaping representations of genders and sexualities in primary schooling.

Sex education and diverse sexualities are controversial topics within the primary school arena. Concepts of childhood innocence have influenced sex education curriculum, policy development and teaching practices within schools. However, research shows that primary school-aged students are aware of and talk about sexualities. The aim of this research is to reveal the pedagogical experiences of primary school teachers in relation to scenarios inclusive of diverse sexualities. Social constructionist theories of pedagogy and phenomenographic methods are used to provide a detailed analysis of the ways in which primary teacher participants conceptualise their encounters with students who introduce concepts of diverse sexualities. This research reveals that primary students ask questions about diverse sexualities, they use homophobic expressions (often as a daily occurrence), they sometimes reveal homosexual feelings to teachers, some have same-sex parents and some are being raised with knowledge of diverse sexualities. Without comprehensive policy and curriculum support, and appropriate professional learning for teachers, teachers are unable to make well-informed pedagogical decisions that promote inclusive education.