Purpose: Increased awareness and acceptance of transgender people in the United States is reflected in our nation’s schools. Unfortunately, educational leaders do not typically receive training related to transgender youth and educators express fear about working with transgender students. The purpose of this study is to examine the experiences of school leaders whom parents characterize as supporting their transgender children. Method: Qualitative interviews were conducted with supportive principals from 20 elementary schools across six states. Findings: The findings indicate that supportive principals (a) employed a child-centered approach to decision making, (b) leveraged learning and knowledge to create a positive elementary school experience for transgender children, and (c) characterized their experience as professionally and personally beneficial. Implications: These findings indicate that, in the context of a supportive principal, both the school community and the transgender student can have positive experiences. At the same time, the findings demonstrate that disrupting binary gender norms and shifting the larger school culture to be more gender inclusive is a formidable task. Results from this study may be helpful to elementary principals who hope to create accepting school environments for transgender students or for preparation programs that want to develop supportive principals.

中文翻译：

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小学的跨性别学生：支持型校长如何领导

目的：美国跨性别者意识和接受度的提高反映在我们国家的学校中。不幸的是，教育领导者通常不会接受与跨性别青年相关的培训，教育工作者表达了对与跨性别学生合作的恐惧。本研究的目的是调查被父母描述为支持他们的跨性别儿童的学校领导的经历。方法：对来自六个州的 20 所小学的支持性校长进行了定性访谈。调查结果：调查结果表明，支持性校长 (a) 采用以儿童为中心的决策方法，(b) 利用学习和知识为跨性别儿童创造积极的小学体验，(c) 将他们的经验描述为对专业和个人有益。启示：这些发现表明，在校长的支持下，学校社区和跨性别学生都可以获得积极的体验。与此同时，调查结果表明，打破二元性别规范并将更大的学校文化转变为更具性别包容性是一项艰巨的任务。这项研究的结果可能对希望为跨性别学生创造可接受的学校环境或希望培养支持性校长的准备计划的小学校长有所帮助。调查结果表明，打破二元性别规范并将更大的学校文化转变为更具性别包容性是一项艰巨的任务。这项研究的结果可能对希望为跨性别学生创造可接受的学校环境或希望培养支持性校长的准备计划的小学校长有所帮助。调查结果表明，打破二元性别规范并将更大的学校文化转变为更具性别包容性是一项艰巨的任务。这项研究的结果可能对希望为跨性别学生创造可接受的学校环境或希望培养支持性校长的准备计划的小学校长有所帮助。