How Teachers Can Provide Adequate Support for Transgender Youth in High School

Abstract

Teachers are at the forefront of being able to provide support and make a difference in the lives of transgender youth. Supporting transgender youth in high school requires teachers to have knowledge about gender dysphoria and gender development, knowledge of the reality of bullying and suicide, and ability to collaborate with school counsellors. This literature review looked at what training high school teachers need to be able to provide adequate support for transgender youth. The literature review looked at what gender dysphoria is, bullying and suicide rates amongst transgender youth, what the current transgender training is for teachers, and how teachers can collaborate with school counsellors in order to best support transgender youth. In the third chapter I have created a workshop that will train high school teachers on how to support and guide transgender youth. The workshop will train teachers on how to speak with transgender young people about suicide, bullying, hormone therapy, as well as teach them about how to properly use pronouns.