Gender Expression and the Use of School Toilets and Changing Rooms: Perceptions of Students in an Initial Teacher Training Program

Abstract

Gender and sexuality issues are increasingly present in different social contexts, including schools. Based on the question “What are the perceptions of students in an initial teacher training program about the use of school toilets and changing rooms in terms of gender expression?”, and looking at the adequacy of educational spaces to these new configurations, this exploratory, qualitative study using Foucauldian discourse analysis consisted of a focus group with students attending a bachelor’s degree program in Basic Education. It was thus possible to understand how narratives are associated with the normative status quo, in a duality between the control of bodies and subjectivities and dissident ruptures.