Early Childhood Educators Reflect on Their Conversations With Families About Children’s Diverse Gender Expression - A journal of educational research and practice 2023 Vol. 32 (2) 9-28

Oct 15, 2026

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This research captures early childhood educators’ perspectives when communicating with families about children’s diverse gender expression. Because families and educators shape young children’s understandings of gender, educators’ communications are essential to examine. The study is based on qualitative semi-structured focus groups with 15 educators working with children aged 3–5 at licensed early childhood centres in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. A key finding highlights fathers’ displeasure and efforts to remove feminine-coded activities from sons’ lives, underscoring the need for ongoing training to support 2SLGBTQIA+ families and non-binary and transgender children.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages20

Reading Time50 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Introduction

Gender in the Early Years

Early Childhood Educators Reflect on Their Conversations With Families About Children’s Diverse Gender Expression A journal of educational research and practice 2023 Vol. 32 (2) 9−28 [https://journals.library.brocku.ca/brocked](https://journals.library.brocku.ca/brocked) Sarah Reddington Faculty of Child and Youth Studies, Mount Saint Vincent University Abstract This research captures early childhood educators ’ (ECEs’) perspectives when communicating with families about their children’s diverse gender expression. Since families and ECEs play a pivotal role in shaping young children’s understandings of gender it is necessary to learn more about ECEs ’ communications with families. The data that informs this paper is derived from a qualitative research study that used semi-structured focus groups with 15 ECEs who work with young children, ages 3-5 years, at licensed early childhood centres in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The ECEs were invited to participate in two focus group sessions to discuss their experiences after recalling conversations with families whose children identify outside the traditional constructs of masculine boy/feminine girl. One central finding the ECEs observe is the displeasure fathers have when their sons engage in feminine interests, including the affective actions the fathers then take to remove stereotypically feminine coded activities from their sons’ lives. This research highlights the need for ongoing early childhood education training on gender diversity to better support non-binary, transgender children, and children from 2SLGBTQIA+ families. Keywords: early childhood education, gender, families, diversity * [sarah. reddington@msvu.ca](sarah. reddington@msvu.ca) Introduction Early childhood educators (ECEs) and family members play a vital role in children’s gender expression as they spend a significant amount of time with them from the ages of 12 months to 5 years. With families and ECEs being the primary starting point for gender-role socialization, it is critical to learn more about how they can inform children’s understandings of self (Dyer, 2017) . The emergent research in childhood studies reveals that children’s gender expression can be influenced by the expectations and actions of parents, educators, and peers (Abreu et al. , 2019; Callahan & Lucy, 2019; Neary & Rasmussen, 2020) . Research also tells us that girls and boys are often treated differently from the beginning where traditional gender stereotypes are reinforced by the primary adults in their lives (Aina & Cameron, 2011; Servos et al. , 2016; Wingrave, 2018) . For example, boys are often encouraged to play with trucks and girls with dolls. Previous studies similarly show that preschool teachers and family beliefs can “affect children’s ways of doing gender in preschools” (Emilson et al. , 2016, p. 227) and consequently reduce children’s comfortability to express their gender more openly (Averett, 2016; Blaise, 2005; Robinson, 2013; Servos et al. , 2016) . It is the subtleties of interactions with adult role models, their use of gender stereotypes, that can transfer to children either consciously or unconsciously (Wingrave, 2018) . This qualitative research study aims to explore the perspectives of 15 ECEs who work in licensed early childhood centres in Nova Scotia, Canada to learn about their experiences when mediating conversations with families about gender. The limited literature in this area highlights the importance of exploring ECEs’ perspectives when trying to support children especially when communicating with families who might adopt amore traditional binary construct of gender (i.e. , boy/girl, masculine/feminine) . Gender in the Early Years There is a need for educators who can guide children through understanding their gender identity and to respect diverse gender expression (Hill & Bartow Jacobs, 2020) . However, recent research reveals that many preschool educators demonstrate discomfort a

FAQs

What is the main focus of this study?

The study explores early childhood educators’ perspectives on communicating with families about children’s diverse gender expression.

How was the research conducted and who participated?

The research used qualitative semi-structured focus groups with 15 early childhood educators working with children aged 3–5 in licensed centres in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.

What central finding is highlighted about fathers’ reactions?

Educators observed fathers’ displeasure when their sons showed feminine interests, including affective actions fathers took to remove stereotypically feminine-coded activities from their sons’ lives.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Bulrr