Inclusive teacher education for gender and sexuality diversity
This study set out to answer a critical question: to what extent are Thai English language teacher education programmes preparing future teachers for the realities of gender and sexual diversity? The findings provide a decisive answer: current programmes remain constrained by a pronounced gap between institutional rhetoric on ‘diversity’ and its translation into curriculum, pedagogy, assessment and practicum. This is not a series of incidental shortcomings but a systemic cycle of unpreparedness that exposes both LGBTQ+ learners and students to ongoing vulnerability.
The qualitative analysis traced how this cycle is sustained through vague administrative policies, binary curricular frameworks, reliance on individual lecturer initiative, and the absence of meaningful support during practicum placements. The large-scale survey confirmed that these concerns are not isolated but widely recognised across all stakeholder groups and regions, signalling a systemic failure rather than a localised weakness.
In response, the study proposes a four-pillar inclusive guideline encompassing policy, curriculum and pedagogy, teaching resources and practicum support. Its significance lies not in repetition of international frameworks but in the way it adapts global lessons to Thai realities while offering an innovative extension to the international discourse, particularly in highlighting practicum as a critical and underexplored site for inclusive teacher preparation.
The study therefore contributes both locally and globally: it provides Thai ELT teacher education with an evidence-based roadmap for systemic reform, while also advancing international dialogue on how inclusivity can be institutionalised in teacher preparation. Crucially, it reframes LGBTQ+ inclusion from an optional theme to a core professional competency central to ethical and effective teaching in the 21st century.
The path towards truly inclusive education is challenging and requires sustained institutional will, but this research demonstrates that it is both necessary and achievable.
The findings and framework presented here offer a foundation for transformative change, one that ensures English language teacher education in Thailand, and beyond, prepares teachers not only to teach language, but to uphold dignity, equity and justice in every classroom.