Research has demonstrated that parents are critical in transforming cisnormative schooling cultures. However, South African literature has not explored how parents want gender diversity included in South African high schools. This study aims to give voice to parents of South African children of high school age and gauge their understanding of cisnormative schooling culture and how it can be challenged. To reach the objective, this study addressed the question: In what ways do both parents of trans and cis learners understand cisnormative schooling cultures in South African high schools? A qualitative research design was used to gather data through focus group interviews with nine parents with different occupations, such as police, teaching, religious preachers, among others, in a rural part of Free State province. Queer theory guided the study, and thematic analysis was used to identify themes that came out of the data collected. Findings suggest that parents acknowledge that a cisnormative schooling culture is a barrier to the promotion of gender diversity in South African high schools. Furthermore, findings reveal that infrastructure and school policies contribute to a delay in promoting an inclusive schooling environment for both trans learners and cis learners. This research recommends that future research studies should recruit parents from diverse demographics to capture different views on how queering cisnormative schooling culture can be achieved.Keywords: Cisnormative schooling, Gender diversity, High schools, Parental understanding, Queering
Chaka et al. (Thu,) studied this question.