Student experiences seemed to illustrate a stark contrast between oppressive school contexts prior to transitioning to post-secondary, and more open and supportive contexts after the transition:
Lauren: “Um, the experience has been pretty good, like overall a pretty
damn good experience. Not just with respects to like, feeling included, just…in general it’s been really good overall so far.”
Holly: “Um…academically but like, socially as well, I just find like it’s
better than high school”
Patrick: Um, I mean, here I walk around with a pin on my backpack that,
that’s say’s ‘I’m gay’, right, and I mean, I’m not afraid to do that here, right? In high school I would not have done that if someone gave me a million dollars. So just everything about university has been so much better, um, from the programs to the people, professors are great, um, just everything is better.”
Throughout several of the interviews, students expressed how their level of engagement in school communities, academic success, and positive perceptions of the educational context differed considerably from what their earlier school experiences were like. Although the argument could be made that individuals were older and thus more mature, for the most part participants offered other more structural-based reasons for why things had improved in post-secondary schools. For example, Patrick explained why they
believed individuals engaged in bullying and suggested that there were more
opportunities to be part of something, thus lessening the need to fit in through bullying: I mean I think people bully because they’re ah, either something is going on at home that they aren’t proud of, they’re like just the…I mean I’ve watched enough ah, I’ve watched enough cartoons to realize that there are cartoons, and after school family shows you realize that bullies have as many problems as, as everybody else, just...it’s just how they kind of…but when it comes to like, sexuality and bullying, it’s not the people who are, I don’t think that’s the case, I don’t think it’s the people that have problems at home who are insecure about something, I think it’s that they’re just, well maybe it is that they’re insecure about something, I think it’s that they themselves either want to fit in, so if everyone else is doing it we should do it, or it’s more of a…if he’s out kind of I’m in. So, almost like a competition kind of thing. So, if there’s this many spots, then he can’t be in one of the spots, even better, because that’s more of a chance for me, so I think it has more to do with that. I mean, I’ve never taken psychology, I don’t understand necessarily why people do things like that but um, that’s what it felt like and looking back that’s still what I think it was. Um, and that’s why I think university…like at university, right, to flip it around, I think it’s much better because no one is worried about not being able to be a part of something because if they want to be a part of something, there’s so much they can be a part of here that, they can do anything so, great, you’re part of this, awesome, you’re part of this, awesome, you don’t all need to be part of one thing. I think in high school everyone is trying to be part of one thing, whether it’s the popular kids or whatever, um, and that need to belong to that I think is one of the sole reasons for why, why ah, they would bully me.
Taylor also indicated that the inclusion of topics of diversity and the acceptability of such was something that would help to send a message of respect to peers:
Um, there’s a lot more talk about it in university, that’s something that I’ve noticed. Um, maybe that’s just kind of the classes I’m talking, ah, but…and everyone is just a bit more educated, I think and, especially most of the people are taking some kind of social science so, there kind of being taught to respect the differences.
These discussions were also embedded as subject material in classes:
Samantha: “…it’s become subject matter, whether it’s that ten minutes at
the beginning of class, or it’s an entire series of lectures. That’s what matters. And it’s a great model. Like I wish people from grades like seven to ten would kind of take up that kind of model, because it is very participatory, it’s welcoming…”
This support from educators was also apparent, at least from Samantha’s point of view, in the way that educators attended external events to demonstrate their support for diversity. For example, Samantha noted seeing their instructors at Pride parades or at Take Back the Night events and this helped to reinforce a sense of acceptance and support. Such structural suggestions for why post-secondary school was better for them often echoed the changes that participants thought would be beneficial if integrated into earlier educational contexts. Student suggestions for such school changes are explored in the following themes.