9 research outputs found
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Tilling the Soil for LGBTQ Inclusive Policies: A Case Study of One School's Attempt to Bring Policy into Practice
In this three-article dissertation, I attempt to contribute to an understanding of what it might look like to heal the harms caused by heteronormativity in school climates. I first present a theoretical piece, "Toward a Queered Democratic Framework: Moving Theory into Practice," in which, using post-structural and queer theories, my aim is to supplement ideas from participatory democratic theories, and to name and explore what I am calling a Queered Democratic Framework (QDF). Throughout this article, my intention is to establish a line of communication between participatory democratic theories and post-structural and queer theories. I make the case that these two theories, together, will advance our understandings of, and actions to eradicate, oppression. Together, they will move us beyond identity politics, beyond multicultural education and an additive model of inclusion, to more of a focus on habits of mind and heart that push on traditional conceptions of difference.
In the second article, "Tilling the Soil for LGBTQ Inclusive Policies: Learning Lessons from Desegregation to Cultivate Communities of Safety and Inclusivity," In this article, I argue that policies focused on equity cannot be expected, in and of themselves, to overcome social ills that are obstacles to their implementation (Wells et al, 1997). Drawing on lessons from Brown v. Board, I maintain that working for social change requires relying on all members of the school community: administration, teachers, parents and students (Wells et al, 1997). In this article, I share descriptions of interventions focused on gender and sexual diversity, illustrations of what happened in each, and reactions of all stakeholders. I offer this model as an example of what it might look like to queer the implementation of a policy like FAIR and to till the soil--to cultivate community with the intention of healing harms caused by heteronormativity and to create safety and inclusivity.
In my final article, Navigating the relationship between policy and practice: Competing discourses of fear and care in teachers' sense making about the FAIR Education Act, I take a step closer in, and spend time focusing on teachers. I examine the relationship between large-scale social discourses and local, school discourses as it plays out in their conversations about gender and sexuality. Grounded in concepts of discourse, silence and power, discursive theories of gender and sexuality are central (e.g. Foucault, Hall, Butler) to this piece. I examine what happens in professional development settings when teachers are given opportunities to make sense of their roles in attending to topics of gender and sexual diversity, through conversations and dialogue, specifically in the context of the passage of FAIR. I argue that examining this relationship provides key insights into the ways teachers make sense of equity-focused policies that are meant to shift sociopolitical paradigms, and their roles and responsibilities in the implementation of such policies
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Complicating What We Know: Focusing on Educators' Processes of Becoming Gender and Sexual Diversity Inclusive
This article examines the complex, deeply personal processes that elementary educators engage as they learn to become inclusive practitioners of gender and sexual diversity (GSD). We complicate literature that highlights structural barriers and negative influences such as lack of administrative support and homophobic attitudes as key factors that constrain educators' willingness and ability to enact inclusive praxis. We argue that preparing educators to affirm GSD demands exploration not only of structural barriers that might get in the way, but also of the emotional and intellectual dimensions of educators' processes of negotiating commitments to GSD-affirming pedagogy and practice. To illustrate the nature of these dimensions, we highlight snapshots of two elementary teachers' processes of grappling with fear, hesitation, and discomfort as they moved toward taking inclusive action in their classrooms. We conclude with implications and recommendations for educators seeking to affirm GSD in their own local contexts.</p
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Teachers’ professional learning to affirm transgender, non-binary, and gender-creative youth: Experiences and recommendations from the field
This article critically examines the professional learning needs called for by educators working to support transgender, non-binary, and gender-creative (trans) youth and makes recommendations for practice. Interviews were conducted with 26 educators (preschool to secondary) who have worked directly with trans students (any child whose behaviour does not match stereotypes for their sex category assigned at birth, or who identifies with a gender different from their sex category assigned at birth). We examine two new concepts related to professional learning and educator preparation that emerged from theorising the data and related literature: pedagogies of exposure and culture of conversation. The limits and possibilities offered by these approaches are critically examined through the research base on teacher learning. Recommendations are made for teacher preparation, professional development and related practices to better create and sustain learning environments that affirm gender diversity
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Understanding democratic education policy queerly: Toward a queer democratic framework
The aim of this paper is to bring together concepts and commitments from both liberal and queer theories with the purpose of designing an integrated framework for equity-focused education policy analysis and implementation. In essence, we aim to build a conceptual bridge between queer and liberal democratic theories and to develop what we call a “queer democratic framework” for policy analysis and implementation. We use the case of the Fair Accurate Inclusive and Respectful Education Act (FAIR) throughout this paper as an exemplar of how queer policy analysis and implementation change the terms of the policy discussion. We argue that as an example of a policy that comes out of liberal democratic theory, FAIR can only go so far. It is symbolic and positive, but cannot reach emancipatory aims in practice without queer analysis and implementation.</p
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Transgender Students and Policy in K–12 Public Schools: Acknowledging Historical Harms and Taking Steps Toward a Promising Future
Transgender and nonbinary (collectively referred to here as “trans”) students are ill-served by most school environments. They experience challenges trying to navigate institutions that, at best, are poorly designed to support them and that often work against them. Although some districts and states have developed laws and policies to improve students’ experiences, many are either ill-conceived, ineffectively implemented, or reinforce restrictive and inflexible structures regulating gender. This brief explores these issues in depth and puts forth recommendations for policy and practice to create spaces in which transgender youth can fully engage with school.</p
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Unpacking the T: Understanding the Diverse Experiences Trans Students Navigating Schools
In this mixed methods study, we use quantitative and narrative survey data from 47 parents/guardians of trans youth to understand their experiences navigating schools. In our analytic process, we recognized that how students identified mattered to parents/guardians’ stories. We use trans theories and concepts of materiality, embodiment, and subjection to understand our initial thematic analysis. Our findings indicate the need to attend to students’ material bodies, how their embodied experiences differ based on how they are read and which “rules” they “break,” and how masculinity and femininity might be regulated differently. We aim to contribute to the growing literature in PK-12 education that calls for research to differentiate the experiences of trans students by unpacking the T
Recommended from our members
Unpacking the T: Understanding the Diverse Experiences Trans Students Navigating Schools
In this mixed methods study, we use quantitative and narrative survey data from 47 parents/guardians of trans youth to understand their experiences navigating schools. In our analytic process, we recognized that how students identified mattered to parents/guardians’ stories. We use trans theories and concepts of materiality, embodiment, and subjection to understand our initial thematic analysis. Our findings indicate the need to attend to students’ material bodies, how their embodied experiences differ based on how they are read and which “rules” they “break,” and how masculinity and femininity might be regulated differently. We aim to contribute to the growing literature in PK-12 education that calls for research to differentiate the experiences of trans students by unpacking the T