Queering Pedagogy: How Disruptive Tinkering Leads to Safer and More Inclusive Schools for LGBTQ+ Youth

Abstract

Recently, attention surrounding LGBTQ+ people, perspectives, and histories in K-12 schools have been subject to renewed public debate. In 2023, state legislatures in the United States have passed more anti-queer laws than ever before, many of which target queer youth (HRC, 2023). Some of these state laws ban the teaching of and about queer people in elementary schools, while at the same time, research proposes that the inclusion of LGBTQ+ perspectives positively impact the health, safety, and achievement of queer youth (Snapp et al., 2015). This project seeks to illustrate how elementary teachers might include queer perspectives in their teaching to create safer and more inclusive schools. Utilizing a constant comparative approach as method (Constas, 1992; Lincoln & Guba, 1985) and queer theory as theoretical framework (Butler, 1990; de Lauretis, 1991; Sedgwick, 1990; Warner, 1990), I explore how six elementary teachers “queered” their existing instruction. Drawing upon interviews with participants, classroom observations of their teaching and accompanying post-observation conversations, and my reflective memos, I highlight five themes that emerged from the data: (a) disruptive tinkering, (b) deepening consciousness, (c) student agency, (d) moving through fear, and (e) connection to citizenship. I argue that these five themes developed from participants’ focus on method (queering instruction) over content (direct representation of LGBTQ+ people). By bringing a queer lens to their overall teaching practices, participants made incremental changes—by way of disruptive tinkering—that significantly impacted their daily instruction. Over time, as participants became more comfortable with queering instruction and deepened their consciousness around this practice, they allowed for more student agency in the classroom, and ultimately, provided space for students to critique systems and structures that keep queer people marginalized. Participants linked their queering efforts to their students’ future citizenship, emphasizing how starting this work in the elementary grades will not only build empathy but will provide the foundation for justice-oriented citizenship (Westheimer and Kahne, 2004). In addition, this research suggests that elementary teachers must continuously and simultaneously move through fear as they queer their instruction: the fear of stepping away from neutrality, of doing something wrong, and of conflict/resistance. Participants in the study recognized fear as part of the process of queering their instruction, and frequently reflected on how they could overcome their fears to implement queer pedagogy in their classrooms. The findings from this research imply that a focus on method (queer pedagogy) over content (LGBTQ+ direct representation) in both university and K-12 settings might yield stronger results in creating safer and more inclusive learning environments for queer children as well as disrupting systems of oppression that keep queer people marginalized. Furthermore, the field of education alone cannot be responsible for ensuring the safety and well-being of queer youth. Education scholars must present research-based results and solutions advocating for laws and policies that support queer youth to policy makers. For without LGBTQ+ friendly laws and policies, there is little hope that teachers will adopt and implement queer pedagogy. Keywords: Queer Pedagogy, Queer Theory, Disruptive Tinkering, Justice-Oriented Citizenship, Elementary Instruction