Week 11- Queering the Curriculum

November 29, 2021 3 By Gledi Toci

The queer sexual identity has yet to be accepted like other sexual identification. This is strongly due to people often feeling scared to identify as queer since they often feel looked down upon. Kolker, Taylor, and Galupo phrase it best when they state that, “It is expected that participants will identify as queer within settings where they feel more
comfortable or supported. Therefore explains why students and many individuals struggle to identify as queer, considering they will be made to feel ashamed. This is extremely unfortunate considering that, them identifying as queer does not affect who they are as a person, and are still the same person even before they identified as queer. That is often the concept people in society fail to comprehend, they often judge people on their sexual identity, such as queer, rather than realize they are just like everyone else.

In my classroom, I will make sure all my students feel accepted no matter their sexual identity. To start I will make sure to connect with all my students and show my students I am there for them. This will lead to them feeling as if they have someone to talk to and who supports them no matter what they wish to identify as. In addition, even though my students will know they have my support, I will make sure to teach about queer theory, and the importance we accept all students. I will normalize being queer, by including information and readings on the topic, so it is normalized for students at a young age.

What I plan on doing in my classroom to support, also goes hand in hand with the teacher implications for allyship. Often queer students feel left out, and unheard. These teacher implications for allyship will include listening and understanding students. Considering they expect to be discriminated against by the majority, we teachers listening to our students and offering support will be a nice change. Forbes and Ueno both support the importance of support when they, “as one considers the role of allies in supporting the larger queer community, they must contemplate how an ally is expected to answer to or support multiple movements…”. Overall we as teachers need to create a safe ground for all students, thus including the LGBTQ+ cummunity.