Queering the Curriculum: Inclusive Education
I think it is important to integrate conversations surrounding homophobia and the oppression towards the queer community subtly into and casually into classrooms, that way students are able to begin to be exposed to these types of conversations. However, it is also important not to be too subtle about it. It should still be straightforward and teachers/educators have a responsibility not to shy away from these sorts of conversations, literature, and other teaching resources about queer theory and teaching. The idea that there are going to be queer students/teachers in the classroom whether you realize it or not is something that everyone should be thinking about no matter what they are teaching in order to make sure their language and content do not exclude or discriminate against queer students. As someone who is queer, it is extremely important for me to include inclusive literature and content in classrooms and to make sure all students feel like they are safe in the classroom.
5 thoughts on “Queering the Curriculum: Inclusive Education”
Hi! I agree that we need to have more conversations about topics like this. Literature is a good way to incorporate these things. I found in high school lots of teachers did not talk about this or wanted to talk about this subject, and I feel like they should allow teachings in this and encourage students to want to learn.
Memphis, you stated some excellent points in this week’s blog post. I like your statement that you might never know what students are queer. Making sure that while you’re talking about these conversations in a classroom setting, everyone is feeling included or you aren’t discriminating against certain students is crucial. Being future teachers, I think it’s essential to be open-minded to all of the students you’re teaching, and by bringing these topics into the classroom is a great starting point to bring awareness to everyone who may identify themselves as queer.
hey Memphis, thank you for your blog post. I like how you emphasised that integrating should be casual, but not too subtle. It is extremely important to expose students to queerness early on in school, as any exposure to human relations is exposed. Having queer people in our lives in just a part of life, and will continue to be, as it is a normal aspect of human existence and love. If we are hiding our students from this reality, it only causes harm and shock when the truth is exactly expose. Nobody knows what humans are going to enter their life at any given moment, and being able to avoid a shock or negative option is important. My best friend came out in our grade 12 year, and for me an my family, it was something we had not expected or given any thought to, but it was an easy acceptance.
Thank you for sharing and being open as well! 🙂
Happy St. Paddy’s day!
I agree that teachers mustn’t shy away from teaching the conversations, teaching resources, and literature surrounding queering the curriculum. I think teachers need to be aware, as you mentioned that students come from diverse backgrounds and the teacher must be accommodating towards this diversity within the classroom.
Hello Memphis, I like what you had to say and I think that you outline the need to be subtle but straightforward quite well. It can be a difficult conversation as you will never know the previous biases of your students but that doesn’t mean the conversation shouldn’t happen. The inclusion of queer and trans content is crucial in normalizing it within the curriculum and I think it is amazing that you realize its importance. I know you will do great moving forward with the inclusion of queer and trans people within your classroom whether it be educators or students.