Queer and trans youth (not) knowing: experiences of epistemic (in)justice in the context of an LGBTQ+-inclusive secondary curriculum
English Teaching: Practice & Critique
ISSN: 1175-8708
Article publication date: 3 August 2022
Issue publication date: 31 October 2022
Abstract
Purpose
Current legislative, policy and cultural efforts to censor and illegalize classroom discussions and curricular representations of LGBTQ+ people reflect longstanding challenges in English education. In an effort to explore what curricular inclusion can (not) accomplish – especially what and how current struggles over inclusion, censorship, illegalization and ultimately representation in English education might (not) contribute to queer and trans liberation – the purpose of this article is to feature the experiences of queer and trans youth as knowers in classroom lessons with LGBTQ+-inclusive curriculum.
Design/methodology/approach
Drawing from a yearlong literacy ethnography at a Midwestern high school in which the author explored youth and adults reading, writing and talking about sexual and gender diversity, in this article the author focuses on one literacy learning context at the high school, a co-taught sophomore humanities that combined English language arts and social studies.
Findings
Engaging theories of epistemic (in) justice, the findings of this article highlight the experiences of queer and trans youth – especially two queer youth of Color, Camden and Imani – as knowers in the context of an LGBTQ+-inclusive classroom curriculum. The author describes epistemic harms with respect to distortions of credibility and homonormative assimilationist requirements and reflects on alternative possibilities that youth gestured toward through their small resistances.
Originality/value
By centering the experiences of LGBTQ+ youth, this article contributes to research about LGBTQ+-inclusive curriculum in English teaching. Previous research, when empirical rather than conceptual, has tended to focus on the perspectives of teachers.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
I thank Ms. Abby, Mr. Brooks, and all of the youth at the high school who participated in the study, especially those whom I call Camden, Casey, Grayson, Imani, Mariam, Tamarah, and Thomas. It continues to be an enormous gift in my life to learn from and with all of you due to your generosity in sharing part of your lives with me. I am grateful for helpful comments on versions of this article from Sara Demoiny, Sarah Lightner, Jesús Tirado, and the editors and anonymous reviewers, as well as for guidance and mentorship on the larger ethnography from Mollie Blackburn. Whatever flaws remain are my sole responsibility.
Citation
Schey, R. (2022), "Queer and trans youth (not) knowing: experiences of epistemic (in)justice in the context of an LGBTQ+-inclusive secondary curriculum", English Teaching: Practice & Critique, Vol. 21 No. 4, pp. 428-442. https://doi.org/10.1108/ETPC-04-2022-0054
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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