Queering Bilingual Teaching in Elementary Schools and in Bilingual Teacher Education

Abstract

This article provides insights into what is possible when a bilingual teacher education program provides support for teachers who want to discuss lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) topics in their classrooms. This study is set in Southern Arizona, a bilingual, multicultural community in predominantly Mexican American classrooms. I challenge the research and professional development in teacher education on diversity, multicultural and bilingual education to be inclusive of LGBTQ issues as critical and central to conversations on social justice education. This piece focuses on what a new teacher, with the support of a graduate program, did to mitigate homophobia in her classroom. Creating more inclusive bilingual teacher education programs is important because this work holds the possibility of creating allies who decrease the burden felt by queer people—students, teachers, families—in schools.

Additional Resources

• 1. Clark, E. R., Flores, B. B., Smith, H., & González, A. (2016). Multicultural literature for Latino bilingual children: Their words, their worlds. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.

This volume is a collection of essays on Latino children’s literature that is particularly useful for teachers because each chapter includes specific strategies for classroom use. The chapters build on themes in the Latinx community and with intersectional lens teachers can integrate LGBTQ topics.

• 2. Gonzalez, M. (2017). They she he me: Free to be! San Francisco, CA: Reflection Press.

This picture book, written by Latinx children’s book author and illustrator, Maya Gonzalez and her husband Matthew, is their first picture book as queer parents that explores pronouns and gender fluidity. They She He Me, Free to Be shows many gender presentations under each pronoun. I recommend using the book along with her curriculum on gender now. http://www.mayagonzalez.com/curriculum/curriculum_lines/gender-now/

• 3. Jimenez, K. P. (2009). Tomboy. https://vimeo.com/10772672

Tomboy is a 14-min animated video/movie written by Karleen Pendleton Jiménez and directed by Barb Taylor. It centers on one day in the life of Alex, a Latinx gender nonconforming tomboy who wears shorts and has short hair. This film explores issues on gender expression and the ways in which Alex gets misgendered throughout her day including on her walk to school, in her elementary school classroom, and on the playground. It is based on the book Are You a Boy or a Girl?, also by Pendleton Jimenez.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Carol Brochin

Carol Brochin is an Assistant Professor in the College of Education at the University of Arizona.